Korean Program comprehensively analyses the both parties’ election promises in the lead up to the Victorian election 2018.
Victorians go to the polls on 24 November to elect the 59th Parliament of Victoria, including all 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 in the Legislative Council.
The Victorian Legislative Assembly has 88 members with a fixed term of 4 years from single-member divisions, whereas the Victorian Legislative Council has 40 members serving four-year terms, elected from eight electoral regions each with five members.
The first-term Andrews Labor government made their pitch for re-election focusing on family and health, while the Liberals on cracking down on crime, cutting taxes and better managing the problems around Victoria's booming population.
Distribution of seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly (2014–2018)
The Labor government holds power by the slimmest of margins, with 45 out of 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Labor goes into the election with 45 seats, the Coalition 37 (Liberal 30, National 7), the Greens 3 and Independents 3.
Housing
Labor:
- Invest $209 million to build an additional 1,000 public housing properties over three years.
- Labor has also promised to release 100,000 new housing lots by the end of this year.
Coalition
- Matthew Guy wants to set up a population commission to sign off on housing approvals to make sure that infrastructure and services are keeping up with growth.
- It will release an additional 290,000 residential housing lots to improve housing affordability.
Roads and Public Transport
Labor
- A $50 billion underground rail loop connecting Melbourne's major train lines and the new airport rail, with the entire project to be completed by 2050.
- Build the North East Link, the so-called "missing link" between the Eastern Freeway and the M80 Ring Road at Greensborough.
- A Melbourne Airport rail and pledged $100 million for planning towards fast trains to Geelong and Ballarat.
- Remove a further 25 level crossings by 2025 (a total of 75)
Coalition
- Speed up Victoria's regional trains with European-style high speed rail at a cost of $19-billion (including express 32-minute trains between Melbourne and Geelong) aiming at decentralising the state.
- Resurrect the East West Link road project to connect the Eastern Freeway with CityLink.
- Improve rural and regional roads at a cost of $1 billion.
- $20.5 million to overhaul traffic lights and replace with ‘Smart Traffic Lights’ to ease traffic congestion.
Health
Labor
- Recruit an extra 1100 nurses and midwives; employ 90 more paramedics; buy 23 new ambulances.
- $775 million to build and upgrade 10 community hospitals across Melbourne's suburbs.
- Establish public IVF services – bulk-billed and subsidised for low-income Victorians.
- Free tampons and pads in Victoria's public schools
- Conduct a Royal Commission into Mental Health with a commitment to implement all recommendations.
Coalition
- $140 million for palliative care services
- A new hospital for booming Warragul and matched Labor's commitment for a $100 million upgrade to Maryborough Hospital.
- $10 million a year to subsidise 125,000 car parks at hospitals for concession card holders, pensioners and people visiting direct relatives.
- Expand mental health support for members of Victoria Police, emergency services, ambulance workers and public sector prison officers.
- $1.14 million in grants over four years for headspace to provide outreach services to communities in Regional Victoria and Melbourne.
- Give women access to the contraceptive pill without prescription.
Education
Labor
- $5 billion to subsidise kindergarten for every three-year-old (every Victorian child will have access to at least five hours of subsidised three-year-old kinder by 2022, progressively scaled up to 15 hours per week over the next decade.)
- $1.7 billion over the next decade for building and improving kinders across the state.
- Build 100 new schools over 8 years, an $850 million investment.
Coalition
- A zero tolerance approach to bullying in government schools by introducing “Zero Tolerance on School Bullying” policy, at a cost of $15.3 million.
- Along with a suite of promises for new and upgraded schools, the Coalition has promised to abolish Safe Schools and reinstate religious instruction classes.
- Both Labor and the Coalition have promised $400 million for Catholic and independent school upgrades.
Cost of Living
Labor
- Abolish standing energy offers and force power suppliers to offer a fairer price for energy, the so-called Victorian Default Offer, which could save households hundreds of dollars a year on average on their energy bills.
- Help Victorians save around $890 a year on their power bills with half price solar panels at no up-front cost.
Coalition
- Construction of a new Victorian power station of at least 500MW to cut electricity prices.
- $100 savings on annual water bills under “fairer water policy”.
- Buy electricity and gas in bulk and on-sell at a discount rate to concession card holders (save up to $530 on their bills annually)
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