VICTORIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Allan’s shock confession that bail laws are too soft

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Original article by Shannon Deery
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 4-Feb-25

Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan has ordered a review of the state’s bail laws, amid an ongoing crime wave. Allan has asked Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny and Police Minister Anthony Carbines to review the existing bail laws, which were strengthened just six months ago. Allan says that while these reforms are already making a difference, it is clear that more needs to be done to address community safety. Shadow police minister David Southwick says Victoria has become a lawless state due to the government’s lack of leadership on the issue of crime.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

‘Uninvestable’: Business blasts Victoria’s financial state

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Original article by Gus McCubbing, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 26-Nov-24

Victoria’s auditor-general warned on Friday that the state’s finances were not sustainable, with gross state debt expected to pass $228 billion by 2028. With a review by economist Saul Eslake finding that Victoria has gone from being the richest and most powerful state over much of the past century to being one of the poorest against a range of indicators, including household income, CSL chair Brian McNamee says a number of leading fund managers have told him that Victoria is currently uninvestable. Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, who has a nine-point plan to turn Victoria’s finances around, says the Andrews-Allan Labor government is the worst the state has ever had to endure in economic terms.

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CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Victoria’s debt levies haul in far more than expected

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 13-Nov-24

The Victorian government’s budget update shows that the state’s net debt is slated to top $188bn by 2027-28. The update also reveals that the government’s Covid debt levies are expected to raise $529m more over four years than had been forecast in the 2023 budget. The levy on businesses with payrolls exceeding $10m had been expected to raise $3.9bn over four years, and the levy on property investors was slated to raise $4.7bn. Meanwhile, the government’s employee expenses rose by 7.94 per cent to $15.48bn in 2023-24.

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Sacked CFMEU leaders remain in ranks of Victorian ALP

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Original article by Damon Johnston, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 4-Sep-24

The militant CFMEU is under renewed scrutiny following revelations that about 300 of its members are also ‘grassroots’ members of the Labor Party in Victoria. They include four CFMEU officials who were sacked after the federal government recently legislated to appoint an administrator to its construction division. One of the sacked officials, Joe Myles, is also a member of Victorian Labor’s public office selection committee, which plays a key role in selecting state and federal candidates at elections.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Allan govt under fire for keeping credit report secret

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Original article by Shannon Deery
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 20-Aug-24

The Victorian government’s reputation for transparency is under scrutiny following the revelation that it has not released a private credit assessment that was completed two years ago. Treasurer Tim Pallas commissioned the report from credit ratings agency Fitch in March 2022, which included an assessment of the state’s financial position. Meanwhile, rival ratings agency Standard & Poor’s recently warned that Victoria’s credit rating may be further downgraded if the state government proceeds with the Suburban Rail Loop project without federal funding. S&P downgraded the state’s credit rating by two notches to AA in late 2020.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC

Victorian politicians get 3.5 per cent pay rise

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Original article by Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 2-Jul-24

The Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal announced on Monday that the state’s politicians will get a 3.5 per cent pay increase, with the increase to take effect on the day of the Tribunal’s announcement. It is the second 3.5 per cent pay rise for Victorian MPs in two years, and will see Premier Jacinta Allan’s base salary increase to $435,434 a year. Some submissions to the Tribunal had called for MPs salaries to be reduced, frozen or increased by three per cent only, with the public sector wage cap being set at that figure.

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VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Raising the age of criminal responsibility set for 2025 as Victorian government unveils mammoth youth justice bill

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Original article by Kieran Rooney, Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 19-Jun-24

The Victorian government’s proposed changes to youth justice laws will include a two-year trial of electronic monitoring and codifying the existing legal presumption of doli incapax. The government still intends to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, although it has conceded that this may be delayed until 2025; Youth Justice Minister Enver Erdogan says this will ultimately be raised to 14, although Monique Hurley from the Human Rights Law Centre says the government should do so immediately. The 1,000-page youth justice bill was introduced to parliament on Tuesday, and the government will need the support of crossbenchers in the upper house to ensure its passage.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY SAFETY, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CENTRE LIMITED

Vic ratings warning over debt

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Original article by Gus McCubbing, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 8-May-24

The Victorian government’s budget papers show that it expects to post an operating surplus of $1.5bn in 2025-26. However, the state’s net debt is forecast to rise from $156.2bn in mid-2025 to $187.8bn by 2028. S&P Global Ratings analyst Anthony Walker says the firm expects Victoria’s gross debt as a proportion of revenue to rise above 200 per cent of operating revenue. He warns that the state’s credit rating could be downgraded again if its debt rises to 240 per cent of operating revenue or interest payments rise to 10 per cent of operating revenue. Meanwhile, interest payments on the state’s debt will rise from $6.5bn in 2024-25 to $9.4bn by 2028, and interest as a share of revenue is forecast to rise from 6.3 per cent to 8.8 per cent.

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S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Deeming launches defamation case against Pesutto

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Original article by Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

Former Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has filed a statement of claim in her defamation case against Opposition Leader John Pesutto. Deeming had issued Pesutto with three defamation concerns notices following her expulsion from the party room earlier in 2023, alleging that Pesutto had compared her to a Nazi sympathiser. Deeming subsequently confirmed her intention to pursue a defamation case after mediation talks failed in November. The push to oust Deeming from the Liberal party room began after she attended a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA

50 Commonwealth Games bureaucrats still being paid

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Original article by Shannon Deery, Alex White
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

The Victorian government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its controversial decision in July to withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It has been revealed that the government has yet to finalise exit packages for about 50 staff who were employed to organise the Games; sources say they will continue to be paid until 29 January, which is the deadline for them to ­decide whether to accept an exit package. The Games staff say they have been placed on ‘gardening leave’. The manager of opposition business James Newbury says Premier Jacinta Allan holds the gold medal for wasting taxpayers’ money. Allan was the minister responsible for the Commonwealth Games.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET