COMMUNITY anger over state government cutbacks to schools and training centres will be at the forefront of voters’ minds at the next federal election, according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
But Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Bernie Finn said cuts to TAFE were the result of the federal government trimming GST allocations and accused Ms Gillard of “declaring war” on Victoria since taking office.
Speaking to the Weekly during a visit to her Lalor electorate last week, Ms Gillard pointed to state budget cuts to Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning programs and TAFE institutes to argue that broad Liberal values didn’t resonate with the cultural makeup of the area.
“People can judge the contrast . . . they can see what a Liberal government actually means . . . what cuts to vocational applied learning mean for kids in the west, while the federal government has almost doubled the money going into education.”
Ms Gillard maintained the socially driven policies of Labor struck the right chord in areas like Wyndham, home to generational disadvantage and young families in housing estates. But Mr Finn said Ms Gillard’s government had ripped $500 million out of Regional Rail Link and $2.5 billion from GST payments.
“You can’t lose $2.5 billion without something giving somewhere,” he said.
Mr Finn claimed the state government was trying to restore “economic responsibility” to Victoria.
“Naturally when you do that, there will be difficulties up front.
“It may well be a very deliberate ploy to put the state government in a position where it has to make cuts to put us in a negative light before the election.”
Ms Gillard said tighter budgets were the same at federal and state levels, but her government’s choices showcased a different set of values.
“We’ve had to make tough choices . . . we’ve chosen to do things like the private health insurance rebate change and some upper income means testing for benefits, rather than cuts to education and TAFE. The Baillieu government has basically chosen the reverse.”
