The federal government’s bill to protect volunteer firefighters following a long-running dispute in Victoria will not solve the problems to which it was allegedly directed.
Malcolm Turnbull featured prominently at a recent volunteer firefighter rally on the steps of Victorian state parliament.
AAP/Jacqueline Le
With a popular state Labor government and premier in charge, the economy picking up speed and the state budget in substantial surplus, federal Labor had every reason to see Victoria as its own.
Victoria needs an improved web of accountability to link various sectors together to ensure family violence perpetrators are made visible and accountable.
Ensuper from www.shutterstock.com
Victoria’s family violence system unintentionally protects male perpetrators by making them invisible and providing opportunities for them to avoid responsibility.
Malcolm Turnbull may struggle to persuade Daniel Andrews and some other state leaders to back major tax change, though Mike Baird has been arguing for reform.
Sam Mooy/AAP
Despite all the media coverage, don’t expect any clear decisions on national tax reform on Friday. But we should see more progress on other issues, including domestic violence and violent extremism.
Taxpayers are the ultimate losers when governments fail to manage expensive infrastructure projects.
AAP/Joe Castro
How many times do taxpayers have to go down the same road before governments seriously assess how expensive infrastructure decisions are made?
In recent times, Victoria has reverted to the punitive approach that once filled the Old Melbourne Gaol, with little thought for the long-term consequences.
Flickr/Eva
Victoria was once characterised by low imprisonment rates and innovative corrections policy. The state now has Australia’s highest rate of growth in imprisonment.
Victoria’s new Labor government has set up an Australian-first royal commission into family violence.
AAP/Julian Smith
It is difficult to capture just how important a royal commission with this focus is. For too long, family violence has taken, threatened and pervaded the lives of so many in the Victorian community.
Victoria’s new government has promised to “tear up” the contracts for the controversial East-West Link project.
Courtney Biggs/AAP
Victoria’s public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a mess. Their democratic standing has never been lower. They have always trumpeted better value for money and more timely delivery, but with the contract…
Daniel Andrews and his ministers swear an oath to comply with the law, which includes the obligations of public office as a public trust.
AAP/Julian Smith
There cannot be a more important office or more challenging role than being a member of parliament. This is especially so for government MPs and ministers, including the newly elected Victorian ministry…
Queensland Labor under Annastacia Palaszczuk has claimed a lead in the polls ahead of next year’s state election.
AAP/Dan Peled
The rule of thumb in Australian politics has been that voters are reluctant to throw out governments after a single term. And if they do, it’s during a major crisis. Perhaps that’s a measure of Australians…
Victoria’s voters have spoken – and they have said no to Melbourne’s new freeway tunnel.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Labor’s state election victory in Victoria has fatally undermined Melbourne’s most controversial tunnel, the now-doomed East-West Link, with new Premier Daniel Andrews pledging to rip up the contracts…
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
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 seats will decide the political fortunes of Daniel Andrews and Denis Napthine at the ballot box this weekend?
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
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…
Comfortably ahead in the polls, Labor’s Daniel Andrews leads Coalition leader Denis Napthine into their pre-election debate.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
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…
Denis Napthine hasn’t been able to rebuild the Victorian Coalition government’s support since replacing Ted Baillieu as premier.
AAP/Joe Castro
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…
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
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…
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
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
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
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
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…