Election pledges home to roost

IF the first few months of Ted Baillieu's new government were the "honeymoon period",  then this past four weeks has been when  reality hit.

IF the first few months of Ted Baillieu's new government were the "honeymoon period", where the Coalition, still sleep-deprived over its unexpected victory, had been settling in while everyone else was in holiday mode, then this past four weeks has been when reality hit.

As the Liberal Premier prepares to mark his first 100 days in office next week, the new ministers are now getting a true glimpse of the task ahead of them to implement all that they promised to the Victorian public.

When Inquirer spoke with Baillieu in late January about what he wanted achieve in his first 100 days, the Premier said he would be "getting in place the first steps" to implement key election promises on community safety, transport and cost of living.

Baillieu was about to attend his first Council of Australian Governments summit and he had high hopes of a better deal out of the health funding.

And he did achieve that goal when he went to Canberra and brokered a deal which addressed most of the concerns he had been highlighting since John Brumby signed up to Kevin Rudd's version last year.

But from then on, things have been a bit tricker.

Last week the Commonwealth Grants Commission released its new GST national carve-up and it held a nasty surprise for the fledging state government.

Victoria has lost, Baillieu claims, $500 million a year in GST revenue. This amounts to a $2.65m hole in their budget over the forward estimates.

Not only does it affect the government's ability to deliver a surplus as promised during last year's election, but it will also have an impact on other policies.

Baillieu and his Treasurer Kim Wells have come out screaming and are putting up a fight. But history is not on their side, given that no federal treasurer has ever rejected the commission's call.

The other hurdle the government has hit is the unions. Enterprise bargaining agreements for police, public servants, nurses and teachers are up for renegotiation this year and the unions are optimistic about their wage claims.

And they have good reason too. During the election, Baillieu promised he would not cut one public sector job but rather hire 1700 extra police and make the state's teachers the highest paid in the nation. But the unions got a shock when the government revealed its first offer was 2.5 per cent -- below inflation -- and it did not go down well.

Within hours, the Police Association was threatening strike action, the Community and Public Sector Union was crying job cuts and teachers were declaring it ridiculous.

Adding to this grief was finding out last week the former Labor government's desalination plant is going to cost $24 billion in nominal terms over the next 30 years.

Water bills for 1.7 million households will double in five years. This "very expensive white elephant" as Baillieu calls it, will not help his pledge to bring down the cost of living.

And after walking around in shell-shock over their rejection, state Labor has finally formed some sort of opposition. Ministers got a taste of this when parliament sat until 3am after Labor MPs kept debating points on legislation the government was trying to pass.