Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Government performance

Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (18:10): It is a delight to rise this afternoon for the final grievance debate of this term of the Andrews Labor government in this Parliament, and I rise to grieve about the revisionist history we seem to keep hearing from those opposite. They are desperate to escape the facts now that they know there is an election coming. They are desperate to remove the idea that they govern by cuts and closures, but history shows us that they certainly do. I am about to go through a little bit of that with you so we can reset that broken record that we have heard a couple of speakers today talk about during this grievance debate.

We have heard members of the opposition talk about how, if they form government, they will create jobs—huge job creation—and that they will deal with a number of issues revolving around health and the pressures COVID has put on our system for nurses and nursing staff, ambulances and paramedics and of course also call takers and other emergency services, but really the opposition have zero or even below zero credibility in this space. It has been mentioned a few times today, especially during question time, and to hear those opposite talking about health really makes your gut churn a little bit. I do not know anyone at any time who would turn around and think that lowly of a nurse that one of their party members would give nurses the finger and go to war with nurses. I do not know any sane person who would go to war with paramedics. They have stood here today in question time and in this debate and said that they will solve the problems that have mostly been generated by a global pandemic that has put pressure on nation states globally, but we have got states in Australia—namely, New South Wales—that have the same pressures. It is not unique, and frankly our health services need to adapt to this. They were not built for this kind of demand.

It is not just our health services. We have heard people repeatedly in this place talk about what they will do for the mental health of our community. At that same time though there is no real commitment to the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, and we have heard people sounding very, very confused about whether they would fund that through a levy or whether they would not fund that through a levy. It has become very confusing for those opposite—not quite as confusing as the Leader of the Opposition’s stint the other day in front of the media explaining the $8 billion black hole in their proposed budget.

Then we come to jobs and jobs creation, and those opposite are really the party of jobs destruction. Under the previous coalition government, the unemployment rate increased from 4.8 per cent in December 2010 to 6.7 per cent in November 2014, and that was the highest on the mainland of Australia. Only Tasmania was higher. The opposition’s record also reflects that nearly 70 000 Victorians found themselves unemployed, and the least hours were worked per capita since the early 1990s under their government. The coalition managed to create—or should I say assist to create—a meagre 39 000 jobs in their time in government, and that is in their entire four years of government. We doubled that in regional Victoria alone. And when they left office, regional unemployment, by the way, was 6.6 per cent—more than double what it is now—and again that was the highest on the mainland. Their record is one of continuous war on workers, whether it be paramedics, whether it be nurses or thousands of vulnerable casual workers. We need to ensure that the people of Victoria are reminded of that every day and what the price of not re-electing an Andrews Labor government will be.

I will go on to say that I think that, from the perspective of a constituent maybe in Frankston or maybe across Victoria—or maybe it is just my personal feeling on the matter, but certainly I have heard it quite a bit—those opposite always invest in the politics of the matter and not the people, and we have seen that time and time again. These people invest in the politics of the matter and not the people, and we have seen that time and time again, whether it be during a pandemic where we were hearing calls to kill the bats or when we heard calls from the then opposition leader that there might never be a COVID vaccine so we would have to learn to live with it, which is fairly defeatist, I think you would agree. God knows how many people would have died under that kind of governance.

Now we are looking at a Melbourne that has opened up again. It is a reality that we have got the Formula One Grand Prix—that was the largest F1 we have had; we have got the MotoGP coming up; we have got Melbourne arts; we have got music. Melbourne is open again, Victoria is open again, and that is in large part due to the governance through COVID and more importantly at the tail end of COVID. The budget that we just passed was one of the most important budgets in Victoria’s history because it is the catalyst or foundation budget for us to go forward. We cannot click our fingers and make these things go overnight; we know we are still living with COVID-19. But some people in this chamber were not even up for the fight of keeping people safe.

I would say to Victorians: there has never been a more exciting time to be a Victorian, and data at the moment reflects that. Our state’s road map back to being the engine room of the nation is well on track. I think it was a State of the States CommSec report that said that, bouncing back out of COVID, we are leading the nation as far as the economy goes, with the best unemployment figures and the best retail figures as well.

It is fair to say that there have not always been fans of some of the policies of this government, especially among those opposite, and that I think comes through very short-term thinking. When you come out of a crisis like COVID you need to play chess, not checkers. You need to have a plan, and things have gone according to plan. We still face some challenges; that is fair to say. But with Victoria’s unemployment at 3.7 per cent—and with regional unemployment down at 2.8 per cent—that is the lowest of all states and the lowest on record. I think 3.9 per cent is still the national average for unemployment, and we are under that. Since we took over from those opposite and throughout COVID and at the other end of COVID, we have added more than 600 000 new jobs, including 325 000 jobs since September 2020, slashing the unemployment rate by more than half since November 2014. This record is built on the back of a huge infrastructure pipeline. It is built on the back of that infrastructure agenda, the nation-leading free TAFE initiative and our targeted investments in growth industries as well.

Now, regional Victoria is another area that I think we can be very proud of. We have got 18 members in this house who represent regional areas of Victoria. I know the minister at the table, the Minister for Health, is certainly one of those and very proud of it. Victoria’s regional unemployment rate, left by those opposite, as I have said, in 2014 was 6.6 per cent. The latest figures released today show us at 2.8 per cent. That is less than half of what it was in November 2014, when those opposite left government.

Unemployment in metropolitan Melbourne is now down to 3.4 per cent. If you do not deal in figures, if you do not believe the data, just turn on your TV: on free-to-air TV you will see, of all businesses, McDonald’s advertising for workers. They cannot get enough workers. I have never seen McDonald’s advertising for workers. The Big Mac, the McFlurry, the soft serve, whatever—I have seen all those ads, but I have never seen them advertise for employees. If you do not believe the figures, just watch free-to-air TV. There is a lot happening in Victoria and there is a lot of jobs growth as well.

Unemployment in Melbourne is one thing. In the regions, in Shepparton we have got unemployment down from 7.8 per cent to 2.8 per cent, in Geelong down from 8.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent and in Warrnambool in the south-west unemployment is at 1.1 per cent. Since November 2014, 84 000 jobs have been created in regional Victoria alone. I think those statistics illustrate the story of this government’s infrastructure agenda and also the low payroll tax rate for the regions, which is at just 1.21 per cent, and I believe that is under half of the metropolitan rate.

I would like to finish this contribution off just talking about some of the confusion our community feel when they see announcements from those opposite. We have recently had the member for Eltham talking about the Suburban Rail Loop, the level crossing removals, the other rafts of projects that are happening in her area as well and how many jobs come from that. We have an opposition that says you cannot do two things at once: you can only have modern health facilities or you can have modern public transport; there is a decision for everybody at this election. To that I say: well, you can travel probably anywhere in Victoria, but Frankston is as good a place as any—in fact probably the best place in Victoria if you ask the local MP. But I would say come to Frankston. We have got a candidate somewhere telling people that they will can the Suburban Rail Loop and they will build and invest in health care. Well, we have got the $1.1 billion Frankston Hospital redevelopment out of the ground. The big pile drivers are in, the foundations are being put down right now. We have just acquired the Frankston Private Hospital. I know that patients Keryn and Vanessa were overjoyed when that opened. I know the minister at the table, the Minister for Health, was present that day. They were overjoyed at being able to have their elective surgeries sooner than they expected. I can quote Keryn:

After the delays caused by COVID-19, I think it’s amazing that people are finally able to access the surgery they need … It was great to be one of the first patients; all of the staff were extremely accommodating and friendly.

Vanessa, who was in the tier 3 category of the elective surgery wait list, was not even meant to undergo surgery until 2023. However, thanks to the new acquisition of the Frankston Private Hospital, now known as the Frankston Public Surgical Centre, her surgery has been brought forward 10 months, and she said—and I think the minister should hear this loud and clear, because it is a big, supportive statement of the work we have done in this area:

I am very fortunate … I think it is wonderful that they have opened up more surgical wards to assist with shortening the waitlist especially if you were in the tier three category.

So this hospital, the Frankston Public Surgical Centre, will carry out 9000 more elective surgery procedures every year, year upon year. It has not got an emergency centre, so it is dedicated to elective surgery, and in the first week they carried out 56 elective surgery procedures and got those people off the list.

But at the same time we can flip to that other side of the coin, which is public transport. We have got an opposition that do not believe that they need the Suburban Rail Loop, which is really sad for people in Frankston, because they still believe that people in Frankston and in the Frankston area should travel 25 stations up the line to Richmond to cross to another line which will take them to the eastern suburbs or up around the city. With the Suburban Rail Loop, it means people in the Frankston community will be able to get on at Frankston—at the brand new Frankston station off the brand new Young Street—and jump on a train and in 11 stops get off at Cheltenham, swap lines to the Suburban Rail Loop and go east, to the Cranbourne line et cetera. I have got no idea why a candidate or an opposition would come forward with an idea that makes things worse for the community of Frankston or anywhere. The Suburban Rail Loop is one of those visionary ideas.

Ms McLeish interjected.

Mr EDBROOKE: The member interjects—I think that was about car parking. Thank you for reminding me. We are just about to come out of the ground with 500 new car parks at Frankston station, which will be an absolute game changer there. This, again, is not something that is interesting to the opposition in that area. We have just heard that part of their plan is not to build to Baxter or duplicate and electrify the Baxter line, not to Langwarrin and not to Stony Point but to Leawarra, which extends the line maybe a kilometre. I have no idea where the community consultation is. It is going to cost about $850 million. I am not sure that anyone or who thought this is a good idea. But again it goes to my point that those opposite are very, very confused.

When they come to this house and they talk about job creation, when they talk about supporting our health system, when they talk about supporting our healthcare heroes, there is a history there that we certainly cannot forget if you ask those nurses, if you ask those teachers, if you ask those paramedics, if you ask those firefighters. The point was well made before that when you see the opposition making announcements, there are never any workers behind them, because they do not trust them, they do not believe them. They have seen it and heard it a million times before.

Ms Britnell interjected.

Mr EDBROOKE: I take up the interjection about that not being the truth. You can next time ask some nurses to come and stand behind you at your next announcement and we will see how that goes for you. I will be watching, but I do not think they will be there, because they do not respect you. This has been a fantastic time to talk about how much the Andrews Labor government has done. Fifteen minutes certainly is not enough. But I know one thing for sure, and that is that this is a government that was getting things done, now is getting things done and will continue to get things done and deliver for our communities in a huge way come 26 November, when we win the election.

Question agreed to.