Victorian Labor wins election in landslide victory, will deliver $6.4 million in LGBTI initiatives
Victorians have voted Labor back into government as part of a landslide victory, with experts forecasting that 55 seats will likely go to Labor in the state’s lower house.
Only 90 minutes into the election on Saturday morning, ABC’s election analyst Antony Green declared a Labor win, with the ABC’s election computer showing a 4.8 per cent swing towards Labor.
In Victoria’s upper house, the ABC’s election computer calculated that Labor would increase its numbers from 14 to 19, while the Liberals’ numbers were forecast to decrease from 14 to 9.
At Labor’s election night function in Mulgrave, re-elected Premier Daniel Andrews declared Victorian Labor to be “the most progressive government in the nation”, according to ABC.
Minister for Health Jill Hennessy reportedly described the election results as “looking like a bloodbath”.
As part of its pre-election promise, Victorian Labor committed to $6.4 million into support services and initiatives for the LGBTI community.
Chief among these was a new ‘Melbourne Pride’ celebration in 2021, to mark the 40th anniversary of Victoria decriminalising homosexuality.
In a statement, Labor said the street party would take place on Smith Street and Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, and involve the surrounding pubs, bars, and restaurants in a European-style street celebration similar to those held in London, New York, and Berlin.
Victorian Labor also committed to channeling $200,000 into regional and rural pride events.
The party said it would dedicate $2.5 million to expanding family counselling services for LGBTI people across the state, as a way to provide free counselling services for families coming to terms with their loved ones’ sexual or gender identity.
To recognise the disproportionate rates of mental health issues and suicide in the LGBTI community, Victorian Labor also committed to spending $500,000 towards increased mental health support, including via Switchboard.
An additional $3 million will go towards targeting the root causes of homelessness for LGBTI Victorians.
The proof, as always, will be in the eating won’t it? We can only hope he keeps his word. For as long as I can remember (though I’m biased because I lived there for 30+ years) Melbourne has been the most liveable city of all. Try living in Australia’s Rust-bucket State: SA. Came here for family reasons and loathe it. They don’t even have one Gay Venue. They don’t even have a GLBTIQ product like Star Observer. They all closed down and then there is the SA police. Possibly the most homophobic bunch of bastards anywhere.
Money should be spent on brain transplants.