Victorian election: ‘Daniel Andrews delivers for his inner circle’
Analysis backs up claims that Victoria’s Premier is prioritising favouritism, factionalism and electoral advantage in spending pledges.
Senior Labor sources have accused Daniel Andrews’ office of prioritising favouritism, factionalism and electoral advantage over need, declaring an audit of election promises would leave his government “just as exposed” as the Morrison government was over “sports rorts”.
Less than a month from the November 26 election, The Australian’s analysis of election promises listed on the ALP campaign website danandrews.com.au backs up claims from Labor MPs and senior party figures that MPs who are seen as close to the Premier’s private office have disproportionately benefited from spending pledges and visits by Mr Andrews.
“Most of the announcements to date have been all about who’s close to him (the Premier),” said one senior Labor source.
Asked whether there were parallels with the sports rorts scandal, which saw the Australian National Audit Office find the Morrison government had overwhelmingly funded community sport infrastructure in marginal or targeted electorates ahead of the 2019 election, the Labor source said: “If you were to get an independent assessment done on where the most acute health needs are and where hospitals need to be built, it would find massive holes in their (the Andrews government’s) health asset program.
“They would be just as exposed (as the Morrison government was on sports rorts).
“They’ve announced a couple of upgrades in areas that actually need it, but he’s building Taj Mahals in areas that don’t. People’s bullshit radar is right up.
“Our two fastest-growing corridors, the north and the southwest, probably need an additional new hospital each.
“These are the parts of Victoria where the cracks in our society were really exposed during the pandemic, and instead the government’s funnelling money into parts of Victoria and Melbourne that didn’t feel the brunt of it nearly as much.”
The senior Labor source said it was a similar story with road infrastructure, offering the example of “removing eight level crossings in (Greens-held, inner-city) Brunswick while you have an infrastructure crisis in growth corridors”.
“Melbourne’s growth corridors are facing an infrastructure crisis and, to be blunt, the government’s pretty much responsible for it,” the source said.
Water and Equality Minister and upper house MP for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing and MP for the ultra-marginal seat of Bayswater, Jackson Taylor, are seen as key among the Premier’s “favourites”.
In a register of interests lodged with parliament in July, in a section for politicians to declare “any other interests you have that could give rise to, or reasonably be seen to give rise to, a conflict of interest”, Ms Shing confirmed she was the partner of the Premier’s chief of staff, Lissie Ratcliff.
“It’s the process, the lack of communication, and perceived picking of favourites, or people who are PPO faction or PPO cabal and are doing the major announcements with Dan,” another senior Labor source said.
“It’s very annoying for candidates who’ve worked so hard to put in their election bids to be ignored completely or given stuff they didn’t ask for. It’s not a left-right thing. People are describing it as PPO favourites versus everyone else. If you look at the amount Bayswater has got versus other seats that are truly on a pathway to victory it seems odd, and in Eastern Victoria, where we have no winnable seats, we’ve spent a fair bit of money.”
Mr Taylor holds the Melbourne seat of Bayswater with a margin of just 0.7 per cent, and is being challenged by Liberal Nick Wakeling, after Mr Wakeling’s neighbouring seat of Ferntree Gully was abolished.
So far, Labor’s promises for Bayswater include $60m to upgrade a train station, $11.07m to upgrade Bayswater South Primary School, $900,000 to expand Kent Park Primary, $490,000 to build a dog park, $100,000 for local not-for-profit Knox Infolink and $50,000 towards a pavilion at Fairpark Reserve. The $72.8m total equates to $1455 for each of the 50,010 voters in the electorate.
A re-elected Labor government will redevelop and expand Maroondah Hospital from the ground up.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) September 18, 2022
It will be renamed in honour of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Taylor was also present when Mr Andrews announced Labor would spend up to $1.05bn upgrading the Maroondah Hospital and renaming it after Queen Elizabeth II in the neighbouring seat of Ringwood. The Premier also chose to visit suburban Bayswater to announce plans to spend $170m on three aged-care facilities in regional Victoria.
Several of the Premier’s key announcements have either been made in, or had significant implications for, Ms Shing’s seat of Eastern Victoria, despite few of the overlapping seats being regarded as winnable for Labor. Mr Andrews travelled to Drouin East in West Gippsland to announce plans to spend $610m-$675m on a hospital, making the announcement in the safe Liberal seat of Narracan, where Labor has not preselected a candidate. He was flanked by Ms Shing and candidate for the nearby seat of Morwell Kate Maxwell.
A spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said: “Labor is doing what matters for all Victorians.”
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