A common theme

The new conservative government is not governing for all Victorians - as seen in Brunswick.

Ms Garrett said the local community had been “abandoned” in the Budget.

“By failing to fund the expansion and upgrade of Brunswick Secondary College, this Government is ripping up the approved master plan for this school and betraying the many families in our area,” she said.

But James Martin, spokesman for Education Minister Martin Dixon, said the master plan would remain in place and put the school at an advantage for future funding.

“It will come into consideration for future budgets,” Mr Martin said.

 This is a common refrain this week all through the northern suburbs.  In the election last year the conservatives made one local education promise across the northern suburbs.

The broader point is that conservatives tend to govern only for those who vote for them.  labor on the other hand, somewhat naively, believes its rhetoric about governing for every suburb, every street, every neighborhood.