Victoria election 2022: Dan Andrews’ massive list of freebies for Australians – from tampons to rego

Daniel Andrews showers Victorians with freebies as he tries to run for a third term in the upcoming state election.

Victorians will go to the polls on November 26, with Labor the biggest favorite to win, but the prime minister is still handing out the money after Melbourne’s world record lock tarnished its popularity.

In the past week alone, Mr. Andrews offered about $282.7 million in instant free gifts — including tampons and cash — plus $1.68 billion to make kindergarten more accessible.

Mr Andrews also took advantage of his existing $9 billion plan to make two years kindy free, pledging that it would “be worth nothing” if elected.

His list of pledges comes as Victoria’s net debt is expected to reach $118.5 billion in fiscal year 2022-23, the most in Australia with NSW reaching $78.2 billion.

CAR REGO

Its free week kicked off on Nov. 8 with a chilling promise to make car registrations free for students at a cost of $9.7 million.

‘We will make rego free for eligible students. That’s about 432 meat patties per year. Smoko sorted,” he wrote.

Aside from his condescending meat-pie analogy, the prime minister linked the policy to his government’s large infrastructure spending.

“Places and apprenticeships are the lifeblood of Labour’s great building,” Andrews told reporters in Geelong.

“So we’re going to take better care of them. And we’re going to do some practical things to support them in learning so that they get the skills they need for the job they want.’

Students already got their car registration for half the price if they use their car for work, and this policy would cover the other half.

CHILDREN

Then, on Nov. 10, he reminded Victorians that he had made two years of kindergarten free with another painfully chilling tweet.

“Two things that lead nowhere under Labour. Free kids, and these plates. Because we are – and are proud of – the education state,” he wrote.

Below the post was an image of two Victorian license plates with FREE and CHILDREN.

Andrews announced last year that Victoria would send children to kindergarten for two years instead of one, and make it free.

In June, it raised that to $9 billion to double the number of hours per week of sophomore year for four-year-olds from 15 to 30.

The program would expand over the course of this decade, spreading the huge expenditures over that time.

Mr Andrews posted another image on the same day with a yellow Uno draw two card with ‘school drop off’ and ‘kinder drop off’ written on it.

‘Don’t like double drop-offs in the morning. Good thing we’re getting rid of them. Uno,” he wrote.

This was to increase its $1.68 billion spending on upgrading existing kindergartens and building new ones, creating 300 additional places on the same lot as schools.

All new Victorian schools will have an on-site kindergarten.

TAMPONS

Then Mr Andrews announced on Saturday that 1,500 free tampon dispensers would be installed in public places around Victoria.

The $23 million program would stock dispensers at train stations, libraries, courts, public hospitals and other public places such as the Melbourne Museum.

This will be an Australian first. It’s a small thing, but it will make a huge difference,” he tweeted.

FREE MONEY

The next day, Mr Andrews announced a more immediate freebie for Victorians with the return of a pandemic-era $250 discount on their utility bills.

To claim payment, Victorians should use the Victorian Energy Compare website to find a better deal than their current energy supplier.

He said many people may think they got the cheapest deal, but seven out of ten Victorians don’t and they could claim the payment to help them switch.

Mr Andrews said the policy cost $250 million but could go up to much more than that.

“That’s a million households of $250 each. There are, of course, many more households than that,” he said.

‘It would be best if we had to put more money into this. That would be a big problem.’

TAFE

Finally, on Monday, Mr Andrews expanded the free TAFE program to more Victorians who already had degrees.

About 50 TAFE courses in ‘high priority areas’ are eligible for free places, but those with an existing qualification were not eligible.

That incapacity is removed so that someone with an art degree can retrain as a teacher. About two million additional Victorians are eligible.

Mr Andrews did not specify how much the free TAFE expansion would cost.

The latest poll, a RedBridge poll released Monday, gave Labor a two-party preference of 53.5 to 46.5.