Ahead of her first sit-down TV interview since becoming premier, the ABC asked voters in Croydon, Werribee, Geelong, Mildura and Ms Allan’s hometown of Bendigo what issues they thought were most pressing, and if they had any questions for the premier.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Premier Jacinta Allan wants Victorians to know she understands the pain the cost-of-living crisis has wrought, but says voters will need to wait until the budget in May to see if there’s any help on the way.
The premier listed many programs already in place to help struggling Victorians, including school uniform subsidies, discounted drivers’ licences and energy concessions, but did not offer any new ideas to ease the pressure.
Victoria has set a target of building 80,000 new homes every year to tackle the problem, and the state has introduced tighter controls giving tenants more rights and limiting rent rises.
It followed the longest and steepest stretch of rising house and unit asking rents in the city’s history, with eight quarters of consecutive growth.
Ms Allan is a polished pollie, she’s been the member for Bendigo East since 1999 when Steve Bracks led Labor to a shock election victory that sent the Liberals into the political wilderness for 11 years.
Richard Willingham’s Stateline interview with Jacinta Allan will be broadcast as part of tonight’s 7pm ABC News in Victoria, and will be available on iview.
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