Meanwhile, in Victoria: CFA chief Joe Buffone quits

Joe Buffone resigned today over the union deal row, with an explosive statement and a Disney quote.

The CFA’s chief officer, Joe Buffone, resigned from his role this morning with an explosive statement putting the blame at the feet of the union-friendly deal Daniel Andrews’ government is determined to foist on the firefighting agency.

He also left us with a final word on Twitter posting a quote from Roy Disney, the son of Disney co-founder Roy Disney: “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”

Quote for the day! pic.twitter.com/c2vMgVKiKC

— Joe Buffone (@JoeBVic) June 25, 2016

While Buffone is abandoning ship, it does indeed seem a morally justifiable decision for him to make, exploiting the last bit of leverage he had left to try to try to shock the government and its board into rethinking this agreement and the degree of power it hands the United Firefighters Union.

CFA Chief Officer Joe Buffone

“I am now in circumstances where my ability to effectively carry out my role is compromised by an industrial agreement,’’ Buffone said in the statement confirming his departure.

“In addition, it impedes my vision for CFA as a modern, contemporary and inclusive emergency service. I believe the agreement will tie the hands of those who are obliged by law to protect the safety of Victorians.”

His words are expected to fall on deaf ears in the Premier’s office, where the incumbent is showing an unusual degree of obstinacy in defiance of pretty much everyone except for the ultra-militant UFU and its firebrand boss Peter Marshall.

Marshall, who has surrendered nothing of substance during this dispute and is intent on transplanting the model that gives him a stifling degree of control over the Metropolitan Fire Brigade on to its rural cousin, will be cheering Buffone’s exit.

Buffone had been a Country Fire Authority volunteer for years and had 25 years’ experience in emergency services, but was immediately attacked by Marshall on his appointment to the job for never having served as a career firefighter.

Now he’s gone, joining the organisation’s respected former CEO Lucinda Nolan, the entire CFA board and the former Emergency Services minister Jane Garrett on the scrapheap.

While there are some ongoing attempts to discredit me in the media today I unequivocally stand by my statement. pic.twitter.com/mem8vbJuAj

— Joe Buffone (@JoeBVic) June 30, 2016

Credlin points to the Victorian status quo

Peta Credlin does not think that any federal seats will change hands in Victoria.

Peta Credlin believes the more volatile electorates of NSW and Queensland, rather than Victoria, are likely to decide the poll. Picture: Robert Edwards/Sky

Credlin told a forum at the University of Melbourne last night that that the state rarely decided the fate of federal elections and believes that status quo will hold firm on Saturday.

The former chief of staff of Tony Abbott said that the more volatile electorates of NSW and Queensland were more likely to decide who will rule the land.

“This isn’t a Victorian race. Victoria has only had four seats in the last 10 years that have changed hands,” she said at her old university, where she completed a law degree.

“We’ve got a lot of focus on Victoria, and everyone is talking up this CFA issue, (but) you’ve only got four seats that have changed hands in the last decade (and) three of those were won by the Coalition art the last election.

“I don’t think the Coalition is in danger of losing any of those three and I think the fourth one, being McEwen held by the Labor Party, is probably likely, even with the CFA, to stay with the Labor Party.”

Greens hit back at Catholics

Greens education spokesman Nick McKim has hit out at the peak Catholic schools body for arguing that the party was bad for Catholic education.

Nick McKim says Catholic schools would get more funding under the Greens’ policy than under Labor or the Liberals. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

National Catholic Education Commission executive director Ross Fox has warned the parents of the faith’s 765,000 Australian students they would face a sharp rise in fees and diminished campuses under the minor party’s agenda.

His warning came after strident attacks in the past week by Victorian Catholic Education Commission chief Stephen Elder, who has appealed to parents to vote Liberal or Labor over the Greens.

Senator McKim rejected the claims and said that Catholic schools would get more funding under the Greens’ policy than under Labor or the Liberals.

“It is extraordinary that the NCEC would criticise the Greens like this when our education policies mean significantly more funding for Catholic schools than either of the old parties,” he said.

“This includes our $4.8 billion policy to support students with disability based on nationally consistent data, which puts to shame anything on offer from Labor or the Coalition.

“It’s a poor reflection on the NCEC that they would attempt to instruct parents of Catholic students to vote for the old parties, whose policies on asylum seekers and global warming are so contrary to Catholic teaching.

“Parents who choose to send their children to Catholic schools are more than capable of making up their own minds on how to vote and do not need a lecture from the NCEC.”

Semantics maketh the senator

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has been the master of semantics in this election campaign.

The conundrum for a minor party is that its electoral gains can often come from policy purity, and the Greens have garnered much of its support from disaffected Labor voters who don’t like the major progressive party fighting for the middle ground.

Richard Di Natale is being both tricky and clever. Picture: Luke Bowden

But if the Greens are going to grow and have a bigger influence then it will have no option but to be an adult party and negotiate, particularly if it is going to have a say on who wins government if there is a hung parliament.

It’s a difficult course to navigate and Senator Di Natale is being both tricky and clever.

This morning on ABC Radio, Senator Di Natale said that if there was a hung parliament the Greens would be strident in demanding no new coal mines if it was to help Labor win power.

But when presenter Jon Faine pushed him, he would not rule out negotiating on the issue if it meant forming a governing coalition.

“They are our positions and we take them into a negotiation,” he admitted.

He has done the same thing on offshore processing.

Earlier in the campaign, Senator Di Natale said that refugee policy would be something that the party would be willing to negotiate with Labor if there was a hung parliament.

When asked if the party would consider agreeing to offshore processing if Labor accepted 50,000 refugees per year, the senator said last month: “That’s something that we will come to if and when there is a close result and the need of negotiations post-election.”

The Australian published the quotes the next day and Senator Di Natale rejected the article.

“Nice try Oz. Our policy on offshore detention is clear. Close the camps. No compromising on that,” he replied on Twitter, while denying there would be a compromise throughout the day.

Yesterday, he was initially defiant when asked if the Greens would consider negotiating on offshore processing if the election was a draw.

“We won’t accept offshore processing. It needs to stop. We think that we need to have those camps closed,” he said.

But he softened when asked if the party would refuse to form government with Labor if it would not budge on offshore processing.

He was asked if the party would be would consider budging on onshore processing if Labor gave in to some of their own refugee demands.

“This is a hypothetical but we have said this will be the starting point of any negotiation. It is a negotiation,” Senator Di Natale said.

“That is what a negotiation means. We will put forward these issues as part of our costed policy platform to the Labor Party in the event of a close election result. Then we will take it from there.”