Liberals
HE KNOWS BETTER: Red Ted looks down his nose on housing industry
Housing industry insiders today expressed fury at lefty Liberal Leader Ted Baillieu’s unorthodox comments reported in today’s Age:
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu argued that population growth had been a ”crutch” that helped Victoria through the global financial crisis, but masked planning failures and weaknesses in the state’s economy.
”Victoria is now the cottage housing capital of the world. The Swiss make watches. The Japanese electronics. Victoria makes small-lot, single-storey house and land packages,” he said.
Baillieu is a multi-millionaire heir, former real estate agent and architect who is believed to occupy properties in millionaire’s row in Hawthorn and Portsea.
Yet seems to disapprove of those who want to live in their own home, with their own yard and those who sell these properties to them. It’s an extraordinary statement for any politician, let alone a non-Greens MP to make.
A REAL LEADER
It is interesting to compare born-to-rule Baillieu’s latte sipping views with the self-made brilliant barrister Bob Menzies and Liberal party founder who said:
“The material home,” said Menzies, “represents the concrete expression of saving ‘for a home of our own.’ Your advanced socialists may rage against private property even whilst they acquire it; but one of the best instincts in us is that which induces us to have one little piece of earth with a house and a garden which is ours, to which we can withdraw, in which we can be among our friends, into which no stranger may come against our will.”
Menzies learned the hard way, by mistakes, and when he became PM the second time was a most incredibly politically effective Liberal PM. In an era where collectivism and the welfare state swept the world, Menzies was able to keep Australian conservatives in office for two decades.
Just like Jeff Kennett was a brilliantly effective Liberal Premier of Victoria. Ironically Kennett was/is a sort of political mentor to Baillieu but they don’t seem alike at all.
TED’S STICKING
Baillieu is most probably not going to be turfed from the state leadership due to the complete cowardice of Terry Mulder who could have roused the numbers, had a compelling case to do so and is easily the best thing going for their parliamentary team.
Instead they’ll limp to the finish-line with Ted. We’re bored with cataloguing his deficiencies so we’ll focus on the positive. He’s appointed a strong man as shadow Police minister. He’s focused on law and order, an area of great political opportunity. But is it enough?
The government shows signs – occasionally – of complacency. These moments are rarely exploited by their opponents.
A leader with an inner-urban, Bill Henson loving, latte-sipping, anti-house&land package sensibility is never going to worry the government much. It says a lot about the Victorian Libs in Spring Street that a majority of them don’t seem to care.
Discussion
34 comments for “HE KNOWS BETTER: Red Ted looks down his nose on housing industry”
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Ted who?
You know you are hurting the Government when Vexnews attacks you. Andy, simply look at the State’s economic figures. The Government relies on the income from housing to balance the books.
Therefore planning goes out the window and Madden and Brumby need the urban sprawl to survive. Go Ted!
Another one of these urban elites that me and my militia are fighting against.
I’m afraid
Bring on MOB
Almost as embarrasing as Madden’s “McMansions” comment.
What’s this got to do with Davydd Griffith (ALP Flemington Branch Secretary); the fact that he is secretary of the Kensington Bowls Club (based at Newmarket Reserve , Kensington); his non-City-of-Melbourne-residing girlfriend and Melbourne City councillor Jennifer Kanis; and the Melbourne City Council’s current preparation of a “Master Plan” for Newmarket Reserve ? huh? huh??
signed,
the ghost of one of them Van Der Craats guys aka Epstein’s Mother.
PS bring back the “something is wrong in the state of Victoria” guy!
Fraser, Turnbull, Washer……
All are tools.
Let’s face it, there’s much more wrong with the Liberal Party than just Ted.
Well said Ted. I may vote Liberal next year. Tell these vile materialistic morons to go jump. Are you coming to my book launch?
The way Ted’s mouth moves when he talks, oh my, mmmm…..
About time you stopped this vindictive vendetta against Ted.
What we do need in Melbourne is more medium-density housing. He wasn’t railing against home ownership, as you have inferred by quoting Menzies (talking 60+ years ago), but against the idea that the standard 12 square block is a sustainable planning idea. The current government have fiddled while Melbourne grew uncontrollably.
Just because someone was born into privilege doesn’t mean they cannot have an idea about how something can be done.
Kudos, however, for finally realising that Mulder doesn’t have the cajones to be leader.
Steven Sensible = Red Ted
Mulder is just selfish he should get off his bum and have a go in March and you will find they will not win but it will stop a disaster under Ted.This Labor goverment is too complacient as they know the Libs will go back wards under Ted ,Wells who and other none performers.
Poor old silly ted – even when he has a point about low density urban sprawl, Ted has made himself the issue and further alienated the aspirational suburbanites who are beyond the horizon of Burke Road – silly silly ted – has he reached a ‘crutch’?
I hear it coming……
The only coming from choo choo is with his mistress, who isn’t the wife!!
Nothing wrong with 7 million in Melbourne as long as you have the schools, public transport, roads, electricity, water and jobs to support it.
But that has not happened in last ten years….and the libs are even worse – they ran down all public services and infrastructure when the population was under 3.5 million.
Voters know the real problem with such massive urban growth is under investment in all public infrastructure especially in the outer suburbs.
Why should voters accept the growth-at-any-cost policy direction when Lib/Lab inner urban elite keep denying the outer suburbs the funding they need.
Ted’s snide comments about the only affordable housing new arrivals can afford (eg outer suburbs) and the federal liberals race baiting tactics don’t help.
The maths are pretty simple – if state and federal government’s want to almost double Melbourne then they better have a plan to double the public and transport infrastructure. Last time I looked that is NOT in the plan. Not in any plan.
Cheap shots against migrants and residents in the outer suburbs are just blame shifting from unaccountable elitist politicians. The end of Marvelous Melbourne is the product decades of poor public policy by an entrenched political class who fail to do even basic population and social planning.
They then turn up in the media and elections and ‘blame the victims’…the people who invest their lives and their savings in Melbourne’s growth corridors.
It is the politicians’ poor planning that is turning a great city into a giant sprawling Ponzi scheme…where outer urban residents like those living in Casey are left with a lack of basic services, almost no transport, high crime rates and property values that are stunted by new land releases.
Red Ted and Bumbling Brumby should both demand federal funds to match Rudd’s ‘big Australia dream’.
Otherwise it will just be a congested and cramped Melbourne nightmare.
Bring back Denis Napthine (Mrs)
Grrrrrrrrr………..
Grrrrrrrrr………..
Bring on MOB, well said!!
Maybe Ted could win government by forming a coalition with the Greens.
They’d certainly agree on a lot of stuff.
the complete lack of renewal is the issue – 104 and the so-called power brokers have been pathetic in not insisting upon the retirement/replacement of least 6 MPs. Yes Ted has supported the dud MPs but we know that post 2010, 2014 will also look unwinnable.
The State ALP by contrast (and also the federal libs in Victoria) have plenty of talent and enthusiasm.
Well said Sad Lib – we should not fund the State Libs at all but direct all monies to the federal effort next year. Despite all of their problems, they are at least serious about policy development, team renewal and winning office.
20TED = 20DEAD
20TED = 20DEAD
I should have said that I sort of agree with Ted if he is making the point that continual urban sprawl is not desirable. But he is the master of opaque utterances
How do big cities get to be big? Isn’t “urban sprawl” a snob’s word to describe “people making a living and setting up homes” ?
To Cool Hand Luke – The Libs would be better off disendorsing all of its State MPs and allowing them to run as independents.
This would make them more accountable for policies and have more impact on government policy and legislation than at present.
They must all be feeling very low at the moment especially as there is no sign that matters will get better
The Liberals are a lost cause, stuffed, cactus, finito… it is simple the Brumby ALP team are now trusted with economy – once a liberal core attribute.
That leaves the libs fight on labor’s nromal strengths of government services..
Voters may worry about water and health and poor public transport….but who turns to the liberal to fix services….
Voters have no choice but labor….and the invisible liberals have no hope…
They have no chance of winning office but they could influence policy and legislation if they focussed on some key policies.
Ted, stop trying to be Premier – just speak the truth about the bushfire preparation, water, law & order and efficient service delivery – you will then help the liberal brand.
Ted must announce that he is retiring from parliament with immediate effect and stand down as leader. He should also use the last vestiges of his authority as leader to tap on the shoulder almost the rest of the parliamentary party to retire at the next election. Then we can preselect a real leader in Hawthorn, build a new team of candidates and get some traction before the next election. It won’t happen of course but then that’s why Victoria is now the jewel in the ALP’s crown following on from the ascendency of the labor unity mob once the ex-DLP unions rejoined. Bolte recognised that the DLP was the only reason he was in power and he nurtured the catholic working class vote like it was the difference between political ascendency and oblivion (which of course it was and remains). Ted Baillieu does everything he can to upset the key swing constituency in this State with his trendy, arty-farty, lefty views. The aspirational self-employed contractor young family voter is the new version of the catholic working class constituency and shares the same conservative values. It needs to be given a reason to swing back to the Liberal Party. Even though the government is relatively ineffectual at service delivery, there is as yet no reason to swing away. People may be unimpressed with the level of services compared to the tax take but they are untrusting of the Baillieu team. This will not change. Unless there is a serious financial and economic scandal involving massive corruption (bigger than the National Safety Council, Pyramid and Tricontinental rolled into one) and a major public outcry, we will be facing another four years of opposition with a totally dud team of comatose parliamentarians.
The message is the vast majority of the population don’t want the population to keep increasing, and making the building industry the only industry is economic madness.