The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has pledged $37m to introduce a veterans card if re-elected later this month, while the opposition leader, Matthew Guy, offered stamp duty savings for first home buyers.
The Victorian veterans card, to be rolled out from mid-2023, would entitle the state’s 90,000 veterans to a $100 discount on the registration of one vehicle, as well as free trailer and caravan registration and free fishing and boating licences. Veterans would be entitled to free public transport on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.
In addition to the discounts, the card would give veterans access to dedicated employment programs to help them find careers after finishing their period of service.
Speaking at Noble Park RSL, located in his electorate of Mulgrave, Andrews said the veterans card was the first of its kind to be introduced by a state government.
“This is a way in which we can thank those who have served our nation, those who are the best of us, to help them with the cost of living but also just send that very clear message that we value their service, we value their sacrifice,” the premier told reporters on Sunday.
Asked if Labor intended to announce new measures to ease the rising cost of living for all Victorians, Andrews pointed to the government’s commitment to make kindergarten free, its subsided Tafe courses and a one-off $250 power saving bonus for all households.
“We’ve got 20 days to go in this campaign and we will have more to say about cost-of-living pressures,” he said.
In Donnybrook, which forms part of the safe Labor electorate of Yan Yean, Guy announced a Coalition government would cut stamp duty for all first home buyers for property purchases up to $1m for 12 months.
“One of the barriers for younger people particularly to get into the homeowner market as first home buyers is of course stamp duty, so we want to make that easier,” Guy said.
“We want to help with younger people getting into the housing market and, of course, provide a bit of a stimulus to the market that is certainly starting to suffer with the way the economy is going, in the way interest rates are looking.”
The Labor government already offers zero stamp duty for first home buyers on properties that are $600,000 or less, with a reduced stamp duty fee charged for properties up to $750,000.
Guy said the Coalition’s plan, costed by the independent parliamentary budget office at $261m, would help an additional 7,000 Victorians buy their first home and save up to $55,000.
He ruled out broader changes to the stamp duty system, which have been introduced in NSW. “The system we have is where we’re going to stay,” Guy said.
The state treasurer, Tim Pallas, said the Labor government supported first home buyers through grants of $10,000 in Melbourne and $20,000 in regional Victoria for new builds, and a shared-equity scheme.
“We have provided more than $1bn of help for first home buyers last year alone, and only Labor will provide real support that will continue to make a difference for Victorians,” he said.
However, much of the political discourse on the fifth day of the election campaign was centred on an “investigation” into the circumstances of the premier’s fall last year, run on the front page of News Corp Australia’s Herald Sun tabloid.
The story provided no new information about the incident other than a picture of the holiday rental but served as a platform for revisiting baseless conspiracy theories about the accident.
A staffer to a Victorian Liberal MP was among those who suggested the premier lied about his fall. She has since deleted her tweet.
Guy said he had not seen the post and nor was it written by someone on his team. “I focus on the future, not the past and those matters,” he said on Sunday.
Andrews said he was not surprised by the News Corp report.
“I genuinely don’t know what the point of the story is,” the premier said. “Can any of you explain it to me? Are you going to interview the stairs next? People can go as low as they want. I’m not coming there with them. It’s as simple as that.”
Andrews fractured his spine and broke several ribs when he slipped and fell while getting ready for work at a Mornington Peninsula holiday rental on 9 March 2021, forcing him to take several months off.
