This week in State Parliament – 26 November 2015
This week in State Parliament, Liberal and Nationals MPs combined with other MPs in the Legislative Council to refer Labor’s rorting of electorate staff allowances to the Victorian Ombudsman, for official investigation and report under the Ombudsman Act.
We exposed the fact that the latest figures show Labor have now actually cut the number of sworn police in Victoria since they were elected. This is despite growing police shortages across the State forcing police stations to close and leaving communities under-protected.
We opposed legislation that will undermine the independence, accountability and skills-based appointment of the governing councils and boards of Victorian universities and TAFEs.
We questioned why Labor have abandoned the PSO deployment timetable put in place by the Coalition government. PSOs have been provided at only 7 additional railway stations since Labor was elected. This leaves 39 metropolitan stations still unprotected by PSOs.
We highlighted the minimal effects that Labor’s much-trumpeted ice legislation will make. Most of the new offences are already being crimes under existing law. As well, the the limited increases in penalties above existing penalties are unlikely to deter many offenders.
We also questioned whether the Deputy Premier, James Merlino, was telling the truth when he claimed he had not promised volunteer firefighters before the election that a Labor government would introduce cancer compensation legislation within 100 days of taking office. A volunteer firefighter has sworn a statutory declaration stating that he did make such a promise.
As well, the government accepted the Coalition’s proposal that Parliament should hear from a range of presenters, in addition to Rosie Batty, at today’s special sitting to discuss family violence. As a result, the Parliament also heard valuable presentations from family violence victims rights campaigner, Kristy McKellar, Chief Commissioner, Graham Ashton, and speakers from four different groups working to prevent family violence and help protect and support victims and survivors of family violence