Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has come under fire after playfully attempting to ridicule Sydney and Adelaide.
Ms Allan took to Facebook and Instagram to express her delight at Melbourne being placed above the capital cities of NSW and South Australia in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) global liveability rankings.
Melbourne finished in fourth place, behind Vienna in Austria, Copenhagen in Denmark and Zurich in Switzerland, while Sydney finished in seventh place and Adelaide in 11th.
The EIU ranks 173 cities across various categories, including stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.
‘If you’re reading this from Sydney, enjoy the fake trams. If you’re in Adelaide, flights east are cheap at the moment,” Ms Allan’s post read.
‘And if you’re in Melbourne, enjoy a great Friday night in the sporting, live music and major events capital of Australia.’
Some Melbourne residents reacted negatively to the Prime Minister’s comments, saying their city still has infrastructure and crime issues.
These issues caused the city to drop from third place in the rankings last year, after having held the top spot for three consecutive years (2015 to 2017).
Victoria’s Prime Minister Jacinta Allan (pictured) has come under fire for a botched attack on other major Australian cities after Melbourne was named the fourth most liveable city in the world.
One social media user described Ms Allan’s post as ‘painful’, adding that ‘all three cities are good in their own way’.
“At least Sydney has a train to the airport and Adelaide is not dominated by constant protesters and juvenile delinquents like Melbourne,” they wrote.
Melbourne residents are struggling with the city’s position given the current high cost of living and deteriorating public services.
“The problem is that education and healthcare are in poor shape and housing is in a tragic state,” one person wrote.
“The homeless people in the city were so wet this morning. What should they do?’
“You might want to try working with the federal government on housing and food affordability before you get too gloating,” wrote a second.
“I can’t believe how much money I’m burning through as a tenant right now.”
The EIU has lowered Melbourne’s perfect score of 100 for infrastructure this year to 96.4 due to an “acute housing crisis” caused by a shortage of available housing.
Melbourne tops Sydney and Adelaide despite Victoria’s capital falling one spot from last year due to a housing shortage causing a rental crisis (stock photo of Melbourners on a walk)
Opposition Industry Minister Bridget Vallance also hit out at the Prime Minister for pushing companies out of the state.
“Sure, we love football, but on Monday morning we will all remember the shameful tax increases under the Labor government under your ‘leadership’, which are driving manufacturing companies out of the state to Queensland and South Africa, causing job losses,” she wrote.
“Your financial incompetence and excessively high taxes are making life harder for everyone in Victoria.”
Some users even admitted that the problems had forced them to flee the state for better life chances.
“I couldn’t find a house in my hometown… I’m across the border enjoying the sun,” one person wrote.
‘Melbourne is so great that we left. Labor have destroyed this once great city and they are not done yet,” said a second.
Another wrote that “no one in their right mind would move to this bad state after what your government did to it.”