The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, says he is outraged and; on behalf of the state, embarrassed that pensioners are being sent bouncing cheques by the Andrews Labor Government.
Mr Walsh said Labor Governments notoriously cannot balance the books; but said Daniel Andrews is on his way to setting “an unparalleled benchmark of fiscal incompetence”.
He said he has already had three constituents contact him because their $250 Power Saving Bonus payment cheques had been dishonoured by their banks. And knows that has been repeated in the offices of other MPs across the state.
“Even worse, Barbara Day, the woman who came to my office today, was also being hit with a $15 dishonour fee penalty, she has to pay the price because clearly the government is going broke,” Mr Walsh said.
“Daniel Andrews and his henchmen have been happy to grab every headline they can, about the millions of dollars they are throwing at people because of the mess their government has made of hotel quarantine, contact tracing and properly managing the people’s money.
“Someone very senior in this government needs to get on the phone now, apologise to Barbara and the others; get them their $250 and also pay back the $15 penalty. Barbara was quite shaken, and angry, about this sorry mess,” he said.
“None of our senior citizens enjoys going into their local bank to be told the Victorian Government; let me stress that, the Victorian Government; has hit you with a dud cheque; from an account with no money in it – I don’t know how that makes you feel but it leaves me very worried and with a lot of questions I want answered.
“Even if it has to come out of their pockets, and the pockets of this government’s bloated public service – because none of them have missed a day’s pay; holidays; superannuation and pay rises throughout their total failure to do what every other state in Australia has achieved; a COVID plan that actually works.”
“But now we have reached the inevitable conclusion of any Labor government holding the purse strings – they have run out of money and at the same time are doing their best to build a record debt for our state,” he added.
Mr Walsh said you don’t have to look too hard around Victoria to see how the Andrews Labor Government disasters are truly faring; such as the West Gate tunnel connector that was supposed to open in Melbourne next year “but now we hear that it’s when major work might actually start”.
He said Daniel Andrews dismisses his multi-billion dollar blowouts on major tunnel projects and upgrades across Melbourne; he chooses to ignore cold hard facts proving to him how much unnecessary spending has been done; has had to pour hundreds of millions into the economy to just offset, not fix, his; and his government’s COVID disasters.
“If you think our state can afford another four years of Andrews’ autocracy, of emergency powers and of tossing out bad cheques to our pensioners, I suggest you go home, find a mirror, and have a long, hard look at yourself.”