Latest news with #DanielAndrews
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Documents unveil Andrews government spent $6.5 million to ‘pump up' Voice campaign
Sky News host Rita Panahi highlights revelations released under freedom of information laws indicating the previous Victorian Daniel Andrews government spent $6.5 million on a 'last-ditch' effort to pump up the Voice to Parliament Yes campaign. 'Victorian state government documents released under the freedom of information laws have shown the Dan Andrews government approved $6.5 million in taxpayers' funds for a last-ditch attempt to pump up the Yes vote,' Ms Panahi said. 'This is a state in financial peril and they are spending our taxes on this divisive activism.'
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Divisive and wasteful': Victorian government under fire over secret plan to spend millions of taxpayer funds on Voice campaign
Victoria's Labor government is under fire after secret documents were unearthed showing they signed off on a plan to spend millions of taxpayer funds to back the Yes campaign during the Voice referendum. Documents released under freedom of information laws show the government of former premier Daniel Andrews approved a plan to spend $6.5 million of taxpayer funds on the Yes campaign, the Herald Sun has revealed. Institute of Public Affairs deputy executive director Daniel Wild – a strong critic of the Voice – told the spending commitment highlighted the contempt Australia's political class has for the values of mainstream Australians. "This is yet another example of the divisive and wasteful reign of Daniel Andrews, the effects of which will be felt by Victorians for generations to come," Mr Wild said. "The latest revelations reinforce the extent to which the political class and elites in our society are at war with mainstream Australians and our values." The Herald Sun revealed on Wednesday that former assistant treasurer Danny Pearson had signed off on a plan to reallocate funding set aside to communicate the state's Indigenous Treaty process to back the Yes campaign. The plan was proposed by Labor's Gabrielle Williams, then minister for Treaty and First Peoples, and was approved on September 25, 2023 - just weeks before the Constitutional amendment was overwhelmingly rejected at the October 2023 referendum – including by more than 54 per cent of Victorians. However a spokesperson for the state government said the $6.5 million of taxpayer funds was never spent on the Voice campaign and was later reallocated back to communicating the state's Treaty plans. 'The Victorian Government did not spend any money on the Commonwealth Voice referendum,' the spokesperson said. But 'No' campaign advocate Warren Mundine said it was remarkable the government had even considered spending the money when it was already "quite definite" the Voice would be rejected by the public. The IPA's Mr Wild added that current Premier Jacinta Allan - who was Daniel Andrews' deputy and chosen successor - should "apologise to Victorians for this waste of their money, and immediately commit to cease all further government spending on voice, treaty, and truth activities."
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Dozens of Victorian public schools upgrades delayed until after state election
Dozens of Victorian public schools will be waiting until after the next state election for key infrastructure projects – promised by the then premier Daniel Andrews in 2022 – to come to fruition. Prior to the November 2022 state election, Andrews pledged to spend $850m upgrading 89 schools, to be completed by the end of 2026. The upgrades were later extended to 96 schools. This week's 2025-26 budget papers revealed 28 of the schools would be waiting for the promised capital works – which included new gymnasiums, performing arts and science centres and new learning spaces – until at least 2027, after the next state election. Last year's 2024-25 budget allocated $227m to deliver promised capital upgrades at 25 of the schools, with the rest allocated funding in previous budgets. It pushed funding for the further 29 schools into this year's budget. Tuesday's budget papers confirmed just one of the 29 projects would be completed by October 2026, with the rest languishing until 2027 at the earliest. The budget, the first delivered by the new treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, included $1.5bn to deliver new schools, upgrades and maintenance, as part of the state government's promise to build 100 new schools across Victoria by 2026. In total, just five of the 96 promised upgrades had been completed and 11 were in construction, almost three years after their announcement. The rest remained in the design or planning stage, the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) website showed. For St Kilda Primary School, this year's budget was yet another disappointment, seven years after the state government delivered $10.5m to upgrade the campus. As part of the upgrade, its hall was demolished in 2020 to make way for new capital works. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email One parent, Caroline Thornton, has been lobbying with more than 200 families and students to draw attention to the funding need. Some 440 students have no indoor space for assemblies or physical education. 'St Kilda Primary is the largest school in the area with no facilities to accommodate … inclement weather, and nowhere to hold events,' she said. 'The state government promised a replacement hall, but this part of the school's master plan remains unfunded.' Victoria's shadow minister for education, Jess Wilson, said Labor had 'broken its promise to deliver these desperately needed projects by November 2026'. 'The Allan Labor government has put a go-slow on these upgrades and the needs of students on pause as it scrambles to pay Victoria's more than one million dollar an hour interest bill,' she said. But Victoria's education minister, Ben Carroll, said the Liberals were 'lying to Victorians' and the budget had delivered funding on 'every promised school upgrade'. 'Our priority is – and has always been – that every child, no matter where they live, has access to a world-class education for free in a Victorian government school backed by full and fair funding,' he said. Meanwhile, environment groups say nature and biodiversity has been short-changed by the Victorian budget. Environment Victoria welcomed new money for efficient electric hot water and home insulation, but raised concerns about the lack of support for nature or threatened species. Nature campaigner Greg Foyster said 'If the government wants to invest in the great outdoors for the longer term, we need to see a massive increase in funding for parks and reserves, biodiversity programs and saving threatened species.' 'The Parliamentary Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline recommended increasing funding for parks and reserves to 1% of gross state product. One percent doesn't seem too much to ask to ensure the survival of all the animals, plants, wetlands, forests and special places in Victoria, but the current funding is pitifully small,' he said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Energy and environment department funding was down overall in 2025-26 compared to the previous year. The budget also included a 19% cut to environment and biodiversity, and a reduction in funding for the management of public land and forests of 26%. The Victorian National Parks Association said the budget also locked in previous cuts to Parks Victoria and fisheries officers, with few new initiatives for nature. 'Last year we saw Parks Victoria hit with severe staff cuts, arbitrary reviews and the sacking of an experienced CEO. That's no way to treat the agency responsible for looking after the places millions of Victorians love and rely on,' said VNPA Matt Ruchel. On Tuesday, environment minister Steve Dimopoulos said in a statement: 'We're taking care of our native wildlife and environment while making sure Victorian families can continue to enjoy our amazing zoos and our incredible great outdoors for less.' But the minister did not respond to questions about cuts to environment. Victorian Labor faces continued pressure over recent revelations by the Age that $2.4bn in funding for state schools was quietly delayed in last year's 2024-25 budget, pushing back its commitment to fully fund public schools by three years to 2031. It places Victoria three years behind Queensland, which has committed to reach 75% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) by 2028, and six years behind New South Wales, which is due to reach the benchmark this year. Speaking on ABC Melbourne on Wednesday, the premier, Jacinta Allan, was asked if it was fair for Gonski funding to be delayed by three years. 'We are working through the terms of the agreement with the federal government,' she said. 'Because what's not OK is that in the past, government schools have not been funded as fairly as non-government schools. A spokesperson for the federal education minister, Jason Clare, said an agreement had been reached with Victoria to increase the commonwealth funding share to 25% of the SRS by 2034 and, in return, Victoria must reach and maintain the remaining 75%. But when it did so was up to them. 'The minister will not be negotiating this bilateral agreement through the media.'
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The school, transport and health projects being delayed in your area
School upgrades, a new children's court, hospitals, suburban parks and an expanded railway station are among more than 150 funded projects now delayed, according to the Victorian budget. Almost a third of the 518 projects funded in last year's budget have been delayed by at least three months. The total cost has also blown out $3.3 billion, or 1.9 per cent, in the year. 'The cost of materials and supply of skilled labour are improving across the construction industry. However, challenges remain,' Tuesday's state budget said. An analysis by The Age of state budget papers found 171 projects have been delayed, referred to as 'revised' completion dates. Many of them had already been delayed in previous budgets. For example, 10 community hospitals promised by former premier Daniel Andrews in 2018, have repeatedly faced delays. Recently completed projects were cut from the analysis. Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes began their efforts to sell the budget to the public on Wednesday, defending the state's net debt levels, set to hit $194 billion by 2028-29. Allan said Victoria's budget strategy was working as the government stabilised debt and grew the economy. 'We've also got to recognise that right now, working people and families, are facing real pressures … and my choice as premier and our government is supporting them with that cost-of-living support,' she told ABC radio.
The Age
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
The school, transport and health projects being delayed in your area
School upgrades, a new children's court, hospitals, suburban parks and an expanded railway station are among more than 150 funded projects now delayed, according to the Victorian budget. Almost a third of the 518 projects funded in last year's budget have been delayed by at least three months. The total cost has also blown out $3.3 billion, or 1.9 per cent, in the year. 'The cost of materials and supply of skilled labour are improving across the construction industry. However, challenges remain,' Tuesday's state budget said. An analysis by The Age of state budget papers found 171 projects have been delayed, referred to as 'revised' completion dates. Many of them had already been delayed in previous budgets. For example, 10 community hospitals promised by former premier Daniel Andrews in 2018, have repeatedly faced delays. Recently completed projects were cut from the analysis. Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes began their efforts to sell the budget to the public on Wednesday, defending the state's net debt levels, set to hit $194 billion by 2028-29. Allan said Victoria's budget strategy was working as the government stabilised debt and grew the economy. 'We've also got to recognise that right now, working people and families, are facing real pressures … and my choice as premier and our government is supporting them with that cost-of-living support,' she told ABC radio.
