War of words erupts over opposition’s election gas pledge
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has pledged to boost local manufacturing with “Victorian Made” branding and logos.
State Election
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This article is the Herald Sun’s rolling election coverage. Read on for all the latest announcements and action from the campaign trail
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has pledged to boost local manufacturing and put Victorian made products front and centre, if he wins the election.
Mr Guy on Wednesday announced his ‘Love Victoria, Made in Victoria, Buy Victorian’ campaign, which aims to showcase and increase the use of Victorian made products across the state.
Locally produced goods would be set apart from other products with ‘Victorian Made’ branding and logos.
A rebate scheme would be rolled out to incentivise Victorian businesses to buy from other local manufacturers and suppliers.
Mr Guy has also promised to strengthen local content requirements on all government-funded infrastructure projects to ensurethey use Victorian made products, and introduce a ‘Government Buy Victorian Procurement Policy’ to encourage government departments, statutory agencies and corporations to purchase Victorian made goods and services.
The campaign forms part of the opposition’s $2.5bn Rebuilding Jobs and Bringing Manufacturing Home program, which was announced in February.
“Victorian products are some of the world’s best and to grow for the future, we must back local businesses competing on theworld’s stage,” Mr Guy said.
“By backing local producers and helping to sell their products interstate and internationally, our plan will drive a new wave of economic opportunities throughout our state.”
Animal Justice Party may face legal action
Victorian micro parties are weighing up legal action against the Animal Justice Party after they switched sides in a complex preference deal.
A group of parties organised by self-proclaimed preference whisperer Glenn Druery were blindsided on Sunday when they learned the AJP had walked out of their group at the last minute.
The move meant AJP secured the support of multiple parties on group voting tickets but reneged their support to instead back a swathe of progressive parties.
Mr Druery accused them of a “gut-wrenching” betrayal while the AJP state election manager Ben Schultz said it did not support Mr Druery’s methods of using preference harvesting to get MPs elected on small margins.
Some candidates within the bloc are now considering the possibility of a class action if the move leads to financial disadvantage by losing their job.
Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party on Tuesday also lashed the AJP over the deal, accusing them of voting to preserve the group-voting ticket system that they were now criticising.
“The AJP will tell you they’re a party of integrity but take one look at their voting record and you’ll realise they’re just a lacky for the government,” MP Stuart Grimley said.
“If the AJP are happy to lie and deceive their way into the Parliament, what do you think will happen if they hold the balance of power?
“If you thought it couldn’t get any worse than the last 4 years, think again.” Tania Maxwell, also of Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party, also attacked her own party for their involvement in the preference arrangements.
Ms Maxwell’s upper house spot in Northern Victoria is now under threat, with AJP’s Georgie Purcell now in the box seat after receiving preference flows from Labor and micro parties.
“I was never privy to deals negotiated and agreed by Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party that directs its upper house voting preferences in Northern Victoria to the Animal Justice Party,” she said.
“Not that I haven’t asked. But I’ve never been given an answer.
“If I’d known my party was doing a deal to direct preferences in Northern Victoria to the hard left AJP – against the livelihoods and interests of the people and farming communities that I’ve represented for four years – I would have demanded changes.
“That’s probably why I was kept in the dark.”
Ms Maxwell said she was appalled by the deal and it now could not be undone.
“So, electors across Northern Victoria who want to support me and my running mate John Herron should ignore this awful deal by voting below the line on the upper house ballot paper,” she said. “You should direct your preferences where you want them to go. You need to number five squares or more.
“Whatever the outcome on November 26, I’m proud of the work I’ve done since 2018 and of the team that works for me. We’ve worked on the tough issues that no-one else will tackle.
War of words over gas pledge
A war of words over gas has dominated another day on the campaign trail, as the Coalition defends its pledge to establish a domestic reserve and keep 100 per cent of new gas in Victoria.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio on Monday blasted the proposal, accusing the opposition of secretly planning to bring back fracking because Victoria has no “known quantities of conventional onshore gas”.
Despite this claim, 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.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy rubbished Ms D’Ambrosio’s claims that Victoria had no gas.
“My plan is to develop more gas resources, which will heat our homes cost-effectively and grow jobs. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
“The only people who are playing ideological games on this are the Labor government.
“It’s about the future, not the past. The past is the SEC.”
But Ms D’Ambrosio said the Coalition’s proposal to create a domestic gas reserve was impossible because sections of the Commonwealth constitution enshrined free trade between the states.
“His gas guarantee is a gas lie, and he’s absolutely gaslighting Victorians,” she said.
“We’ve got fakes, we’ve got liars, and now we’ve got frackers.”
But the opposition’s energy spokesman David Southwick on Tuesday fired back, declaring that if elected, his government would take inspiration from Western Australia, which has its own domestic gas policy.
“If you look at what Western Australia has done, there’s no constitutional changes there,” he said.
Women’s Health Research Institute
Surgeries that treat and detect endometriosis will be doubled and an inquiry will be launched into women’s pain management under a new election commitment from Labor.
Daniel Andrews on Wednesday unveiled a $79m package to add to his party’s recent commitments to women’s health.
It follows a recent promise to provide free pads and tampons in public places.
If re-elected on November 26, Mr Andrews said his party would create a Women’s Health Research Institute to help find new ways to identify and treat diseases such as endometriosis.
The number of surgeries for endometriosis and associated conditions will also be doubled — to an additional 10,800 — over the next four years.
An added $3m will be used to establish an inquiry into women’s pain management, to be chaired by a panel of experts that will hear directly from women from a range of backgrounds.
The inquiry will examine systemic issues and find solutions.
Mr Andrews said women are often dismissed and told “that’s just part of being a woman” when coming forward with pain and symptoms.
“For too long, women have had to fight too hard to have their pain recognised and acknowledged and to be believed about their own experiences,” he said.
“That’s not good enough and that needs to end.”
Mr Andrews said the policy pledge is about “hearing and believing women”.
Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan opened up on her challenges battling endometriosis.
Ms Allan said for too long, women’s health conditions haven’t been properly acknowledged.
“It’s a common disease that’s not commonly talked about therefore it’s not commonly treated in the best way,” she said.
It comes after Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas on Tuesday pledged $71m to overhaul women’s health services across the state.
The Andrews government will roll out or expand 20 comprehensive women’s health clinics across metropolitan and regional Victoria, offering services and treatments for a range of issues including pelvic pain, contraception and endometriosis.
Casey, Footscray, Sunshine and the Royal Women’s Hospitals are among the 12 Melbourne based sites to receive new or expanded clinics.
Eight hospitals in regional Victoria, including Barwon Health and Mildura Base Hospital, will also see new women’s health clinics rolled out.
The government has also promised to open a dedicated Aboriginal-led health clinic specifically tailored to First Nations’ women.
It will also spend $6.4m to establish nine new sexual and reproductive health hubs across the state, which will provide information and support services surrounding contraception and pregnancy.
The government has pledged $2m to provide $20,000 scholarships for 100 women’s health specialists, supporting training and recruitment at the new clinics.
It will also spend $5.3m on a Mobile Women’s Health Clinic which will service remote parts of the state.
The Premier said this plan would transform women’s healthcare and help destigmatise women’s health issues.
“This is a massive investment, one of the most significant investments that we can make when it comes to providing every Victorian woman with the care and support that she needs,” Mr Andrews said.
“My message to Victorian women with this package is that we hear you and we are going to do more and do better to provide you with the care that you need.”
The health minister said the free services would enable more women to access the specialised services they need.
“This is a real game changing announcement for women. We know that many women suffer in silence because historically, many aspects of women’s health and our biology has not been taken seriously,” Ms Thomas said.
“Be it for period pain, the symptoms of menopause, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome — these are just some of the challenges that women will live with through their life cycle.”
The first of the new woman’s health clinics will begin operating from 2024.
The initiative comes after the Andrews government announced free tampons and pads in public places.
Big numbers flock to ballot box for early voting
A record number of Victorians have rushed to vote ahead of the November 26 election.
The Victorian Electoral Commission confirmed on Monday 115,065 votes were cast as the first day of early voting, a 52 per cent increase on the 2018 election.
The VEC exects more than 50 per cent of Victorians to vote at one of the state’s 155 early voting centres, despite another 11 days of campaigning.
Regardless of when ballots are cast, vote counting will not begin until 6pm on election day.
The record number came despite a glitch that saw 21 early voting centres unable to open from 9am.
Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately blamed a combination of ballot paper printing delays and wet weather.
“It’s disappointing that printing delays, combined with the wet weather has impacted our ability to open every early voting centre on time,” he said.
“However, the 21 early voting centres affected are supplementary early voting centres we added to our standard complement this year.”
All 21 affected early voting centres were located within the Melbourne Metropolitan area.
Tafe fees wiped under premier’s fresh pledge
Up to two million skilled Victorians could study at TAFE for free under a new pledge to expand eligibility requirements.
Daniel Andrews on Monday announced, if Re-elected, his government will scrap the current eligibility criteria and make TAFE courses free to people with qualifications who want to return to study.
Currently, free TAFE is only on offer to people who haven’t completed a higher education course.
This change would mean that anyone with a university degree or an existing TAFE qualification would now be eligible for the scheme.
“The system regards a TAFE qualification as being less than an arts degree,” Mr Andrews said.
“Well I know better, I think everyone does, that the jobs aren’t necessarily in that pathway.
“The jobs are TAFE. That’s where the jobs are running.”
Training and Skills Minister Gayle Tierney said about 2 million people were expected to now be eligible for free TAFE.
Ms Tierney said the government had been working to rebuild the TAFE sector after it was savaged by the Liberal government.
“When it comes to Matthew Guy’s Liberals’ savage cuts, it’s hard to look past TAFE,” she said.
“They put a padlock on our future, bringing our training sector to its knees and snatching the opportunity of a great, highly-skilled job out of the hands of thousands of young Victorians.”
Libs, Labor reveal bill busting pledges
Victorian households are set to save big on their energy bills regardless of which party assumes power in 12 days.
Daniel Andrews on Sunday pledged a second helping of the power saving bonus while launching his party’s official campaign in the safe Labor seat of Cranbourne – which is one of the 18 seats the Liberals must win if they are to form government.
The popular scheme, which has already given 1.6 million households a one-off payment of $250 by comparing energy prices online, would be made available again from March.
It comes after the Coalition vowed to scrap supply charges for six months from January 1, saving households up to $235 on their power bills.
Front and centre of the party’s launch was the commitment to bring back the State Electricity Commission and return the energy market back to public hands.
Mr Andrews, who was welcomed on to the stage to the lyric “bring it back” from the 1998 song Sing it Back, said the plan would drive down the cost of power for all families.
“It’s a reform that will change our state for good,” he said. “Replacing offshore profits with offshore wind – renewable megawatts instead of greedy mega-profits.”
If re-elected, Labor would also overhaul vocational education and add clean energy to the list of TAFE courses offered to students.
“It’ll make our classrooms custodians of our clean energy future – and it’ll mean our kids finish school with a headstart in a hands-on profession,” Mr Andrews said, adding that of the nearly 60,000 jobs expected to be created by the SEC’s revival, 6000 would be dedicated to apprentices. “Across our government schools, at every career night, the SEC will be there, not just looking for the workers of the future, but actively recruiting them,” he added.
“The SEC will help us find the next generation of trades people, maintenance workers, electricians but also welders, painters and mechanics, highly qualified, highly paid, working not for profit, but for people.”
While much of the campaign launch focused on the state’s future energy needs, Mr Andrews also pledged $207m to transform the state’s specialist schools and extend out-of-hours care to all 89 of them.
An NDIS Navigators scheme will also be introduced to provide a one-stop shop for allied health appointments, while more extra-curricular activities – including pools, more companion animals and software to help non-verbal kids express themselves – will be rolled out.
Former premiers John Brumby and Steve Bracks were in attendance at the party’s official launch alongside current Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan and former minister James Merlino. The crowd of about 250 people included current ministers and MPs, family members, volunteers and the trade union movement.
The Premier’s wife Cath – joined on stage by kids Noah, Grace and Joseph – said the leader was the “hardest working person”.
“Sometimes that means we don’t get to have him at home as much as we’d like.”
Guy’s eye on fixing health crisis
Healthcare was top of the agenda for Opposition Leader Matthew Guy on Sunday as he spruiked his plans to divert funds from Victoria’s biggest infrastructure project into the state’s buckling health system.
“Our priority is unashamedly fixing the (health) crisis, first, second and third,” Mr Guy told an energetic sea of blue at a Coalition campaign rally.
While he labelled the decision to scrap the Suburban Rail Loop as “difficult”, he drove home his plan to “redirect every available cent into health”.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier teed up Mr Guy’s speech with a summary of the damage Labor had done to the state’s health system, calling it “without a doubt” the worst healthcare system in the country.
“Our priority is clear, we will fix the healthcare crisis that Daniel Andrews has created,” she said.
Mr Guy, who got a red carpet-style entrance with wife Renae, also used the rally to announce a plan to “turbocharge” gas projects in Victoria, to produce a “secure and affordable” supply of energy.
“It is our view that Victoria must turbocharge gas production and availability, not turn it off,” the Opposition Leader said to a cheering crowd of candidates and party members wearing campaign T-shirts.
“We will legislate to require that 100 per cent of all new gas produced in Victoria is quarantined for Victorian use.”
Former professional tennis player turned Liberal candidate Sam Groth kicked off the launch, which was attended by former premier Ted Baillieu and senator James Paterson, calling November 26 “the most important election in this state in the last 30 years”.
Inside the event at Timber Yard in Port Melbourne, booming music and blue lights and balloons set the mood as attendees scanned the QR codes on the back of the Liberals’ mock-up “frequent liars” cards, which were printed with Mr Andrews’ face along with the name “Mr Denial Andrews”.
Deputy Liberal leader David Southwick using his entire speech to attack the Labor leader.
“He is the worst premier Victoria has ever seen, this man arrogantly running our state like it’s a one-man show,” he said.
“This is a premier who locked us down for 262 days,” he added, sparking a round of booing from the crowd.
Accusing Mr Andrews of “financial vandalism,” Mr Guy pushed the Liberal-Nationals plan to address the state’s projected $166bn debt.
“That’s more than … NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined,” he said.
The event, which attracted more than 300 party loyalists, was crashed by a group in lobster costumes, with signs that said: “You’d be cray-Z to vote Liberal” and “Don’t pinch free kinder!”
The protest was a reference to Liberal leader Matthew Guy’s infamous Lobster Cave dinner with alleged mafia boss Tony Madafferi in 2017.
Guy’s plan to help you save on power bills
Victorians would save on average up to $235 on their power bill next year under a Matthew Guy-led government, with the Coalition pledging to scrap supply charges for six months.
The Opposition Leader committed to the “bill buster” policy at the Liberal party’s campaign launch as cost of living shapes up to be a major election issue.
The latest federal budget predicted power bills could surge by up to 56 per cent over the next year-and-a-half and gas prices are also tipped to increase.
In an effort to deliver hip-pocket relief, Mr Guy will pledge to strike out supply charges for six months starting from January 1 next year.
Household power bills typically include a daily flat fare known as a supply charge.
Fees can be as high as $1.30 per day and much of the money goes to distribution companies who oversee the network.
A Coalition government would seek to have this charge taken off bills for the first six months of next year by paying the distributors directly.
The scheme would then be reviewed before a decision was made on whether to extend it for the rest of 2023.
It is estimated the policy would save households an average of up to $235 and has been costed at $500m by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
“While we are constrained by the record debt racked up by Mr (Daniel) Andrews, rewarding hardworking families is a key priority of ours,” Mr Guy said.
“Our bill buster initiative will allow us to provide modest financial support to Victorian families and small businesses that is affordable and targeted.”
Cost of living has become a key issue in the state election as increased power bills, petrol prices and soaring inflation have hit Victorians’ wallets.
It is now believed to be the biggest issue for many voters, particularly those who already had limited disposable income.
The Liberals have sought to address this with its energy bill plan and by pledging $2 daily public transport fares and halving V/line fares.
Stamp duty would also be removed for first-home buyers purchasing properties below $1m. Deputy Liberal leader and energy spokesman David Southwick said energy bills were one of the pressing financial concerns for families.
“Combined with our plan for flat $2 public transport, freezing fixed household water charges and providing healthy lunches in public schools, an elected Matt Guy Liberal and Nationals Government will save the average family more than $6,000 on their cost of living,” he said.
Labor have pledged to revive the State Electricity Commission to invest in renewable generation, expand free kinder and want to cap V/line fares at $9.20.
Early voting for the state election begins on Monday and both parties are holding campaign launches in Melbourne on Sunday.
Greens call for cap on rent increases
A Greens plan for sweeping rent controls in Victoria would see investors vacate the market and reduce supply for tenants, a prominent property group warns.
The left wing party, which hopes to hold the balance of power after the November 26 state election, wants a blanket cap on rent increases of a wage index currently worth 2.4 per cent.
Policy documents say Melbourne’s rents increased an average 7.5 per cent in the past financial year, and that there are few options available to tenants who can’t afford increases while there is a “record low vacancy rate”.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Quentin Kilian said if the policy became reality it would actually make vacancy rates worse, because many investors would sell.
“Rent controls are never, ever a solution … rental providers would pack up and leave,” he said.
“The solution is supply, creating that balance between supply and demand.”
Mr Kilian said areas around the world where there was rent control often had substandard maintenance programs, and that when rental caps were removed there was rapid “catch up” that hit home hard.
“This is really moving into Cuban, Venezuelan territory,” he said.
“(Investors) will say I’m packing up and leaving, you can’t dictate to me what to do, and then go and sell.”
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said she was not surprised that the “real estate lobby” was against rent restrictions but said action was needed because “the market is out of control”.
“We’re hearing every day from renters who turned up to open for inspections to see 50 other applicants and illegal rent bidding in the front yard,” she said.
“Dan Andrews needs the Greens in parliament to hold his nerve when the real estate industry tries to put their profits ahead of people’s homes”.
The Greens’ rental policy has caused headaches for Labor in inner city areas, where they are trying to defend marginal electorates.
One Labor insider said although the market intervention was unworkable and wouldn’t be adopted, it was a popular idea among younger voters.
Greens MPs currently hold the electorates of Melbourne, Brunswick and Prahran in the lower house, and the party is pouring resources into Richmond, Albert Park, and Northcote in the hope of expanding its influence.
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.