(Unfortunately, it has not been possible to continue this page beyond September 2000.  However, State Opposition Media Releases and news releases, articles, speeches etc by Robert Clark are continuing, as well as pages on Robert Clark's portfolio areas.  See also our News Links page.)

2000

Government guts ambulance Royal Commission

The Government's decision to gut the terms of reference of the Royal Commission into the Metropolitan Ambulance Service is a travesty of justice, according to the Opposition. (25 Sep)

Opposition to oppose Upper House legislation

The Opposition will oppose the Government's proposal to dramatically change Victoria's Upper House, saying the Government was seeking to nobble the Legislative Council and thus obtain a blank cheque from voters. (15 Aug)

Governor's termination "unjust and unjustified"

The Opposition says that the Premier's decision to deny Governor Sir James Gobbo a five-year term is "unacceptable and a disgrace". (8 Aug)

New Shadow Cabinet announced

The Leader of the Opposition, Dr Denis Napthine, has announced the appointment of Mr Kim Wells and Mr Ian Cover to the Shadow Cabinet, and the re-allocation of some portfolios, following the decision by the National Party to end the Liberal/National Partnership - see State Opposition page on this site.  (18 July)

National Party ends Partnership

The National Party has announced that it is ending the Partnership arrangement with the Liberal Party established following the change of Government in October 1999.  The National Party will sit as a Third Party in Parliament, with the Liberal Party constituting the State Opposition. (15 July)

Community Support Fund restructured

The Government has announced revised guidelines for the CSF, under which the Government says $100 million of annual CSF funding will be spent in three main areas of "Promoting Responsible Gambling", "Community Building" and "Broader Community Benefit".  The Government has also established a "Community Advisory Council" of Government appointees to "oversee" the Fund. (20 June)

New legislation on Upper House

The Premier has announced new legislation to change the Victorian Upper House (Legislative Council).  Under the legislation, the Legislative Council would have eight electoral provinces of five members each, with all members serving for only a fixed four year term. The total number of MLCs would fall from 44 to 40. (31 May)

(Unfortunately, news items between 10 March and 9 May have not been included, due to pressure of other commitments.)

1999

Parliament passes amendments to FOI Act

The Parliament has passed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act amending the definition of "Cabinet document", and the circumstances in which ¨ documents concerning commercial, business or financial undertakings are exempt, providing that the $170 appeal fee to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is no longer payable by applicants where a government agency has failed to respond to a request within the statutory time limit of 45 days, amending the provisions relating to protection of personal information and providing that decisions by agencies to appeal VCAT decisions must be explained publicly by relevant Ministers and published in the Government Gazette. (21 Dec)

Parliament meets for first time since election

The State Parliament has met for the first time since the State election.  The proposed program of the new minority Labor government was outlined in the Governor's speech, which was followed by the traditional garden party before the Parliament resumed business. (3 Nov)

New Shadow Cabinet announced

A new Shadow Cabinet has been announced by the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Napthine, and the National Party Leader, Mr McNamara. See Shadow Ministry for a full listing. (29 Oct)

Liberal-National Partnership established

Following talks between the Parliamentary Liberal and National Parties, the parties have announced the establishment of a Liberal-National Partnership to operate in Opposition.  Under the Partnership, the two parties will have a combined Shadow Ministry and will decide their position on legislation in joint party meetings. Further talks including the Liberal and National Party organisations will be held in future regarding the establishment of a formal Coalition. (27 Oct)

Napthine elected as Leader of Opposition

Dr Denis Napthine has been elected unopposed as the new leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition, following the resignation of Mr Jeff Kennett as Liberal Party leader.  Ms Louise Asher has been elected as Deputy Leader. (26 Oct)

Liberal-National Coalition agreement ends

The State Council of the National Party has declared that the Coalition agreement between the Liberal and National Parties is no longer in effect as a result of the defeat of the Coalition government.  The Parliamentary Liberal and National Parties intend to hold talks with a view to establishing a working relationship in Opposition. (22 Oct)

Labor minority government formed

The Governor, Sir James Gobbo, has sworn in Mr Steve Bracks as Premier of a minor Labor government.  Mr John Thwaites is Deputy Premier.  See Government Ministers for a full listing. (20 Oct)

Kennett advises commissioning of Bracks

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has advised the Governor, Sir James Gobbo, to commission the leader of the ALP, Mr Bracks, to form a Government.  The Coalition has decided, having regard to the signed Memorandum of Understanding between the three Independent Members of Parliament and Mr Bracks,  not to exercise its constitutional right to continue in Government unless and until a motion of want of confidence in the Government was carried in the Legislative Assembly. (19 Oct)

Independents back Labor

The Members for Mildura, Gippsland West and Gippsland East have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the leader of the ALP, Mr Bracks, undertaking to support the ALP in Parliament on supply and on votes of confidence.  On this basis, they support for the formation of an ALP Government. (18 Oct)

Labor wins Frankston East supplementary election

The ALP's Matt Viney has won the supplementary election for the electorate of Frankston East, arising from the death before polling of one of the candidates at the general election, Mr Peter Macellan, who was also the previous Member for the electorate. The Australian Labor Party now hold 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly. (16 Oct)

Independents' Charter and Responses

The Coalition and the ALP have both responded to the "Independents' Charter" published by the Members for Mildura, Gippsland West and Gippsland East, on which they state they will base their decision as to which side to support in government.  See the Charter, the Coalition Response and the ALP response. (12 Oct)

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’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)

New Victorian Auditor-General

Mr John Wayne Cameron has been appointed as the new Victorian Auditor-General following the retirement of Mr Ches Baragwanath. (3 Aug)

Y2K readiness near

Victorian Government agencies are within 1.6% of achieving full Y2K readiness with about five months to go before the year 2000. (28 July)

Daylight saving to be extended for the Olympics

Daylight saving will be extended by two months in Victoria in 2000 to coincide with the Sydney Olympic Games. (28 July)

State public sector well advanced on Y2K

The Minister for Finance Roger Hallam has said that State Government agencies are almost fully prepared for the possible effects of the Millennium Bug, with the average completion of Y2K-readiness activities now at 96.99%. (9 July)

Savings through Treasury Reserve refurbishment

The Treasury Reserve Precinct has been transformed from an under-utilised and largely derelict facility, to a centre of Victorian Government administration that is producing multi-million dollar savings for taxpayers, the Premier, Mr Kennett, has said. (9 July)

Y2K compliance on track

The latest report on public-sector preparation for the Millennium Bug shows that, over the past month, preparedness has risen from 92% to 94%.

Development strategy for rural and regional Victoria

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has launched a new development strategy for rural and regional Victoria.

Ministers and MPs to retire

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has announced details of Ministers and Government MPs who intend to retire at the next State election.

Premier calls for co-operation on tax reform

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has called for a meeting between State and Territory leaders and the Commonwealth to negotiate a new Intergovernmental Agreement on Tax Reform.

Byzantine heritage goes on display

Victorians will have the opportunity to see examples of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art in a new exhibition at Melbourne’s Hellenic Antiquities Museum.

New framework for Government purchasing over the Internet

The Victorian Government has committed to a new national framework for e-commerce purchasing.

Agencies improve Y2K readiness

State Government agencies have lifted the percentage of essential computer systems ready for the Millennium Bug from an average of 89% to 92%, according to the latest monitoring report.

A diversity of funding for the arts

The Museum of Modern Art at Heide, the State Library, the Australian Ballet and Museum Victoria receive significant funding in the arts Budget.

Sandstone study for Parliament House

The State Budget has made provision for funds to ascertain sources of appropriate sandstone for the completion of Parliament House.

1999 State budget overview

The Treasurer, Alan Stockdale, has delivered the 1999-2000 State Budget, which includes $383 million in new initiatives and $1.36 billion in new capital works.

Rural leaders sought

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has announced a major leadership program for rural Victoria.

Service to promote women for government boards

The Premier, Mr Kennett has launched VicWomen, a service that will replace the Victorian Women’s Register in providing a register for government departments seeking Victorian women for leadership roles on government boards and committees.

1998

Food assistance package to Indonesia

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the State Government and the Indonesian Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Ahmad M Saefuddin.

Longford Royal Commission

The Terms of Reference for the Longford Royal Commission were released by the Premier, Mr Kennett, on October 13.

Labor wins Northcote by-election

The ALP candidate, Ms Mary Delahunty, has won the Northcote by-election, with a primary vote rise of 0.37% compared with the 1996 general election.

Premier endorses Federal tax plan

The Premier, Mr Kennett had declared the Howard Government’s proposals for tax reform ‘unequivocally good for Australia’, while making a number of comments on the proposals.

2000

The Opposition has pointed out that for the first time in memory the Government of the day had introduced no new legislation on the first sitting day of the new parliamentary session. (15 Aug)

A joint sitting of the Victorian Parliament has received presentations from the floor of Parliament by Victorian Aboriginal leaders, and subsequently the Legislative Assembly has passed a motion reaffirming its support for the reconciliation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. (31 May)

(Unfortunately, news items have not been included between 10 March and 9 May, due to pressure of other commitments.)

The Government has announced its "women's plan". (7 Mar)

The Government has established an Office of Youth Affairs to be staffed by 15 people and headed initially by Ms Lesley Foster. (24 Feb)

The Government will limit legal assistance to Ministers, Crown servants and agents appearing before Royal Commissions to $3,000 per day, with any assistance to former Ministers and current Members of Parliament requiring Cabinet approval. (23 Feb)

The Premier has launched a campaign to develop a new slogan for Victoria to replace "Victoria on the Move". (4 Jan)

The Millennium Bug has not affected key infrastructure in Victoria. (4 Jan)

1999

Standard and Poors have maintained the AAA credit rating of Victoria restored by the previous Government.  (23 Dec)

The Government has announced the establishment of an Audit Review panel to examine major contracts entered into by the previous government. (15 Dec)

Finance Minister John Brumby has delivered the Victorian Government's final Year 2000 Public Disclosure Statement reporting a 99.7 percent public sector completion rate, and encouraging a "business as usual" approach. (2 Dec)

The Premier has announced that each Government department or agency would be responsible for determining what compensation should be paid to their employees rostered to work on New Year's Eve, with the cost of any locally negotiated incentive package is to be borne by the relevant Department or Agency concerned save in exceptional circumstances approved by the Expenditure Review Committee.  (22 Nov)

The Government has introduced into Parliament legislation amending the Freedom of Information Act. (16 Nov)

The Minister for Finance has announced a review of the State Government's purchasing and contracting framework. (15 Nov)

The Premier has announced $277,000 of extra funding for New Millenium celebrations in regional Victoria. (27 Oct)

The Premier has announced the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries to the new Government. (26 Oct)

The Minister for Conservation and Land Management, Mrs Marie Tehan, has announced Victoria’s 24th Surveyor General, Mr Keith Bell. At 39, Mr Bell is one of the youngest in a long line of distinguished Surveyors General, dating from 1851 when Robert Hoddle was appointed. (30 July)

The State Government has announced that Monday, January 3, 2000, will be a public holiday in Victoria, thus ensuring national consistency across the entire Australian business community. (18 July)

The 1999 Rural Women’s Leadership Bursaries have been presented in Melbourne. Twenty women each received a bursary up to the value of $2000 to enable them to further boost their leadership skills. (1 July)

The first 23 graduates of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's special Albanian Interpreter Orientation Course have received their certificates. The successful graduates, from Melbourne's Albanian community, will work as language aides in Kosovar refugee safe havens across Australia. (18 May)

Proposed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, which provide for the deletion of names and addresses of public sector employees in some circumstances, are intended to protect employees from unwarranted invasion of privacy and threat of harm. (6 May)

Melbourne is the likely host of the 2006 Commonwealth Games after the withdrawal of Wellington. (11 Feb)

The State Government has approved an extension of time for the Longford Royal Commission until 30 June 1999, following a request from the Chairman, Sir Daryl Dawson. (10 Feb)

Mr Colin Barry, Deputy Electoral Commissioner since 1989, has been appointed as Victoria's new Electoral Commissioner  following the appointment of Dr Gregory Lyons to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal upon the expiry of his term as Electoral Commissioner. (29 Jan)

1998

Due to the calling of the Federal election, the Victorian Parliament is to adjourn on 3 September.   Similar adjournments occurred during the 1990 Federal election, and in 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977 and 1980.

Page last changed Sunday, 01-Jun-2003 06:02:54 EDT

The State Opposition's assessment of the Bracks' Government's first 12 months in office, assessed portfolio by portfolio. [pdf format]

Labor: 100 days of broken promises

Labor’s first 100 days in office in Victoria have been littered with broken promises. A short list of 50 has been issued by the State Opposition.