00:02There are now less than eight weeks until Victorians decide who will run the state for
00:06the next four years.
00:08And the policy pitches are now coming thick and fast.
00:11State political reporter Rich Willingham joins me now.
00:13Now Rich, health is supposed to be Labor's home turf, but the Coalition's going there.
00:18That's right Ben.
00:19Jess Wilson is specifically focusing on surgeries.
00:21She's got a plan that she's borrowed from Queensland to use private hospitals for public
00:25surgeries.
00:26Now, the state's public surgery waitlist has increased over the past 12 months.
00:30That's despite extra funding paid out to reduce wait times.
00:34Now Jess Wilson says the private system can step into the less urgent surgeries that make
00:38up the bulk of the waitlist, and she's promising to ask private hospitals to tender to do public
00:43work.
00:44The aim is to do an extra 25,000 surgeries a year in the private system.
00:48It will cost more than $1 billion and is being funded by the Coalition's plan to wind up the
00:53state's venture capital investment fund.
00:55There will be no cost for the patient who is in the public system to receive their procedure
00:59in a private hospital.
01:01Alright, well let's take a look at Labor.
01:02Ben Carroll's campaign really seems to involve a lot of rolling back the policies of his predecessors.
01:08That's right Ben, and he's doing it again today.
01:10Three years ago, the state changed the threshold to pay land tax from $300,000 to $50,000.
01:15That hit an extra 250,000 Victorian property owners.
01:19Now, Ben Carroll says if re-elected, Labor will increase the threshold by $25,000 every
01:24year before returning to $300,000 in 2033.
01:29Jess Wilson has already promised to lift the land tax threshold by $50,000 every year, while
01:33One Nation has also promised action but no detail yet.
01:37The Premier denies his promise is a knee-jerk response.
01:40He says he can afford to do this through delaying other projects.
01:43Now, Ben Carroll is desperate for this election not to be a referendum on the Labor government.
01:48At times, it has appeared like he's running an opposition campaign for office.
01:52I'm different.
01:53I've made it very clear, you only have to look at what I've done already.
01:57Well, you mentioned One Nation, they've finally put out some policy, what's been the response
02:01from the other parties?
02:02Yeah, there's some pretty colourful rhetoric yesterday too.
02:04Now, both major parties have condemned the rhetoric that we heard yesterday, which was
02:08promising to jail Jacinta Allen and Daniel Andrews by Christmas.
02:11They both highlighted judicial independence.
02:14Today, neither really wanted to buy into the nitty-gritty of One Nation's policy offering,
02:18rather they focus on the dangers of inexperience and extreme agendas.
02:22Electing a Liberal One Nation government will see the Americanisation of our health system
02:27and our judicial system.
02:28I get that anger can identify problems, but you need a team and the experience and a plan
02:34to actually implement the solutions.
02:37Now, One Nation is sure to have a very big impact on November's election.
02:40One thing both parties privately acknowledge is that it's a challenge to campaign against
02:44One Nation, Ben, because it's not just about policy, right?
02:47They are campaigning against a party who is picking up on this voter anger, this frustration
02:52with the status quo, and that's very hard to counter when you're either a government or
02:56an established opposition.
02:57It's going to be an interesting couple of months for you and us.
02:59Thanks, Rich.
03:01Thanks, Rich.
