Victoria Police: Top brass could face vote of no confidence amid ongoing pay dispute

Victoria Police command may soon face a vote of no confidence by angry members as tensions boil over in the long-running pay dispute, after officers gate crashed a media event by Ben Carroll.

Victoria Police command could face a vote of no confidence by angry members amid an escalation in their long-running pay dispute.

Tensions boiled over on Tuesday as police, including the air wing, gate crashed a press conference by acting Premier Ben Carroll.

Now the Herald Sun can reveal rank and file members are canvassing a potential vote of no confidence in force command over the issue.

Such a move would mirror a similar move by paramedics before they settled their own long running pay dispute.

Victoria Police and the police union will return to the Fair Work Commission this week which has already refused to intervene in the pay war.

It means force and the state government will have to resume talks with the union - which is fighting for a six per cent pay rise each year for the next four years - about how to settle this dispute.

On Monday chief commissioner Shane Patton told members he had recently met with new Treasurer Jaclyn Symes to discuss the dispute.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told members he had recently met with new Treasurer Jaclyn Symes to discuss the dispute. Picture: NewsWire

“Rest assured we are working hard to resolve the EBA as we truly value the work you all do,” he said.

Mr Patton also revealed the timeline for an organisational review into the force had blown out, with no further updates expected until March.

The force is facing a massive organisational restructure in a bid to find tens of millions of dollars in savings amid increasing budget pressures.

The move would aim to boost the number of frontline police on the beat while stripping back corporate roles and executive positions to keep its $4.5bn budget in check.

As Mr Carroll prepared to front the media in Werribee - where the government is campaigning ahead of next month’s by-election - two police cars remained parked outside the centre for the duration of his visit, while the AirWing circled laps from above in a defiant minutes-long display.

The government was ultimately forced to move the location of its press conference in a bid to avoid having police cars – sprawled with slogans about poor work conditions – appear in footage being captured by news cameras.

Constable Karlaine Taylor, Senior Constable Grace Buckley and acting Sergeant Mark Bradley took their pay fight to the acting Premier at Wallaby Childcare. Picture: Supplied

Constable Karlaine Taylor, who was able to talk to the Herald Sun as part of protected industrial action, said the long-running pay dispute was now “beyond a joke”.

Her colleague, senior constable Grace Buckley said the saga was “obviously impacting” Victoria Police’s recruitment woes.

“What people are seeing is the slogans on our cars saying there’s an issue,” she said.

“So why would they want to join? And why would people want to stick around?

Police union boss Wayne Gatt said the crew in the chopper were “probably searching for a fair pay rise to be honest”.

“At the end of the day they want this dispute to come to an end quickly but they’ve come to realise the only place the government is probably going to listen to them is in the electorate of Werribee because their letters aren’t being returned, their phone calls aren’t being answered,” he said.

Speaking from Werribee police station, Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the “war on Victoria Police” must come to an end.

Mr Carroll said the government is “committed to giving our police every resource, including a pay rise”.

“We want to see this resolved,” he said.

Victoria Police said it was making inquiries about why the AirWing was used.