By Peter Boyle
MELBOURNE — Bill Deller, Victorian Public Service Federation vice-president and convener of the Independent Action campaign, warned on August 19 that a future Kennett Liberal-National government of Victoria might face a general strike if it went ahead with threats to further slash public sector jobs.
Opposition leader Jeff Kennett had said the previous day that Victoria could not afford its 500,000 public sector workers who produced "not a dollar of wealth". (In fact, Victoria has fewer than 300,000 public servants). How many public servants would be sacked would depend on "when we get in and what we find", said Kennett. The Kirner Labor government has already carried out a 30% cutback in public sector jobs in the last two years, and the state has the highest unemployment in the country.
Kennett attacked Deller for his defence of public sector jobs and intensified his criticism of Independent Action, a loose alliance of independent and progressive candidates contesting the October 3 elections. Independent Action is united around defence of the public sector, job creation, defence of union rights, a clean and safe environment and a guaranteed minimum income for farmers, workers and welfare recipients.
Kennett claimed that a vote for independents would be a vote for Labor and that Deller had "given away his soul" when he launched Independent Action on August 16. The Herald-Sun tabloid, which has been campaigning strongly for Kennett, ran several stories accusing Independent Action of supporting Labor.
In fact, Deller told Green Left Weekly, the suggestion that Independent Action is there to help Labor is nonsense. "Some of the candidates who support the demands of Independent Action will win in seats currently held by Labor candidates. That's not supporting Labor. The major parties and the mainstream media said the same thing of Phil Cleary in the Wills by-election, but the voters rejected this."
Senator Janet Powell, who co-launched the campaign, told reporters that while it was likely most of the candidates supporting Independent Action's platform would put Labor ahead of Liberal in their preferences, they were running against both major parties. Progressive candidates and voters had good reason to fear the consequences of a Kennett victory, she added.
Independent Action has continued to attract support, with a rural candidate from Mildura, Ann Cox, expressing interest in joining the campaign.