Biggest BS claims and furphies of the Victorian election
Victoria’s race to the polls has generated a steady stream of blatant hogwash. Here are some of the biggest furphies.
State Election
Don't miss out on the headlines from State Election. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Every election throws up plenty of dubious claims, but this year’s campaign between Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy has generated a constant stream of egregious furphies.
We fact check some of the biggest BS claims and blatant hogwash to be tipped on voters as they head to the polls.
‘The Liberals’ cuts guy’ — Labor Party
In a series of campaign ads attacking the Coalition, the Labor Party accused Opposition Leader Matthew Guy of cutting $1bn of funding from the state’s health sector.
But according to ABC Fact Check, these claims are completely false – health spending under the previous Coalition government actually increased and Mr Guy has never held the position of health Minister.
The Labor Party ran a similar campaign in the lead up to the 2018 election, accusing the Liberals of cutting health funding, which Fact Check also ruled to be misleading and wrong.
Liberal Party will bring back fracking — Labor Party
“We’ve got fakes, we’ve got liars, and now we’ve got frackers.”
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio accused the Liberal Party of bringing back fracking after it announced its plan to establish a domestic gas reserve and keep 100 per cent of new gas in Victoria.
Ms D’Ambrosio blasted the proposal and claimed the opposition was secretly planning to bring back fracking because Victoria has no “known quantities of conventional onshore gas”.
But the state government’s Victorian Gas Program — conducted by chief scientist Dr Amanda Caples between 2017 and 2020 — identified up to 830 petajoules of conventional onshore gas in Victoria.
“The Victorian Gas Program’s geoscientific investigations concluded that there is likely to be 128-830 petajoules of commercially feasible onshore conventional gas yet to be discovered in the state,” the report said.
Earth Resources Victoria stated that production of new onshore conventional gas could potentially commence as early as 2023.
Guy’s promise to spend $8bn on regional health
Mr Guy’s pledge to shelve the Suburban Rail Loop project and redirect all available state funds into the struggling health sector – including $8bn for regional health – has been at the forefront of his election campaign.
But the opposition leader was forced to backtrack on his promise to the regions after it was revealed he wouldn’t have access to enough funding.
The scrapping of the Cheltenham to Box Hill section of the SRL would give the opposition $11.8bn to work with, but with a large portion of those funds already committed to early works contracts, that leaves them with $9.3bn to spend.
Having already announced nearly $5bn in hard commitments, the opposition falls short of the funding it needs for regional health commitment.
Mr Guy later clarified the commitment was to spend “up to” $8bn.
Dan’s plan to bring back the SEC
At his official campaign launch party, Mr Andrews pledged to bring back the State Electricity Commission and establish government owned energy company.
Mr Andrews said the plan would see the electricity sector “run for people – not for profit”, with earnings reinvested into more power.
The SEC would also be enshrined in Victoria’s constitution under a re-elected Labor government.
But experts have panned the proposal, the private sector making it clear minority shareholders will demand a commercial return, making it near impossible to reinvest profits into government energy.
‘Matthew Guy’s Liberal Party are preferencing Nazis’
— Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan
The premier and his deputy accused the Liberal Party of “preferencing Nazis” over the Labor Party on their ballots.
Speaking at a media conference, Jacinta Allan said: “Matthew Guy’s Liberal Party are preferencing Nazis, they’re preferencing extremists, they’re preferencing (Independent for the Angry Victorians Party) Catherine Cummings”.
Ms Allan was asked to specify which candidates she was talking about, but refused to answer.
The Liberals pledged to put Labor last in most seats, including below more conservative groups such as One Nation or the anti-lockdown Freedom Party.
It was later revealed both parties distributed how-to-vote cards in Narre Warren South that listed a candidate who posted a smiling selfie outside of Auschwitz to social media.
The man, named Tyler Baker-Pearce, has a Twitter account filled with extreme and anti-Semitic views.
Labor preferenced the anti-Semitic candidate ahead of the Liberal Democrats, Family First and the Freedom Party, while the Liberal Party listed him fifth and put the Labor candidate last.
The campaign ad that calls Daniel Andrews ‘a prick’
Mr Guy was forced to defend a campaign ad that referred to the Premier as a “prick” and criticised vaccine mandates.
The video ad included footage of CFMEU workers at Melbourne’s anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine mandate protests, with a voiceover asking viewers to recall when Daniel Andrews enforced the “no jab, no job” rule and “the world’s longest lockdown”.
“Even our own unions are admitting he’s a prick,” it said.
Mr Guy said the ad was based off of the wording of the “trade union movement”.
The union displayed their own posters which referred to the Premier as a “prick”, but unlike the opposition’s ad, the CFMEU was urging trade union workers to vote Labor.
“Dan might be a prick, but he’s a prick who’s delivering for construction workers,” the posters read.
“Labor will keep you in work for another 30 years.”
Labor candidate Lauren O’Dwyer’s Aboriginal ancestry claim
Questions have been raised over the legitimacy of a claim made by a Labor candidate in relation to her indigenous ancestry.
Labor candidate for Richmond Lauren O’Dwyer described herself in campaign material and on the official Daniel Andrews website as a “proud Yorta Yorta woman”.
But a relative of Ms O’Dwyer said her family has never identified as Indigenous and doesn’t have any Aboriginal ancestry.
Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation also said the Labor candidate failed to follow cultural protocol and consult with elders.
The Premier defended Ms O’Dwyer’s decision to identify as an Indigenous Australian.
“These (cultural) issues can often be contested and there can often be differences of view and opinion,” Mr Andrews said.
How much will the Suburban Rail Loop cost?
It’s one of the biggest issues of the election campaign, but Victorians still don’t know how much it will cost.
The premier in August pledged to provide the full costings for the Suburban Rail Loop before November 26.
But Andrews has now backflipped on that promise, with the government this week admitting it still didn’t know the amount.
Ms Allan — the state's transport infrastructure minister — on Tuesday said there was still more work to do costing the second section of the loop, from Box Hill to Melbourne Airport.
Prior to the 2018 election the government had said the entire project would cost “potentially up to $50bn”.
But three months ago an independent estimate from the Parliamentary Budget Office predicted the first two stages would balloon out to $125bn, making it the most expensive infrastructure project in Australian history.
Mr Andrews disputed the PBO’s figures and guaranteed he would give Labor’s estimate of the cost before the election.
Top scientist to drive state’s clean energy push
The Victorian government has revealed its expert panel appointed to resurrect the state electricity commission months after the election.
Liberals win last seat in Victorian election
The Liberal Party has finally claimed the electorate of Narracan two months after the state election, bringing the Coalition to one more seat than it held after 2018.