Liberal Member for Western Victoria Beverley McArthur has been slammed for campaigning against the federal government giving Victoria assistance.
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The upper house MP on Thursday took to Twitter to criticise Victoria's fourth lockdown and said the federal government shouldn't "cave" to the pleas of the Victorian government.
It came just hours before Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced COVID-19 disaster support payment for eligible Victorian workers.
"If the federal government does cave to the demands of Tim Pallas, every single dollar that it costs federal taxpayers should be deducted from Victoria's GST allocation," Ms McArthur said.
"This lockdown must end, the Commonwealth chequebook must close, and Victorian Government ministers must resign."
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The comments prompted a pile-on of criticisms online, including from the Liberal Party's own state leader Michael O'Brien who distanced himself from Ms McArthur.
"That's frankly a ridiculous suggestion... and there's a reason why that MP is not on the front bench," he said.
Acting Premier James Merlino said the comments were "disgraceful".
"I think that is disgraceful and if you talk to any Victorian business, any Victorian worker who are so disadvantaged and devastated by the lockdown that we must enter into, they would be appalled that anyone would be advocating to the federal government to ignore the needs of Victorian workers," he said on Thursday.
Ms McArthur's post prompted an onslaught of negative reactions online.
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