- 1 day ago
Jacinta Allan has been the member for Bendigo East for more than a quarter-of-a-century, but now she is in the fight for her political life. In this exclusive interview with the Bendigo Advertiser, Allan fielded questions on crime, cost of living and the CFMEU ahead of the election.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00very thank you for joining us it's great to be here now i think it's fair to say you've been
00:04under quite a bit of crusher recently how have you found the reception whenever you're in your
00:08electorate well having lived in bendigo my entire life i was born here i'm living here with my
00:15husband and we're raising our kids here they go to local schools play sport engage in the community
00:19um i love engaging with people around the community because it's my community it's my
00:25family my neighbors my friends and i'm really passionate about working hard every single day
00:31for the future of this great city of bendigo and i'm proud of the work i've done in terms of
00:38whether
00:38it's the the new hospital and the new hospital isn't just bigger it means more services can be
00:44provided it means people don't have to travel to get the care that they need and that's the focus
00:51that i now bring to the role as premier but also always grounded in my local community always
00:56fighting for future opportunities here for bendigo well when you do the weekend pop-ups how have you
01:03found feedback from those well it's very you have really great direct conversations i will acknowledge
01:09that these are really challenging times for for many people whether it's the uh consequence the the
01:16ongoing pressure as a result of donald trump's war in iran the pressure that people were already
01:21feeling as a result of interest rate rises inflationary pressures which means people feel
01:27that the cost of everything is going up and they're feeling under pressure which is why they
01:33i think people do look to their to their politicians to their governments to support them and that's
01:38something i'm really committed to do um that's why we've got um free public transport for all kids
01:46that we've introduced from the start of the year every every day of the week seven days a week year
01:51round because it's a a way that we can recognize that governments can play a role to help people
01:57that's certainly my labor government's way it's the approach i've always taken as the member for
02:03bendigo is how do we help people how do we support people when times are tough and i'm certainly hearing
02:08from a lot of people that they're feeling those pressures and challenges and want to know
02:12what their government is doing and i say really clearly that my labor government is always looking
02:17at ways to make life a little bit more easier for families more affordable being able to access
02:23health care to be able to get a great education for their kids and also to keeping the community safe
02:30and so they're the sorts of conversations i have pretty much every day with people here in the local
02:35community now i'm sure as you're aware we've conducted a strong poll throughout your electorate
02:41um of all the people we've spoken to two have confirmed only 12 of the people we've spoken to
02:47have confirmed that they will be voting for you is that anything that concerns you well every election
02:53is a contest uh every election is a contest that's certainly been my experience during my time as the
02:59member for bendigo east and so should be because we're talking about what's the future of this great
03:05city going to look like and i've always fought for a future for bendigo that's based on making sure that
03:12everyone here in our community gets access to a great education it's why we've built and upgraded
03:18so many of the local schools it's why we're upgrading white hills primary school hartley primary school
03:23it's why i fought so hard to get the new bendigo hospital built so that we could have
03:28more health care for people in our community closer to home but i do know that there's always more to
03:35do
03:35and while i'll continue to fight every day for a good strong future here in bendigo and i think we're
03:43already seeing you you're not going to get that from a liberal national coalition who are all about cuts
03:50the liberal party are always always about cuts and the national party is always their junior
03:57coalition partner who is too weak to fight those cuts so that's why this election is a contest it's
04:04about what does the future of our city look like and i look to the future of our city and
04:08i see one that
04:09needs to continue to have the support of a labor member of parliament and a labor government that
04:13invests like we've done in the last in in recent years hospitals schools more train services upgrades to
04:21sporting facilities and more of that as opposed to what the liberal national parties stand
04:26for which is cuts and division well labor has been in government for 12 years now so the issues
04:33that people spoke to us about were issues that have happened under labor not liberal national
04:39coalition now could you understand that voters would be instead of thinking about potential
04:43liberal national cuts they're focused more why hasn't labor addressed these issues in the way that
04:49we want them addressed look i acknowledge that there is always more work to be done and particularly
04:53when we're faced as we are today with a new set of challenges that come from those pressures that
05:01families are feeling that they're under as a result of inflation and cost of living pressures
05:06i also too acknowledge that what we have seen uh in in in recent times too in recent years is
05:14um uh too many people not feeling safe in their community and we've seen these new patterns of
05:20youth offending particularly that has resulted in such a concern amongst the community and that's why
05:27we've worked really hard to bring to look at what are the new responses you need it's why our we
05:33have
05:33tougher bail laws bail laws that are working we are seeing more people uh on remand not out on bar
05:40they're at significantly higher levels we've introduced adult time for violent crime we're these young
05:48violent offenders that are causing such concern will be treated as adults in the courts and where
05:53jail is more likely and sentences sentences will be longer but we've also got to do more to to get
06:00in
06:00and prevent crime and look at new approaches and which is why the work of the violence reduction unit is
06:05so so important this is um something new that we've brought to victoria it's um it's a program that's
06:13worked in london it's worked in glasgow and we've brought it here to victoria because it's a model
06:18that's worked to drive down crime drive down youth crime keep the community safe if i can give you one
06:23example of what we're doing here in bendigo as a result of that work is we have a new program
06:29of
06:29community safety officers that work they sit in our schools but they work across the community they
06:36work across families and with very very closely with local police and so we've got one of those
06:43community safety officers in our schools here in bendigo and that's a result for the work that
06:48i've done as premier to establish the violence reduction unit and look at a new approach so i
06:53absolutely acknowledge that's what the community is looking for what these are challenges that we're
06:59experiencing now and how's the government responding and how we're responding is both tougher
07:04consequences for uh people who are offending whether it's bail the increasing the number of
07:11people on bail adult time for violent crime but also looking at new ways that we need to prevent crime
07:17before it even starts well it's interesting you mentioned that so just for the sake of fairness so
07:23crime has gone down nine percent in 2025 where it did go up 16 in 2024 one of the people
07:29who we
07:29surveyed said that one of his biggest concerns is youth crime and he doesn't prove of the new
07:34wars he wants it to be more focused on tackling this issue through education at the early phase
07:39is that something that's being considered more so well that's the that's a really strong example of
07:46that work that i mentioned with the violence reduction unit where we not only have we got new
07:52patterns of offending that has caused this increase in in crime that is causing such concern in our
07:58community we've also got to look at new ways of responding now one of the ways is the the work
08:04of the
08:04chief commissioner who's uh overhauling victoria police getting more police out on the beat to
08:10prevent and respond to crime but also to the work of the violence reduction unit is going to be so
08:15critically important so the example that we've got here in bendigo is we've got a community safety
08:22officer in our schools it's a new initiative it's been run through the violence reduction unit
08:27and it's working with schools police families community organizations like sporting clubs
08:33to really keep young kids connected to schools connected to community because we know that's the
08:39best way to prevent crime before it even starts is to give young kids a connection again as i said
08:47whether it's to school or community or family and so that's the approach that we're driving through
08:52the violence reduction unit and through the work of schools here in bendigo now another main issue
08:57that various have spoken to us about was the cfm eu scandal 15 billion dollars barely lost now many
09:04of the people we spoke to even some who have the labor voters for most of their lives have held
09:09you to
09:09account of that and have announced they're not going to be voting labor in this year's election
09:13for that reason do you believe that's a fair assessment well that the the what you've just said
09:19in terms of your question is um that allegation is is wrong i think it's important to say that at
09:26the
09:26outset there are claims that have been made uh that evidence has not been provided to support that claim
09:33and this is a really important point because i've zero tolerance for any sort of criminal activity in
09:39any workplace and particularly the issues that have been raised in our construction industry which is why
09:45in taking strong action we've given police more powers they've had a dedicated task force set up to
09:53this to deal with this issue and have laid 70 charges made a number of arrests it's why we've also
10:00strengthened the labor hire authority who've gone out and cancelled 147 construction licenses to weed out
10:08this bad behavior in the industry that is a concern to me and to many people so that's the action
10:15that
10:15we've taken and i say this clearly that the claims that are being made have been made without evidence
10:20if there is evidence we need to see it because police will take action the labor hire authority will
10:27take action but that claim that has been made has not been supported with any evidence to date
10:32the legal advice i was given was that there's either two options here either there was corruption
10:38on the table or competence is that something you accept or do you think there's something else
10:41well i've just the the claim that's guiding that advice as i've just said to you um is a claim
10:48that's
10:48been made with no evidence to support the claim now if there is evidence we need to to see it
10:56because we've seen where the uh with we victoria police particularly or our labor hire authority
11:02as evidence of wrongdoing they take action and we've given police and the labor hire authority
11:07additional powers because we have zero tolerance for this sort of criminal any sort of criminal
11:12behavior in work sites everyone deserves the right to a safe workplace free of this sort of behavior
11:19and that's why the action we've taken has resulted in arrests in charges in construction licenses
11:25being cancelled and if there is any evidence we need to see it because police can and will act
11:32on what uh evidence they have recently you've promoted four new mps of front bench now um it's worth
11:40noting that all four um are members of the labor left does that imply that this that's that's not correct
11:49oh yeah no sorry sorry yeah sorry well well it i i could i'm there's a different conversation about
11:56the uh the opera different groups in the labor party but that's broadly broadly broadly correct
12:01fair well just a few weeks ago there was rumblings um valuable leadership now for new members to the
12:07front bench all who are part of late left doesn't that imply that there's some sort of division between
12:11the left and the right factions but again that that that assertion is um incorrect we've got a really
12:18great strong united labor team uh as evidenced by the fact that um we're a labor team that by being
12:25united with a common set of values as we share the same value set you can't say that about the
12:31liberal
12:31party who absolutely are at war with each other and with their party president it's only my labor team
12:38that has a unity of purpose and that unity of purpose is being focused on what's important to
12:44victorians we have a singular focus on what matters most to victorians are looking at new ways to make
12:50life easier for working people and families to make the community safer to look at how we can provide
12:56more cost of living support to make life more affordable for families of working people and
13:02that's the unity of purpose that my labor team brings and this week we had we said goodbye to
13:09three uh long-serving ministers who'd served the community so well for a period of time and
13:15we refreshed and renewed the team with great new talent with new people who bring new energy and new
13:22ideas and like we can do this as a labor government because we share a unity of purpose we share
13:28a set of
13:28values and we share a common singular focus on what matters most to victorians which is making life
13:35easier safer and more affordable so you're definitely going to be leading the party to this year's election
13:40absolutely we've got a strong united labor team and we saw this week the evidence of that evidence of the
13:48fact that we were able to go through very um smoothly uh very reasonably quickly as well um a process
13:57to replace
13:58ministers with new energy new talent and new ideas and only a strong united team can do that and that's
14:05only my
14:06strong united labor team you're going to where i'm determined to fight every single day every election's a contest
14:13well i've been doing a few i've done a few elections during my time as uh as a member of
14:18parliament and
14:18every election's a contest and the reason why this is so important is because what we're fighting for
14:24here is the future and what does that future look like and whether it's here in bendigo or across victoria
14:32the future that i see for victoria the future that i see for bendigo is one that's focused on working
14:38people and families making sure that every kid gets a great government education because that gives
14:45them a fair go that they can go to tafe and get us the skills to have a good secure
14:50job to be able to
14:51access health care and our great strong world-class public health system is so important and then at
14:58the same time making sure that we are keeping the community safe and it is only my labor government
15:04that is fighting for that future on behalf of victorians and it's only uh only me is the
15:11member for bendigo east that's fighting for this for our bendigo community others want to talk about
15:18division others want to talk bendigo down others want to talk victoria down and others particularly
15:25the liberal party who are all about cuts with their junior national party coalition partner who are too weak
15:33to stand up for them too weak to stand up to come for country people and at the same time
15:39the liberal
15:40party and the national party are chasing one nation out to the extremes and bringing nothing but division
15:46you and i you were just at the opening of something that was so very important for the future of
15:51bendigo
15:51a place of worship that says very clearly that bendigo is a place that no matter who you are or
15:57where you're
15:57from you are free to to pray to be safe and to be welcomed and to be part of our
16:04community
16:05that's not the future of bendigo or victoria that a liberal national one nation shows about
16:11they want to divide us on the basis of who we are and where we've come from
16:15well i'm going to fight every day not just against that but for the future that i see
16:20which is a victoria and a bendigo that is where everyone gets a fair go no matter where you're from
16:26whether you're an australian family like mine or whether you've moved here more recently
16:30to be part of this great community i'm going to fight damn hard for that and that's why this
16:34election is so important because it is about a choice do you want a future where you've got a
16:39labor government that you know will always back bendigo a labor member of parliament who'll always
16:44fight for that future or a liberal national party outfit that's always about cuts and as we've seen
16:50just wants to talk bendigo down and bring division to our community help this is your first election
16:57as premier so for you know saying that topic and do you feel the humor against you this time christine
17:02oh look there's no doubt being the premier of the state makes you the the focus of every government
17:09decision and i under understand that but it is a question of leadership and when you're in a
17:16leadership role like this when you're the leader of a political party that's putting um putting your
17:23policies and ideas forward to the community what comes with that leadership role is a responsibility
17:29to think about what's the sort of future we're fighting for here and that's why i get so concerned
17:36when we see the liberal party their agenda is about cuts their agenda is about chasing one nation to the
17:44extremes being joined by a national party junior coalition partner that's too weak to stand up for
17:50country victorians or against liberal party cuts and all they want to bring is division well that's not
17:57leadership that's weakness that's weakness based on being wanting to protect your own political skin
18:04rather than understanding that if we have to look at what's the future for our stack where everyone is
18:09respected and supported when you say because you mentioned create division a few times now create
18:15division how on economic surface on an ethnic surface or well we've seen we've seen the the just just this
18:23week we've seen the federal liberal leader release an extremist race-based migration policy
18:35that is supported by his liberal colleagues that includes victorian liberals and that policy would
18:43would exclude people from places like china from vietnam from middle eastern countries from christians
18:51from those middle eastern countries as well as muslims that's division and when you look at the opening
18:56that we've just come from our city of bendigo we had people from all sorts of different backgrounds
19:03different cultures different face not only is that a good thing for us in terms of our sense of
19:09community it's also a good thing for us in sense of how we operate as an economy here in video
19:14they're doctors they're dentists they work in our hospitals work in our schools work in areas like aged
19:21care and disability services that's what's important here is recognizing that it we should be we we are a
19:29place where everyone we should be celebrating the fact that bendigo is a place victoria is a place
19:35that people from around the world are choosing to come here and that's the future i'm fighting for
19:40for here for bendigo and for victoria to keep it that way a place that people can see they've got
19:45a
19:45future there for their kids a future that's equal to me and my family we've been here for many many
19:51generations but it's an equality of opportunity for all kids that i'm fighting for i mean thanks for
19:57joining us thank you
Comments