photo by gusto

MELBOURNE is Australia’s second-largest city, with a population of around three million – about half a million less than Sydney. Rivalry between the two cities – in every sphere from cricket to business – is on an almost childish level. In purely monetary terms, Sydney is now clearly in the ascendancy, having stolen a march on Melbourne as the nation’s financial centre. The state government, led by Steve Bracks of the Labor Party, has continued the work of former premier Jeff Kennett, who tried and mostly succeeded in lifting the economy out of the doldrums in the 1990s, mainly by severe cutbacks or privatization of public services and of previously state-run utilities boards. While Kennett’s fiscal puritanism definitely scored points by reducing public debt and improving the credit rating of the state, critics were quick to counter that out-sourcing or privatizing public services did not necessarily translate into greater efficiency and even more importantly that Victoria’s economic growth has been achieved at a very high social cost – wealth is now more unevenly distributed, with increasing numbers of homeless people and drug addicts on the streets. In 1999, Kennett surprisingly lost the “unloseable election” to rank outsider Bracks, largely because his government neglected rural Victoria – Kennett once memorably described Melbourne as the vital heart of the state and rural towns as the “toenails” – but also because Kennett’s election campaign focused almost entirely on his autocratic style of leadership, which proved a big turn-off for voters. Since seizing the reins of power, Steve Bracks has enjoyed a remarkably high standing in the polls, and his style is more inclusive and less confrontational than his predecessor. He has also concentrated his party’s efforts on improving the key areas of health and education, as well as providing greater funding for rural areas.