Victorian government rips into the Prime Minister in fiery statement

The Victorian government has taken a major swipe at the Prime Minister after a billion dollar COVID-19 support package was unveiled in NSW.

While completely supportive of the support being given to those locked down in Sydney, the Victorian government spokesperson said it highlighted the “double standard” when it came to the federal government’s treatment of Victorians.

“Everyone in Australia believes that people in Sydney and NSW deserve every possible support as they battle a second wave and a long lockdown,” the statement read.

“But Victorians are rightly sick and tired of having to beg for every scrap of support from the Federal Government.

“It shouldn’t take a crisis in Sydney for the Prime Minister to take action but we are seeing the same double standard time and time again.

“His job is not to be the Prime Minister for NSW.

“We had to shame the Federal Government into doing their job and providing income support for Victorian workers when we battled the Delta strain earlier this year.

“Their position at the time was a disgrace.

“If they had bothered to think about this at the time and work with Victoria, they’d already have had a practical framework in place when NSW went into lockdown and more people would have got the support they need earlier.”

The federal government has since returned serve.

“As the pandemic has evolved and as the situation in NSW has gone beyond those two weeks, the Commonwealth’s support has also evolved,” a spokesperson for the Commonwealth said.

“If Victoria were to go into lockdown, it would receive the same support as is being offered to NSW.

“During the most recent Victorian lockdown, the Commonwealth offered to share all costs with Victoria.

“Victoria declined, and asked for the Commonwealth to handle income support while they would support businesses.

“Victoria received $4220 per capita support through JobKeeper compared to $3684 per capita for NSW.”

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