Victorian voters would dump Andrews government today, Galaxy poll shows

EXCLUSIVE: Up to 15 Labor MPs would lose their seats and Victorians would dump the ­Andrews Government if an election was held today, a damning new poll shows.

The Andrews Government has slumped in the latest poll, with one-fifth of voters backing Public Transport Minister Jacinta as a potential Labor leader. Picture: Sarah Matray

UP TO 15 Labor MPs would lose their seats and Victorians would dump the Andrews Government if an election was held today, a damning new poll shows.

Regional voters are snubbing the government, with more than half saying the state is headed in the wrong direction and 58 per cent saying Premier Daniel Andrews is not doing enough for country jobs.

The Galaxy poll of 815 people shows Labor’s primary vote at 33 per cent, trailing the coalition 47-53 on a two-party basis.

Premier Daniel Andrews is struggling in the latest poll. Picture: Rob Blakers

The poll was privately commissioned by a national group that did not wish to be identified, and the methodology and results have been verified.

Results are likely to send shockwaves through Labor, but this morning ministers dismissed the polls resluts.

Police Minister Lisa Neville said there was little value in commenting in polls.

“I certainly don’t comment on a poll that people don’t put their name to,” she said.

Ms Neville said she was concentrating on delivering a bigger investment on police

Treasurer Tim Pallas said he never has and never will comment on polls.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said polls come and go and the government was willing to stand on its record.

The government’s poor poll results come after it conceded it did not have the numbers to get its controversial CFA restructure through the State Parliament this week.

Instead, a parliamentary committee will examine the bill, meaning it will be stalled until at least August.

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In February, a Galaxy/Herald Sun poll that showed a 51-49 result in favour of the government, falling from a 52-48 result in November last year.

Galaxy managing director David Briggs said “things are heading in the wrong direction for Daniel Andrews’’.

Mr Briggs said the difference between country and city views was part of a wider picture, also seen in Queensland.

“It is like there is a two-speed economy and the people in regional Victoria really feel the brunt of it and don’t feel very much love coming from the state government,” he said.

The results come after high profile job losses in the Latrobe Valley, when the Hazelwood power station was shut down, and amid looming job losses at Heyfield timber mill in Gippsland.

The government has offered a worker transition program for Hazelwood workers, has been trying to buy the Heyfield mill to save 260 staff.

The Hazelwood power station in Victoria's La Trobe Valley has closed after 52 years of operation.

Heyfield Mill workers marching over the mill closure and loss of jobs. Picture: Jason Edwards

POLL: VOTERS THINK VIC HAS BECOME LESS SAFE UNDER DANIEL ANDREWS

In a glimmer of good news for Mr Andrews, he is still preferred premier with 41 per cent backing him compared to 29 per cent for Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.

But when it comes to who is the best leader of the ALP, Mr Andrews got 29 per cent support compared to 21 per cent who backed Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan, while almost one in five who wanted “someone else”, and a third were uncommitted.

The latest poll comes as the government revealed it had so far failed to get enough support to pass its controversial fire services restructure bill this week.

CFA firefighters outraged over Labor’s handling of the fire services issue

Last night it said it would “support the establishment of a select committee tomorrow to give the cross bench more time to consider this legislation.”

The embarrassing blow for the premier comes after another heated debate in parliament when the state opposition accused the government of offering “inducements” to crossbench MPs — a claim Emergency Services Minister James Merlino denied.

NEW FIRE SERVICES BILL DELAYED FOR WEEKS

VOLUNTEERS FIRED UP ON CFA CHANGES

Paid firefighters rallied in Federation Square today in support of the laws, while United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall spoke at the Rural Press Club and denied the bill was “a union takeover” and was more about safety.

Industrial Relations Minister Natalie Hutchins revealed today a new Fire Rescue Victoria EBA was already being developed, and “as a basis of that is the prior CFA agreement that was struck last year”.

That deal sparked the crisis that saw the CFA board sacked after fears were raised that new veto powers for the UFU could stymie operational decisions.