By Mikayla van Loon
Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence said she felt “privileged to be a part of Brad’s (Battin) team” after accepting a new and highly ranked position within his shadow cabinet.
Stepping into the shadow ministries for finance, trade and investment, Ms Vallence said she was excited to get started and bring her prior experience to the table.
“Before being elected to Parliament, I worked at the senior levels in finance, procurement and business transformation for multi-national companies managing expenditure and revenue worth hundreds of millions of dollars across Asia,” she said.
“This experience gave me incredible insight in relation to efficiently managing budgets and delivering commercial outcomes, whilst ensuring quality of services remained high.
“I intend to apply my skills from the private sector to bring Victoria’s finances under control and help create the economic conditions that attract investment, which will result in more jobs for Victorians.”
Ms Vallence said one of her key concerns stepping into the role was the “current vulnerability of Victoria’s economy” which has seen a “1.2 per cent per capita” fall in gross state product in the past year, making it “the worst of any State, apart from Western Australia”.
“The Labor Government’s response has been to increase taxes like land tax, or introduce new taxes like the Short Stay holiday tax and the new Emergency Services levy, which will see Victorians paying an additional $2 billion in tax,” she said.
The new Emergency Services levy was welcomed by emergency workers, especially those in the SES, who have been calling for an increase in the levy since May 2024.
Households will be charged an estimated $60 extra a year – or $1.20 a week – to support all of the state services, including FRV, the CFA, Vic SES, Triple Zero Victoria, the State Control Centre and Emergency Recovery Victoria.
Ms Vallence said, however, in her view this was “not for new fire trucks but to plug holes in the deteriorating budget” – with Victoria expected to reach a net debt of $155.2 billion by July as reported by AAP.
As one of a number of appointments and reshuffles under new Victorian Liberal Party leader Brad Battin, Ms Vallence said she feels like the team is “strong and united”, with all positions filled on merit.
“There are so many people from various backgrounds including small business, law enforcement, health, agriculture and teaching. All these lived experiences will be instrumental in putting policies in place that Victorians need to turn our economy around,” Ms Vallence said.
As a local member, Ms Vallence said her priorities for her electorate in 2025 would be the “decay of our roads” most notably the three major arterials, the Maroondah, Warburton and Melba Highways that are “plagued with potholes and degraded surfaces”.
“This not only makes travelling unsafe, but is also causing damage to cars and commercial transport vehicles.”
The Killara Road and Maroondah Highway upgrade in Coldstream, safety on Warburton Highway in Seville East, and the Hull and Mooroolbark Roads intersection, Ms Vallence said, would also remain high on the agenda.
She also said affordable housing and crisis accommodation, health and mental health services access, local emergency services support and stronger laws to protect war memorials would make up the rest of her local focus.
