Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (17:56): I say to every Victorian who relies on their local council to collect their weekly waste, to keep our children safe at pools and to keep community facilities clean: those services are now at risk. Last month, the Allan Labor government resurrected an innocuously named program, the Local Government Fair Jobs Code. Its stated intent – reducing insecure work in local government – sounds noble, but its impact will be severe. Councils are not wholly owned subsidiaries of the state; they are separately elected governments, representing their own communities, spending ratepayers money – your money. Unlike its sister code, this will be enshrined in legislation. A taxpayer-funded watchdog will enforce compliance and punish councils that cannot comply. The Allan Labor government will be directing councils to deliver their core services at an inflated cost. Councils will either go broke or cut services and scrounge for money. You might as well call this the Labor cuts code.

When Minister Hamer appeared before the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC), he could not name a single council that asked for this code – not one – yet he claimed to have engaged in various discussions. But in the same breath he said it was just an understanding. When asked whether he met with Trades Hall, he said, ‘Not specifically.’ Well, we know exactly who he spoke to. At the ALP state conference, Minister Hamer said:

To the ASU and all union delegates in this room – this Code is for your members. It’s overdue, it’s real, it will be mandatory – and we’re getting it done.

The Australian Services Union’s own media release could not be clearer: mandated, tick; enforced by a separate regulator, tick; aged care and early childhood services retained in-house, tick; mandated consultation on procurement decisions, tick; targeting of contracting, tick. Seemingly every union demand was delivered by the minister in the budget, and it will be paid for by ratepayers in their next rates notice. That is how this government works – union coffers are filled and Labor polling booths are staffed, but your services are cut and your rates are raised.

This code will restrict councils’ ability to use private contractors. In rural and regional Victoria, many councils depend on private contractors to deliver essential services on time and on budget. Minister Hamer was confronted with the potential example at PAEC of a contractor mowing grass in outer hamlet communities. Would the code force that council to employ a full-time worker instead? The minister could not give a straight answer, but according to the ASU, the government has agreed to make outsourcing to contractors rare. These contractors are sole traders and small businesses whose income could dry up in due course. At a PAEC hearing in 2024, the department’s own presentation clearly said the code was already developed. Yet two years later, Minister Hamer tells us it is still being developed. The minister has not read his brief, or he is keeping a secret, or he is going back to the drawing board.

Two years ago there was an advisory panel. Who was in it? Were they forced to sign non-disclosure agreements? Two years ago pilot programs were promised. Which councils were involved? Were they a success? If so, why wasn’t the code implemented last financial year as promised? One senior council officer told me the sector thought the code had died a death, but it has been resurrected to pay a ransom to the ASU before the next election. Minister Hamer delivered that ransom himself: $5.4 million in the budget to put local people out of business and add compliance costs to financially unsustainable councils. When councils pay, ratepayers pay. Your waste gets collected less often, your parks fall into disrepair, your council-owned kindergarten, library and pool operate at reduced hours and you get hit with a rates notice you cannot afford.

There are 79 councils in this state, representing more than 3 million ratepayers. No-one was consulted, no-one asked for this, yet nearly every single one of them will pay for it. The union bosses know what is in the code. It is time Victorians knew.