It’s the sense of entitlement that is even more galling than the actual “entitlement”.
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Despite strained efforts by Premier Daniel Andrews to deal with the matter, the latest blow to hit the government could be telling.
People are over politicians feathering their own nest and yet it keeps happening.
And every time the embarrassment of those in power leads to promises of investigations and reviews and a general shake-up.
Oppositions are well-versed in crying foul too, yet routinely go quiet when they get into government.
That is why the public is so angry about the most latest debacle of politicians claiming entitlements to which they, in the arena of common sense and common decency, should not get their hands on. What is especially concerning is that this involves two senior MPs in the government, not a couple of backbenchers.
It is beyond belief how now former speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy, Don Nardella, could have thought it OK to claim tens of thousands of dollars to live some distance from their western suburbs electorates.
It was revealed by Fairfax that Mr Languiller, who represents the western suburbs seat of Tarneit, claimed almost $40,000. and Mr Nardella, who represents Melton, claimed almost $113,000, despite both living on the Bellarine Peninsula.
No doubt in response to the public outcry, Mr Andrews deemed the pair’s positions untenable, forcing their hands in resignation. Mr Andrews used words such as “appalling” as he summed up the MPs’ actions as creating a cynicism and scepticism in the public that fosters “a distrust of so many” MPs.
With that he announced there would be a sweeping overhaul of all Victorian MPs' entitlements. What remains to be seen of course is just exactly how probing this review will be and whether any meaningful recommendations will be produced as a result.
And then there’s the more pertinent question of the government actually acting on these recommendations to make sure such claims can never be made again.
It simply is not good enough that the Premier has indeed reached the point of having to announce such a review as the claims should not have been allowed to be made in the first place. It is symptomatic of a lack of discipline in Labor’s ranks and a more widespread lax attitude among the political class to dipping into the public purse.