Credit: Matt Golding
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TIM PALLAS
Sure, it was one of the toughest jobs, being treasurer through COVID. Tim Pallas has also been a great servant of the Labor Party. However, he has left the state indebted for decades (“Pallas’ departure leaves Allan with mounting headaches”, 16/12). Sure, some of the infrastructure has been worthwhile, particularly rail crossing removals, the metro and West Gate Tunnel, but the brakes need to be pressed. While the Suburban Rail Loop seems an important piece of work, the state cannot afford it right now. I feel like Labor is likely to lose the Werribee byelection in a landslide, which will be the beginning of the end for the Allan government.
Jon Aloni, Bentleigh
Cost of playing catch-up
It frustrates me when people say that we are at the highest debt levels we have had in Victoria. Under Henry Bolte our debt was at 57 per cent of our gross state product levels. It’s only half of that now. Though I am not a fan of Bolte’s politics, he saw there was a need for massive infrastructure spend, in particular due to postwar migration. He built thousands of commission houses, the commission towers, Tullamarine Freeway, underground loop, massive school development and so on. The Labor government in 2014 saw we had not kept up, so the massive infrastructure spend is to make up for the lack of spending, in particular during the Kennett years.
Phillip Spencer, Donnybrook
Spends and leaves
If Tim Pallas had been the economic manager of a private company, he may have been fired years ago based on his performance. In government he’s allowed to just walk away leaving Victoria $155 billion in debt.
Ron Mather, Melbourne
Spending that saved us
During the worst of COVID, premier Dan Andrews announced expenditure to help Victorians on an almost daily basis. As people were becoming very ill, hospitalised and dying, he announced assistance for small business with grants, for students in the form of laptops and later extra tutors to help students catch up, for those who needed to isolate after being a close contact of a COVID sufferer, or contracted COVID and much more. There was the cost of testing, vaccination centres, free RATs, employing contact tracers etc. Then there was the increased borrowing for infrastructure projects, with respected economists and the Reserve Bank saying this government needed to borrow to keep the economy from crashing, particularly as interest rates were low. When the legacy of treasurer Tim Pallas is being debated, we need to remember how much of Victorian debt is due to a worldwide pandemic.
Louise Kloot, Doncaster
Spending money we don’t have
Government treasurers used to attend to ongoing commitments such as hospitals, schools etc first. Taxing was arranged on a far fairer basis. Then they looked at the available surplus and offered amounts to department managers to spend wisely. An example was the M80 Ring Road. The reservations of land had been planned decades earlier. It was built a section at a time, from one intersection to the next. One day the final stage was joined up and we had a fantastic piece of infrastructure. And without tolls. Since then, governments have become more dictatorial, announcing electorally appealing projects without organising funding first and bowing to the approaches of toll operators, leaving an almighty money mess. Oh, to throw out the current spendthrifts.
Ian Payne, Epping
A builder or a wrecker?
Jeff Kennett closed schools, sold the land in places where now there’s a shortage of schools, and privatised electricity for “cheaper” energy. Tim Pallas, as treasurer, oversaw scores of level crossings removed, new schools built, the start of the SRL, the North East Link and the Metro Tunnel. Infrastructure which will be here for generations. I know what I’d rather have.
George Djoneff, Mitcham
THE FORUM
Winding road to nuclear
We have watched the Coalition spend years denying the reality of global warming and discrediting, ridiculing and belittling the science, scientists, and those who advocated for action on it. Despite being advocates of free markets it got rid of a major market mechanism to address greenhouse gas emissions – a price on carbon implemented by the Labor government in 2012.
Eventually acknowledging global warming was occurring, the Coalition then offered carbon capture and storage as a solution, which would allow the ongoing use of coal and gas, but the method has not been proven as economically viable. When it came to renewables, it did give us Snowy 2.0, though it has been beset by problems and its initial cost of $2billion in 2017 has been revised to $12 billion.
Now, with nuclear energy, Peter Dutton tells us the Coalition is serious about addressing a problem that it spent years telling us didn’t exist, but will do little to address it for another 15 to 20 years. Meanwhile taxpayers will be saddled with the risks of a technology and industry notorious for cost and construction time blowouts, and countless future generations with the legacy of nuclear sites and radioactive waste.
Oddly Dutton’s modelling to support his nuclear argument, assumes little uptake of electric vehicles by 2050 and little expansion of renewables. If it was the year 1910 he would be investing in the horse-drawn carriage industry.
Rod Eldridge, Derrinallum
Battery power
Your correspondent (“ALP hysterical nonsense”, Letters, 16/12) makes the argument that massive daytime residential solar system output will cause all sorts of problems (instability, blackouts) with the statewide electricity distribution system. Apart from the questionable assumption that the grid operator will not be able to cope with this excess, it misses the key role that can and will be played by batteries, especially but not only EV car batteries, in soaking up that excess and feeding it back into the grid when needed, primarily at the evening peak time when the sun is not shining.
Standalone residential batteries are currently not strictly financially viable but as their cost comes down they will be, especially given that the excess power fed back into the grid in the evening peak will likely attract a far higher tariff than the current miserable feed-in tariff that most of us get.
There is also a huge potential for the same thing to be done with EV car batteries – excess solar power charging them during the day that can be fed back into the grid at night.
Julian Higgs, Healesville
Dreams and dramas
All this talk about nuclear is beginning to feel a lot like a very long episode of Grand Designs. The endless uncertainty around who’s paying, health and safety, government regulations, the look, strained relationships, exhausted/confused workers, and most importantly the time and cost blowouts have me imagining Kevin McCloud will stride in at any moment – and he won’t be happy.
Meanwhile, cut to the CSIRO, the Australian Energy Regulator and the Climate Change Authority who all agree that an energy “system built on renewables will lead to lower power prices for households and business compared to nuclear” (“Dutton’s nuclear plan punishes users, hurts economy” 17/12). In this cost-of-living crisis, we could all do with some certainty, predictability, and fewer Grand Designs pipe-dreams. I want clean, reliable, low-cost energy now.
Karen Campbell, Geelong
A penny saved
Peter Dutton suggests that his nuclear fantasy is required to provide baseload power, especially at night. When I observe the huge light pollution from my home 80 kilometres north-west of Melbourne at night, I can’t help thinking how much power would be saved if we simply switched off unnecessary electrical appliances and lights. It is much easier to conserve a kilowatt than to produce it in the first place. And don’t get me started on black roofs and new houses facing the wrong way.
We don’t need nuclear power. Good new house design and the retrofitting of older houses to give them better energy efficiency will remove the need for gigawatts of outrageously expensive nuclear power.
Bruce Hedge, Newham
Charge barriers
Your report “Miguel bought an EV. Then his block wouldn’t allow him to charge it” (14/12) highlights a problem that will only grow with the uptake of EVs. There is a simplistic view that expecting owners’ corporations to allow or provide charging facilities in multi-unit dwellings for EVs is like expecting them to provide or allow petrol bowsers in the car park for petrol-fuelled cars.
The big difference of course is the long time it takes to re-fuel/charge an EV (even with fast charging stations) versus the relatively short time for petrol cars and the proliferation of petrol stations versus scarce charging stations. It will only be a matter of time before the government will have to address this and it will be difficult. Running a dedicated charging feed from an owner’s or renters apartment load centre (fuse box) to their basement car park is not practical and potentially dangerous and risks the car park ceiling resembling a “rat nest” of cables.
One solution is for owners’ corps to invest in large numbers of fast charging bays. This is unlikely in anything other than new developments for now, as petrol car owners won’t want to subsidise the EV owners. Another option is for commercially based charging stations to be established on common property.
But the dilemma does not end there. What about those who live in a house without off-street parking? How are they going to charge their EV in the street from home and benefit from solar panels on their roof? Councils won’t allow charging cables run over footpaths. Perhaps some form of retractable overhead boom might be a solution? I have seen at least one person running their charging cable through the stormwater drain leading to the gutter and retracting the plug into the outlet when not in use. Innovative but fraught with danger.
Mike Mack, Kew
Health costs of heat
As Victoria heats up (“Victoria on edge as ‘catastrophic’ conditions hit”, 16/12), we must recognise and prepare for both bushfire risk and the damaging health risks of heatwaves, a silent killer. It is good to know the next major update of the Australian Burden of Disease Study report in 2026 will finally include new risk factors from climate change. Perhaps the late response is evidence of brain melts from high temperatures.
Tania Cossich, East Brighton
Getting on with it
Your report, “Pesutto leadership on the line as he faces special party room meeting” (16/12) reads like a script that we have seen many times in politics. It seems unlikely that there will be a challenge on Friday, but the process has been set in motion with the resignation of Sam Groth from the shadow cabinet.
Moira Deeming has very powerful backers outside the parliamentary party and it is difficult to see how John Pesutto can take the party to the 2026 election with any semblance of unity.
The Liberal Party needs to do something radical. Perhaps the moderates should resign from the party and sit as crossbench independents. This would leave the opposition, who are intent on fighting culture wars as a single-digit rump, while the rest of us can get on with a focus on infrastructure, health and education.
Peter Farrar, Brighton East
Council conflict
Re: “Queen Vic’s trader’s donation sparks conflict fear” (17/12), it is not unusual for a team member to contribute financially to their team. However, there is an obvious murky swirl around conflict of interest, not only in relation to Vic Market with a trader on council. Let’s not ignore that councillors have worked in universities (which are major businesses in this city); own properties (while making decisions on Airbnbs, nightclub permits or car parking space requirements); and have been associated with unions or run restaurants. So many councillors over the years have owned premises or have been linked to organisations clearly advantaged or disadvantaged by council decisions (traffic diversion, on-street parking, on airspace). Even the placement of public toilets. We need to take a serious look at this vexed area of local government decision making.
Liz Aird, Princes Hill
Refugee protections
It would be a wonderful thing for the Australian prime minister to match the compassion shown by the Indonesian prime minister to the remaining Bali Nine convicted prisoners.
It is within the power of Anthony Albanese to give permanent protection in Australia to the desperate refugees never charged or convicted yet imprisoned for years simply to warn others not to seek refuge here. After 11 years, surely it’s time to grant these innocent ones their freedom and safe haven.
Jean Ker Walsh, Woodend
Undies on display
Whenever I read about public housing towers, (“Architects release more details over new tower’s design”, 16/12) or plans for high-rise buildings, I look to see whether there is any mention of the need, or provision for environmentally acceptable laundry facilities for the tenants. To my mind this would mean a communal area dedicated to washing and drying clothes, just like they do in apartments in the northern hemisphere. Living where I do, it’s not unusual to see balconies being the only option for drying clothes. Think how much greener, and aesthetically pleasing it would be if balconies were for displaying plants instead of flapping underwear.
Eva Millane, Box Hill North
AND ANOTHER THING
Credit: Matt Golding
Nuclear plan
Your correspondent hits the nail right on the head. Peter Dutton doesn’t have a leg to stand on with regards to his nuclear costings. There are two estimates out there. His and the CSIRO’s. I know the CSIRO is independent and scientific. His is not.
Frank Flynn, Cape Paterson
Isn’t Dutton’s nuclear plan just a way to go back to the 1950s?
Hans Paas, Castlemaine
There are people who believe the world is flat despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Similarly, there are no doubt people who believe Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan will be cheaper and deliver lower electricity bills.
Phil Alexander, Eltham
Tim Pallas
“A treasurer’s first responsibility is supposed to be the financial health of the state”, Chip Le Grand writes (“Victoria treasurer needed to have a little more ego and a much bigger bucket”, 17/12). In that respect Tim Pallas was the fox guarding the hen house.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills
If only the state’s finances were as good as Pallas’ retirement benefits.
Bruce Severns, Toorak
One would have to seriously wonder about anyone who stands in front of the media and proclaims what an honour it is to have been appointed the new treasurer.
Gerry Lonergan, Reservoir
At least we were spared a Pallas coup.
Les Aisen, Elsternwick
Furthermore
It’s not only the biblical “physician, heal thyself” (Letters, 17/12) but the Shakespearean “unkindest cut” for surgeons to be allegedly milking the system. Healthcare should be based on more than profits.
Jenifer Nicholls, Windsor
The insanity of a bomb that registers on the Richter scale. It beggars belief about what’s next.
Denis Evans, Coburg
Ex-AFL players Michael Voss and now Sav Rocca chasing down alleged criminals! Tackling skills are still useful, and no match review officer, to boot.
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill
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To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.