Victorians continue to pay the price for Premier Allan and the Labor Party’s cosy relationship with the CFMEU.
We continue to learn that the CFMEU treated the projects as its own, treated the projects as their own, treated public money as its own while funnelling millions of taxpayer dollars to the Labor Party as political donations.
This stinks.
The premier has tried to pull the wool over Victorians’ eyes by calling an “independent” inquiry into the self-made saga, but when you look beyond the spin you come to learn that the chair of the inquiry is a long-term public servant. Hardly independent when he is employed by the premier.
It is no surprise that the premier was quick to tell us all that she had no problems in fronting this inquiry. She knew that this inquiry would be a walk in the park instead of the genuine inquiry Victorians expect and rightly deserve.
The Liberals and Nationals have locked in an inquiry into the state’s struggling ambulance service.
Let me be up front, this inquiry is not about the work the ambos do. They do amazing work.
The inquiry will look into how the Allan Government has allocated funding or made decisions that do not support the ambos or hospital workers.
Reality is, our community needs our ambos on the road so they can help us when we need them, not stuck looking after patients in the driveway or hallways of hospitals. There is a blockage in the system, and this inquiry seeks to find that blockage and suggest realistic solutions to help ambos, health workers and patients.
Sadly, this week we have learned that the premier will refuse to front this inquiry. Why?
This is because this is not an inquiry set up by the Labor party or Premier Allan’s friendly allies in the Greens or Animal Justice Party. She can’t control the questions that she will be asked, or have pre-prepared answers.
Victorians should be concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability on these matters. The CFMEU saga is costing Victorians billions of dollars in blowouts on projects across the state.
The issues plaguing our health service are leading our hardworking health workers to a state of exhaustion.
The reality is, Victorian lives are being lost as a result of the chaos and mismanagement by our state’s top decision-makers — the premier and her ministers.
We’re not fools, and no amount of spin, dodging and weaving can help Labor escape one glaring fact: It can’t manage money and Victorians are paying the price.
Peter Walsh
State Member for Murray Plains and leader of the Nationals
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