The Small Business Minister, Phillip Dalidakis argued that the 800 cleaning contractors who clean Victorian schools did not come under his portfolio, passing the buck to the Education Minister.
Ms Peulich said it was deplorable that the Minister endorsed the sacking of the school cleaners due to the ‘vast array of rorting’ going on by small cleaning contractors in the City of Kingston.
“At a time when 21 Labor Ministers and MPs have been caught rorting taxpayer money to fund their election campaigns, it is startling that Labor is pointing the finger at hard working Kingston family businesses,” Ms Peulich said.
“While the Andrews Government wants all school cleaning small businesses in the City of Kingston terminated for the misdeeds of a few, not even one Labor MP will lose their job.”
“How a Minister, who supposedly represents small business, willfully watches over 800 of them close their doors and then makes a mockery of their hard work is mind-boggling,” Ms Peulich said.
Ms Peulich called on the Andrews Labor Government to reverse its decision before it takes effect on 1 July, 2018.
MEDIA CONTACT: INGA PEULICH (03) 9772 1366