Treasurer Tim Pallas slams Prime Minister for ‘mean-spirited’ tradie support snub
Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has returned fire on his Victorian counterpart Tim Pallas over his claims tradies were abandoned in their time of need.
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Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has fired back at Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, over his claims Prime Minister Scott Morrison abandoned tradies and gave the NSW construction industry preferential treatment.
Mr Frydenberg said the claims were “not supported by the facts”, with a total of $50.2bn in support provided to Victoria since the pandemic began, which was more than any other state on a per capita basis.
“The Morrison government is currently delivering around twice the amount of economic support to Victorian households and businesses than the state government is providing,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“The Morrison government has paid $2.8b to around 700,000 Victorians through the Covid disaster payment. It is a demand driven program. Victoria’s recent lockdown has gone for just over eight weeks, whereas NSW has been in lockdown for over 13 weeks.”
He said construction workers out of a job still had access to the nationally-funded Covid disaster payment.
“The Morrison government has stood with Victorians every step of the way through this crisis. The vaccination targets of 70-80 per cent are now in sight enabling the economy to safely reopen and Victorians to get their lives back,” he added.
Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith said Mr Pallas’ claims were “a complete lie”.
“On another day where Victoria’s had its highest ever number of daily cases throughout this pandemic, we get yet another shameless and grubby diversion from the Treasurer desperately trying to blame the federal government,” Mr Smith said.
“This idea that Victoria has somehow been short changed is complete and utter fallacy and lie.”
Mr Pallas slammed the federal government on Saturday morning for abandoning Victoria’s construction sector at its lowest point.
He said the federal government broke its “well-established” principle of co-funding business support packages despite having funded NSW construction businesses during their recent shut down.
“This is churlish, mean-spirited behaviour,” he said.
“The first opportunity they had to run away from their responsibilities, they took.
“It’s up to a Josh Frydenberg and the Prime Minister to explain why construction businesses in Victoria have been treated differently to those in NSW.”
More than 70,000 construction businesses impacted by the construction shutdown are set to receive a one-off support payment.
As part of a new state government $196.6m fund, one off cash grants will be made to eligible businesses – including sole traders – impacted by the restrictions period from September 21 to October 4.
It includes businesses across Melbourne, the City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire and Mitchell Shire.
Eligible non-employing sole trader businesses will receive a one-off $2000 payment, which would increase to $2800 for business with an annual payroll of up to $650,000, $5600 for a payroll of $650,000 to $3m and $8400 for businesses with a payroll of up to $10m.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the grants would have been doubled if the Commonwealth government hadn’t refused to contribute to the Victorian construction industry.
Mr Pallas lashed the federal government, who provided New South Wales’ construction industry with targeted support when it shut down earlier this year.
“It’s blatant favourable treatment to NSW,” he said.
“Now again we find ourselves in a position where Victorian businesses have been abandoned by their federal government.
“If the Prime Minister wants us to stop calling him the Prime Minister for NSW, well he needs to stop acting like it.”
Speaking about his federal counterpart, Josh Frydenberg, Mr Pallas said: “He’s from Victoria, but he’s certainly not for Victorians”.
“The Federal government left people behind when they needed it most,” he added.
“This is churlishness, this is mean spirited behaviour and it hurts an industry that doesn’t deserve this.”
Data released this week shows NSW received $6.15bn in Covid-19 Disaster Payments, compared to just 2.40bn in Victoria.
It comes as Victoria reported a spike in cases, with 1488 new local infections on Saturday.
The spike brings the total number of active cases across the state to 11,591.
Two more people with COVID-19 have died.
On Friday, 71,224 Victorians turned out to get tested, while 36,878 vaccines were administered in state hubs.
The daily tally is Victoria’s highest for the whole pandemic.
Of the 71 new local cases detected in regional Victoria on Saturday, 10 were found in the now-locked down Shepparton.
Six are linked across four households, with some of the positive cases attending a Grand Final party with 17 people.
NEW DEAL FOR VICTORIA’S BUS NETWORK
Victoria’s bus network will transition to a zero-emissions fleet, with the government awarding a new contract for a third of the metropolitan network.
Kinetic, which operates SkyBus and runs local bus routes across Australia and New Zealand, has been awarded the $2.3bn contract from January 31 2022.
It will remain in place until June 2031.
Thirty-six fully electric buses will be introduced to the network by mid-2025, including five by June next year.
It’s part of a push to jump start the state government’s pledge for all new public transport buses to be zero-emissions from 2025.
More than half of the franchise fleet - 341 of the 537 buses - will be replaced with low or zero emissions over the franchise term.
The franchise, currently operated by Transdev, transports millions of passengers each year across 50 key bus routes.
The contrast with Kinetic is set to see a boost in “operational performance” and deliver greater reliability with a strong focus on customer outcomes and increased in cleaning.
Key workers at Transdev, including about 1100 bus drivers, will be offered employment with Kinetic.
Melbourne-based Kinetic began with one bus about 50 years ago. They bought SkyBus in 2014 and now operate urban, regional, school and support bus services across Australia and New Zealand.
Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said: “We are jump starting our push for a zero-emissions bus fleet in Victoria to benefit the environment and help build our engineering, design and manufacturing expertise in these emerging technologies.
Mr Carroll said buses had been the “most resilient” public transport service coming out of the pandemic.
Almost 90 per cent of Victorians live within 400 metres of a bus stop.
FORMER PREMIER’S WARNING ABOUT COVID RECOVERY
Victorian premier Ted Baillieu warned that the state’s post-pandemic economy will notrebound quickly and that recovery could take between 10 and 15 years.
“I don’t think we’re going to get a bounce back. We’re going to need a rebuild, using football terms,’’ Mr Baillieu told an online summit of state leaders.
Mr Baillieu was one of four ex-premiers to address the VECCI summit on the state’s path out of the Covid pandemic.
Mr Baillieu said the state’s character and strengths would ultimately overcome the “economic catastrophe”.
Steve Bracks said he was optimistic of a quick economic comeback and that it would be a V-shaped turnaround.
And John Brumby told the summit that the state’s greatest challenge after the pandemic was meeting skills demands, especially in the health sector.
“Firstly, 53 per cent of all new jobs in Australia are going to require a university degree and 10 per cent are going to require a diploma. And that’s going to be the engine room of economic growth.
“The second thing is that one in every four new jobs will be in health and related industries.’’
These jobs would meet demands caused by the ageing population, Covid-related backlogs and NDIS growth, he said.
“I’m not sure any government in Australia is on top of this issue about the extraordinary demand and the shortages that are going to occur in this space over the next two years if we don’t do something truly transformative.’’
In framing Victoria’s outlook, Mr Brumby evoked the memory of former US president Abraham Lincoln, saying that the best way “to predict the future is to create it”.
Jeff Kennett said the burden of the state’s $170bn debt was a major concern.
“We don’t have the capacity as a state to earn the revenue to pay that off within the next 20, 30 years.’’
Mr Kennett also identified population drift as an issue and also called for a state-managed loan scheme to help small businesses to fight back.
He floated again a previous idea of merging Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania as one administrative force to increase efficiencies.
He also decried a lack of common purpose across the nation and also urged Australia to increase its presence in Asia as a stepping stone to the world.
VECCI chief executive Paul Guerra said the summit aimed to bring the state’s thought leaders together to plot a path to recovery, preserving the state’s strengths while detecting new opportunities for growth.
“All of us want a better Victoria,’’ he said.
RAPID TESTS ‘KEY PILLAR’ OF REOPENING
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp is calling on all levels of government to work together to deliver rapid antigen testing to the events sector, dubbing the technology a “key pillar in Melbourne’s renaissance”.
Ms Capp said the country could not waste another minute when it came to introducing the testing kits.
“Australia is already late to the party,” she said. “We have been watching closely as these tests have been utilised overseas to facilitate COVIDSafe events and reopen larger businesses.”
The Lord Mayor said the kits – in conjunction with high vaccination rates and QR codes – would see the City of Melbourne hold its premier events “with confidence”.
“The arrival of these tests aligns perfectly with the Spring Racing Carnival, Christmas and New Year’s Eve,” she said.
The rollout of the technology would see event attendees wait about 15 minutes for results before safely entering venues.
HELP FOR MENTAL HEALTH
Free pop-up clinics are now open to help Victorians struggling with their mental health because of Covid lockdowns.
Last month, the Andrews government announced it would boost its support network with 20 new clinics and eight of these are up and running.
It comes as demand for mental health services has surged during the pandemic and added extra strain on the already overburdened system.
Under the rollout, three new Cohealth clinics will open in Melton, Kensington and Sunshine.
Other organisations will open their own additional pop-up centres in Ringwood, Ballarat, Frankston, Mildura and St Kilda.
“Just two weeks after we announced a boost to mental health services, almost half of our pop-up centres are ready to open their doors to any Victorian who needs support through this challenging time,” Mental Health Minister James Merlino said.
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“With the remaining pop-up clinics coming online across Melbourne and regional Victoria in the coming weeks, we aren’t wasting a moment responding to increased demand and making sure people get the right care, close to home.”
Each clinic will provide telehealth and in-person appointments and provide some walk-in sessions where possible.
They are part of a $22m commitment to fast-track specialist care for those needing mental health support and reduce the burden on emergency departments while Covid cases increase.
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