Dear Premier

As a senior Australian citizen, I am perplexed about the role of your government in shaping Victoria’s future direction. Over the years, it has been variously described as “The Garden State” and “The Education State.” These descriptions may have been accurate in past times, but they can in no way describe Victoria in 2025.

I struggle to understand the policies—and their application—that appear to be driving your government. My limited understanding of your priorities and directions encompasses the following areas, and I would appreciate having a clearer picture of Victorian priorities to enhance my knowledge.

*    Why has your government continued to pursue the Suburban Railway Link with its declared structural deficiencies and forecast lack of use, when other suburban transport priorities have a greater urgency of being satisfied?

*    Why is there a focus on legislating the right of workers to dictate to employers that they will be entitled to two days a week to work at home?

*    No funds for basic community needs, but plenty of money for projects going nowhere, as has been suggested for the Suburban Rail Link.

*.    Why is your government so fixated on creating what, in essence, will be two parliaments, one for 65,000 Indigenous Australians and the other for 7 million people? Will the Indigenous Parliament have the power of veto over the Victorian Parliament on all matters? 

*  Why is the plight of farmers and pastoralists, in terms of drought support and costs of tax imposts confronting them at these dire times, largely being ignored?

*.  Why is the Victorian judicial system one of such extreme lenience when dealing with violent and escalating crime? Why does Victoria have a shortfall of more than 1,000 police?

*. It seems that your government is dominated by never-ending reactions to crime, especially by the young, but equally by adults with malevolent intent. 

* Why are you going against the grain of what the Voice referendum revealed in all Australian states and the Northern Territory, including Victoria?

* Why is the horrendous levy being imposed on all landholders to fund fire prevention and disaster management services in Victoria? Why are farmers and those in rural areas who have been and are the backbone of fire and emergency volunteering in Victoria not exempted from these hugely unfair payments?

* Why has the Victorian POlice budget been cut by $50 million when there is a reported shortage of 1,100 police?

* How could the expenditure of $13 million on machete disposal bins at $375,000 per bin possibly be justified, and how likely are people to use those bins for disposal purposes when there is every likelihood that using the bins will identify them as culprits of machete misuse?

* Why does your government seemingly support the judiciary in Victoria, with magistrates and judges playing the ‘tag and release’ strategy by endlessly bailing those who commit the most heinous of crimes?

I acknowledge that your government is hampered by the fact that the opposition is of poor consequence in the Victorian Parliament. All governments take greater care when it comes to focus if there is a vibrant and questioning opposition. In Victoria, this is not the case, meaning the government has a greater ability to pursue an agenda without contradiction. The opposition seems so focused on internal machinations that you can proceed with policies with very little recourse to the coalition’s questioning.

I would appreciate your help in understanding how things are in Victoria and why Government policies and practices I ask about exist in the form they do.

Sincerely

Henry Gray

October 22 2025

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