The problem with Victoria today

THE number one issue in Victoria today is, surprise, surprise, crime.

It should be homelessness, the state of our roads, the cost of doing business, the lack of funding for needed infrastructure in regional Victoria and the future of energy generation… to name a few.

However, when you have a staggering statewide increase in the rate of crime of 16.3 per cent in the past financial year, and by far the biggest increase in motor vehicle theft in Australia, up by 41 per cent in one year when the only other state to record an increase, NSW, was up by six per cent, you know something is seriously wrong in this state.

What’s wrong? A whole myriad of things, but you’re sure as hell not going to stop it by following the state politicians’ playbook on increasing offender penalties and “getting tougher” on bail laws.

That’s the symptom, it’s not the problem.

If we are getting rapid increases in car thefts, thefts from retail and increases in violent crime ahead of what’s happening in other states with the same socio-economic, mental health and drugs problems as we are experiencing here, it’s something that we’re not doing right in Victoria.

And ultimately it comes back to the government of the day assessing what the drivers of the problem are and coming up with a plan, well communicated to the people, and then getting on and making a difference.

If, for some reason, whether it’s ideological or systemic, they can’t or won’t address the problem, then the people get a chance to change the government and we, hopefully, get a fresh start.

That’s what happened in 1999 when Jeff Kennett lost the so-called unlosable election when people got sick of the state’s institutions getting “jeffed” and also his presidential-style of politics, which seems to have caught on successfully since.

So, if the Allan Labor Government can’t come up with a plan, and we need a Royal Commission to flesh out the complexities of the crime rise in Victoria, then there should be a change of government at the next election.

But there are some systemic problems with getting a change of government as well, not the least being the burgeoning size of the government workforce, i.e. rusted on voting block, and the rabble that is the Opposition at the moment, both here in Victoria and nationally.

The first thing the opposition parties should do to fix the crime rate in Victoria, and any other problems they see ahead of the next election, is fix their own party structure first and they could start by setting aside personal ambition.

The success of a democratic system of government, over the journey, relies heavily on having a credible alternative to vote for in the event that the government of the day loses its way, or becomes so bogged down and wedded to the problems they have created themselves, that we need a change.

Being able to rule a line off, and make a fresh start, is a luxury we don’t appear to have right now.