The Victorian opposition has pledged to offer free public transport for nurses, aged care workers and allied healthcare workers for four years, if it wins the November election.
Key points:
The opposition says the policy is aimed at easing cost-of-living pressures for health workers
The policy is likely to cost about $468 million a year
Earlier this year the government announced a “surge payment” in a bid to retain healthcare workers
Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier, a former nurse, said the plan was designed to recognize the difficulties of the past few years of the pandemic.
“It’s really to recognize all of those who have worked in our healthcare system, both public and private, over the last two-and-a-half years, who have done it so hard and so tough,” she said.
Ms Crozier said the policy would be extended to nurses, allied healthcare workers, clerical staff, patient transport orders, dental assistants, midwives, aged care workers, paramedics and aged care workers.
The policy would make public transport across Victoria free for public and private sector nurses for four years.(Reuters: Sandra Sanders)
“That will be assisting with their cost-of-living pressures,” she said.
“We know this is becoming a very big issue, cost of living. And this is one way that we can ease that burden.”
The opposition said the more than 260,000 healthcare workers covered by the policy could end up $1,800 a year better off.
That upper-end estimate was based on someone who was using public transport daily across zones one and two in Melbourne, the opposition said.
Based on those figures, the policy could cost up to roughly $468 million a year, but Ms Crozier also noted not everyone who was eligible would take up the opportunity.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the policy would be easy to administer, with eligible workers offered a specific public transport card for free travel.
He said there would be further health policy announcements from the opposition in the months ahead.
The opposition’s announcement comes after a fortnight of turmoil for the Coalition, with several staff leaving Mr Guy’s office after details of a proposed arrangement between a Liberal donor and his former chief of staff came to light.
Earlier this year, the Victorian government announced a $3,000 “winter retention and surge payment” to try and support and retain public sector healthcare workers as the state battles its deadliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.
Just months out of a state election, Victoria’s alternative government has been thrown into disarray by a leaked email, a “disastrous” interview and a slow-moving fallout.
Details of a proposed arrangement between a wealthy Liberal Party donor and the Opposition Leader’s chief of staff came to light at the beginning of last week.
Matthew Guy fronted the media within hours and announced his chief of staff had resigned, and seemed determined to put the issue to bed.
However, in the days since, the series of events stemming from that initial revelation have only gathered momentum.
A Liberal MP, who did not want to be named, recently told the ABC that Mr Guy’s position as leader was precarious and another scandal would be fatal, but said that, in the absence of an alternative, he may hang on until the election.
At the start of May, when Mr Guy pledged extra funding for Victoria’s watchdogs, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and the Victorian Ombudsman, he said his party was “focused on rebuilding our system of integrity and honesty in government “.
The government’s integrity came under fire last month, with the release of the results of an IBAC investigation detailing “extensive misconduct” by Labor MPs, as well as an ombudsman’s report rehashing the “red shirts” scandal.
The Opposition Leader has been eager to turn voters’ minds to integrity and trust in government, but struggled to formulate a response as his own office was subject to scrutiny.
So, how did the opposition get to this point just over three months out from a state election?
The proposed arrangement
On August 2The Age published revelations about Mr Guy’s chief of staff, Mitch Catlin, approaching billionaire party donor Jonathan Munz for payments totaling more than $100,000 to his private marketing business, Catchy Media.
Mitch Catlin resigned as Matthew Guy’s chief of staff.(Supplied: LinkedIn)
Mr Catlin said no contract was signed, and Mr Guy fronted the media and asserted more than once that the arrangement, brought to light by a leaked email, had only ever been a proposal.
“We’re acting on a perception — this wasn’t even put in place,” he said.
That day, the Andrews government announced it would refer the matter to the state’s integrity agencies, IBAC and the ombudsman, Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police and the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC).
It also published a list of 14 questions directed at Mr Guy about Mr Catlin’s proposed arrangement.
The interview
Almost a week after the initial reports, Mr Guy appointed his childhood friend, Nick McGowan, as his new chief of staff on August 8.
Mr McGowan has also been preselected as a Liberal candidate for an upper house seat in the Eastern Metropolitan Region, but Mr Guy stated his new chief of staff wouldn’t be campaigning for the seat during working hours.
The Opposition Leader and Mr McGowan have a close personal and professional relationship, with Mr McGowan best man at Mr Guy’s wedding, and his chief of staff while he was planning minister in the Baillieu-Napthine government.
Mr McGowan will also be forced to take leave by November 10 when the VEC deadline for candidate nominations closes, meaning Mr Guy will also need to find a replacement for his top aid for the final two weeks before the election.
Nick McGowan, Matthew Guy’s new chief of staff, is also an upper house candidate for the state election.(AAP: James Ross)
The appointment caused some frustration inside the party, with one Liberal MP, who did not want to be named, labeling the move a “shocker” and “a job for a mate”.
They said it sent a “poor message” to the party’s other candidates that they did not need to bother campaigning until they lodged their nomination.
On that same day, Mr Guy was criticized for his performance during a 12-minute radio interview on 3AW where he repeatedly refused to answer questions about when he first found out that Mr Catlin had approached Mr Munz about the proposed arrangement.
Rather than starting a fresh week on the front foot, Monday’s events put Mr Guy right back to square one, and the interview drew harsh responses from listeners.
One man who identified himself as a “rusted-on Liberal voter” said Mr Guy had “lost the election” by being evasive.
Another caller described the interview as “disastrous.”
The departures
Over the next few days, multiple departures from Mr Guy’s office kept the issue in the spotlight.
On August 10Mr Guy’s director of communications, Lee Anderson, resigned after reportedly clashing with Mr McGowan.
Mr Anderson — who had decades of media experience — has since been replaced by an existing Liberal Party media team member, Alex Woff.
On August 11the departure of a third staff member emerged.
There were conflicting reports about whether Mr Guy’s diary manager quit or was fired, but the staff member left and has since been replaced.
On August 10, amid the staffing changes, the opposition published its own list of 48 questions on integrity addressed to Premier Daniel Andrews and Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan.
The re-emergence
On Friday, August 12all eyes were on Mr Guy when he addressed reporters in Albury-Wodonga, his first media event since August 8, despite Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier saying days earlier that the Coalition was in “full campaign mode”.
Mr Guy revealed the VEC had requested he provide “any documentation”, including his emails, related to Mr Catlin’s proposed arrangement with a Liberal Party donor.
He said the body had “begun some preliminary work” and had asked for documents.
“I’ll comply and make sure that we work with them at every stage, and every step,” Mr Guy said.
He also expressed frustration that interest in the fallout from Mr Catlin’s proposed arrangement coming to light had lingered so long.
“I am sorry that this issue has come around, and that this issue has been a feature for a week and a half,” Mr Guy said.
The chief of staff to Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has resigned, after reportedly asking a Liberal Party donor to make a $100,000 payment to his private marketing business.
Key points:
Mitch Catlin reportedly proposed a contract that would have seen a donor pay more than $8,000 a month to his private company
Matthew Guy says there are no similar agreements in place within the Victorian Liberals
The state government has criticized Mr Guy and put out a list of questions directed at him
The Age has reported that Mitch Catlin asked Mr Guy to forward a proposed contract to a donor that would have seen the donor pay more than $8,000 a month to Mr Catlin’s private marketing company, Catchy Media Marketing and Management.
The Andrews government this afternoon said it would refer the issue to the state’s corruption watchdog, as well as agencies including Victoria Police, the Victorian Ombudsman and the AFP.
In response, Mr Guy said he would cooperate with any investigation and looked forward to the state’s integrity agencies “confirming this referral for what it is — an unfounded and desperate political stunt.”
Earlier, Mr Guy said while “there was nothing signed” and he had not passed on the proposed contract, he had this morning accepted Mr Catlin’s resignation.
“I make it very, very clear that I value integrity in government and also in opposition,” he said.
“To that end, my chief of staff Mitch Catlin has this morning offered me his resignation.”
Mitch Catlin runs a private marketing company called Catchy Media Marketing and Management.(LinkedIn)
The Liberal leader pledged to establish a code of conduct for opposition staff.
“I accept that as an issue that needs resolution, I will fix that and I will make sure there is a code of conduct for opposition staff as there is, and should be, for government staff,” he said.
Mr Guy said there were no agreements in place within the party that resemble Mr Catlin’s proposed contract.
“We’ll make sure that any issues, even the perception of integrity, is taken seriously. We’re acting on a perception — this wasn’t even put in place,” he said.
MPs call for greater transparency
Labor minister Danny Pearson said Mr Guy needed to “come clean” and reveal his level of involvement.
“Matthew Guy is putting himself up as the alternative premier,” he said.
“He may be the premier by Christmas, and this goes to his credibility.”
The state government has put out a list of 14 questions directed at Mr Guy, asking why the documents have not been released and how the proposed contract would have benefited the donor.
Reason Party MP Fiona Patten said greater integrity was needed in the state’s political system and renewed calls for the urgent introduction of a parliamentary ethics committee.
“We know that the system needs greater transparency and greater integrity,” she said.
“What the major parties do affects us all.”
Addressing media this morning, Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin denied all knowledge of the proposed deal and took aim at the government’s recent issues with integrity.
“We need to make sure that integrity is the highest priority here in this state,” Mr Battin said.
“That includes in the parliament, that includes in your party and that includes trust across the whole sector.”
