Multicultural communities in inner-Melbourne Labor electorates were given the biggest building grants in the lead-up to last year’s state election, according to the Victorian Multicultural Commission’s annual report. Zhou Yao reports.
Victorian government
The Baillieu Dump: call for child capsules in Victorian taxis
Victoria’s Child Safety Commissioner Bernie Geary has warned the inquiry into the taxi industry that children in taxis are at risk because they lack safety restraints and booster seats. Stephen Cuff reports.
The Baillieu Dump: terminally ill miss out on beds in Gippsland
A lack of palliative care beds in Gippsland means terminally ill patients may be missing out on vital early care, a palliative care co-ordinator has warned. Cassandra White reports.
The Baillieu Dump: criticism of cuts to water consumers’ advocacy centre
The head of a Victorian consumer organisation which fights for a fair go for energy and water consumers believes Victoria needs an organisation solely devoted to giving a voice to water users, writes Sally Galvin.
The Baillieu Dump: hundreds of childcare worker permits revoked
A leading child care expert is calling on the Victorian government to tighten its screening of Working with Children permits after it was revealed that more than 300 have been revoked in the past five years.
OPI report: secret deals and media manipulation
A report released this week reveals a trail of misinformation, secret deals and media manipulation by a ministerial adviser that in part provoked the resignation of Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland.
‘Sticky carpet-clad’ Ted pledges Libs’ love of live music
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu draped himself in the iconic Melbourne music venue The Tote’s mythical sticky carpet to ram home his message that Liberals “love live music”.
Crikey Says: Notification of name change
Many readers have expressed outrage over the correspondence that we received this week and subsequently ran in yesterday’s Tips and Rumours section.
Unequal opportunities for discrimination in Victoria
In the early hours of yesterday morning, state parliament — after an earlier hiccup — passed the government’s amendments to Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act reversing changes made last year by the Labor government.
Life on the railroad: caught between state screw-ups and federal follies
More than six months after the ill-fated Brumby government rattled dozens of Footscray residents and business-owners by forgetting to tell them about a plan to bulldoze their properties to make way for the new Regional Rail Link, homeowners here are facing more uncertainty. Local resident Pat McGrath explains.
Baillieu government to probe VMIA’s ‘culture of fear’
The Baillieu Government will flex its muscle in dealing with a “culture of fear” that has engulfed the troubled Victorian Managed Insurance Authority, following a raft of bullying complaints and an exodus of eight senior staff in the last two months.
Brumby government facing fresh child protection crisis as lawyers plead for help
The Brumby government is facing a fresh child-protection crisis on the eve of the state election, with bureaucrats inside the Department of Human Service’s Court Advocacy Unit rebelling against the department’s conditions and alleging several serious breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The Brumby Dump: gambling revenue on the rise
Gambling tax is projected to yield the Victorian Government more than $74 million in extra revenue in 2010-11, up about 4.5% on 2008-09 figures, writes Swinburne journalism student Tom Bradford.
Crikey Says: Crikey says: welcome to The Brumby Dump
As the Victorian state election looms on the horizon, you’d think the media would have every detail of government policy, outcomes and process fixed firmly under their microscope.
Protestors defy Vic govt laws that ‘stifle democracy’
Controversial Victorian climate change protest laws breach freedoms of political expression and are “stifling democracy”, a prominent barrister and Greens candidate has claimed. Greg Foyster reports from the weekend protests.
Successors scramble to replace departing Brumby MPs
A lion of the Left and a long-term electorate officer have emerged as candidates to replace departing Brumby government ministers Peter Batchelor and Bob Cameron, Crikey can reveal.
GP revenue slump contradicts crowd numbers
As plummeting sales revenue for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix sends the event further into the major events mire, the race’s official attendance, which makes up the vast proportion of the revenue figure, has grown, according to the event’s organisers.
The perils of listening tours: always find a friendly face first
It’s easy enough for political tacticians to be clever sitting around in the office planning how to handle a public relations problem. You can always devise a solution. The hard part is to put it into practice.
Bushfire buyback should be give and take
Any property buyback scheme implemented by the Victorian government in fire-prone areas should involve a combination of compulsory and voluntary acquisition.
Brumby’s rail may run through my laundry
Details remain incredibly sketchy, but it looks like my modest weatherboard may be spared from the Brumby Government’s decision to clear between 26 and 50 houses in Footscray to make way for a new rural rail corridor, writes Footscray resident Pat McGrath.
Victoria still talking to controversial geoengineering scientists
The Victorian government continues to engage with scientists on climate manipulation techniques, despite vehement criticism that it funded a conference looking at the last-resort geoengineering methods.
Crikey Says: In — Credibility … Out — Madden (ill-advised)
There’s been a lot of talk recently about ministerial responsibility. But there is a minister in Australia whose idea of ministerial responsibility is so slack that it’s extraordinary he still holds his job.
Ombudsman and daughter: ABC conflict the talk of Victorian politics
Tension between government media units and senior journalists is hardly a revelation, but is there a legitimate perception issue when it comes to ABC state political reporter Josie Taylor’s family connection or just sour grapes from the Brumby government?
Hey Victorian government, leave Britney alone!
A Britney Spears concert is presumably a mass of gyrating, fireworks and lip-syncing. But the Victorian government wants concert goers to be made aware when music isn’t technically ‘live’. Do we really need to be protected?
Clean energy our government doesn’t want to know about
Australian iventor Fred Sundermann has created a breakthrough renewable energy alternative. So why is government bureaucracy blocking him almost every step of the way?
