Leaked policy papers reveal Allan government mulling fresh taxes and establishing permanent truth-telling commission as part of re-election bid
More than 600 Victorian Labor delegates which include union representatives, MPs and senior members are set to congregate at the 2025 state conference on the weekend.
It was revealed on Monday that Victorian Labor members would move three urgency motions at the conference to urge the federal government to 'immediately' recognise a Palestinian state and impose sanctions on Israel.
However, The Herald Sun acquired a collection of reports that have uncovered every draft policy proposal which would form the crux of the Allan government's suite of measures ahead of next years election.
The policies, which have been developed over the past year, include legalising cannabis for recreational use, removing stamp duty and replacing it with annual land tax and slugging Victorian homeowners with a new land sale super tax targeted at capital gains.
'Stamp duty in its current format means that people are effectively mortgaging the stamp duty and paying it off over the term of their loan, with interest,' an excerpt from the documents read.
The state conference is also seeking to eliminate coal from the state's energy mix in its entirety and to set up a state-owned offshore wind corporation.
Victoria stands as one of the country's most fossil fuel dependent states and has struggled in recent months to make progress on its 2035 target of having 95 per cent renewable electricity generation with numerous major developments falling over.
Establishing a permanent Indigenous truth-telling commission is also under consideration despite the Yoorrook Justice truth-telling inquiry wrapping up four years of proceedings in early July and determining that the state had been illegally occupied.
The Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan governments have invested almost $400 million on negotiating a treaty with Indigenous Australians over the past decade with the government also seeking to make the state's First Nations assembly a fixed institution.
Other policy proposals include reducing the rate of population growth, making pill testing a permanent practice at music festivals and dumping the council rate cap in the 'medium term.'
The Victorian local council rate cap for the 2024-35 financial year was set at 2.75 per cent and was part of the Fair Go Rates system that limits the increase in a council's total revenue from general rates and municipal charges.
However, even if a measure is backed by the gathering it does not automatically become official policy but rather is incorporated into a wider framework of proposals for the party's election platform.
After pro-Palestinian activists forced the conference into emergency lockdown last year the gathering will feature strict new safety measures including beefed up security, bag checks and photo ID requirements.
The frameworks were formulated by ALP policy committees who also slammed the Allan government for its handling of numerous issues including crime, housing and health.
They opposed the government's imposition of new anti-protest laws as part of the states plan to crack down on rising antisemitic sentiments.
Committees will also call on the government to make sweeping changes to payroll and company taxes, to pull out of the AUKUS submarine deal and to commission a state-owned cannabis body which is both regulated and taxed.
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