Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Who rules Victoria?

By David Southwell - posted Friday, 8 October 2021


When I first came to live in Melbourne there was something strange about the ambulances. Vandals had managed to graffiti nearly all of them.

I soon realised the police weren't searching for the culprits because they were most likely uniformed and sitting in the defaced vehicles' driver and passenger seats.

The paramedics were in a pay dispute with the state Liberal government. They had covered their emergency vehicles with slogans about how badly they were paid and how the Liberals were destroying public health.

Advertisement

Few Melburnians seemed to object. Also the supine government seemed to be doing nothing about it.

Of course, I understand the ambos, along with all health workers, are now considered to be angels sent to us in human vestments and no amount of money can ever be enough for the job they do … etc, etc/

Even so, I regarded their vehicles as public property improperly turned into partisan political billboards.

It was a lesson about who runs Victoria.

The Liberals were sitting on the government benches, following a surprise narrow win over the long-serving Bracks/Brumby administration, but I began to realise this was an aberration or blip, a passing annoyance to Victoria's well-entrenched power establishment.

Following an innocuous and largely ineffective three years, the Baillieu/Napthine government duly sunk meekly, almost gratefully, with barely a ripple beneath the incoming tide of a new Labor government.

Advertisement

Since Jeff Kennett's two-term government ended in 1999, Labor has been continuously in power, save for that three-year intermission.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has not been shy about how much his government owes to the unions, who waged incessant war against the Liberal usurpers.

"The Labor Party is strong," he said after re-election in 2018.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

5 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

David Southwell is a writer and editor living in Melbourne.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by David Southwell

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of David Southwell
Article Tools
Comment 5 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy