Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Bills

Appropriation (2023–2024) Bill 2023

Appropriation (Parliament 2023–2024) Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (14:41): Before we broke for lunch I had one split second, so it is good to return to what was the occasion to filibuster the filibuster. We saw that from the member for Brighton, who tried to adjourn off debate at that time, and an extraordinary circumstance over the course of this morning, where we saw those antics and whatever their opposition strategy was, to play for time to block the member for Sandringham’s moment in the sun. I do not know whether that is a bit of bayside rivalry or what is going on with filibustering and time, but the member for Brighton theatrically put forward that not in 160 years have we seen certain things. I do not think I can recall anywhere where a filibuster was done on their own filibustering. They got caught in an absolute circle where they were avoiding time and adjournment of this debate based on their antics. Rather than having the member for Sandringham have the full media gallery here – there were about 15 journos that came in to see – we have got one journo at the moment and that is about it.

We might have missed the program, and the member for Sandringham’s time, the 30 minutes. Now, I do not know whether it is so scripted, this speech, that the member for Sandringham can only give it in one go for 30 minutes and then cannot start again during that time, but the notion that the member for Sandringham was gagged was a bit extraordinary. As the lead speaker on the budget, he has got that time and that opportunity. We know that it has probably been practised about 140 or 150 times, and we are all on the edge of our seats to see how it will be done. I just cannot believe that the member for Brighton was filibustering his time. I mean, the member for Sandringham was pacing through the chambers, he was pacing out near the coffee stand, he was waiting for his moment. This is his moment in the sun, the time to shine, and the member for Brighton would not let him have his go. We know it is fanciful that he is not a leadership contender. We know that has been put forward, in his own words, but we really know the truth. This is the moment in time. This is when you get broadcasting ready to send the program straight through – send through the video and the audio as quick as they can, and get it up on Facebook and get the grabs out as soon as possible. I think some of the antics and the opposition chaos that we saw this morning, some of the antics that were put forward, were really extraordinary and really disappointing to see. So hopefully there are no other antics with the bayside crew, where we see the member for Brighton frustrating this time, pushing out the opportunity for the member for Sandringham to make his contribution. Maybe it is a sense of some of the antics that we are seeing. We saw I think three or four procedural votes put forward, and those opposite, who have a woeful, woeful contribution on bills and second readings, are then trying to frustrate the Parliament and delay that further as well. So we lost, a bit like the rain delay in a cricket program, so much time this morning that could have been dedicated to those bills but instead was literally the member for Brighton trying to get his time in the sun. Maybe it is a bit of relevance deprivation, maybe a bit of jealousy that the member for Sandringham has gone from Opposition Whip and straight past him onto the front bench, and then – I mean, they do not bat too deep – gone straight to then having leadership aspirations, being on the ticket for leadership. It is absolutely extraordinary –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I think I know what your point of order is going to be, Manager of Opposition Business.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, as much as it pains me to make it, I would ask you to bring the member back to the question and note that he is now stopping his own members from speaking on the budget – his own members.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business knows that a point of order is not an opportunity to debate. The member for Mordialloc will come back to the procedural motion.

Tim RICHARDSON: Thank you, Speaker. I am a bit confused. Maybe those opposite can give us a bit of an insight into what the point was of the procedural motion before the lunchbreak. What was the point of doing all of those antics and blocking the member for Sandringham? And will these be some of the antics that are put forward? Really, some of the procedural stuff that we want to understand is: is this just more form? Is this more time wasting? Is this more antics? Because that has really frustrated the time of the Parliament and for the contributions and it has had a massive impact on the program and the contributions that we will make during that time. So maybe a couple of the speakers that want to contribute to the debate on this procedural motion may put forward the reasons that they moved that forward. It sounds like they are wanting to rescind it now. They do not want to speak now that the opportunity is put forward. But they put it forward before lunch. The member for Brighton has obviously wasted and frustrated that time. It has been now 2 hours that we have wasted in that time and that journey. So we will see whether they then defend the procedural motion. Maybe they will rescind it – who knows.

Who will get up next? I mean, the workhorses of this area – it will be either the member for Gippsland South or the member for Eildon. They do the most debating on second-reading speeches. They literally are 40 per cent of those opposite’s contribution, so maybe they will step forward and rescind the procedural motion and the time wasting and the ridiculous things that we have seen today. That is what we want to see. Give the member for Sandringham his time to shine. This is the moment. It has been practised a number of times. Let us get underway and see how he goes.

Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh) (14:46): I stand in defence of the member for Sandringham. Member for Sandringham, I remember our old St Bede’s College days. You were on the debating team if I remember correctly.

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Bentleigh.

Nick STAIKOS: I was only the timekeeper, but it gave me a front row seat to some of the best contributions you made. And I had my office clear my diary this morning because I wanted to sit here for the full 30 minutes to hear the member for Sandringham make his budget reply – I think it is his first budget reply. But we were heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken, by the antics of not only the opposition but the Greens in wasting the morning. Then it got to quarter of an hour to lunchtime and they realised: ‘Oh, no, we’ve truncated our own budget reply. What do we do?’ So we get this stunt. They have been saying all morning that they need time to consult with the community and with different stakeholders about the bills that have been introduced into the Parliament this week. But I would ask the question: who still speaks to this opposition? I mean, who on earth still speaks to this opposition? If you look at their recent state council meeting –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a tight procedural debate, and all the member is doing is taking away from his own colleagues’ time to debate the budget bill. I would ask you to bring him back to the debate.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The member for Bentleigh is to come back to the procedural motion.

Nick STAIKOS: The bizarre thing about this is I am speaking on the motion that has been moved by the member who raised that point of order. I mean, the chaos on that side of the house, even for the worst opposition in Australia, is absolutely extraordinary. As I said, they go around saying, ‘We need time to consult with people.’ Nobody talks to you. Nobody cares about what you think. You are the worst opposition in Australia.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask the member for Bentleigh not to refer to ‘you’.

Nick STAIKOS: Well, I am referring to the opposition. Nobody talks to this opposition. They are the worst opposition in Australia – probably the second worst; I think the WA Liberals give them a run for their money with their two members.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, again, this is now drivel, and I would ask you to bring the member back to this tight procedural debate instead of allowing him to continue with this drivel.

The SPEAKER: Order! Manager of Opposition Business, I thank you for your point of order. I ask you to state your points of order succinctly without elaborating. The member for Bentleigh to come back to the procedural motion.

Nick STAIKOS: Thank you very much for that guidance, Speaker. I am simply pointing out that nobody speaks to this opposition. Nobody cares what they think. They are a chaotic opposition. They are a rabble. I mean, that recent state council meeting was absolutely extraordinary.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the member has now defied your ruling on more than one occasion. I would ask you to ask him to stop defying your ruling and have him come back to the question.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bentleigh will come back to the procedural motion.

Nick STAIKOS: The opposition need to understand I am gagging to hear the budget reply, but I am simply reflecting on their tactics this morning that have delayed the member for Sandringham from giving his budget reply. I think you guys should hang your heads in shame for that, because I am sure the member for Sandringham has a cracker speech prepared. I have only got 1 minute left, but I will just say again that the state council meeting recently was absolutely extraordinary and just proved –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is now the fourth time that I have had to raise this point of order. The member’s contribution is now outrageous. This is an outrageous and flagrant misuse of the chamber. I would ask you – this is now the fourth time.

The SPEAKER: Order! I understand your point of order, Manager of Opposition Business. The member for Bentleigh will come back to the procedural motion in the time that is left.

Nick STAIKOS: I reckon the so-called terrorists in the Liberal Party are happy with what I am saying, to be honest, but I will conclude. There are only 20 seconds left, but I will just say the opposition wasted the Parliament’s time this morning. We could have heard the budget reply this morning. It was a wasted opportunity on their part. But I will say I am interested in sitting here and listening to the member for Sandringham give his speech.

Motion defeated.

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:52): I rise today on behalf of the 6.8 million Victorians who are going to be paying more and getting less because of the budget handed down last Tuesday. Victorians should have a government that works for them, that makes their lives easier and that looks to create a better future for our children. Just last week I visited Highett Charcoal Chicken in my electorate, a fantastic local business, employing locals and feeding our community. In the last 12 months their costs have significantly increased. From spuds to chooks and the cost of cooking oil, their margins are getting tighter and tighter at the same time as their costs and government taxes are increasing. Like this local business, Victorians should hold hope for the future and have aspiration that their government will reduce their costs, not increase them. But instead we have a government that is trapping Victorians with the price of debt-fuelled spending and tens of billions in waste and government cost blowouts. Rather than reflecting the best of the Victorian people, this budget reflects the financial mismanagement and lack of credibility and integrity of the Andrews Labor government. This is not a budget that makes lives better but one that burdens Victorians with more debt, more taxes and cuts to promised infrastructure projects.

It is a budget that divides Victorians instead of uniting them. I say this at the outset: we on this side of the house believe in Victorians. We believe in everyone in this state, and we fundamentally believe in everyone having a genuine chance to get ahead. The government’s budget divides. It is a budget premised on division and class warfare. It taxes aspiration. It taxes a fair go. It is a budget that punishes 6.8 million Victorians for trying to get ahead. If you are a family hoping to send your children to an independent school to give them the very best start in life, it will cost you an extra $1000 per child every single year for the next decade. If you are hoping to invest in the property market, you will pay an extra $1000 a year for the privilege, and you will go on paying an extra $1000 every year for the next 10 years.

If you are a business wanting to grow and employ more people, you will be slogged with higher payroll tax. If you are looking to buy a new home and land package, you will be paying more because developers will be paying more in land tax. And if you are hoping for a pay increase, whether you are a nurse or a road worker or someone who works in an office, this budget increases payroll tax when the government’s own Department of Treasury and Finance have demonstrated that lower payroll taxes result in higher wages. For tens of thousands of families across this state, the budget will cost them $30,000 over the next decade at a time when they can least afford it. Just 18 months ago the Treasurer said in this house that:

… we have done a lot for Victorians by taking the weight off them in terms of the tax burden …

But far from taking the weight off Victorians, the government’s budget will increase costs for Victorians. Victorians are already paying the highest taxes in Australia, $5638 per person – more than any other state in the nation. From when Labor were elected more than nine years ago, Victoria’s tax take is set to double, and they have introduced nearly 50 new taxes.

This side of the house backs the dreams, backs the ambitions and backs the aspirations of 6.8 million Victorians, and we want them to get ahead. Let me be absolutely clear about this: we oppose the tax hikes in this budget. We oppose Labor’s schools tax, we oppose Labor’s rent tax, we oppose Labor’s jobs tax and we oppose Labor’s debt tax – all taxes on aspiration, all taxes on a fair go – because we are for Victorians. Not only do we oppose Labor’s school tax, but we will repeal it in government, and we will legislate a state debt cap. We will oppose these taxes every day that we are in opposition. We oppose them because they are unjust. We oppose them because they divide rather than unite Victorians. We oppose them because they are counter to productivity, counter to growth, counter to job growth and counter to a fair go. We say to millions of Victorian families: under the Liberal–Nationals you will be literally thousands of dollars better off every single year.

Victorians are paying more and more in taxes for one and only one reason – this government’s approach to financial management. We on this side of the house understand a fundamental truth: government does not spend its own money. In fact it spends the money of 6.8 million Victorians, and every dollar spent by the government comes from taxpayers. It is money from everyday Victorians, and when governments borrow money it means 6.8 million Victorians are left to pay the bill. Last Tuesday’s budget means Victorians will owe $171 billion within the next three years. That is 25,000 bucks for every Victorian man, woman and child. That is $22 million a day, each and every day, just to pay the Andrews government’s interest bill. Under this budget Victorians will pay this year alone $4 billion in interest payments on the government’s debt, and this will increase to $8 billion within three years – a doubling of interest payments in just three years. That $8 billion could be used to employ 20,000 teachers, 17,000 maternity unit nurses or 22,000 police recruits for four years. But of course interest payments must be paid somehow, and as the budget demonstrates it is through higher and more taxes and broken promises.

The government will say debt-fuelled spending is an investment in the future, but let us take a look at what Victorians have gotten out of the government’s debt-fuelled spending. They have got close to 50 new taxes, with more than half of these taxes directly affecting the property industry and making it more difficult for Victorians to own their own home. They have got $30 billion in wasted spending due to infrastructure cost blowouts. They have got a health system where more than 79,000 Victorians are waiting for elective surgery, with some waiting more than 280 days for surgery, and it is a health system that spends less per person on public hospitals than any other state or territory in the nation except for South Australia. They have got an ambulance system that continues to call code orange orders because it cannot cope with the levels. They have got a public housing system where a record high 70,000 Victorians are awaiting a roof over their head and the security and the stability that that provides.

They have got a justice system that has the highest pending case load of any state or territory magistrates court, with more than 83,000 cases currently outstanding. They have got a public education system that makes Melbourne the most expensive city in the country to educate a child in the government system, costing an average $102,807 per child from foundation to year 12. They have got a state that is trailing behind Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland on economic performance. They have got a state that has had its credit rating downgraded by international credit agencies not once but twice. They had the world’s longest lockdown. They have got a Department of Families, Fairness and Housing that has child protection data which does not comply with the government’s data quality standards. They have got infrastructure projects that the Auditor-General found to be based on business cases that do not fully support informed investment decisions. They have got a former IBAC Commissioner critical of the government, an Ombudsman critical of the government, a Parliamentary Budget Office critical of the government and Supreme Court judges and former members of the Court of Appeal all critical of the government.

Victorians are getting a budget that will see them pay more while getting less. This budget not only costs Victorians more; it demonstrates the failings of the government’s own fiscal strategy. It cuts jobs rather than creates jobs. It fails to bring down debt levels. It fails to rein in public sector project cost blowouts, and it not only raises taxes but introduces new ones. If the government’s fiscal strategy were a business, it would be subject to deceptive and misleading conduct investigations by the ACCC. That is perhaps an apt point, because this budget also speaks to the integrity of the Andrews Labor government. The government promised to build the Geelong fast rail, and this budget breaks that promise. The government promised to build the Melbourne Airport rail link, and this budget breaks that promise. And to think that just a few years ago the Premier stated in this house not once but twice: ‘we keep our promises’. The ACCC would have ample fodder; they would have an absolute field day. In his budget speech on Tuesday the Treasurer said this was a budget about economic growth and jobs, but none of this is true. The budget itself forecasts unemployment to rise. It forecasts slow economic growth. It forecasts an increase in taxes and an increase in debt. International credit agencies have already said the budget will maintain negative pressure on the state’s ratings. I do agree with the Premier on one thing. He stated in this house that AAA credit ratings ‘are not handed out to states gripped by economic mismanagement’. Economic mismanagement indeed; I could not agree more with the Premier. Victorians deserve better.

This side of the house understands that 6.8 million Victorians have less of a chance of getting ahead when they are faced with higher taxes due entirely to this government’s debt-fuelled spending. No government in history has ever taxed their way back to prosperity, yet this government is increasing its take from Victorians’ pockets and introducing new taxes. I say to the 6.8 million Victorians: there is a better way. The Liberal–National parties know in the heart of our DNA that higher taxes and debt-fuelled spending are not sustainable. We know that government does not provide a sustainable basis for jobs growth and investment. It is the 1200 large businesses across our state, it is the 570,000 small businesses in Melbourne and it is the 150,000 small businesses in regional Victoria that generate jobs, that generate investment in the productivity capacity of the state and that provide Victorians with the opportunity they need to get ahead. It is small businesses like Limoncello in the Sandringham electorate, a cafe in my area who have been serving coffee and community for the last 22 years, that give local young people the opportunity to understand what the dignity of work actually is by employing them. It is small businesses like Wine by Sam in Seymour, which pivoted during COVID and increased their partnerships and online sales capability while continuing to produce award-winning wines enjoyed by many. These are the engines of Victoria’s economy, and they are being burdened by the taxes of this government, taxes caused entirely by this government’s debt-fuelled spending.

The Liberal–National parties also know that the aspiration of 6.8 million Victorians, the aspiration of 2 million families in this state, cannot be as easily achieved when they are facing rising cost-of-living pressures: higher car rego costs, higher insurance premiums, higher costs for property investment, higher taxes caused by this government. Victorian families and businesses will only be able to get ahead when the state government gets its hands out of their wallets, they will only be able to get ahead when they have a government that understands where public money comes from – the public – and they will only be able to get ahead when we have a government of integrity and a government of accountability.

Now, the Liberal–National parties will restore integrity and competence to our state and to the budget. Instead of more waste, higher debt and new taxes, we need a real plan to ease cost-of-living pressures for Victorians, and that starts with responsible economic management from the state government. Instead of introducing more or increased taxes, we will focus on increasing productivity so that every Victorian gets bang for their taxpayer buck, reducing waste and cost blowouts on major projects, bringing debt under control and supporting the private sector to invest back into our state and generate the jobs growth that we need right now.

Instead of making life harder for Victorians, we will ease the pressure caused by this government’s financial mismanagement and give Victorians the greater aspiration they deserve to get ahead. We will do more to encourage private enterprise and the jobs that they create for Victorians. This starts by cutting red tape on small businesses, curtailing the unsustainable growth of the public sector and creating incentives for more private sector investment. We will do more for frontline services by backing in and hiring the frontline doctors, nurses, teachers and social service workers that our community needs. We will do more to make our schools better by better supporting teachers, increasing academic standards and cutting bureaucratic red tape so teachers can actually focus on teaching. We will implement an immediate and comprehensive review of the state’s taxation system. We will identify opportunities to prevent young people entering the rotating door of jail and work to determine how we can best deliver early intervention to prevent crimes from occurring. We will improve transparency in the health system by properly releasing quarterly health service performance data to the public. We will repeal Labor’s unjust schools tax and immediately legislate a state debt cap. We will live within our means, and fundamentally we will be a government that serves the people honestly and with integrity.

Ultimately the budget is not about those of us in this place but about the 6.8 million Victorians, the 2.5 million households, the 2 million families, the 128,000 teachers, the 125,000 nurses and the 1 million schoolkids who will inherit the decisions that we make today. And for all these people, the budget will make them worse off – worse off because of higher unemployment, higher taxes, higher cost-of-living pressures and slowing economic growth. The unfortunate reality is that for as long as this government is in power, every Victorian will continue to pay more and get less because this government simply cannot manage money. I say to every Victorian: you deserve better. You deserve a government that backs you and delivers value for money with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. We on this side of the house will continue to do everything we can to hold the Andrews Labor government to account whilst offering the optimistic and propositional vision for Victoria that they deserve – one that is measured, one that is inclusive, one that is considered. We seek not to divide but to govern for every Victorian.

Jackson TAYLOR (Bayswater) (15:10): It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on this bill, the budget – the Appropriation (2023–24) Bill 2023. We know that budgets are about choices, and I am very excited that this government has made some amazing choices, I like to think, for the electorate of Bayswater. I am so proud that since being elected this is now my fifth budget and that since being elected in 2018 the Andrews Labor government have delivered hundreds of millions of dollars of commitments across a range of portfolios – across education, health care, transport, cost-of-living relief and the things that matter most. Budgets are about priorities, and this government’s priorities are about making sure that we support our teachers, we support our healthcare workers, we back in our schools and we build the roads and rail that Victorians not only need but voted for last November.

Of course we know last November’s result. I was very pleased to have had a bold agenda. The government has got a bold agenda for Victoria, but I was very proud to have a bold and positive agenda for the electorate of Bayswater as well. The electorate of Bayswater includes suburbs like Wantirna, Wantirna South, Bayswater, Boronia, The Basin and Ferntree Gully, and I am so proud of the commitments that we took to the election last year in November. I was very pleased that those commitments were backed in by the community. This budget fully funds each and every single one of those commitments. Every time I have gone out to the community and every time the Andrews Labor government have promised to deliver something for the electorate of Bayswater – because that is my foremost, number one priority; my job is to represent the community of Bayswater –every time we have gone out and said we will do something, that is exactly what have done. We get on with it and we get it done. We have made important investments in previous budgets – important context about how this government has delivered not just in this budget for my local community but over previous budgets.

The Wantirna aged-care facility has some $82 million and has 120 new aged-care beds to make sure people can age in place and age with dignity. On health care in previous budgets, we know we are expanding the Angliss Hospital, with major construction set to start later this year and early next year. That is providing more beds, more elective operating suites, better services and some additional parking too, which I know will come as a great relief to locals. And of course we have delivered thousands more healthcare workers to make sure people get the care they need. I will always be a champion for health care, and I will always be a champion for backing in our local healthcare workers in the electorate of Bayswater. Indeed this government is backing in healthcare workers right across the state. Those profound investments to upgrade Angliss, Wantirna Health and Wantirna Health aged care have been delivered. The expansion of the Angliss will soon be underway, with those early works done having been a measure in some of the previous budgets of what we are getting on with in the Bayswater electorate.

When it comes to transport in an old part of my electorate – I used to have the suburb of Heathmont; g’day to my Heathmont friends – we upgraded that station; we got the job done there. In Bayswater we removed two level crossings and we rebuilt the station, one of the first cabs off the rank when it came to level crossing removals. We have done dozens since then – legit, dozens since then. I think we are up to number 70 now of 110 level crossings to be removed. This budget continues to do that fantastic work of removing those dangerous and congested death traps. We heard from the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure just before in relation to the level crossings and the works that we are getting on with and the implications they have for each and every single line, obviously running more trains more often and, importantly as well, reducing that congestion for motorists. Particularly for Knox, which is obviously quite a car-dependent LGA, it is critically important to reduce the congestion. That is one of those investments where, after we see the Bedford Road level crossing removed, I believe in 2025 – happy to be corrected – it will be level crossing free from Ferntree Gully all the way into the city.

Paul Edbrooke: No!

Jackson TAYLOR: Yes, member for Frankston. Thankfully, we will see it free all the way from Ferntree Gully into the city. The Lilydale line will be level crossing free after we get rid of the Coolstore Road and Dublin Road level crossings. I believe there are some new stations at Ringwood East, member for Ringwood – excellent, member for Ringwood. That is his part of the world, and that is a profound investment. For my locals who use that part of the world to either commute or drive through, I know that is very welcome news to them. So this is a budget that continues to invest in our transport infrastructure and, importantly, continues to invest in the roads projects and the transport projects that Victorians voted for.

The North East Link is a game-changing project. I was just driving through it the other day, and I tell you what, that construction site spans suburbs. I talk about projects locally that span suburbs, like the green heart of Knox, where we are planting nearly 700,000 trees. We are planting nearly 2000 new trees over 6 kilometres – and new boardwalks and bike paths. I think there are three new wetlands, stormwater harvesting and irrigation management. It is all happening, and this budget delivers on that, but the North East Link project is, in a technical term, next level, I believe. It just keeps going – it takes you about 15–20 minutes to get through the construction zone – because that is what this government is about. When we make a commitment, we actually get on and we deliver it, and the North East Link is a great visible, tangible example of what that actually looks like. But ultimately we know that project is very well under construction.

The government will have a lot more to say when it comes to the Eastern Freeway package of works. That is going to completely overhaul the Eastern Freeway. We see all the works happening around Rosanna and Heidelberg to take those trucks off the road and the big tunnel project, with tunnelling getting well underway. Now we have the Eastern Freeway – we know it is a bit of a nightmare for locals and for me getting in. It is something that this government is absolutely mindful of, and that is exactly why we are going to expand the Eastern Freeway and save commuters up to 11 minutes on the Eastern Freeway – over 35 minutes in total across the North East Link, using the tunnels as well. It saves commuters time. It is a massive project and one of the game-changing projects that this budget continues to invest in and continues to deliver on, because that is what this government is about: roads, rail, education, health care and delivering on each and every one of our local commitments.

I have given a bit of a broader overview of the budget, of some of the larger investments – your level crossings; the North East Link; and of course the Suburban Rail Loop, backed in again. Those opposite still cannot stand it. It is something that we absolutely need and that has been called for by Victorians for years and years, and only this government is getting on and delivering it, with works underway. I remember not too soon after last year’s election we were out celebrating the start of works for the Suburban Rail Loop. I believe the member for Bentleigh was there, the member for Mordialloc was there, the member for Ringwood was there, the member for Box Hill was there and the member for Glen Waverley was there. It was a really significant day to mark some of the construction of the Suburban Rail Loop and a government that is absolutely not focused on talking about itself but focused on delivering for Victorians and delivering the infrastructure investments that we promised to the community, that we promised to Victorians.

I think it is fair to say I am happy to be accused in this place of loving Boronia. It is very true. If you did a search for ‘Boronia station’ in Hansard, I reckon I would come up –

Will Fowles: 150.

Jackson TAYLOR: 150? Member for Ringwood, please spare me! It would be more 400 or 500 times. I know politicians can sometimes be accused of exaggerating, but I love Boronia and I love the potential that the place has. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous part of the world. I tell you what, I know we all probably say it – and you absolutely believe it when you say that the part of the world you represent is the best – but I have got to say the rest of you are all wrong, because the Bayswater electorate and Boronia is the best part of the world. We are situated at the base of the foothills. We are 5–10 minutes away from the Dandenong Ranges; you can go to the Yarra Valley, another 10–15 minutes away; and if you really like, you can head 30–35 minutes into the city, if that is your thing, as well. So we are right –

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Jackson TAYLOR: Frankston is nice too. I will give you that, member for Frankston. It is a very beautiful community. And Victoria is the best state in this country, there is no doubt about that. But Bayswater is the best part of the world. On Boronia station, my next newsletter says:

Now arriving: $60 million upgrade for Boronia Station.

This project will create a new vibrant heart of Boronia, increasing connectivity with new open space by decking over the southern railway trench.

For those of you watching at home – I am sure there are dozens, countless – the southern railway trench is closest to Woolies, and that is going to create around 8000 square feet of open space. We checked it on Google Maps. We measured – a very handy tool – 8000 square feet of open space. There were many who said it would never happen. There were locals who wrote it off who wanted to see it happen. But in this budget, after four years of advocating within this government, the needs of the Boronia community were recognised, with $60 million fully funded in this budget. Again, I feel like this is a trend, a narrative: when this government says it will do something, when I say it will do something, we get on and we get that work done – so, Boronia station, $60 million, fully funded.

Importantly as well, it is not just about the station. This budget also delivers on the Boronia revitalisation. The suburban revitalisation board we have got working in Boronia has already delivered or is delivering over 20 localised projects, and the member for Frankston knows only too well the value of a suburban revitalisation board with a good chair. I will leave others to comment on my abilities as chair, but I know the member for Frankston is a fantastic chair of the board in Frankston. We are getting on. We have delivered new murals, new laneways, new lighting and new streetscapes. We have delivered a breakfast program for people who need it most, linking them into important services. It is all happening. Boronia is absolutely a massive winner in this budget.

Maroondah Hospital, the new Queen Elizabeth II hospital, we are rebuilding from the ground up. I do love that when you say ‘from the ground up’ some people go, ‘Well, you won’t do it from the top down, will you?’ Very good comment. It is fair. But that is exactly what we are doing. You can call it whatever you want – ground up, top down – Maroondah Hospital will never look the same again, with up to $1.05 billion for planning fully acquitted in this budget to start that important work, working with the health service, working with the healthcare workers. I want to pay tribute to all the healthcare workers at Maroondah Hospital, Angliss Hospital and the Wantirna aged care facility and every healthcare worker locally and across this state. This budget is getting on with delivering the planning funding to start all that important work at Maroondah Hospital. We are going to have two new six-storey inpatient towers, more beds, more facilities and obviously a new mental health hub, and that is going to create 2500 construction jobs and we know lots of ongoing jobs. The Maroondah Hospital is set to be a massive, massive winner in this budget and of course is a massive winner.

We know that this budget funds the important work of the power saving bonus. That has been an absolute boon for locals. I know last time around my community had upwards of 90 per cent take-up. I am sure it will be much the same this time. This budget again delivers fee-free TAFE. There are over 70 free TAFE courses, making sure that locals and people right across this state can get the skills they need for the jobs they want, and we know that we made it even easier, expanding the eligibility criteria this time around.

We also know that during the last election one of the biggest things was our commitment, this government’s commitment, to bring back the SEC. That was resoundingly endorsed by locals. I remember talking to a local when I was out there doorknocking thousands and thousands of doors, making phone calls and holding hundreds of mobile offices. I did not just do it during election time; I did it for four years, and I have already been out there doing the exact same thing again, because that is what a local member should be doing. That is my view of the world. In Bayswater I was even at a school function the other day and I asked the kids, ‘Have you ever seen me at a local shopping centre or anything?’ and they all raised their hands – poor kids. Out at the doors I spoke to someone who was not sure who they were going to vote for, but when we announced that we were going to bring back the SEC and deliver, with an initial investment of $1 billion, government-owned renewable energy, they said that sealed the deal for them, that moment – a bold commitment, and only a commitment that this government could make. We know that those opposite are all about privatisation. Well, this government, this side of the house, is all about driving down power bills. Only Labor will bring back the SEC. Only Labor will bring it back, only Labor truly believes in renewable energy and only Labor will get us to net-zero emissions.

Of course we are also delivering free kinder, saving families up to $2500 per child per year, a really profound investment that will change the lives of not just kids but families, with the hard decisions they have to make. Very quickly, in 48 seconds, there is $1.2 million for the new Tormore Reserve pavilion. The container deposit scheme starts on 1 November. There is $490,000 towards a new dog park and upgraded playground. People in Wantirna love the doggos. In fact all across Knox they love the doggos, and we are delivering a new dog park. Free degrees for nurses and midwives and over 2000 extra paramedics we have delivered since we have been in government. We are delivering over $14 million for schools, including $11 million for Bayswater South, $2.1 million for St Joseph’s and $900,000 for Kent Park – in fact we have delivered over $90 million to upgrade local schools since elected – $2 million to upgrade Wally Tew Reserve pavilion, $10,000 for Templeton Tennis Club, $50,000 for Fairpark Reserve, $100,000 for Knox Infolink and $50,000 for Foothills Community Care. This budget gets on. It delivers everything in full, and the Bayswater community are up and about. They are very excited, and they should be – very good.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (15:25): It is with pleasure that I stand up today and offer my reflections on last week’s state budget. My first message to the Victorian people is: this is the budget you get when a tired, incompetent and corrupt government runs out of excuses. This is a budget that confirms that our state is broke. It confirms that for Victorians life will be a whole lot harder as a result of this budget. And it also tells us that Victorians will pay the price for the incompetence of this government.

This budget confirms how regressive the government’s approach is. Make no mistake: this is a regressive budget. The proposition from the government that it hits the higher end is nonsense. We know that it will affect people on low and modest incomes, and the government ought to stand condemned for attacking people who can least afford it, who have been through COVID and who are now being asked to pay the heaviest of prices for financial incompetence.

This budget is contradictory. It makes the case that it raises taxes to address the debt that was created, but it does not even achieve that end. The contradiction is that taxes go up, but so does debt. Taxes go up, but so does interest. Taxes go up, and there is no improvement in employment numbers – in fact unemployment goes up over the forward estimates, not down. It is a budget of contradictions. It is punitive, the most punitive budget I think I have seen in years. It targets those, as I said, on low and modest incomes, and I will talk a bit about that.

This is a budget about risk. For all of the measures that the government has announced in this budget, with all of the consequences for higher debt, higher interest, higher unemployment, tempered employment growth and gross state product over the forward estimates, there is still a risk, as the ratings agencies Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s have pointed out. The government has not done enough. We have already faced two downgrades. We have the lowest credit rating of any state in the country at AA, and there is a risk that we will drop to A. If that were to happen, the interest bill that Victoria pays – and Victorians will pay – will go through the roof. It is a serious risk we face. So it is a budget of contradictions, a budget that is regressive, a budget that is punitive and a budget that is full of risk. Before I continue, can I pay tribute to my colleague the Shadow Treasurer, who outlined in a great deal of detail our concerns about this budget and our position on the way forward. I will talk a bit about that as we proceed.

Can I deal first with the measures that the government has announced in relation to businesses. The government relies on this absurd proposition that you tax your way to prosperity, that the way to attract investment is to tax it. For a business that may well want to invest in Victoria, that has a payroll of over $10 million based in other states but wants to set up a small operation here in Victoria, the government has the absurd proposition that the best way to attract them is to tell them that they will now be subject to higher taxes. I do not understand the rationale for that, and I do not think Victorians do. Again I say this budget is regressive and I say it is contradictory, because who is going to pay for that – employees are going to pay for that. They risk losing jobs – jobs that will be lost and jobs that will never be created because of the government’s absurd reasoning that you attract business by taxing it.

The government will aim to raise $1 billion over each year of the forward estimates. Think about the reputational damage that is being done to our state by imposing these taxes of $4 billion over the four years as part of some so-called COVID debt levy. Think of what is lost – think of the investment that is not made in Victoria, either by businesses here or by businesses who want to set up global HQs in Victoria and in Melbourne in particular but will not now because they all know that the worst place to do business in this country is in Victoria because of this government.

Not only do we face the prospect of businesses either dialling down their businesses or not deciding to invest in Victoria because of the payroll tax increases, but they are having to pay the price of gross incompetence by the Assistant Treasurer Danny Pearson, who has spent more time on his share portfolio than his ministerial portfolio and has now seen a 42 per cent increase facing businesses for WorkCover premiums in this state. Think about it: the government says payroll taxes affect only larger businesses, but WorkCover affects every business.

Do you know what we would rather do on this side of the house? We would rather be talking about reform of WorkCover so that we attract businesses by saying to them, ‘You invest in safety in your workplace, you make your places of work safer for your staff, you get a better premium. You organise the nature of your workplace so that you minimise your premium. You’re putting a premium on safety, and for that reason you get a lower premium.’ That is what we want to talk about, because we know from our dealings and our experience in business, something foreign to those opposite, that that means a lot. Businesses are sensitive to all manner of costs, and WorkCover is among their highest costs. So if you can find a way to incentivise them, you attract business. But no, the government wants to slug them, all because a minister was completely out of his depth, totally distracted by his own share portfolio and did not see the disaster that was awaiting WorkCover. But it is no surprise. WorkCover is not the only agency that is deeply in the red: Homes Vic – in the red, Victorian Managed Insurance Authority – in the red, Victorian Building Authority – in the red. They are all in the red.

Danny O’Brien: CFA.

John PESUTTO: CFA. So there is no surprise here. Most government agencies are insolvent. Were they businesses, they would be wound up. That is the seriousness of the situation we face at the moment. So the government’s idea that this is targeted to the top end of town and small businesses will not pay for it – they will. They will, because we know that small businesses depend, for supply, for customers, for patronage, on middle-sized and larger businesses. If those scale back, they pay the price, their staff pay the price and their families pay the price. So the government, to clean up its own mess, is going to punish people who had nothing to do with it, people we need to drive prosperity in this state; they are attacking them.

It does not stop there. We know about property taxes too. The government says that its land tax extension, lowering the land tax free threshold down to $50,000, is going to capture, wait for it, the ‘big end of town’. Well, let us see what it is really going to capture. It is going to hit people on low and middle incomes who invest their savings in their own choice of a nest egg. Let us remember, most people who have an investment property own only one extra property, and a third of all investors earn under $100,000 a year. That is around one-fifth of the Premier’s salary, and he wants to slug them for more land tax? That is unfair.

But it is actually worse than that, because the government’s claim that this is something we need to do and these are people reaping profits from their land without actually paying a price. Let us understand, people make all sorts of choices about their retirement, and the nest eggs for their family. Some people put money in super. Some people put money in shares. It might be some other asset class that they put their money into. But do you know what, many people decide to put their savings into a piece of property because it makes them feel safe – they can see it, they can touch it. They do not want to rip off their tenants, they just want something that they know will give them an income stream when they can no longer work or if they get injured or if they suffer an illness that takes them out of the workforce and they cannot earn any money. And the government wants to tax them, these people: a nurse in Cranbourne or a firey in Melton. These are the people that have to pay for the gross incompetence of the government? Then what made it worse was the Premier last week saying that you can get a tax deduction. A message for the Premier: a tax deduction is not a reimbursement – someone ought to tell the Premier that – and it is not the driver of investment decisions, whether it is by private investors or corporate entities. They do not make decisions based on what tax deduction they can get. They want to know what income they can derive from an activity or an action. So it just goes to show the government does not even understand the nature of the reforms it is implementing.

Independent schools – I do not know where to start with this. Historically, governments federal and state have always stayed away from levying payroll tax on independent schools. Why – because we do not believe in taxing education in this way. Why – we do not believe in punishing choice. We respect that. That is a value that is core amongst the values we stand for on this side of the house. And it is not about affluent people who have all the money they could ever want; it is not about that. They will always be able to look after themselves. This is about the families who are struggling but make a decision to sacrifice so many other things in life that they could enjoy so they can put their hard-earned money into the education of their children. And this government wants to tax them for that, because we all know they are going to pay for it. It is a demonisation of choice. Again, the government adds insult to injury when it says, ‘Well, government schools pay payroll tax.’ Nonsense. Again, the Premier is displaying his complete ignorance of how his own government operates. Government schools do not pay payroll tax. It is an internal accounting treatment and does not lead to any net transfer of equity in the consolidated accounts of government. It stays within the system of government. So it is built on a lie. This attack on choice, on independent schools, is built on a lie.

We will stand with families, and I say as my second message to Victorians today: we will always respect your choice of where you want to send your children. We will support the education of your children. That is why the Shadow Treasurer today announced in his remarks earlier that we will oppose these tax measures. Not only will we oppose these tax measures, we will repeal this punitive tax on education – a tax on schools. We say to the sector, we say to parents and we say to hundreds of thousands of students: we stand with you, and in this place, we are the only people who stand with you on this measure.

The budget also fails to address urgent challenges. What is the government doing on the Commonwealth Games? We have got councils all over our state, particularly those that are directly affected, asking for guidance on what they need to fund and on what they need to prepare for. There is nothing in the state budget about the Commonwealth Games, and now there is talk, not surprisingly, that the Commonwealth Games are in trouble. Well, it cannot be. The government needs to get on top of this, because nothing could do greater damage to Victoria’s reputation –

Danny O’Brien: Another Jacinta special.

John PESUTTO: – that is right – than more controversy and more incompetence around the Commonwealth Games.

In health, we have seen the budget reveal the lie that the government went to the Victorian people with. It made commitments and in this budget has failed to meet them. It has failed to honour its promise to deliver on those commitments. Less than 8 per cent of what it promised is committed in this budget. And there are some other nasty, uncalled for surprises.

To timber families across our state let me say to you: we stand with you after how you have been treated. This government has treated them appallingly by not giving them any notice of what is happening, with no plan for the future of that industry and with no real plan for the support they will get as they struggle with the consequences of now knowing that they have six months to go in what was a six- or seven-year transition plan to take them through. They have got nothing to plan for, and they have no assistance from a government that is callous towards them and has just cut them adrift. These are families who are now vulnerable, and the government stands condemned.

There is so much more I could say, but I will finish with this. What Victorians needed from the government right now was a vision for our future. What is going to attract businesses either to invest here or that are already here – businesses that should come here or might come here if we create the right ecosystem for them? A vision for what our energy needs look like in the future and how we are going to meet them, not little announcements here and there, but a solid commitment and vision about how our energy needs are going to be met. With coal coming offline, we know, in the next decade and a half, what is the plan? The government has no plan for our energy needs. What is the plan to build trade and investment when the government slashes the trade and investment budget? What is the plan for tourism when it slashes by more than a quarter of a billion dollars money dedicated to promoting tourism in our state? It is a government that is out of ideas, it is a government that is out of puff and it is a government that is out of any real commitment to the Victorian people to deliver to them the government they should be getting but will not, because this government is tired, it is corrupt and it is incompetent.

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (15:40): In rising I acknowledge the Treasurer’s bill that he has put to this house, I acknowledge the address-in-reply that the Shadow Treasurer made and I also acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition’s contribution. But I am not sure the Leader of the Nationals acknowledges the contribution – where is he? Where is the leadership of the Nationals? The member for Brighton earlier put out a tweet saying that Labor had abandoned the chamber, saying that we had abandoned the chamber to not listen to the Shadow Treasurer’s contribution. But where is the Leader of the Nationals? That is the question.

Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, I rise to support the Appropriation (2023–2024) Bill 2023 and the Appropriation (Parliament 2023–2024) Bill 2023 and to support the measures put forward by the Treasurer contained in the 2023–24 budget. In doing so I begin by acknowledging, commending and thanking the Treasurer as well as the Premier and indeed all cabinet ministers and their respective teams and departments for the work they put into delivering this budget. This is a budget that delivers on every commitment we made at the last election to the Victorian people and to the people in my community across Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West.

Whilst I am a new member of this place and it is my first budget, I am very proud of the fact that the Andrews Labor government has not wasted a day since first being elected in 2014 in doing the things that matter for the Victorian people and for the people of my community. Whether it was ahead of the 2014 election, the 2018 election or the more recent 2022 election, Labor has continued to put forward a positive plan that is all about putting Victorians first, and in that spirit I am proud to be part of a Labor government whose 2023–24 budget has continued in the tradition of doing what we promised for the people of Victoria and the people of my electorate, a budget of real action that supports local employment, schools, transport, health and social justice outcomes.

Firstly, when it comes to supporting local jobs and the revitalisation of central Coburg, I commend the role this budget will play in continuing the state’s work in this space. Building off the landmark Level Crossing Removal Project along the Upfield line through Coburg, the world-class new Coburg and Moreland stations and the $6 million Coburg City Oval redevelopment, we will continue to play a key role in local Coburg revitalisation efforts through some of the following investments contained in the 2023–24 state budget: the $17.8 million this budget has allocated towards building a new science and technology hub at Coburg High School, the $11.9 million allocated over the 2023–24 period towards the construction of the $22.5 million new Coburg Special Developmental School and the funding to commence planning for a new mental health and wellbeing local in Coburg as well as to deliver a new neighbourhood battery in the City of Merri-bek.

I was delighted to have hosted Treasurer Tim Pallas recently, on 31 March, along with over 100 local businesses and community leaders at the new Pentridge–Adina visitor and entertainment precinct for a very positive discussion around these and other record investments the Andrews Labor government has been making to kickstart and drive central the Coburg, Sydney Road and Upfield corridor revitalisation efforts. I was also very pleased to welcome the Minister for Small Business, who is at the table today, on a visit to Sydney Road in central Coburg to meet with local small businesses to talk about opportunities for local revitalisation, including with our multicultural community.

At the heart of these efforts about local revitalisation is investment in education and skills for local young people. We are building off the $50,000 that was provided for Coburg High School master planning in the 2021–22 state budget by delivering a record $17.8 million to deliver a new technology hub for Coburg High School in this budget. This funding will kickstart detailed planning and design work which will ultimately deliver stage 1 of the school’s master plan by 2026, which will be a game-changing new double-storey technology building, creating space for 250 more local Coburg High students to ensure they are equipped with the skills they need for the future jobs and career pathways that they can aspire to. I was pleased to have recently visited the school with the Premier and the Treasurer as well as the member for Northcote and the member for Preston to talk about how this investment will benefit the school community for many years to come. In this regard I commend the outgoing school council president Cate Hall, school principal Brent Houghton, school captains Josh, Tabby, Ezzat and Monique, as well as the entire school community for their work and advocacy, who have helped secure this investment made possible by the Andrews Labor government’s budget.

This commitment builds on Labor’s previous investments to upgrade and modernise many of our local schools, but particularly our high schools, including the $21.1 million for a new technology, science and arts three-storey building at Strathmore Secondary College, which is now open, which students are now benefiting from and which the member for Essendon and I recently visited to celebrate as well; the $14.2 million for a new performing arts and technology facility at Pascoe Vale Girls College, whose construction I look forward to seeing being completed during 2024; and the more recent $14.5 million commitment to undertaking major upgrades to John Fawkner secondary college, which I was proud to support along with the member for Broadmeadows. These investments, combined with Labor’s expanding free TAFE rollout as well as our education plan for Merri-bek North, will help to ensure that all local students are provided with the same chance to aspire, succeed and be supported through local secondary school and higher education options.

It is also at the primary school level that I welcome this budget’s investments, including the provision of $5.1 million towards the delivery of a new gymnasium and learning facilities at Pascoe Vale Primary School – which I was happy to recently visit to meet with school principal Anne Naughton – as part of the school’s overall $15 million major upgrade.

At the kinder and early years levels I am also proud of the investments we are making through this budget to deliver the Best Start, Best Life reforms, which will deliver free kinder for every three- and four-year-old across my community. These reforms will save local families $2500 per year and provide a 15-hour per week program for four-year-old children and a 5- to 15-hour program for three-year-old children every week – amazing stuff.

I welcome the fact that these reforms are being accompanied by real upgrades for 11 local kinders across Merri-bek through a landmark $10.7 million investment by the Andrews Labor government which will create a further 329 local kinder places over the coming years. In this regard I was delighted to recently open the new $490,000 upgraded St Linus Anglican Kindergarten in Merlynston, one of many, many other local kinder projects that will be coming online over the coming years, including Turner Street kinder and Doris Blackburn kinder, which are also set to benefit from upgrades through this funding in the near future. I acknowledge the minister in the other place Ingrid Stitt for her work on this phenomenal program being rolled out.

This budget continues Labor’s investments in road and rail projects so that Victorians can get home sooner and safer. This budget provides $339 million towards getting the city-shaping Metro Tunnel project ready so it can be connected to the existing rail network as it prepares to open a year ahead of schedule. Metro rail will provide significant benefits to commuters in my electorate, and I was delighted to recently visit the tunnel construction site with many of my colleagues in this place. Taking the three busiest rail lines out of the city loop – including the Sunbury, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, which will run exclusively through the Metro Tunnel – will allow for other lines to run more services, including those in my community. The Upfield line, for example, will benefit through 71 per cent more peak capacity and room for 45,000 passengers every week during peak periods. The Craigieburn line will benefit through 27 per cent more peak capacity and room for 54,000 passengers every week during peak periods.

Metro rail builds on the record number of other local investments and real action Labor has been taking since 2014 to improve local transport infrastructure, including via, as I mentioned earlier, the four world-class level crossing projects in Coburg, which have reduced congestion for 52,000 vehicles that utilise Bell Street on a daily basis, as well as those on Moreland Road, Reynard Street and Munro Street; the new landmark Coburg and Moreland stations, which are the catalyst for the ongoing Coburg revitalisation; the phenomenal new Upfield active transport cycling and walking corridor through Coburg, which has also created two MCGs worth of new open space and had over 3000 new trees and shrubs planted; improving services and introducing low-floor trams across local tram routes 1, 19 and 58; developing a major bus review for Melbourne’s north to plan for a modern, faster, reliable and sustainable bus network across Merri-bek; and $3.75 million to improve walking and cycling along the Upfield path between the Western Ring Road and O’Hea Street in Coburg. We have also invested $11.9 million to remove, finally, the dangerous intersection and roundabout by installing traffic lights at the corner of Sussex Street and Gaffney Street – just where my electorate office is.

We have rebuilt the Merlynston station car park via the construction of 300 new car spaces along with a new secure bike Parkiteer, new lighting and CCTV. We are complementing this by completing the missing link of the Upfield bike path along Bain Avenue as part of a project which has now been delivered and we have now officially opened. $4.6 million has also been delivered for the Glenroy and Coburg cycling link via Derby Street to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. Other actions include reducing speed limits along Nicholson Street, improving pedestrian safety at five Sydney Road intersections, a new pedestrian crossing at Walhalla Street–Moreland Road and $350,000 towards a feasibility study for a new crossing between Gaffney Street and Cumberland Road. Many of these initiatives were funded by the previous minister Ben Carroll, as well as my predecessor Lizzie Blandthorn, who did amazing work to deliver many of these commitments. I look forward to working on further improving local road safety outcomes over my term, including through the parliamentary inquiry into road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users following the COVID-19 pandemic and looking at how we can support transport workers across the gig economy and freight sector, many of whom have been diligently represented by the Transport Workers Union.

Following on from the pandemic, I am glad to see that this budget continues to invest in and support our health workers and broader health sector. Along with the introduction of free nursing studies, the Hospital Infrastructure Delivery Fund allocates funding towards hospitals across the north that my community depend on. There is the redevelopment of the Northern Hospital, with a new emergency department and inpatient tower to support growing demand for people across the north. Funding is also provided towards the refurbishment and expansion of the Austin Hospital’s emergency department and short-stay unit – the member for Ivanhoe is in the chamber, I acknowledge – meaning more patients can be treated faster, including my community of Pascoe Vale. Funding is also provided to kickstart the biggest hospital redevelopment in Australia’s history, with significant upgrades to the existing Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Women’s Hospital in Parkville together with a new campus of both hospitals in the future suburb of Arden.

Locally I am delighted to say that funding has been provided so we can begin planning for a new mental health and wellbeing local service in Coburg that, once opened, will provide support and treatment for adults aged 26 years and older experiencing mental illness and psychological distress. I was pleased to recently welcome the Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas in a visit to my electorate, including to meet with the acting CEO of Merri Health Maryanne Tadic to discuss these and other local opportunities for my community in terms of health and wellbeing. I am also very proud of the record investment the budget makes into women’s health, with $63 million for 20 new women’s health clinics, $50 million for families to access fertility care and funding to help treat endometriosis and other women’s health conditions.

Our sporting clubs play a major role in supporting local health outcomes too. That is why I was so pleased to see the budget make the provision of $1.25 million to upgrade Cole Reserve in Pascoe Vale, which will go towards much-needed whole-of-oval drainage and flood proofing, as well as oval master planning and funding for women’s and girls sport activations. I commend the work of these local clubs, including president Allan Chandler and Dean Leeds of the Coburg Districts Football Club and Jon King of the St Andrews Cricket Club, whose clubs are set to benefit from these upgrades, and I am looking forward to attending the Coburg Districts president’s luncheon this coming weekend on Saturday to celebrate this wonderful news.

This budget delivers real action for the environment. The 2023–24 budget kickstarts investment into bringing back the SEC, driving jobs in renewable energy while also investing to protect Victoria and our local natural environment. An initial $1 billion investment in the SEC will help deliver 4.5 gigawatts of renewable energy power, the equivalent of replacing the capacity of Loy Yang A. We will also invest $12 million to develop new VET qualifications to support the creation of 59,000 future energy jobs, and we will also fund the business case for a new SEC centre of training excellence, one that I am particularly interested for my community to engage in. I am delighted by the funding that has also been provided to kickstart the rollout of the container deposit scheme across Melbourne’s north, and I look forward to working with Tomra, who have been appointed to roll out the scheme locally. Funding has been provided towards 100 community batteries, including for my community across Merri-bek. As well, there is $10 million towards a new protecting our waterways fund, which will help preserve and enhance my local creeks, including Moonee Ponds Creek, Five Mile Creek, Westbreen Creek, Edgars Creek and Merri Creek. I was pleased to recently visit the Reimagining Your Moonee Ponds Creek project along with the member for Broadmeadows, where we had the privilege of planting the first trees as part of this landmark project that will renaturalise a 500-metre section of the creek, which will benefit local families and local wildlife.

This is a budget that also makes provision for social justice measures, including through helping Victorians with the cost of living. Whether it is through the $250 power saving bonus, free kinder, free TAFE, motorist and safe driver discounts, the Victorian casual sick pay guarantee scheme or the Get Active Kids sports vouchers, the Andrews Labor government is continuing to support local families and households who need it most with the cost of living through the various measures contained in this budget.

I am also very pleased with the number of investments my local culturally and linguistically diverse communities and local community organisations have secured through this 2023–24 budget, including a new multicultural community facilities fund, which will benefit local Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Turkish and other multicultural groups; $80,000 secured for 3ZZZ radio, Melbourne’s longest running community ethnic radio station; $40,000 to upgrade the Alevi Community Centre and $120,000 to support the delivery of the Alevi festival over coming years; $200,000 for the Newroz festivities; and $120,000 for the Peace and Friendship Festival. Fifty thousand dollars has also been provided for Extended Families Australia to help volunteers support children and young people with a disability.

As I said at the outset, this is a budget that delivers on the things that we promised prior to the election for my community. It is a budget that is doing what matters for the Victorian people, and it is a budget that will continue to underpin this state’s jobs and economic growth while building a better future by delivering on our election commitments.

In saying that, I particularly acknowledge the funding we have provided to rebuild a new science and technology hub for Coburg High School, a school that was sold and closed by the Kennett government when I was growing up locally. Now as the local member I am so proud to be standing here to say we are funding its rebuild and securing its future. I commend the bill to the house.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (15:55): I rise to make a contribution on the Appropriation (Parliament 2023–2024) Bill 2023 and the Appropriation (2023–2024) Bill 2023 itself. In starting off, can I just express I think all Victorians’ frustration that two of the parliamentary bills have only just been introduced into the Parliament and will be debated for one day. This morning there was a long time on procedural motions to have the house managed so that there are two guillotines to deal with the budget papers and two of those key bills, and that particularly the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2023 will only lie on the table for one day before it is debated is just an absolute shame. But more importantly, it is a lack of respect for Victorians. The Andrews government was elected to govern for all Victorians, to come to this chamber, to come to the Parliament. I have said this a lot of times here: executive government is answerable to the Parliament, but that has been reversed under Daniel Andrews. By treating the chamber with disrespect, they are treating all the population of Victoria with disrespect – by coming in and having two bills lie on the table for a day, particularly the taxation bill, which we will be talking about more tomorrow, which brings in some really, really draconian and horrendous tax changes here in this particular state. So I am bitterly disappointed for all Victorians that the Andrews government would be so disrespectful to them about how this budget has actually been introduced and how it is being managed in this chamber.

I just do not believe the Leader of the House is actually up to running the house, because we have seen chaos after chaos after chaos.

Members interjecting.

Peter WALSH: It is not harsh. It is not harsh if you look at how it has evolved, particularly over this week but in other events over the last few weeks. The house should be able to be run for the best outcome for Victorians, to have constructive debate to get the ideas on the record about what people think about whatever legislation is before us. But we have a member that cannot seem to run the business of the house properly, and that is why the things that happened this morning did happen, because there has not been the forward planning about how the house is actually run over that time. Only a Labor government could bring in a budget where taxes are up but debt actually continues to increase. There is more tax take on a whole range of things that we will talk about under the state tax bill tomorrow, but debt continues to rise as well.

A member: Nothing to show for it.

Peter WALSH: There is nothing to show for those tax increases other than more debt in this state. And the other thing: only a Labor government could bring in a budget that is going to take 4000 people out of the public sector but where the public sector wage bill actually goes up. That to me is absolutely illogical. Whoever did the arithmetic, whoever did that grand plan that will take 4000 people out of the state bureaucracy when somehow the bill goes up – it just does not make sense to me. That is not good business. That says to me we are going to have less people but individually they are going to be paid more. If you ask most Victorians whether they are getting value out of the public sector here in Victoria, particularly post COVID, they would say no, because a lot of people that come to my office come out of sheer frustration that they cannot get a permit renewed, cannot get a licence renewed, cannot get –

A member: Births, deaths and marriages is a disaster.

Peter WALSH: I was just going to say – cannot get a death certificate actually issued so they can do probate to wrap up a family member’s estate. They just cannot get through the bureaucracy to get the paperwork done. We had the situation recently where we sent an email off to the appropriate person and we got an email back saying, ‘I have done my quota of emails for today, and I’m not going to do any more emails till tomorrow.’ We did get an email back where this particular person said ‘I have answered my quota of emails for the day, and I’m not doing any more emails’, so that –

The SPEAKER: Order! The time has come for me to interrupt business for the matter of public importance.

Business interrupted under resolution of house of 18 May.