Emergency briefings and mandatory “buddy systems” for doorknocking have been imposed for members of parliament in NSW and Victoria ahead of state elections.
Three former premiers tell us how they would fix the state, from cutting spending and lowering taxes for business to investing health and innovation.
At least if the Victorian Labor government goes down, the premier’s loved ones will be by his side.
Ben Carroll has apologised and belatedly paid the bill after filling his car then forgetting to pay while “running errands” after a long day.
Spending as a proportion of gross state product is almost as high as at the peak of the pandemic and economists warn that’s a problem for whoever wins the election.
The state government has announced plans to cap how much counsel can charge when they are hired by state agencies in the hope of saving $8 million annually.
The alliance model of awarding major infrastructure contracts has been criticised for allowing waste and wrongdoing on building sites to thrive.
Pauline Hanson says she should be able to join the debates between party leaders during the election campaign if her party is still polling strongly.
Readers’ letters on the tax break removal for private equity and venture capital funds, and the debate over out-of-pocket medical costs.
Borrowing expenses already exceed spending on roads, police and ambulance services, and are closing in fast on total hospital expenditure.
What happens in Victoria over the next five weeks matters for the nation, both economically and politically.
Labor’s pre-election pledge to cap tolls for a year seeks to undercut the Coalition’s plan, which would cap tolls at $50 a week for two years.
Failure in the state is existential for the Liberals, while Labor hopes a messy coalition with One Nation will scare voters back to it for the big dance in 2028.
Victoria finally has an anti-corruption commission with teeth. It has taken a long time, several investigations, and three Labor premiers to get to this point.
Since Ben Carroll became premier, the ALP has spent more than $700,000 on online advertising. One Nation has spent almost nothing.
The state’s cash deficit narrowed to $5 billion but expenses increased at twice the rate of inflation, despite Labor unexpectedly reaping a federal windfall.
Corporate leaders including Richard Goyder, Ahmed Fahour, Brian McNamee and Paul Little have abandoned the pretence of impartiality about November’s state election.
Victoria’s corruption watchdog found that departmental officials concealed the amount of COVID-19 grants paid to ineligible applicants.
The surcharge, which applies to all overseas-based companies, has increased eightfold since it was introduced by the Andrews government in 2016.
Victorian political correspondent Sumeyya Ilanbey sits down with the Victorian Liberal leader to discuss the issues facing the state and what comes next.
New modelling shows users left behind in the government’s plan to force homes and business to electrify will pay a much greater share of the energy transition.
The premier talks to Victorian political correspondent Sumeyya Ilanbey about public debt and where the Andrews and Allan governments went wrong on integrity.
Warren Pickering is running the party’s campaign from a factory space 60 kilometres outside Melbourne – where voters struggling with mortgages are angry.
The other big obstacle for the independents in Victoria is the Liberal leader – a marketable, economically literate, 36-year-old female.
The Coalition will need to level with Victorians about the deeper budget cuts required and seek the election mandate needed to repair Victoria’s finances properly.
