Wednesday, 21 June 2023

Grievance debate

Cost of living

Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (16:01): Today I grieve for all Victorians who are experiencing and suffering significant cost-of-living pressures. Cost-of-living pressures are being felt and felt hard by each and every Victorian, and life is getting harder. Life is getting harder under the Andrews Labor government, and I will just talk about a number of examples first. Particularly people that I know in my local community have come to me to express their concerns about how they can manage with these rising cost-of-living pressures in Victoria. A mother of three in Seville – in the township of Seville a mother of three growing boys is now having to make choices about taking them to their sporting and recreational pursuits because of the cost of petrol. An older couple in Lilydale – the cost of food and medication is so high that they have come and told me that they are now making the hard choices about quite literally putting the lights on and putting the heating on, right as we get into the cold depths of winter. And a Mount Evelyn small business, a local independent supermarket, have told me about the cost-of-living pressures, or the cost-of-business pressures, and that their energy, their electricity, bills have skyrocketed beyond 30 per cent with the refrigeration of food in the supermarket. And what that means for this small business in Mount Evelyn is that they have to make tough choices about putting on more staff and about giving a few extra hours to those casual workers and those part-time workers in their business.

So the cost-of-living pressures are really hitting Victorians hard, and life is getting harder. Life is getting harder under this Andrews Labor government. The costs of groceries is up, the cost of fuel is up and the cost of electricity is up, with the government’s own Victorian default offer set to surge this year, meaning that Victorian power bills will skyrocket by at least another 25 per cent. Under Labor life is getting harder, and Victorians are faced with tough choices. I have given you just three examples, but this is right across Victoria. They are making tough choices. They are having to tighten their belts, tighten their belts to afford everyday basics.

But the government has not tightened its belt. Has the Andrews Labor government tightened its belt? No, they have not. All they are doing is spending more, wasting more and taxing Victorians more at the worst possible time. The Andrews–Allan Labor regime have proven just one thing: that they are economic vandals. They have sent Victoria broke, and Victorians are paying the price. State debt will skyrocket to a record whopping $171 billion in just over three years time. They seem to have no care or no regard for this being left as a burden to our children and to our grandchildren to have to pay back. Just let that sink in: $171 billion in debt. The interest repayments on that debt are set to double to more than $22 million a day. That is a massive number; $22 million a day is a massive number, and it is of pertinent importance. It is of pertinent importance to think about that $22 million a day, because as we talk about the cost-of-living pressures for everyday Victorians, imagine what we could have done with that $22 million. Imagine what we could do to help provide relief for Victorians with that kind of money that is just going to pay off debt. That is $22 million a day that we cannot spend, that this government cannot spend on improving health care and ambulance services and fixing dangerous roads. So many dangerous roads in the Evelyn electorate, which I proudly represent, could be fixed. It is $22 million that we cannot spend on funding more nurses, more teachers, more police. That is $22 million a day to pay down interest on government debt and that cannot be spent providing cost-of-living relief measures to Victorian households and Victorian small businesses, who are really, really doing it tough.

There are massive cost blowouts on Big Build projects. Projects that are poorly planned and poorly managed by Deputy Premier Allan are $30 billion at least – $30 billion that we know about – over budget and years behind schedule. There are massive cost blowouts in public service employee expenses, with the public sector wages bill rising from $33.8 billion this year to a whopping $38.3 billion in just three years time. This is a $4.4 billion blowout in the public sector wages bill that comes at a time that the Labor government plans to also slash thousands of public sector jobs, with the result of cutting frontline services. Labor’s own budget shows in black and white that it will slash $216 million from its job creation program. That is a 55 per cent cut. This Labor government is cutting funding to jobs creation at the worst possible time. The Andrews government has admitted in its own budget, in its own paper, that we have a skills shortage and that unemployment will rise. But they also confirmed at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee recently that they will be doing less to support disadvantaged jobseekers, slashing government services to these people, to these most vulnerable Victorians, at the worst possible time. This is in Labor’s brutal state budget – a brutal state budget.

Victorians are being punished for Labor’s incompetence. Not only does Victoria have higher debt than any other state in Australia, Victoria is also the highest taxed state in Australia. That is right, Victoria is the highest taxed state in the nation, and that has been confirmed. Do not listen to our side here; that has been confirmed by their Parliamentary Budget Office figures. As the state’s independent budget watchdog, the Parliamentary Budget Office found Victorians are paying $5074 per person in taxes – every man, woman and child. Over five grand in taxes for every Victorian – considerably higher than any other state in the nation. Taxes will rise in Victoria to $5408 per person by 2025–26. This government is addicted to spending and addicted to taxing Victorians.

The Treasurer had the audacity to say in a recent speech – to a business audience, no less – that Victoria was the lowest taxed state in Australia, when in fact the opposite is exactly true. The Treasurer was speaking utter nonsense, and it would be funny if it was not quite so serious. Labor has now introduced nearly 50 new or increased taxes since they came to government in 2014. This is from the Premier who said down the camera to Victorians that he would not increase taxes, and we all know how untrue that was. We now know how untrue that is. There are 49 new or increased taxes. I have got them here. I will not bore the house by reading through them all, but there are 49 new or increased taxes, and they are in the government’s papers. What is this long list of new and increased taxes by this Andrews Labor government? Not only is it a broken promise, it is hurting Victorians and increasing their cost of living. It is adding to their cost-of-living pressures.

Just last night the Labor government, this Labor government – proudly, I think, and sadly, I also think – passed the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2023 in partnership with the Greens. They got into cahoots with the Greens and passed the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill, and all that is going to do is increase taxes for Victorians at the worst possible time. When Victorians went to the election being told by this Labor government that Labor would be delivering for all Victorians, I just do not think that they thought that that would be delivering more and increased taxes to all Victorians. Labor is introducing a schools tax, a rent tax, a debt tax and a jobs tax, and lest there be any doubt, the Victorian Liberals and Nationals are opposed to Labor’s schools tax, debt tax, jobs tax and rent tax.

Just on the schools tax, I will talk about the schools in my local electorate of Evelyn. This is set to impact a number of schools in the Evelyn electorate, which will translate into higher fees for families that choose to send their kids there. It is a tax on these kids’ learning that could see some of these families needing to pull out their kids from these wonderful local schools: Billanook College, Edinburgh College, Mount Lilydale Mercy College and Mount Evelyn Christian School are all likely to be hit by Labor’s unfair schools tax – a tax on schools, a tax on learning, a tax on education. In fact the Minister for Education is sitting right here at the table. I welcome you to raise a point of order and let me know that you will rule out those taxes for those schools in –

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Evelyn, through the Chair.

Bridget VALLENCE: The families of these kids who go to these schools in my electorate, who love learning, might be faced with this burdensome tax, and the minister sitting at the table has the opportunity right now to stand up and clarify for these schools in my electorate that they will not be burdened by this tax, that their parents may not have to pull their children out of their school, away from their friends, away from their teachers at the worst possible time. But silence – crickets – absolute silence from the minister, who is sitting just 1.5 metres away from me. To these school communities, the thousands of local schoolkids that attend these schools, we say: the Victorian Liberals and Nationals value your education, your learning, your families and your choice, and we will fight this tax and in government we will repeal Labor’s unjust schools tax.

What is troubling still is that the Andrews–Allan Labor government have not ruled out further taxes. How many more taxes will the Andrews–Allan Labor government introduce and add to the cost-of-living pressures for everyday Victorians who are already finding it hard to get food onto the table? How many more taxes and how much more pain will Labor inflict on Victorians to subsidise their budget blowouts and their record levels of debt? Victorians are paying more tax than ever before, and they are getting less for it. For example, they are paying more on car rego, and yet our roads are in woeful condition. Potholes – massive potholes, particularly in my electorate – are absolutely unsafe. They are absolutely slashing the roads maintenance budget year on year on year, and it makes no sense.

New land taxes will lead to higher rents – further pressure on our already dire rental market. Again, that makes no sense. The tax regime of this government is to put on a tax that will tax renters, people who are already finding it hard to get into a rental property, and when they do they will be subject to higher rent as a direct result of this Labor government’s tax on renters. We oppose it. We think it makes absolutely no sense and just makes it harder. Life is harder under the Labor government.

There are increases in payroll tax. We look at business. Business – small business – is the engine room, the backbone, of our economy. That is where jobs creation happens. That is where the ideas happen. That is where there is the innovation and the passion to succeed, the aspiration for Victoria to grow our economy and give back. It is the small businesses in our local communities, particularly in communities like mine in the Yarra Valley, that actually give back to local communities. They are the ones that sponsor the local footy clubs or sponsor our local kindergartens, yet these businesses are going to be taxed. High payroll tax, massive WorkCover premiums for local businesses – this will lead to a dismal situation of higher retail prices for consumers and job losses.

This government says that big business can absorb it. Do you really think that Bunnings is going to absorb it? You will go to Bunnings and the price you will pay for a shovel will be higher. The price you will pay for a packet of pasta at Woolies will be higher as a result of the payroll tax increases from this Andrews Labor government. Everyday Victorians will feel it when they go to make their everyday purchases at their local store. The Treasurer also did not rule out another business tax to fund the COVID measure of the sick pay guarantee.

Residents in our communities right across Victoria are being absolutely punished by the Andrews Labor government. Cost-of-living pressures are hurting everyday Victorians. Cost-of-living pressures are something that this Andrews government should be doing better at, but they are failing dismally. We should be doing everything we can to support Victorians as we emerge from the challenges of these last few years, but all the government is doing is adding to the cost-of-living pressures.