September 1999

(Note that the official publication of news releases on the main Government web site ceased between 11 September and 20 October as a result of the State Election and the "caretaker mode" convention which applied until a new Government was formed.)

No clear majority after State election

The State election on 18 September has resulted in the Liberal-National Coalition holding 43 seats in the Legislative Assembly, the Australian Labor Party 41, independents 3 and a supplementary election to be held on 16 October in the Frankston East electorate.   In the Legislative Council, the Coalition now holds 31 seats and the ALP 13 - see the Victorian Electoral Commission site for election result details. (27 Sep)

Labor costings in disarray

The Treasurer, Alan Stockdale,says Labor has contradicted itself over the funding of new police stations, promised different numbrs of stations in different statements, dumped its "New Solutions" manifesto promises as "a 10 year plan with no specifically costed proposals" and either grossly under-costed its rail proposals or intends that they be private sector projects. (10 Sep)

Labor's unjust Justice policy

The Attorney-General, Jan Wade, says Labor's justice policy ignores women, is badly undercosted, and would return to the bad old days of a Law Reform Commission.  Other areas it refers to have already been well handled by the Coalition.  (10 Sep)

Labor - tax cuts or not?

The Labor Party has reversed a promise to benchmark Victorian taxes and charges to the national average, and now says there won't be much change under Labor, according to the Treasurer, Alan Stockdale.  (9 Sep)

Unemployment at lowest since 1990

Unemployment in Victoria has fallen to its lowest level since 1990 - to 7.3%, down from 7.6% the previous month - and Victoria has also recorded the largest reduction in teenage unemployment of any Australian state over the past year, with a 5.1% drop. (9 Sep)

Apprenticeship numbers lower under Labor

Tertiary Education and Training Minister Phil Honeywood has labelled Labor’s election promise to create just 15,550 extra apprenticeships over the next four years a sell-out of young Victorians. (9 Sep)

Motorists to pay for Labor big spending

Victorian Treasurer Alan Stockdale has strongly criticised Labor’s proposal to take out a one-off dividend of $240 million from the Transport Accident Commission. (8 Sep)

Labor would put police independence at risk

State Opposition Leader Steve Bracks has outlined a plan that would effectively see him take over the operational running of the Victoria Police Force, flouting the long-held conventions of the separation of powers. (7 Sep)

Privatisation of schools an "ALP furphy"

Education Minister Phil Gude has dismissed the ALP’s claim that a Coalition Government would privatise the state’s schools. (7 Sep)

Pharmaceuticals deal with Japanese giant

Australian pharmaceutical giant Sigma has signed a $50-million export deal with a $5-billion-a-year, top-10 Japanese pharmaceutical company, Kyowa Hakko Kogyo. (6 Sep)

Labor’s FoI proposals put privacy at risk

Labor’s plans to abolish recent changes to the FoI Act would put at risk the names and addresses of thousands of public servants, Attorney-General Jan Wade said. (3 Sep)

Education Minister attacks inaccurate ALP radio ad

Education Minister Phil Gude has said the ALP radio ad that claims that children would be dumped from Self Governing Schools was misleading and an attempt to scare parents. (3 Sep)

Labor’s housing policy means rent controls

Labor’s pledge to help people in private rental housing by establishing a "fair rent mechanism to review unreasonable rent increases" can only mean the introduction of rent controls, according to the Minister for Housing, Ann Henderson. (2 Sep)

New facility for young female offenders opened

The Minister for Youth and Community Services, Dr Denis Napthine, has opened the new $15.7 million Parkville Youth Residential Centre, the first purpose-built juvenile justice centre primarily for young women in half a century. (1 Sep)

For earlier news stories see our Archives.  For the latest New Releases from the Victorian Government's main media releases page, see What's New.

Page last changed Friday, 04-Jun-2004 05:11:51 EDT

(other news from the Government's web site main media releases page and other releases)

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has announced the Coalition would provide $7.8 million for a new courthouse in Warrnambool in the next term. (10 Sep)

The Minister for Conservation and Land Management, Marie Tehan, has launched Victoria's Gorse Control Strategy in Ballarat and announced $900,000 in funding for the second stage of the Weeds Enhanced Enforcement Program, a part of the $12 million State Government Weed Initiative which was established in 1997/98 . (9 Sep)

Parks Victoria is to invest $1 million in five partnerships with leading research institutions to support research in Victoria’s parks into how to measure changes in the condition of parks over time, the techniques required to protect particular ecosystems such as grasslands and wetlands, and mapping the distribution of habitat for threatened species and communities. (9 Sep)

The Youth and Community Services Minister, Dr Denis Napthine has officially opened the Birrell Centre for Children at Mitcham. He also announced a one-off grant of $50,000 to boost the Children’s Sexual Behaviors Program. Dr Napthine said the grant is in recognition of the value of the program, the increased demand for the service and the work of the Australians Against Child Abuse board of management. (7 Sep)

The Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Mr Bill McGrath, and the Liberal Candidate for Gisborne, Health Minister Rob Knowles, have officially opened the new $290,000 one-man police station and residence at Malmsbury. Mr McGrath said over the next five years the Coalition will also spend $100 million building 35 new police stations and police/court complexes. (7 Sep)

The Victorian ALP’s policy on gaming is significant for its refusal to rule out the establishment of a second casino in Victoria. The Minister for Gaming, Roger Hallam, said that Mr Bracks has opened the door on his secret agenda for gaming by telling Melbourne radio 3AW that he would "prefer there to be competition with smaller casinos". Only the Coalition has given an ironclad, unequivocal guarantee to prohibit the establishment of a second casino. (6 Sep)

The Minister for Planning and Local Government, Mr Rob Maclellan, said that Labor’s proposal to impose more prescriptive controls on a whole range of dwelling and building proposals was insulting to councillors, council officers and the community for their hard work in formulating rules for their local areas. (4 Sep)

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles has launched a collection of writings and artwork by bereaved children and young people. I Will Remember These Things Forever, unveiled during National Loss and Grief Week, is compiled from experiences of young people seen by bereavement support groups. (2 Sep)

The latest figures on retail turnover from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show Victoria’s retail sector enjoying a healthy growth of 11% over the year to July. Victoria’s retail turnover is growing at more than twice that of the next highest State (New South Wales at 5.1%) and is well ahead of the national average of 6.2%. (2 Sep)

The latest figures on retail trade from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate growth of 6.0% in original terms between June and July 1999. This resulted in growth of 1.1% in seasonally adjusted terms. Although Victoria’s growth eased in July 1999 to 0.7%, it still recorded the strongest growth, followed by the Northern Territory and ACT. All other States were in decline. (2 Sep)

Under the new Fair Trading Act 1999, pyramid selling provisions have been strengthened to prevent individuals and corporations from establishing, promoting or taking any part in a pyramid selling scheme. It is also illegal to induce another person to establish, promote or take any part in a pyramid selling scheme. Pyramid selling provisions carry maximum penalties of $12,000 for an individual and $24,000 for a corporation. (1 Sep)

Disreputable publishers or "blowers", who use deceptive tactics over the phone to extract payment for unauthorised advertisements in publications are now subject to strict laws. Under revised provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1999, a publisher who initiates contact with a client to place an advertisement cannot demand payment unless the client gave a signed authorisation before publication. (1 Sep)

When buying or selling a product, door-to-door or over the Internet, consumers and traders must comply with new provisions under the Fair Trading Act 1999. These include a five business-day cooling-off period for door-to-door (contact) sales and, for distance sales, provision of details of the total cost of goods or services. The new laws also require telephone marketers immediately to cease negotiations over the phone if a consumer asks and to refrain from calling back for the next 30 days. (1 Sep)