the bushfires - Letter from Melbourne

LETTER FROM MELBOURNE
State Government & Politics
Lenders your ears
Victoria suffered a decline in new jobs in the
second half of last year and was the only Australian
state to actually lose positions in 2008, according
to Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force
surveys. Treasurer John Lenders last year assured
Victorians that the economy was robust, but new
jobs started to drop away rapidly from July, The Age
reported. Victoria’s unemployment rate rose from
4.8 per cent to 5.6 per cent putting it just behind
New South Wales and South Australia at 5.8 per
cent each, The Age reported.
Brumby’s priorities
The Municipal Association of Victoria weekly
newsletter reports that prior to the February 7
bushfires, Premier John Brumby delivered his
Statement of Intentions, outlining the Government’s
priorities for 2009. Top of the state’s agenda is
jobs creation and building of new infrastructure to
stimulate the economy. Also, a new white paper on
land and biodiversity will be released, and planning
reforms to speed up development, including a
rolling audit of pending projects to identify where
the use of ministerial call-in powers may deliver
‘net community benefit’ through jobs creation, were
announced.
Just tap it in
The Government is believed to be considering
establishing its own special purpose vehicle as
an option to help cover a new funding shortfall
for a range of public-private projects, including
the planned $3.1b plus desalination plant. Such
a vehicle would leverage the government’s AAA
credit rating to help the projects private backers
tap seized up credit markets and raise the billions
of dollars needed. Demand for infrastructure debt
has evaporated in recent months, with projects
such as toll roads on the nose in particular, The Age
reported.
Hooray for triple A
Credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service
reaffirmed Victoria’s AAA rating this year, noting
strong points that included sound financial
performance, modest debt and a sizable and diverse
economic base, the Financial Review reported.
In other triple A news
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has underlined
the states’ financial vulnerability, warning that three
more are at risk of joining Queensland in losing
their AAA status. Those states are New South
Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, The
Australian reported.
Contention reigns
The federal Attorney-General is under increasing
pressure from within his own party to use his
powers to overturn Victoria’s new abortion laws,
which leading lawyers and Catholic hospitals say
are in breach of international law, The Age reported.
Submit to their submission
The Municipal Association of Victoria completed
its submission for the 2009-10 State Budget. The
priority of the submission is to advocate projects that
improve local employment and economic activity.
The Association has called for the introduction of
a local infrastructure program, funding for projects
under the Victorian Transport Plan, public library
funding, maternal and child health IT platform,
review of funding for children’s crossing supervisors
and funding energy-efficient public lighting. The
submission will be circulated to councils, the MAV
Bulletin reported.
Austin-tatious
The Age’s state political editor, Paul Austin,
wrote that Ted Baillieu, the alternative premier,
should have something more substantial and
sophisticated to say than he has managed so far on
the deteriorating state of the Victorian economy, in
particular with regard to the budget forecast, which
predicted a budget surplus of $828m this financial
year and higher in each of the next three years.
The surplus in the first six months of this year was
just $46m. When trouble hits, you need a credible
alternative voice.
Proprietary rights everywhere
Under changes being considered by Cabinet to
the native title settlement proposed in Victoria,
traditional owners would negotiate directly with
the state government over land claims without
having to pursue native title cases in the Federal
Court. Fifteen years after the introduction of the
Native Title Act, 0.75 percent of the state has been
declared native title. The steering committee for the
development of a Victorian native title settlement
framework said traditional owners had an interest
in all Crown land. There are one million hectares
of public land in Victoria, including national parks,
state forests and beaches, The Age reported.
The Nationals have criticised the Victorian
Government over its ‘secretive’ approach to land
management and called on it to ‘come clean’ on
native title reform plans. Victorian deputy leader
Peter Walsh said it was a disgrace country
Victorians were the last to be consulted on
management of local Crown land.
A native title claim over Port Phillip Bay will proceed
in the Federal Court this year despite the proposed
state revamp of Aboriginal land rights that would
avoid protracted, expensive court battles. The
Bunurong people have spent $300,000 since 2006
pursuing a native title claim over the water and
shoreline of the bay, stretching from Werribee to
Point Nepean, The Age reported.
Task force
The Victorian Government has set up a Ministerial
Taskforce on Aboriginal Affairs to develop policies
and programs across Government that will
ultimately bridge the 17-year life expectancy gap
between indigenous and non-indigenous Victorians,
gina.hanson@dpcd.vic.gov.au.
Safe to serve
A State Services Authority report tabled in Parliament
showed Labor had employed an extra 60,396 people
since 1999. Premier John Brumby’s spokeswoman
Fiona McCrae said: ‘Our government is proud of
significantly boosting front-line services to families
– delivering more than 8800 extra nurses, 2580
doctors, 1100 teachers and support staff and 1400
additional police since 1999.’On 27 March, the State
Government announced it would keep all its public
servants but limit their pay rise to 2 per cent.
Small surplus item
John Brumby said he intended to meet the state’s
revised target of a budget surplus of $100m, The
Age reported.
States’ weakening bonds
The Financial Review reported that the states face
higher costs as investor appetite for their bonds
dwindles, making debt refinancing more difficult.
Up there
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh successfully
defended 11 years of Labor government and the
deterioration of the budget bottom line to the tune
of a $1.6b deficit and the loss of the states AAA
credit rating, on March 21, six months before
the end of the term, The Australian reported. She
became Australia’s first elected female premier.
Nearby, former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson,
54, stood for a Queensland seat, unsuccessfully.
Photos in one paper of her in sexual romp gear were
subsequently found not to be of her.
Up there with a knife
Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan is facing a police
investigation after surrendering an 18 cm pocket
knife at New South Wales Parliament, the Herald
Sun reported.
Grilled
Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime
Commission failed for the third time in less than 12
months to secure a conviction for false evidence
charges, this time after lobbyist Julian Grill was
acquitted, The Australian reported.
Next generation
The Victorian Liberal party invites applications from
members of the party seeking endorsement for the
next Federal Election, in Kooyong, Corangamite and
Deakin, www.vic.liberal.org.au.
The Bushfires
Opening remarks
In his opening remarks chief commissioner
Bernard Teague said the aim of the public
consultations by the royal commission was to help
the commissioners know which areas to prioritise
under their ‘extraordinarily wide’ terms of reference.
A lack of warning, poor mobile phone reception and
little apparent coordination between emergency
services were among the grievances aired at the
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