Editing Steve Bracks (section)

===Second term as Premier===
{{Main|2002 Victorian state election}}
[[File:Steve bracks.jpg|thumb|right|Bracks in 2005]]
Labor won the 2002 election in a landslide, taking 62 seats out of 88 in the Legislative Assembly—only the third time in Victoria's history that a Labor government had been reelected. In another first, Labor won a slim but clear majority in the [[Victorian Legislative Council|Legislative Council]] as well. While this was the greatest victory Labor had ever had in a Victorian state election, it brought with it considerable risks. With majorities in both houses Bracks could no longer cite his weak parliamentary position as an excuse for inaction.

On 28 August 2002, Bracks, in conjunction with his then [[Premier of New South Wales|New South Wales counterpart]], [[Bob Carr]], opened the Mowamba [[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueduct]] between [[Jindabyne]] and [[Dalgety, New South Wales|Dalgety]], to divert 38 gigalitres of water a year from [[Lake Eucumbene]] to the Snowy and Murray rivers.<ref>[http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/MediaRelArc02.nsf/0/e851e24b91a0fb52ca256c23007e352d!OpenDocument&Click= Media release] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930223644/https://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/MediaRelArc02.nsf/0/e851e24b91a0fb52ca256c23007e352d%21OpenDocument%26Click%3D |date=30 September 2007 }}</ref> The ten-year plan cost A$300&nbsp;million with [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]] and NSW splitting the costs. [[Melbourne Water]] has stated that within 50 years there will be 20 per cent less water going into Victorian reservoirs.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/were-still-a-nation-of-wallies-with-water/2006/08/04/1154198330444.html?page=2 | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | title=We're still a nation of wallies with water | date=5 August 2006}}</ref>

In May 2003 Bracks broke an election promise and announced that the proposed [[EastLink (Melbourne)|Scoresby Freeway]] in Melbourne's eastern suburbs would be a tollway rather than a freeway, as promised at the 2002 elections. As well as risking a loss of support in marginal seats in eastern Melbourne, this decision brought about a strong response from the [[John Howard|Howard]] Federal government, which cut off federal funding for the project on the grounds that the Bracks government had reneged on the terms of the federal-state funding agreement. The decision seems to have been on the recommendation of Brumby, who was concerned with the state's budgetary position. Also opposing the decision was the Federal Labor Opposition, which feared anti-Labor reaction at the 2004 Federal election. The then Opposition Leader [[Mark Latham]] described a meeting with Bracks and federal shadow ministers, writing:
{{blockquote|''Bracks has broken his promise, hoping the odium will wear off before the next State election. But we're copping the fall-out electorally... Bracks, however, was unmoved, even when Faulkner put it right on him... Sat there like a statue, that silly grin on his face.''|[[The Latham Diaries]], page 283.}}

This backflip, while seen by many{{who|date=December 2011}} as an opportunity for the Liberals to make ground, saw the then leader of the Liberals, [[Robert Doyle]], adopt a much-criticised policy of half tolls, which was later overturned by his successor, [[Ted Baillieu]].

In 2005, following extensive independent studies<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/notices/assessments/victoria-alpine-national-park/pubs/b6-alpine-grazing-taskforce-2005.pdf |id=www.dse.vic.gov.au/alpinegrazing |publisher=Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Grazing |author=Alpine Grazing Taskforce |isbn=1-74152-124-6 |title=Report of the investigation into the future of cattle grazing in the Alpine National Park |publication-date=May 2005 |access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> it was found that cattle had created extensive damage to the high country National Park and their continued presence in the Park was incompatible with the values of National Parks.  Bracks backed the environment and his environment minister, John Thwaites and announced that Victoria would follow the NSW example and cattlemen would be banned from using the "High Plains" in Victoria's National Parks to graze cattle. Stockmen had been fearing this decision since 1984, when a Labor government excised land to create the [[Alpine National Park]]. Some estimated three hundred cattlemen rode horses down Bourke street in protest while police said it was closer to 100. Colourful Victorian National Party leader [[Peter Ryan (politician)|Peter Ryan]] was quoted as saying that Bracks had killed "[[The Man from Snowy River (poem)|The Man from Snowy River]]" (although the poem was about mustering horses, not cattle – a practice which was stopped in the high country just after World War 2.)

Bracks' second government achieved one of Victorian Labor's longest-held goals with a complete reform of the state's system for electing its upper house. It saw the introduction of [[proportional representation]], with eight five-member regions replacing the current single-member constituencies. This system increases the opportunity for minor parties such as the [[Victorian Greens|Greens]] and [[Democratic Labour Party (Australia, 1980)|DLP]] to win seats in the Legislative Council, giving them a greater chance of holding the balance of power. Illustrating the historic importance Labor assigns to the changes, in a speech to a conference celebrating the 150th anniversary of the [[Eureka Stockade]], Bracks said it was "another victory for the aspirations of Eureka",<ref>[http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/newsroom/Speech_item_archive.asp?id=80 Eureka 150 Democracy Conference] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819215743/https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/Newsroom/Speech_item_archive.asp?id=80 |date=19 August 2006 }} – Full speech by Steve Bracks, 26 November 2004</ref> and has described the changes as "his proudest achievement".<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/will-bracks-live-to-regret-this-reform/2005/07/14/1120934356963.html Will Bracks live to regret this reform?] – ''The Age'', 15 July 2005</ref>

The staging of the [[2006 Commonwealth Games]], generally viewed as a success (albeit an expensive one), was viewed as a plus for Bracks and the government. With times reasonably good, a perception arguably reinforced by an extensive government advertising campaign selling the virtues of Victoria to Victorians,<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/state-ads-come-with-healthy-1m-price-tag/2006/04/22/1145344320287.html State ads come with healthy price tag] – ''The Age'', 23 April 2006</ref> polls indicated little interest in change, although towards the end of the election campaign polling indicated that the Liberals under Baillieu were closing the gap.