‘A slap in the face': Victorian ALP conference will debate higher taxes and radical polcy objectives
A report obtained by the Herald Sun this week revealed conference will debate a number of reforms, including scrapping council rate increase caps and imposing a permanent Indigenous truth telling commission.
The list also includes a super profits tax on land sales and legalizing cannabis for recreational use.
The outcome of this conference will heavily determine the Victorian Labor Party's key policies and agenda in the lead up to the 2026 state election.
More than 600 Labor delegates - including MPs, members and affiliated union representatives - will be voting in the conference on which proposals will be adopted.
Institute of Public Affairs director of research Morgan Begg told SkyNews.com.au the proposals that would increase taxes, including one to remove the council rate increase caps, is the last thing the state needs.
'Victorians already face the highest tax burden in the nation,' he said.
'The last thing Victorian councils need is the authority to inflict exorbitant rate rises on locals who never see the benefit of all the costs.
'So many councils in Victoria today are using ratepayers' money to push activist causes and the services and amenity of local communities are left to suffer.'
Touching on the proposed super profits tax on land sales, IPA chief economist Adam Creighton said the taxes will lead to increasingly unaffordable housing.
'Another arbitrary tax on the sale of land, on top of existing federal taxes on capital gains and existing state charges, will only make landowners more reluctant to sell,' he told SkyNews.com.au.
The Victorian ALP delegates on Saturday will also debate radical social issues, including the installation of a permanent truth telling commission.
IPA Research Fellow Margaret Chambers said this would create a 'two-tiered, racially based political system' in Victoria.
'It is a slap in the face to Victorians who overwhelmingly rejected this divisive agenda at the Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023,' she said.
'It is unbelievable that Labor would seek to divide the community with a state-based truth telling body, as well as a state-based Voice to Parliament, given the democratic verdict.'
The government's proposal to impose a permanent Indigenous truth telling commission comes as the Yoorrook Justice Commission, a temporary group of 5 commissioners, tabled its final report to Victorian Parliament in July.
The delegates on Saturday will also debate the state government's planned anti-protest laws, with delegates arguing the laws will 'threaten the rights to freedom of expression' and would 'harm our democracy.'
Victorian Shadow Police Minister David Southwick said tougher protest laws are essential for the state.
'Everyone has a right to protest peacefully, but under Labor, Victoria has become the protest capital of the nation where those who incite hate face no consequences,' he told SkyNews.com.au.
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