The Allan Labor Government has been caught saying one thing to union bosses while failing to be straight with ratepayers, after Local Government Minister, Paul Hamer, told the ALP State Conference that the Local Government Fair Jobs Code was made for union members.
When asked at a Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) hearing whether Trades Hall was behind the Code, Hamer said "not specifically."
Yet in contrast, at the ALP State Conference, Hamer declared: "To the ASU and all union delegates in this room - this Code is for your members. It's overdue, it's real, it will be mandatory - and we're getting it done."
The ASU's own media release confirms the Code delivers mandatory union consultation on council procurement, a taxpayer-funded regulator, and a crackdown on outsourcing, casualisation, and labour hire.
Shadow Minister for Local Government, Bev McArthur, said: "When councils are forced to deliver services at an inflated cost, rates go up or services get cut.
"Private contractors lose work and council officers could get terminated - all while 79 councils, representing three million Victorian ratepayers, were never consulted and never informed.
"The Minister is beholden to union bosses, rather than committed to the best interests of ratepayers.
"After failing to be transparent at PAEC, the Minister must release the Code now."
