VICTORIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

High (60.5%) approval of Premier Daniel Andrews rests on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Nov-21

A special Roy Morgan survey last week found that 60.5% of Victorian electors now approve of the way Premier Daniel Andrews is handling his job, although this is down 10.5% points from November 2020; some 39.5% (up 10.5% points) of Victorians disapprove of Andrews’ handling of the job. The approval of Andrews’ handling of his job is heavily correlated to age. A large majority of young Victorians aged under 35 (72%) approve of Andrews’ handling of the job, while only 28% disapprove. This strong approval declines progressively with age. Over two-fifths of those aged 35-49 (62.5%) and 50-64 (61%) approve of Andrews’ handling of the job, while this drops to only 55% of people aged 65+. The approval rating for Andrews amongst the genders match the figures for the two-party preferred voting support, with 65% of women approving of Andrews’ handling of his job compared to 55.5% of men. Analysing by voting intention shows just how widely divergent the views of supporters of the different parties are. A near unanimous 97% of ALP voters approve of Andrews’ handling of the job, and 84% of Greens supporters also approve. In contrast, only 16% of L-NP supporters approve of Andrews’ handling of the job; this drops to only 1.5% of supporters of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED,VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET,AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY,LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA,NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA,UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY

Andrews’ pandemic powers risk state rule by decree

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Angelica Snowden
The Australian – Page: 5 : 11-Nov-21

The Victorian Bar has urged the state government to reconsider its controversial new pandemic laws. Amongst other things, it has expressed concern that the Department of Health could exercise its new powers under the legislation without sufficient oversight by parliament. Sixty barristers have in turn signed an open letter in which they warn that the legislation would enable the government to effectively rule the state by decree for the foreseeable future. The bill was passed by the lower house in October and will require the support of at least three crossbenchers in the upper house.

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VICTORIAN BAR INCORPORATED

Victoria’s major parties both lose support to minor parties although ALP would still win easily; while Premier Daniel Andrews’ job approval is still high at 60.5% but over 10% points lower than a year ago

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Nov-21

A Victorian Roy Morgan Poll on State voting intention shows primary support is down for both the ALP State Government on 43% (down 2% points from November 2020) and the Liberal-National Opposition on 31% (down 3.5% points); while support for the Greens is unchanged on 11%. The beneficiaries are the minor parties and independents – now attracting the support of 15% of electors – up 5.5% points. Minor party support is highest for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party on 3%, Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party is on 2%, while 3.5% support other parties and 6.5% support Independents. Despite the drift in support to minor parties the ALP still holds a strong two-party preferred lead: ALP 58% cf. L-NP 42%. However, Premier Daniel Andrews’ job approval is now at 60.5%, down a large 10.5% points from November 2020 when approval for the Premier hit a record high after the end of Victoria’s long second lockdown, and disapproval is 39.5%. Detailed analysis of results shows significant gender and age differences on voting intentions and sentiment towards Premier Andrews. Full details and key demographic breakdowns will be released later today. This Roy Morgan Poll surveyed yesterday (Wednesday) a cross section of 1,357 Victorian electors.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, JUSTICE PARTY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Crown on last warning

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 27-Oct-21

Royal commissioner Ray Finkelstein has made 33 recommendations in his final report on Crown Resorts. Finkelstein found that Crown is unsuitable to operate its Melbourne casino, and stated that Crown Melbourne’s conduct was "variously illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative" over a number of years. However, Crown will retain its sole Victorian casino licence for two years, although it will subject to strict conditions. Among other things, Stephen O’Bryan has been appointed as a special manager to supervise Crown’s Melbourne casino, while James Packer will be required to reduce his 37 per cent stake in Crown to less than five per cent by September 2024.

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CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, CROWN MELBOURNE LIMITED

New move could gift Andrews unprecedented power

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Original article by Shannon Deery
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

The Victorian government will shortly introduce a bill to parliament that will replace the existing state of emergency powers, which have been in place since March 2020. The draft bill would give Premier Daniel Andrews the power to declare a pandemic and extend it indefinitely for three months at a time. The proposed legislation would also transfer authority to issue public health orders from the state’s chief health officer to the minister for health. Shadow Attorney General Tim Smith has questioned the need to hand more power to Andrews, given his government’s handling of the pandemic.

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Victoria scraps isolation, COVID testing requirements for fully vaccinated visitors from NSW

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Original article by Simone Fox Koob, Cassandra Morgan
The Age – Page: Online : 20-Oct-21

Victoria recorded 1,749 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, and an additional 11 deaths from the current outbreak. Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews has warned that unvaccinated Victorians may not enjoy the same freedoms as fully-vaccinated people until "well into 2022". The government has also advised of changes to its border permit system. Greater Sydney will be downgraded from a ‘red zone’ to ‘orange’ at 11:59pm on Wednesday, which will allow fully-vaccinated residents to enter Victoria without having to quarantine or be tested for COVID-19. The new rules will also apply to regional NSW, which will be downgraded to green zones.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Electoral staffer used for Victorian Labor factional work

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Oct-21

Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission has heard further evidence of misuse of public resources within the state’s Labor government. Elle Schreiber had a senior role in the office of former Labor minister Adem Somyurek; she has told IBAC that she had often spent as much as 80 per cent of her working hours on party-political activities for Labor’s moderate faction rather than work related to Somyurek’s portfolio. Schreiber subsequently took up a role in the office of federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne, who revealed the extent of branch-stacking and the misuse of taxpayers’ funds in his appearance before IBAC on Monday.

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VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Andrews loses fourth minister to branch stacking scandal

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Original article by Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Age – Page: Online : 12-Oct-21

Luke Donnellan resigned as Victoria’s Aged Care Minister on the first day of an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission inquiry, after he was named as being part of a Labor branch-stacking operation led by former minister Adem Somyurek. Donnellan is the fourth member of the state government to have resigned in connection to the branch-stacking scandal; Somyurek, Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott were forced to resign in 2020 after the media exposed the scandal.

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VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Victoria’s exit from lockdown could be delayed if grand final case spike becomes trend

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 1-Oct-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says "some poor choices" resulted in the state reporting a record 1,438 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. He has not ruled out pushing back the scheduled date for relaxing Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions if case numbers and hospitalisation rates continue to rise. Contact-tracing interviews suggest that about 500 of the new cases may be linked to illegal home gatherings on the AFL grand final long weekend. COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has warned that the ‘superspreader’ event could potentially see case numbers reach the upper limit of modelling by the Burnet Institute, which formed the basis for the state government’s reopening roadmap. Victoria’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen by five, and there are now 11,018 active cases state-wide.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Shorter vaccine intervals likely as Victoria races towards 80pc full vaccination target

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Original article by
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 28-Sep-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out applying the same COVID-19 rules to unvaccinated people once 90 per cent of the state’s eligible population is fully vaccinated. He says the state government has not begun to discuss the question of when all Victorians will be on an ‘equal footing’, adding that he has not received new medical advice about revising the state’s existing reopening roadmap. However, Andrews has flagged the possibility that the state could achieve its vaccination targets ahead of schedule, and signalled that the period between vaccine doses could be reduced if the state has certainty of vaccine supply. Victoria has recorded 705 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases, while the toll from the current outbreak has risen to 25 following the death of a man in his 70s.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET