A social media boast from Jacinta Allan has backfired, with the Victorian Premier slammed for a “cringeworthy” post putting the boot into Sydney and Adelaide.
A post on Ms Allan’s Facebook and Instagram pages on Friday night attempted to highlight how much better Melbourne was compared to the two interstate cities.
The latest rankings of the world’s most liveable cities were listed, showing Melbourne in fourth place, ahead of Sydney in equal seventh and Adelaide in 11th.
But it was the comments accompanying the rankings which caused a stir, including the advice offered to Adelaide residents and a bizarre claim about Sydney.
“If you’re reading this from Sydney, enjoy the fake trams. If you’re in Adelaide, flights east are cheap at the moment,” the post said.
“And if you’re in Melbourne – have a great Friday night in the sports, live music, and major events capital of Australia.”
One person who commented on the Facebook post said: “Cringeworthy comment, all three cities are good in their own way”.
“At least Sydney has a train to the airport and Adelaide isn’t run by constant protesters and youth criminals like Melbourne is,” the man continued.
Another person said: “Melbourne where if you own a small business you don’t stand a chance because the Labor government is doing everything in their power to put you out of business… yeah that’s where you want to live”.
A third added: “Don’t get it. Once upon a time maybe. Now it seems polluted, crowded, dying shopping strips, crime, noisy. Apart from NGV, nup”.
Another comment said the post had a “seriously poor tone”, with the Premier advised to get her “media people to up their game”.
The opposition also blasted the social media boast, with shadow manufacturing minister Bridget Vallence attacking the government’s record in that portfolio.
“Sure, we love the footy, but come Monday morning we’ll all know the shameful tax hikes under the Labor government under YOUR “leadership” driving manufacturing businesses out of the state to Qld and SA, causing job losses,” Ms Vallence said.
“Fifty-five new or increased taxes under Jacinta Allan and Vic Labor = fact. Your financial incompetence and outrageous high taxes making life harder for everyone else in Victoria.”
There was some support amongst the criticism, with one person writing on Facebook: “Well done, and projects like Metro Tunnel and SRL (Suburban Rail Loop) will help us climb back up to first where we belong”.
However, Ms Allan’s post failed to mention that Melbourne had fallen in the rankings from third to fourth after the city was given a downgraded infrastructure score.
Melbourne last year scored 100 for infrastructure in the EIU’s global liveability index but was this year marked 96.4, with the reduction attributed to the housing crisis.
“We have downgraded overall infrastructure scores for Australia, owing to an ongoing housing crisis that has led to an all-time low availability of rental properties in many of the cities,” the Economist Intelligence Unit said.
Sydney’s equal seventh with Vancouver, Canada came after it placed fourth last year, while Adelaide moved up in the rankings, from equal 12th to 11th.
Vienna in Austria was crowned the most liveable city for the third consecutive year, while Copenhagen in Denmark placed second, followed by Zurich in Switzerland.
The “fake trams” remark came just hours after the Allan government confirmed a new $6.8 billion contract to run Melbourne’s Yarra Trams.
A consortium comprised of Transdev and John Holland will operate the world’s largest tram network for nine years from December 1, replacing Keolis Downer.
Transdev is the operator of the Sydney Light Rail, and will also operate Stage One of the Parramatta Light Rail which will open later this year.
Ms Allan last week came under fire for another social media post, one that attacked federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plans for nuclear power plants, including at Loy Yang in Victoria.
The post included an image of a Gippsland waterfront altered to include multiple nuclear rods and three-eyed fish from a well-known episode of The Simpsons.
“The Liberal Party want a toxic and expensive nuclear reactor in Gippsland,” the post claimed.
A X user who responded to the post told the Premier “your effort here is an embarrassment to Victoria”.
A second user asked “which normie staffer put together this cringe post?” while a third said: “Oh my, giving the intern your social media password? That’s a whole new level of embarrassing!”