The Baillieu government went to the November election promising families that a coalition government would keep cost-of-living pressures down. However, all Victorians are seeing day after day is yet another Baillieu government promise being squandered, shredded and shunted out the back door.
Documents released under FOI show that the Treasurer, Kim Wells, has failed to request even one briefing from his department regarding ways in which the Baillieu government might reduce the cost of living.
Not only is the Baillieu government doing nothing to reduce the cost of living but it is calling for restraint regarding the minimum wage case currently before Fair Work Australia.
Rather than keeping the cost of living down, the Premier is advocating for keeping wages for our lowest paid workers as low as possible. The Baillieu government is also pushing for the minimum casual shift to be cut from 3 hours to 1.5 hours, which attacks every young Victorian worker. Mary Wooldridge, the Minister for Mental Health, promised before the November election that there would be a community sector wage increase. She said:
“We’ve been very clear: we’ll be making financial commitments in our policies in relation to supporting that claim and if it’s more than that, then we will be funding and supporting it …”
This is yet another abandoned policy and yet another broken promise.
The Premier promised teachers they would be the highest paid teachers in the country under a coalition government, but now the Baillieu government has offered Victorian teachers a measly 2.5 per cent increase. This government has hoodwinked the electorate and continually demonstrates how disingenuous it is when it comes to the real needs and aspirations of Victorians.