At first glance, Daniel Andrews’ choice to use a 1998 club hit, Sing It Back, for his big entrance to Labor’s campaign launch on Sunday was a little odd, given it is laced with sexual innuendo and the premier is a renowned 1980s rock fan.
But as he walked on to the stage to the lyrics “bring it back”, it became clear it was a nod to Labor’s commitment to bring back the State Electricity Commission (SEC) if elected on 26 November.
The commitment was central to the launch, with members of the Electrical Trades Union arriving at Cranbourne Community Theatre in T-shirts featuring the SEC’s old sun-ray logo. The deputy premier, Jacinta Allan, dedicated her entire speech to it.
Allan told the crowd her father began his 50-year career in the electricity sector with an apprenticeship with the SEC, which at the time was Victoria’s sole provider of electricity generation, transmission and networks.
“For a young person back then, working for the SEC meant a job for life. Secure, stable work, the kind of work you could raise a family on, build a life with,” she said.
“Back then, each community and country town had its own SEC depot, each local depot employed its own local workers and each year a couple of extra apprentices would be taken on.”
Allan went on to criticise its privatisation by the former Kennett Liberal government in the 1990s, a decision she said had failed workers and country communities and driven up power bills for Victorians. The latest federal budget predicted electricity prices were expected to rise by 56% over the next two years and gas prices by 40%.
Labor also announced another power-saving bonus of $250 for households who seek a better power deal via a government website.
The other new announcement was a $207m package for specialist schools.
But the SEC dominated Andrews speech, with the premier describing its revival as “an opportunity for generations of Victorians” – 6,000 jobs for the commission will be dedicated to apprentices and local content requirements would guarantee them a pipeline of work – while framing the election as a choice between privatisation and public ownership.
The opposition leader, Matthew Guy, on Sunday mocked the government’s SEC commitment as taking Victoria “back to 1975” with “no evidence it will actually lower energy bills”.
Strategists, however, have said the policy is getting the most cut-through of all of Labor’s election commitments so far. It appeals to older voters, who remember the simpler times that Allan revisited in her speech, and younger voters, who in an era of job instability and short-term employment contracts would find the possibility of working for one company for decades an attractive proposition.
This was embodied in a slick campaign video produced for the launch, featuring “mates” Graham and Mick, who spoke of the “good old days” of the SEC – both worked more than 20 years for the commission before it was privatised – and then Damien, James and Shannon, who work in the industry now.
“We go from one contract to another and it doesn’t really enable you to plan and be secure as far as your financial situation goes,” Damien says in the video.
It also appeals to those who want a faster transition to renewables (read: voters who may be considering backing the Greens in Labor-held seats in the inner city) as well as workers, who are being told they won’t be left behind.
Coalition focuses on Andrews government’s weaknesses
The central theme at the Coalition’s launch was less clear. Guy spoke about rebuilding Victoria’s burdened healthcare system, easing cost-of-living pressures on families, the state’s growing debt and the integrity cloud over the government.
Guests were handed “frequent-liar” cards, a nod to the several Ibac investigations that have played out during Andrews’ time as premier. But outside, a small group of protesters in lobster suits sought to remind voters the Coalition also hasn’t covered itself in glory on the issue of integrity – referring to 2017 revelation Guy dined at Beaumaris Lobstercave with an alleged mafia boss.
Guy announced the Coalition would cover electricity supply charges on power bills for the first six months of 2023, saving households an estimated $235, and promised that all new gas produced in Victoria would be quarantined for Victorian use. But his focus was on the government weaknesses and the challenge ahead. To win outright, the Coalition needs a net gain of 18 seats. Adding to its woes, it will enter the race in a worse position than it was then, thanks to an electoral redistribution that sees Labor gain two net seats, based on the 2018 vote.
“It’s like climbing Mount Everest without oxygen and here in Victoria, Labor have been in government for 19 of the past 23 years, it’s like doing it all in a blizzard – all backwards,” Guy said.
“But for the sake of all those people impacted by Daniel Andrews and his world-record lockdowns, we must win this election.”
Guy said there was a “growing wave of anger and resentment” against the premier in the state that makes him “more and more confident” that the Coalition will win the election.
He has two more weeks to make his case.
