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Articles on Victorian politics

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There is tension between the need for governments to be trusted to govern and the public’s right to know. AAP/Mal Fairclough

FOI reform needed in Victoria amid East West Link fallout

The disclosure of the full business case for the East West road link in Melbourne confirmed what many had suspected – the project is a dud. The release also unequivocally shows that the Victorian Freedom…
Matthew Guy is the new leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria, but he faces battles on several fronts as the party begins a stint in opposition. AAP/Julian Smith

Getting back on track: challenges ahead for the Victorian Liberals

Matthew Guy has been chosen to lead the Liberal Party in Victoria as it returns to opposition after just one term in government. Guy, who was planning minister in the Napthine government, defeated former…
Victorian premier-elect Daniel Andrews and his colleagues now have the chance to demonstrate unity, discipline and functionality to a swinging electorate. AAP/Joe Castro

Victorian election: Labor triumph or Coalition disaster – or neither?

After Daniel Andrews and Labor’s decisive victory in the Victorian state election at the weekend, there has been – not unexpectedly – a welter of post-election opinion trying to account for the rather…
What are we voting for? Certainly not decisions made in MPs’ own interest or that of political parties or business cronies, but the present system lets that happen. AAP/Andrew Brownbill

It’s hard for voters to trust leaders who won’t promise true integrity

The Accountability Round Table (ART), a non-partisan organisation, wrote to the three major political parties two months ago seeking their position on three important arms of Victoria’s integrity system…
What seats will decide the political fortunes of Daniel Andrews and Denis Napthine at the ballot box this weekend? AAP/Tracey Nearmy

Explainer: five key seats to watch in the Victorian election

The Victorian election is just days away and the campaigning is reaching a final crescendo. Both the Labor and Liberal parties are saturating the local airwaves with advertisements. All of the polls point…
One of the hottest topics for the upcoming election is a new forest national park to protect the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, Victoria’s faunal emblem. Greens MPs/Flickr

Victorians short-changed on environmental policy

Less than a week out from Victoria’s state election, both major parties have been largely silent on environmental policy. Neither the Coalition nor Labor has released comprehensive documents. It also seems…
Comfortably ahead in the polls, Labor’s Daniel Andrews leads Coalition leader Denis Napthine into their pre-election debate. AAP/Tracey Nearmy

Victorians look set to elect unlikely premier no. 3

Anyone in search of a prime example of the dictum that a functioning democracy is nothing short of a minor miracle need look no further than the state of Victoria. In the past 15 years, what has been the…
When the major parties and their leaders fail to inspire voters, that opens the way for enough preferences to flow minor parties’ way to win upper house seats. AAP/David Crosling

Record number of micro-parties to have say in Victorian election

It appears that there’s never been a better time to be a minor party in Australia. From a time when parliaments were the domain of only the major parties, small parties have gradually made inroads into…
The trigger for independent MP Geoff Shaw’s potential expulsion from Victorian parliament seems to be the apparent insincerity of his comments on his apology. AAP/Joe Castro

Napthine should rethink ousting Geoff Shaw over apology

Victorian premier Denis Napthine has tabled a motion that would expel independent MP Geoff Shaw from parliament merely for the apparent insincerity of his apology rather than his reprehensible misuse of…
Denis Napthine hasn’t been able to rebuild the Victorian Coalition government’s support since replacing Ted Baillieu as premier. AAP/Joe Castro

Victorian Coalition has three months to change voters’ minds

Victorians will head to the polls in exactly three months to elect their new state government. Like New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, Victoria has fixed parliamentary terms. Since…
Proportionality in sentencing cannot be achieved through mandatory sentences created as a result of an overreaction to community fear and outrage. AAP/Dave Hunt

Mandatory sentences can’t deliver justice or stop one-punch killings

The Victorian government’s introduction of the Sentencing Amendment (Coward’s Punch Manslaughter and Other Matters) Bill 2014 this week has again sparked debate about the deterrence value and general utility…
While Victorian opposition leader Daniel Andrews faces demands for answers from The Age, the newspaper hasn’t addressed the ethics of recording off-the-record conversations. AAP/Julian Smith

Andrews’ media accusers have some explaining of their own to do

It is a sad day when senior political figures steal a journalist’s recording device and destroy its contents, as we have been told happened at this year’s Victorian Labor Party conference. But it is an…
Some unhappy state Liberals are pointing to an unpopular federal government and its budget as the source of their electoral woes. AAP/Joe Castro

Are voters set to stop giving first-term leaders a second chance?

In today’s politics, few governments are ever safe. Even freshly minted administrations now age at an incredible speed. The most casual observer will know how much trouble the Abbott government finds itself…
Reforming Victorian homicide law has been a long process, but a bill introduced today is a significant step forward. AAP/Dave Hunt

Victorian homicide law reforms ensure just responses to violence

Victorian attorney-general Robert Clark today introduced a bill into parliament that repeals the offence of defensive homicide. The bill signifies a significant step forward in ensuring just responses…
The Geoff Shaw affair has been an unwanted distraction for the Napthine government, which will be hoping for some clear air between now and the November 29 election. AAP/Julian Smith

With Shaw suspended, Victoria has averted crisis – for now

After months of uncertainty, it appears that the Victorian parliament may have resolved the political crisis that had threatened to consume the government. The passing last night of a motion to suspend…
Geoff Shaw’s potential expulsion from Victorian parliament raises serious questions about the scope of the Legislative Assembly’s powers and the way they are exercised. AAP/David Crosling

Explainer: Geoff Shaw and contempt of parliament in Victoria

Independent MP Geoff Shaw should be grateful the opposition is only proposing to expel him from Victorian state parliament. It could be worse. Victoria’s Legislative Assembly still has the power to lock…
Unless Victorian opposition leader Daniel Andrews accepts Geoff Shaw’s vote, there will be no progress on anything in the state’s political crisis. AAP/Julian Smith

Explainer: the constitutional implications of Victoria’s ‘crisis’

After a night of political uncertainty, the Victorian Labor opposition has indicated it will move to have ex-Liberal MP Geoff Shaw expelled from parliament instead of accepting his offer of support for…
Whatever course Victorian premier Denis Napthine chooses, he has effectively lost control of the government. AAP/Julian Smith

Napthine government stares into the political abyss

The political crisis confronting the Victorian parliament is both curious and concerning. Since Denis Napthine took over as Victorian premier 15 months ago, the issue has steadily developed into an entirely…
Victorian premier Denis Napthine accused the opposition of ‘hijacking democracy’ after an extraordinary week in Victorian state politics. What now? AAP/Julian Smith

Shaw, Smith, Napthine … just what is going on in Victoria?

Speaker Ken Smith has lost control of the Victorian parliament and the legislative agenda of premier Denis Napthine has ground to a halt. In an extraordinary move, Smith decided to shut down the Legislative…
Forests and forestry are both important to Victorians: the government should keep an eye on them. lizardstomp/Flickr

Victorian law change abandons native forests to loggers

At the end of this month, the Victorian Parliament is expected to pass a Bill giving industry long-term control of timber resources in Victoria’s native forests. The government says the changes are important…

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