Browsing: Ted Baillieu

THE balance of power in state parliament might be different today if Ted Baillieu had resigned as premier nine hours earlier on Wednesday 6 March. Frankston MP Geoff Shaw says he would not have quit the Parliamentary Liberal Party to become an independent if Mr Baillieu had been first out the door. Mr Shaw, under investigation by police and the parliament’s privileges committee over the alleged misuse of his taxpayer-funded vehicle and fuel card, handed his letter of resignation to the Deputy Premier Louise Asher nine hours before Mr Baillieu announced he would step down as Premier. “I was surprised,…

PENINSULA Link freeway opened early last Friday, the fulfillment of a 44-year dream of roadbuilders who marked a freeway reserve in the third edition of Melway in 1969. This was when the state government planned to build a new suburb for 40,000 people on the Moorooduc Plains between Mornington and So­mer­ville to house workers for industrial development at Western Port. The government’s big plans for Western Port did not come to full fruition, but the reserve stayed on the map. The 27-kilometre Peninsula Link connects EastLink tollway and Mornington Peninsula Freeway in Carrum Downs with the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at…

FRANKSTON MP Geoff Shaw is likely to keep his seat despite allegations of rorting the use of his parliamentary vehicle. Mr Shaw will be hoping his offer to repay any costs involving the commercial use of the vehicle and the fairly mild results of an Ombudsman’s report will be enough to allow him to keep his job. The loss of Mr Shaw’s seat would force a byelection that could threaten the future of the state government, which holds power with a one-seat majority. Liberal Party insiders have told The News that Mr Shaw would have been forced out by his…