Thursday, 17 August 2023

Motions

Budget papers 2023–24

Debate resumed.

Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (15:00): As I was saying very briefly before the break, I was afforded the opportunity to give a budget reply, so my take-note contribution will be a little bit of an update. To the Minister for Police, who is at the table: you might be interested in learning about some of these issues in the country, which you could perhaps spend a little bit more time getting out to on the odd occasion.

The first issue that I want to put on the record, as I touched on before lunch – we have the Deputy Speaker back in now – is around the timber industry and the callous decision by the government to just cut the timber industry with no forewarning and basically give workers what is the equivalent of six months to find new jobs. It turned the lives upside down of not only timber workers and their families but also all those spin-off businesses that rely on the timber industry for income. We find ourselves at a point in time, months after this budget was delivered, where I have still got timber workers in my community – mill workers and harvest and haulage contractors. I have still got people who were not directly employed in the timber industry. These might be people like the contractors who reseeded the coupes or the people who own the tyre services in these towns that service the timber industry trucks. We have one case of an electrician, and the bulk of his work was doing the electrical work within the mills.

Here we are, months later, and we have still got no information on the table as to what supports will be provided or what new job opportunities will be provided. It has left these communities in a great deal of limbo and is causing an enormous amount of stress for a number of families, not only in my electorate but in all the electorates around the state where the timber industry is a key economic driver. You would have thought that if you were going to basically scrap an entire industry, you would have had this stuff ready to announce to these families and these communities when you made that decision. But not only was that pertinent, relevant and important information not there when the decision was made, here we are, months later, and I have still got people who are affected by the closure of the timber industry coming into my office and wanting to know what their job opportunities are going to be.

There are even staff members from VicForests. I was at the footy a fortnight ago, and I had two VicForests staff members – these are state government agency employees – coming to me and saying, ‘Have you heard anything? Do you know if we’re going to be offered other jobs within a government department?’ These are people who have got kids at school, who have got mortgages and who do not know what their future holds, and it is a disgrace – an absolute disgrace.

The other issue that we have got here is a summer fire season again just around the corner, and removing our timber industry was just the worst environmental decision you could ever make. It is the only renewable building resource available in the world that grows back and stores carbon. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tells us that we should be building everything with wood as the biggest mitigation measure, and what do we do in Victoria? We shut down our timber industry, and we have got imports going up from countries with less oversight. Can someone on that side of the chamber just please explain to me how that is a good environmental outcome? When Planet Ark’s slogan is ‘Do the world some good, build it with wood’, we closed down our native timber industry – one of the timber industries with the highest levels of oversight among jurisdictions around the world. What has happened is we have got consumers buying more wood, because that is what we are telling them to do, and now we have got to import it from countries with less oversight to meet that demand. It is just disgracefully environmentally unfriendly.

But getting back to my point from before I was sidetracked, we have removed the first line of defence for when fires hit. In East Gippsland and in other electorates around the state – the member for Narracan is here, and we have even got some people from the wonderful East Gippsland electorate in the gallery, and they well know the fire risk in that electorate – it is not a case of if we are going to get fires, it is when. I can tell you, in my 13 years in this job and my years as the local newspaper editor before that, countless times I saw our timber industry at the forefront, pushing firebreaks through flames and risking their lives to protect assets and protect the community. Now this government has just got rid of that industry, but yet we have no word, on the verge of another summer, of what is going to be done to replace that first-response effort. We heard some waffle at the time that these people were going to be re-employed in the department and there would still be that presence there as a first responder, but these harvest and haulage guys have heard nothing in that time. It is time this government comes clean and makes sure that they have the security to provide that important role they play in our communities.

I want to touch on roads: we saw more cuts in this Labor government budget to our roads maintenance funding stream. How is that ever going to end up? Our roads are a mess now, and the government cuts roads maintenance funding again by 25 per cent. I am not sure that that can end any other way but in absolute disaster. We have got roads in my electorate and roads the length and breadth of the state where the potholes are that deep they are causing significant damage to car wheel rims when they go over them. When they are fixed, it is a temporary fix, and they are back to being as bad as they were within a week. They are temporary stopgap measures that fix – well, they do not fix it; it is very, very short term.

I have recently been, through my shadow ministries, to Wangaratta and Ballarat in the last probably three weeks, and other areas of the state, and the country roads are a disgrace everywhere. I used to think that they were the worst in my electorate, but they are terrible absolutely everywhere. It cannot end any other way unless we have a very, very significant investment in our rural roads maintenance. This government ought to be increasing funding, not continually cutting funding, because as I repeat, it can only end one way. And the irony in all this is the state government – you guys on that side – spend a lot of money on road safety campaigns and programs and say we have got to get our road toll down, but you do not provide roads that are car worthy. You can spend all this money on road safety campaigns, but the key element in saving lives on our roads is having decent roads. That is where money ought to be invested. It was not invested in this budget, so it needs to be invested outside the budget process.

It would be remiss of me to be on my feet in this place talking about roads and not mention my beloved centre-of-the-road barriers between Bairnsdale and Sale.

Richard Riordan: How many are still upright?

Tim BULL: ‘How many of them are still upright?’ the member for Polwarth just interjected. I will take him up on that. Driving between them on the way to Parliament this week, I saw there are 12 of those bollards that are significantly damaged. One of them has been damaged for 14 months. That means in the last 14 months we have had at least 10 serious accidents, because these bollards have been smashed into a stage where they are in disrepair. There was one where a truck went through it – I think it was probably two to three months ago, where massive damage was caused to the centre-of-the-road barriers – and then the truck disappeared on the other side of the road and went through the side barriers. Driving down this Monday morning, I saw we have still got, after at least eight weeks, a warning sign that there is a traffic hazard ahead. We do not fix the roads. If something is damaged, do not stick up a sign and walk away for four or five months, fix the damn thing – absolutely. I will not use the term ‘pull your finger out’, because it is unparliamentary, but fix the things. Do not put up temporary road signs. Everywhere you drive around country Victoria, we have got temporary road signs up – ‘Slow down’, ‘Take care’, ‘Traffic hazard ahead’ – because you do not fix the roads, because you have cut the funding to the roads. We need more investment in that area to get things right.

I must mention the Commonwealth Games. Since I made my budget speech we have had the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games. I noticed a tweet came out from the Premier yesterday. It was along the lines of commenting on the Matildas – what great role models they have been and what a great increase in participation in soccer this will produce. Imagine what the Commonwealth Games would have done for our youth, all the kids. Participation levels would have gone through the roof. I am a firm believer that if we can get as many kids as we can involved in sport and around good role models and in that club environment, it leads to better outcomes for them later in life. But what do we do? We have cancelled the Commonwealth Games, and as we heard in question time today, we still cannot get an answer about what that is going to cost us. They have been cancelled without us knowing what the bill at the end of the day is going to be, and here we have a state debt that the forecasts say is heading towards $170 billion. That is just so scary to even think about. The Premier wants to label it a COVID debt. Less than a third of it is related to COVID. The other two-thirds are related to mismanagement. A $170 billion debt forecast by 2026 – that is scary and something that certainly needs to be reined in.

I also want to mention some of the cuts that have been made in this budget to government departments. We have got a lot less fuel reduction burning being done. I have spoken about the risk we have from the timber industry going. My great fear – I had a briefing last Friday from the CFA, who were telling me how it is one of the driest times we have had for this time of the year on record. If we do not get spring rains, my region will burn again. There is this fantasy philosophy that because we had fires four years ago we cannot burn again. The fuel loads in the bush are at astronomical levels. We are as dry as we have been heading into spring as any time that I can remember, and we are in trouble unless the department puts more resources into fuel reduction burning and brings that under control.

I also want to mention – I mentioned this last night briefly in my adjournment – the cuts to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action office opening hours. I stood in this place and said, ‘You’re closing them Monday and Friday’ – the offices in Bairnsdale and Orbost. These are areas where people want to get camping information, buy fishing licences, get data, get details. In seeking a response to my inquiry, the minister’s office called my office to get a contact because they could not get hold of anyone at the DEECA office to answer my question. It is like an episode of Utopia, for goodness sake. It is even more stupid than some of the stuff you would see on Utopia. They have rung my office to get an answer as to why they cannot get through to the department to answer my query as to why no-one can access them. It is just ridiculous. It was a very disappointing budget. This government needs to invest its money in the right places while it is reining in this debt that it has created, and I would like to see some announcements in the near future.

Natalie SULEYMAN (St Albans – Minister for Veterans, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Youth) (15:13): I rise today to speak on the budget take-note motion before the house, and let me say this year’s budget is targeted and responsible so that our state can continue on our strong record of economic growth. Not only does it deliver strong budget management, but also the budget is delivering on our commitments that we have made, because we have been a government that is focused on doing what matters for all Victorians.

This budget makes game-changing investments in my electorate of St Albans, in particular when it comes to the healthcare system. I know locally these projects will be a breath of fresh air to our locals, including one that I have been passionately working on together with Western Health at Sunshine Hospital, the brand new PET scanner. I know that this will make a difference and an impact for local families not only for my electorate in St Albans but also across the west. Families that do need to access cancer services, we know, at times have had to travel into town to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and other hospitals. This will be important so they can be seen and have the appropriate tests locally at Sunshine Hospital.

I do want to add something about the great work that the cancer centre at Sunshine does. They have a fantastic team that looks after patients, as I know too well. In the last three years I was the carer of my uncle, who recently passed away. He had fantastic and excellent service at Sunshine Hospital; he was able to get a lot of the necessary care and support there. Numerous times he did have to travel to Peter McCallum but most times it was at Sunshine Hospital, and I saw the great work that the team at Sunshine does.

I am very happy to see not only major investments in infrastructure investments at Sunshine Hospital, but we are the government that delivered the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital. We are the government that delivered a new emergency department at Sunshine Hospital. We have invested at Western Health and – I know the member for Footscray would be very happy for me to say this – in the brand new Footscray Hospital down the road. We do have a track record when it comes to delivering brand new hospitals and really improving health services in the western suburbs for families and children.

This budget continues on the great work of investing in women and children, in particular we will see a brand new women’s health clinic at Sunshine Hospital. This was an election commitment – one that I am very proud to have been part of – and it will be really important. The new clinic will provide free care and support for women experiencing endometriosis and other health-related conditions that are very specific to women. It is fantastic to see this brand new clinic that will complement Western Health at Sunshine and the brand new Sunshine Private Hospital across the road, which works in partnership. This budget means that more Victorians will be able to receive the specific healthcare that women and children do need.

When it comes to education, I am very happy to also see that the budget will invest $7.4 million for upgrades at University Park Primary School. Again, this was an election commitment. I am very happy to see that this will mean an upgrade, a modernisation, a brand new school entrance and administration building and various other amenities that are being changed at this school. I have had the delight to be part of University Park Primary School and see the great work the principal and the school community do for the children. Another one that is very dear to my heart is the $2 million commitment that we made to Sacred Heart primary school. It is fantastic to see that students will be able to access brand new class facilities.

Most importantly, our government is building on their election commitment and upgrading schools right across Victoria, including in my electorate of St Albans. We are building on the great work we have done previously: the rebuild at Victoria University Secondary College, the rebuild at St Albans East Primary School and many other primary schools and secondary colleges that have received investment when it mattered.

When it comes to transport, let me say we are the government that removed one of the most dangerous, congested level crossings in the state, and that was the Main Road level crossing – and also the Furlong Road level crossing – in St Albans. These crossings had seen many, many fatalities and many unnecessary losses of life, and I am very proud to be part of a government that, as one of their first actions in government, removed those dangerous level crossings. Thankfully since then we have been able to connect the communities and connect the shopping precincts at Main Road. It is level crossing free, and the local traders are able to travel from north, east, west and south in a safe manner. It has been good and positive for emergency services and of course the locals, and it is thanks to this government. Again, it was an election commitment. Many said it could not be done, but let me say, it certainly has been done.

Of course we have seen one of the most significant investments by our government in this budget when it comes to our veterans and their families. We have seen over $35 million delivered for the Victorian Veterans Card. At the last election this was a commitment that we said we would deliver, and as a national first, this is a card that really does serve for current and also former ADF personnel. No matter if you have served one day or 10 years, you are able to apply for this benefit. This benefit means that cardholders will receive $100 off light vehicle registration, free trailer and caravan registration, free boat licences, fishing licence exceptions, free public transport on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, and access to – I am very proud that our state has led this – veteran employment programs.

I want to thank Major General McLachlan, who has been a leader in this space of providing those important employment programs for veterans to transition into civilian life. We know that that can be challenging. We know that they face enormous challenges, once they do complete their service, to actually be able to upskill and to find secure jobs. We have been leading this nationally, and I am very proud to be part of this. Of course we know that our veterans give so much to our nation and to our state, and this is very much a small way of saying thank you to our current serving personnel and those who are not serving. They are able to sign up and save via the Service Victoria app or the website, and it only takes 5 to 10 minutes. But most importantly, again, we are the first in our nation to introduce this scheme for our veterans.

Another thing that I am very proud to see in this budget is the bringing back of the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize this year – an opportunity for students from years 9 to 12 to be able to participate in the competition. It is an exciting opportunity. Applications are open at the moment, so I encourage all members in their electorates to actually encourage students to participate, from year 9 to year 12. It is an opportunity for students to experience our wartime and peacekeeping history. They will have the opportunity, successful applicants, to be able to travel to Türkiye and Gallipoli and retrace the steps of our Anzacs in places like Lone Pine in Gallipoli and other places as well in Türkiye. So I encourage all students to apply for this great program, and as I said, this is a great opportunity for all our members to promote and encourage students across Victoria to participate in the competition.

This budget includes funding for the multicultural small business initiative. As we have been champions in this space, our government knows how vital our multicultural communities are, and that is why we have committed to upgrade and revitalise our multicultural business precincts across Victoria. That means we will see 500 $10,000 scholarships for our businesses across Victoria, who will be able to operate and revitalise multicultural business precincts from Chinatown in the CBD to Eaton Mall in Oakleigh and many other places across Melbourne. Of course funding of our multicultural traders group is also integral, because I know that they do valuable work in their local business precincts supporting local traders and businesses to be able to deliver programs, promote the local economy and deliver those important initiatives for our vibrant small businesses across Victoria. We know that our multicultural small businesses are absolutely important for our state’s cultural and economic fabric, and with this initiative we know that we are backing them and making sure they grow and flourish in this space.

What we have seen in the youth portfolio is over $23.4 million to continue vital early intervention initiatives for our young people across Victoria. Six community support groups, such as the Le Mana Pasifika project and the Regional Presence Project, which I know is important for regional Victoria, will engage and support young people from vulnerable communities across Victoria so that they can continue to participate and be supported within their local communities.

We are also providing funding to continue to support and upgrade an additional six Scout halls. I know there are members that have been really excited to hear that we are continuing to upgrade our Scout halls across Victoria. We are building on our commitment from last term to build and upgrade 23 Scout halls. This investment will see young people in years to come accessing programs. I had the opportunity to travel to Ballan recently and I saw firsthand the importance of Scout halls, and not just for young kids. These halls become places where local communities can access these fantastic, brand new facilities. Whether it is your local SES or other community groups, they are able to use the facilities, and it is wonderful to see them in action. We know that investing in and supporting young people is so critical in the early years, and that is why we are making sure that we continue to support their mental and physical wellbeing, build their social networks and strengthen their engagement and confidence within their community.

This budget does deliver. It is an important budget because it is a responsible budget. It is doing what matters to all Victorians, whether that is more quality healthcare facilities for our local communities, better transport infrastructure and connections, or upgrades to our local schools. Our government will continue to make the tough decisions, responsible decisions, and make sure the investment is right for our local communities across the state. That is why this budget is one that we need. It continues to build for the future, for a state that is stronger, fairer and more compassionate. Also it is a budget that continues to really address the issues that matter most to our local communities.

This is a budget that, as I said, not only delivers for my electorate of St Albans but delivers throughout the state, including the regions. Most importantly, it makes sure that we are well equipped with the appropriate infrastructure spending, programs and supports. Whether it is for our local businesses, whether it is for our traders or whether it is for our youth programs or for our veterans and their families, we are continuing to invest and make sure that they have the necessary funding. As I said, this continues the great investment that we have made in the last 10 years. I commend this to the house.

Kim WELLS (Rowville) (15:29): I have to confess that I wrote this budget speech back in May, thinking that I would –

Richard Riordan interjected.

Kim WELLS: Well, I thought over May, June, July, August, what could possibly happen? There cannot be too many changes once the budget is brought down. I was on leave when a mate of mine Tony Holland, who used to be the mayor of Knox, texted me and said that the Commonwealth Games had been cancelled. I texted back and said, ‘What happened? How could you possibly cancel the Commonwealth Games?’ It just did not make any sense. Then I started to read some of the newspapers to find out that Victoria, under Premier Andrews, had made the decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games. When you look at Victoria, one of the things you think about Victoria is Melbourne and that we are without doubt – or we were – the sporting capital of the world. No-one comes anywhere near us when it comes to sport. I mean, we have got the grand prix for cars, we have got the grand prix for bikes, we have got the Australian tennis open, we have got the Melbourne Cup, we have got the AFL Grand Final –

A member: Ashes.

Kim WELLS: The Ashes on Boxing Day. Everything happens in Melbourne. Then for some reason, through sheer incompetence – financial incompetence – we find that the Commonwealth Games have been cancelled. Now how do we claim that we are the sporting capital of the world? We cannot. There is no way known.

We listened with interest to the Deputy Premier who said, ‘Oh, we’re not going to spend $6 billion for 12 days of a Commonwealth Games’, but all of those decisions would have been taken into consideration at the time of the announcement. You do not just all of a sudden discover that it is $6 billion or $7 billion for a 12-day sporting event. Something went very badly wrong. It cannot be anything else but financial mismanagement and incompetence, and what I want to know is: what role did the Department of Treasury and Finance have in this decision-making? To do the Commonwealth Games, they would have sat down and Treasury and Finance would have given numbers to the minister and they would have given numbers to cabinet. Based on those decisions, how can it go from $2 billion to $6 billion at the drop of a hat? To make it worse, why doesn’t the government come out and justify all of it by saying here are the numbers, this is why it all blew out. It is financial incompetence, but we want to know why and how it came to be, because none of this makes any sense. The fact is that they are refusing to release any documentation. They know what the numbers are, because they keep on saying $6 billion or $7 billion. They know what the numbers are. If it has gone from $2.1 billion to $6 billion or $7 billion, just release the documentation so we can all see it. We have the right as taxpayers to understand what went wrong, and we want to know what advice Treasury and Finance gave the Treasurer, the Premier and the relevant minister.

That is the first thing. Then on top of that there is the shambolic mess that we are going to have, and that is: we are up for litigation and compensation. Can you believe it? It is not just all the embarrassment that we have lost the title of the sporting capital of the world; we are going to have to pay money not to go and see the Commonwealth Games. The disappointment for all those regional centres – because that is what the Premier said: it was all about the regions. All of those centres were going to have upgrades to their sporting facilities – new facilities. All the people from the city were going to go to those country areas and book out accommodation and book out the restaurants. See what is going to happen now: they will not be doing it. There is nothing to go and see.

Members interjecting.

Kim WELLS: The mushrooms on the back bench – you have got to get those song sheets out. Every single one of you, get that song sheet out to make sure that you are singing from the same hymn. But the Commonwealth Games have been cancelled. It is embarrassing.

A member interjected.

Kim WELLS: Now we have got the legacy. We had the Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy. How embarrassing is it that you are going to upgrade some facility? Why not release the costing for the legacy? Why not do it? You have got something to hide. It is embarrassing that we have lost the title of the sporting capital of the world. We have lost that title.

Members interjecting.

Kim WELLS: Member for Melton, you could not possibly believe that we are still the sporting capital of the world. While we have got the attention of the backbench, what international sporting organisation would ever commit an international sporting event to Melbourne? Who would do it? Who would make a commitment to Melbourne now? World soccer – are they going to make a commitment to Melbourne? I doubt it.

While Labor is in government you could never trust them. You could never trust the Victorian Labor government – never, ever trust them – to be able to fulfil something, based on what has happened with the Commonwealth Games. Do you seriously think that another sporting organisation worldwide is going to trust Melbourne? Do you reckon they are going to do that? Do you reckon they are going to rely on you, when you cancelled the games, and then have to go down the path of more litigation and more –

Paul Edbrooke: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I know I cannot wait to go to the international MotoGP event next month. I would invite the member to come with me if he would like, but keep this factual.

Richard Riordan: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, the member for Frankston might not want to book his accommodation, because it might get cancelled. I just caution him not to get too excited about planning for future events in Melbourne.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Meng Heang Tak): There is no point of order.

Kim WELLS: Let us move on to what has happened also since my speech. The issue is also what happened to the Knox kindergartens. Knox kindergartens – how embarrassing. The government and the Premier came out and said ‘free kinder’, so all the parents, all the families in Knox, thought, ‘Wow, this is fantastic’.

Richard Riordan: It’s a kinder surprise.

Kim WELLS: It is – very good. That is where they get the name ‘Kinder Surprise’. The government and the Premier said, ‘It’s free, except what we’re going to do is pass the cost from the state government on to Knox council ratepayers.’ And this is how it happened: the government said to Knox council, ‘We’ll pay you $2500 per child per year.’ Knox council said, ‘But that’s not even going to cover our costs.’ They went back to the government and said, ‘You’ve got this wrong. The figures don’t make any sense.’ As usual the government gets it wrong through financial incompetence: $2500 per child per year. And what happens now? As the Age reported a couple of days ago, 1000 kids in Knox are in limbo as the council pulls the plug on kinder services. Now, I know people are going to be very keen to blame the Knox council. They were going to be around –

Members interjecting.

Kim WELLS: Oh! Make sure we are on the record. The backbench of the Labor Party are blaming Knox council for this. Is that right? 100 per cent. Right, let us make it very clear that the Labor backbench – and I wish the member for Bayswater was here to listen to this so he could handle some of the complaints that he is getting. Where was the money going to come from? It was going to cost Knox council around about a couple of million dollars a year in shortfall. Where was that going to come from? Not the state government, no, no, no; they were going to get it from the ratepayers. It was a handball from the state government to the ratepayers.

Now I just quickly want to turn to the SEC. I still do not understand what you guys are on about when it comes to the SEC. I mean, you started to privatise the SEC back in 1992, and you led –

Members interjecting.

Kim WELLS: No, it was actually 11 June 1992 that the government put out a press release. Let us see what it says:

The Victorian Government’s decision to involve private investment in this new project is essential to our energy future.

Can you believe who said that? It was from the office of the Premier of Victoria Joan Kirner, so it was her that said it. Even in Hansard Mr Sheehan, the Treasurer, said:

It will be the first time that part of a major State power station will be part-owned and managed by a private investor.

The introduction of competition into the Victorian power generation industry, particularly the introduction of principal union coverage, will result in improved plant performance and industrial relations in the power generation industry in Victoria.

That is when they sold it off. What a classic. I still do not understand. You are going to put $1 billion into this SEC. I want to understand – maybe one of the smarter people on the backbench can explain it to me – where you are going to get the rest of the money. Where are you going to get the rest of the money? You have got $1 billion from the government. Where is the rest of it going to come from? It better not be coming out of my superannuation. My superannuation better not be investing in anything this low. Let us talk about –

Members interjecting.

Kim WELLS: You need to calm down.

Anthony Carbines interjected.

Kim WELLS: Anthony, you need to calm down. You have gone red in the face. You need to calm down.

Let me talk about the electorate of Rowville and how it has been neglected. We had commitments from Alan Tudge from the federal government about what they were going to fund in the roads of Rowville. We had commitments for Napoleon Road, Wellington Road, Dorset Road, Lysterfield Road, and what happened? The very first Albanese government budget – what do you reckon they did? They cut the whole lot. All the funding for Rowville roads has been cut. You cut the $475 million for Rowville rail, you cut the $50 million duplication of Napoleon Road – cut it – you cut $100 million for the Wellington Road upgrade, and then there is the $4 billion for the east–west link. It has all been cut by the Albanese government. When the Premier was asked about cutting funding for roads in the electorate of Rowville, what did the Premier say? ‘Oh, the Albanese government had higher priorities’ – higher priorities when most of it was funded by the federal government anyway. It was going to be funded. If it was announced in 2019, why did it sit in the VicRoads accounts doing absolutely nothing? Why didn’t the Andrews government get on and use the federal money to duplicate those roads in my electorate?

When you look at the schools, you look at Rowville Secondary College, you look at Scoresby Secondary College and you look at Scoresby Primary School – these schools desperately need funding. Isn’t it interesting that 90 per cent of all school funding goes into Labor seats, or something around that area? No longer is it based on merit. This budget has let down the good people of Rowville.

Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Racing) (15:44): It is great to follow the father of the house on the budget take-note motion. This is my 13th budget reply or take-note motion on the budget, and I did sit through – how many, member for Rowville? One or two from your good self in your delivery of the budgets.

I do recall, though, that in amongst those there was a budget speech from the member for Rowville of about half an hour with no mention of the word ‘jobs’. It did not mention the word ‘jobs’ in there. We did a search, and it did not mention jobs. So I thought I should start, in acknowledgement of the member for Werribee, the Treasurer, with the 440,000 jobs that were secured for Victorians from that time at the height of the pandemic. That is 109,000 more jobs than New South Wales managed to create. Something like 3.6 million Victorians have found themselves in work, just short of a high watermark for the state. Victoria’s unemployment rate, as reported by the Treasurer, is 3.9 per cent – nearly three percentage points lower than the rate left behind by the Baillieu–Napthine government when they last sat over this side of this house. When it comes to jobs, our ambitious target on jobs of course was to produce something like 400 000 jobs – that is four MCGs worth of jobs – by 2025. It is a target achieved two years ahead of schedule, such was the commitment from our government to make sure that not only were Victorians’ jobs protected through the pandemic but that they were able to grow their opportunities for work.

I wanted to roll across a couple of ministerial responsibilities, particularly to pick up on the racing industry as a sport. We touched on significant sporting events with the previous speaker in relation to what the great state of Victoria offers when it comes to jobs. $4.7 billion of economic activity is generated by the racing industry across our state. The member for Melton knows that – he is a big supporter out there in Melton of all that racing has to offer – and so does the member for Tarneit. I saw the member for Greenvale wander in too. He is in the house and is also a strong advocate for the racing industry. There are 34,900 full-time-equivalent jobs in the racing industry across our state, and 650 community and not-for-profit organisations use racing club facilities. There are 86,000 racing club members across the state and 92,000 participants who are engaged as stablehands, jockeys, trainers and owners and so many more in administration. These are really significant. There are 1200 charitable organisations supported by the racing industry.

Of course we saw some pretty significant changes that we made in the lead-up to the budget, particularly around our funding arrangements for racing. The point-of-consumption tax is moving from 10 per cent to 15 per cent by August 2024 to secure splitting that 7.5 per cent each to the government and to the racing industry and to secure funding for the racing industry into the future – a really significant decision. You could hear the sigh of relief when I was at the Warrnambool carnival earlier this year, because it was about securing jobs and their futures right across the state.

When you go to particularly our regional brothers and sisters here on this side of the house, they understand that so many people are involved in the racing industry. The member for Cranbourne knows it well. Everywhere she doorknocks there is someone connected to the racing industry in the mighty facilities out there in Cranbourne that she is a strong advocate for. So saddle up for spring, which is a couple of weeks away, and particularly the racing industry and our government, which has had broadly bipartisan support from the member for Gippsland East to make sure we secure the future funding for the racing industry and the jobs that it supports, advances and protects – let alone what the spin-offs are for our tourism industry and the like.

I wanted to cut across to crime prevention. Since 2015 there has been $100 million for 940 crime prevention programs across our state, because our focus has been to move away from justice-focused responses to those who need it most, particularly our young people, to make sure that our focus is on health-led responses, education responses and other opportunities to get young people engaged in community, engaged in work and engaged in the services they need rather than engaged with police and the justice system. We have also seen in this budget some $13.5 million for our youth crime prevention project. I was at Meli for the Reignite Project in Geelong, which again is helping young people and families at risk of being caught up in the justice system to put them on a better path. We have done the same in Shepparton; we have done the same in Ballarat. There are some really great programs, and they will continue through funding outlined in our budget.

Can I say also that Victoria Police do hard jobs, really hard jobs. We touched on that yesterday in relation to the acknowledgement that it has been 25 years since Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller lost their lives – murdered – while going to work to protect Victorians. We touched on a Labor government commitment of $4 million to BlueHub, which is a police-specific health service to provide police with the care and support they need to get back to work. The member for Melton, the member for Frankston and the many others here who volunteer in the community for the SES and others understand and know the tough and hard work that our first responders do. To have the tailored BlueHub support program for mental health and other supports that are needed, and to have health practitioners that understand what police and their families need, there is $4 million in the budget delivered as an election commitment by our government to build on the work already done by the Police Association Victoria. It is a mighty program, and we are really pleased to see that continue to be funded.

Well over $4 billion, since we came into government, has been invested in Victoria Police. There are 3600 additional funded police. Over 3000 of those additional funded police are on the job now. We are continuing to recruit additional police, and I can also point out that our crime stats, reported in the last month, are still lower than they were before the pandemic – a lower offence rate than before the pandemic. That is how significant the work has been of Victoria Police to keep people safe. There was a $100 million cut to the police budget when they were last in office, and also they funded no additional police in the four budgets they had when they were last in office. They got a few through the academy that our last budget had funded under Premier Brumby, but they funded no additional police, which of course led to so much work we had to do under my predecessor, Minister Neville, the former member for Bellarine, to build up the recruitment of Victoria Police. So we funded 3600 additional police positions, and over 3100 of those police are currently on the beat serving Victorians.

Tasers – we call them conducted energy devices. We have funded some $215 million to give police the tools that they need. We have given them something like an additional $4.5 billion in recurrent funding that has built up over the time since we came to office, and we have seen something like another commitment of 502 additional police at the last election, another 50 PSOs at our train stations and the like that have also been funded. That is a $342 million commitment to recruiting those additional police and PSOs.

Of course all politics is local, and it is the little things that count. For the Ivanhoe Bowling Club there is a $350,000 contribution in the budget to upgrade their change rooms. It has been a great venue. We celebrated some great wins there across 2010, 14, 18 and 22, and I reckon we will be back there in 26 and we might even be opening that $350,000 commitment to grow the mighty Ivanhoe Bowling Club clubrooms – a club that has been in operation for over a century.

For the Banyule Support and Information Centre it might only be something like $5000, but they are providing food relief to people in West Heidelberg, down there on Oriel Road near The Mall. Every day volunteers are supporting the community around food relief, and every little bit that we can provide in support to the Banyule Support and Information Centre is significant. There is a $14 million commitment to Heidelberg Primary School, one of the last primary schools in my electorate to receive very significant funding for capital upgrades, and that planning work will get underway. There are some 650 students there. We made a commitment to the Macleod level crossing, and the Rosanna level crossing – gone. There is a new station at Rosanna. We duplicated the track between Heidelberg and Rosanna. We duplicated the tunnel. We duplicated the bridge at Heidelberg. That allowed us to run more trains. We have also of course done half a billion dollars of upgrades to services on the Hurstbridge side between Greensborough and Eltham, which my colleagues in Bundoora and Eltham know very well has altogether made a huge difference along the Hurstbridge line, bringing it into the 21st century. Now we are going to remove the three level crossings in my electorate. We have removed Rosanna. We have committed to removing the Macleod level crossing. That work will get underway through this term. That will be very significant and again just shows the demonstration of over 70 level crossing removals done across the state. Most of my colleagues will be able to tick one or two or more of those off already. I will be able to add Macleod to the list as we roll through this term in office.

Can I say also at Austin Hospital we have expanded the emergency department. It was a Labor government that built two hospitals on one site under former Premier Steve Bracks. There was the new Austin Hospital, Mercy Hospital for Women and now an expanded emergency department at the Austin committed to in this budget and at the last election. The planning works have been funded in this budget, a really significant development at the Austin Hospital, a hospital those opposite sought to privatise and to close under Jeff Kennett. No-one has forgotten that. I can also recall the building works for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre were funded by our government, another very significant project that is underway in my electorate.

I did also want to touch on some of the other significant projects that we have seen come to fruition across the Ivanhoe electorate. I was at, as I said the other day, Legally Blonde,the production at Viewbank College, my old school. But you have got to build those $11.5 million performing arts centres at the schools and new science and technology classrooms, which we have been able to deliver, so you can actually have the students in those facilities and have the families there to celebrate the mighty, talented performances of the Viewbank College students.

We have opened our $5 million science technology wing at MacLeod College, and there are more stages of work to be done there. We have rebuilt Olympic Village Primary School in West Heidelberg for $6 million, for those students there that need it most. We also built the tree house for the foundation students, and that is $4 million, and we built the beehive, both at Ivanhoe Primary School, a mighty school in my electorate that has seen significant investments. There was $6.85 million, I believe it was, for the Banksia Street special development school in last year’s budget, which is now starting to see those planning works conclude so that we can get underway with the construction and expansion of a very important special development school in my community. We have seen significant developments too at Rosanna Golf Links Primary School, where my daughter is now in grade 5. We have seen a significant expansion of the works there to include a very important deaf facility regional school in my community.

Richard Riordan interjected.

Anthony CARBINES: The works, I can say, were well underway – well, the works were not underway, but there was a very minor contribution before she was born, member for Polwarth, so I do not see that as a conflict. We came into government and funded it effectively so we could build it properly, and the works there have been really significant for the local community.

There is more to do at Rosanna Primary School, but I can say we have had over half a million dollars invested in the past couple of budgets just to do some further maintenance work that is really critical and important there. Viewbank Primary School – we have already opened the first stage of the redevelopment works. We provided in last year’s budget over $14 million to conclude the works there for administration and to build across the road and link the school together with some additional land that it has. They are very significant programs that are underway at the school there.

There is a $1.5 million contribution for the MacLeod oval, the MacLeod footy ground, and that is going to be great, with a link with Banyule council. It will be a $3 million development. We have got the under-12s playing in the finals – the under-12 girls – this weekend at the junior ground there, and to have a $3 million redevelopment of the clubrooms is really significant. That work will start after we conclude the finals, and I wish the Macleod Junior Eagles, the junior footy club, all the best on the weekend as they embark on their finals campaign.

We have delivered also, up there with the member for Bundoora, the North East Link – 15,000 trucks off local roads, one of the most significant road development projects in the history of our state, a project that has gone to elections to determine the route, elections to determine the design and elections to determine the funding, and each time our vote has grown, our support for that project has grown. It is employing thousands of people. It will make a huge difference to the communities in the northern suburbs and how we get around our city. We are sick of being the traffic sewer for those trying to get from the city and the south-east to the Hume and the Metropolitan Ring Road, and that is going to end as we see now the development of the North East Link. I want to also just note that Ford Park is being redeveloped in my electorate down there in Bellfield and in Heidelberg Heights, again to offset some of the movement that we have had to have across the electorate as the North East Link construction site has come to pass.

There are so many projects that we have worked on together across the Ivanhoe electorate since we came to office. We have consolidated on those gains and the commitments that we made so many years ago. We will continue to deliver on those projects. We have funded our election commitments in this first budget, and now we are going to get on and deliver the projects, because Labor governments, and the Andrews government, get things done.

Matthew GUY (Bulleen) (15:59): It is always a pleasure to follow my colleague – I was about to say friend, but I might cruel his chances of having any future success – the member for Ivanhoe and to hear him speak passionately about the electorate of Ivanhoe, which I have known very, very well for many years. I do, though, remember the member for Ivanhoe campaigning very heavily on the reopening of the West Heidelberg police station. Now that the member for Ivanhoe has been elevated in this government to be the Minister for Police, given there has been a 54 per cent crime spike in the suburb of West Heidelberg, I would just hope that he, after gloating about many achievements in his electorate – some near my old grandfather’s place, up near Rosanna Golf Links Primary, for instance – might be able to deliver on reopening the West Heidelberg police station. But I think it was demolished, wasn’t it? It was demolished under the Andrews government in 2017. It was demolished, which is a real shame because it should have been reopened to service the good people of West Heidelberg and Bellfield, who really do need that facility.

That aside, it is always important to take note of any budget, whether it is from your government or from my position as a member of the opposition. One of the points I am very concerned about in relation to this budget, although it was touched on again by the member for Ivanhoe as well, is around my electorate and is the North East Link. I think all of us from the north-east who, like me, grew up in the north-eastern suburbs or, like the member for Ivanhoe, know them exceptionally well, know that certainly from Watsonia through to the Eastern Freeway there have been significant traffic issues, particularly Rosanna Road. There have been many instances and ideas to solve traffic flow down Rosanna Road which to some extent have worked – and some have not.

But the issue, particularly in relation to this budget, that concerns me the most is the lack of respect with which the government has treated so many people and residents of my electorate who have very serious issues and concerns in relation to the construction of the North East Link. Particularly I note the planning scheme amendment – I think it is GC234 or 244, from memory; I cannot remember the exact number, but it is a GC amendment – which is in relation to the tunnel depth, which I understand the government has changed and given residents limited consultation on. Let us be honest, their consultation is not going to change the government’s plans on this. The tunnel depth from the surface will be shallower, so the figure will be lower, and what that means for a number of residents in my electorate – the topography where it will go under is quite hilly, and those houses are stumped, they are obviously not on slabs – is very significant. What it means is that those residents could have significant structural damage to their homes.

They have been told by this government that they must sign a non-disclosure agreement – shamefully – before any discussion around compensation is entered into, and even then they have been told by the authority that there is no guarantee of any compensation for any damage to their home. Now, I would have thought that for any government in this state it would be just completely shameful to treat anyone in Victoria with absolute disrespect in this way. To rule out any compensation and then to come back and say ‘To have a discussion with us you require a non-disclosure agreement’ – which nonetheless has been asked of councils to date – is really quite horrendous, and to do this to elderly people. Many of the elderly people in the area of the electorate of Bulleen, particularly in the suburb of Bulleen, are older European people who have worked very, very hard in their lives and built a dream home in the 1970s and 80s. Now to be told that those homes are going to have a tunnel at a shallower depth underneath them, which may see cracks or instances of structural damage to their home, and that there will be no discussion around compensation until they sign non-disclosure agreements is quite disgusting.

There are not any school upgrades in my electorate. I heard the previous speaker boast about his, and, you know, phooey for him. But for areas like that of Birralee Primary School’s, which has seen its student population double in just a few years, according to all the Department of Education and Training statistics, after reaching a certain level – I think it is 540 students; correct me if I am wrong – those schools are automatically entitled to a school hall. Way past that is Birralee Primary School, and that school council has raised that respectfully with government representatives, saying, ‘Well, we now qualify. We now need this. We are at a level where our school population is significant. We’re in central Doncaster.’ No doubt, through the government stripping of councils’ planning powers in central activities areas and major activities areas we will see a greater influx of students over the years to come. That means that those services need to be upgraded before those people – and those towers – arrive with kids who will live in them, and Doncaster Primary School and Birralee Primary School have borne the brunt of that to date.

I am a very big supporter of putting population in areas such as activities areas, because that is where it should go. That is a sensible thing, but you also then need to upgrade the infrastructure around it, and particularly if you are identifying major changes in planning responsible authority status before that is going to occur. It makes sense then to go back to those schools that will absorb the growth over the next five or so years and to actually provide them with the resources they are entitled to, and Birralee is entitled to at least just a school hall. We are not talking about a $20 billion road project. We are not talking about, you know, billions of dollars for the Commonwealth Games or whatever it may be. We are talking about a school hall in an area where the government is identifying growth into the future. Birralee Primary School has missed out.

We have been for years campaigning to make the Smiths Road–Reynolds Road intersection safer, again trying to get government attention simply to signalise this intersection, where a young girl was killed some years ago, where there have been repeated accidents. It is dangerous for kids being dropped off at Templestowe Park Primary School, where the government, this government, has just provided – albeit a very small amount – some money to assist Manningham council in rebuilding Pettys Reserve, which is a major soccer facility in Manningham, one of the biggest areas for soccer in the city. So you double the traffic flow on the weekends or more, and it needs to be signalised and it has not been. This is because again the visual of providing the sporting facility upgrade is not matched by the reality of providing the very small amount of funding, barely $1.3 million, for the signalisation of that intersection, which needs to occur to accommodate the infrastructure. One should have begot the other, but that has not been the case. There has been very little compensation or discussion with residents in my electorate about the North East Link, which is deeply concerning. There are a number of intersections which I could talk about, such as Reynolds Road–Smiths Road, which I have talked about and which is deeply concerning, and places like Birralee Primary which again – like every other primary school in the electorate – miss out.

So then I ask quite seriously, well, where does that money go? The money does go somewhere. And the member for Rowville did outline to the chamber quite seriously that this is the consequence when a government starts to run out of money – and in this case has run out of money. We can all see it; it has run out of money. You can only put things on the credit card for so long. When you get to $200 billion worth of debt and the lot is blamed on COVID, then you scratch your head and say well, hang on, New South Wales went through COVID – they do not have $200 billion of debt. South Australia went through COVID, Western Australia went through COVID – we all went through COVID. We all had very similar restrictions. When it came to lockdowns and the support for workers at that stage, the bill was being sent to the federal government. The much-maligned Morrison government was picking up that bill of this state. So where has it all gone?

Then of course it comes back to infrastructure projects. No-one, again, opposes putting in place new infrastructure, but it needs to be done when you can actually pay for it. And if you are going to do it, you need to actually be able to manage that project. Managing a project is not having more than 50 projects blow out in terms of the budget. The Premier says ‘It costs what it costs’ – well, no responsible government says that. That certainly was not Steve Bracks’s attitude nor John Brumby’s attitude. I was in this Parliament with both those two Labor premiers, and they would never have come in here and said ‘It costs what it costs’ in an egregious and arrogant way just to dismiss those who say, ‘Well, actually, we do need to have some level of accountability’, because if we do not, we end up paying, as the member for Rowville said, $15 million to $22 million a day in interest just to service the debt we have now got. $15 million to $22 million a day could fix the problem I have in Birralee Primary about 40 times – in one day.

So the North East Link, as the member for Ivanhoe rightly said, is going to eliminate a huge amount of traffic flow from the north-eastern suburbs, and the concept of the North East Link does have bipartisan support. To have that project go from $5 billion or $6 billion to around $18 billion – it is phenomenal. The mismanagement – I have never seen anything like it in Australian history. You can have a project costed at one level and come in at the other end at more than 300 per cent of the amount. I find it stunning. And it is just thrown away with the line ‘Well, that’s just going to cost what it costs’. But what it means is that the state starts to miss out – and miss out on projects that are needed.

If we are going to talk about planning reform – as the government does in this budget, looking to decentralise population to places like Geelong – the Geelong fast rail was a concept that was well supported, and it means now we cannot build Geelong fast rail. It means now we have not got the money – the government does not have the money – to electrify and quadruple the rail network out to places like Melton, where it has been needed for a long period of time, where we have got some of the fastest growing suburbs in Australia still. But we are running V/Line trains, which are utterly unsuited to the Melton line, as the member for Melton, sitting in the chamber, would know. They are not suited for metropolitan transport – nor are they to Wyndham Vale, nor are they servicing Tarneit.

VLocity vehicles are there for regional rail services. They are a good vehicle. They suit that purpose very well, but they are not there to service metropolitan transport. That is why we have a metropolitan rail network. When we do not manage money on projects like the North East Link that means the longstanding promise from two or maybe three elections from the Labor Party to electrify and quadruple the railway out to Melton, which is an important project, cannot be done – Wyndham Vale cannot be done, the airport rail link cannot be done. That means you make all kinds of excuses not to do the Commonwealth Games. Going in – we all saw it from this chamber – it was the issue to gloat about for the Deputy Premier and the Premier coming into the last election, the issue to gloat about in the chamber: ‘We’ve secured the Commonwealth Games’. It was for 2032; it was them who decided to bring it forward for the election as a stunt, and then it all blew up in their face. They walked away because they have got no money, and country Victoria now picks up the tab. The member for Narracan will no doubt talk about this.

Wayne Farnham: I will.

Matthew GUY: The concept was a very important one around confidence post COVID for country and regional Victoria. They were given all of those assurances, particularly places like Geelong, and they now cannot realise a fabulous opportunity to showcase themselves to the world. They will miss out. Again, as I said, there are consequences for bad management, whether it is Melton rail, Wyndham rail, the Commonwealth Games, Geelong fast rail, the airport rail or smaller projects like duplication of the Bunyip River Bridge on the Gippsland line, which creates a bottleneck in the rail network between Longwarry and Bunyip, and even smaller projects.

Before the 2018 election the government committed out in the western suburbs, to Victoria’s growing, proud and strong Indian community – I note it was Indian Independence Day this week – to build a cultural centre and a statue of Gandhi in a park, all this in the western suburbs. Commitments were given to the Indian community, the Premier headed down in front of the Consul General to say that this was what was going to be delivered upon – the Consul General was there – boasting about what would be delivered to the Indian community in Victoria. Not a single commitment that was given in August 2018 in front of the Consul General by the Premier – maybe soon the then Premier – has been realised.

You talk about respect. I talked about respect and government respect for my residents on the North East Link at the start of this contribution, and I conclude with respect for Victoria’s Indian community and the Consul General when all those commitments were given and not a single one of them has been realised. They did not cost $20 billion, and they are not asking for $5 billion. The Indian community in Victoria simply want the commitments that were made to them to be honoured, and they are not being and they are clearly not going to be. If they are ever honoured, they will probably be honoured by this side of politics, because when we make those comments – as a former Minister for Multicultural Affairs I know that when you make those commitments to communities, you had better follow through with them.

I do have, as I have said, serious issues with the budget as it is and the lack of direction by the government given to areas which are not held by the Labor Party. This kind of adversarial approach is the historical judgement that will be made about this period of Labor government. It is very different to the Bracks and Brumby period and very different to the Cain period. Unfortunately for Victoria we will historically look back and say that of those three Labor governments, this was the worst.

Paul HAMER (Box Hill) (16:14): I rise to also speak on the state budget 2023–24. I notice a little bit of a geographic theme going on here with the member for Ivanhoe, the member for Bulleen and now me. We are sort of slowly moving around the North East Link geography and, Deputy Speaker, you might be next on if we take that geographic approach.

But the member for Bulleen was talking about Birralee Primary School, and a large portion of that school zone does fall within the electorate of Box Hill. Many residents of Mont Albert North attend that school, and both I and a member in the other place Ms Terpstra have long been advocates for this school. Despite some of the media releases at the time that said that Labor had done nothing for this school, in fact in the 2021–22 budget, I would like to remind members, the school did receive $4.16 million for a new permanent building to deal exactly with the issues that the member for Bulleen has raised. There was a growing school community, and that community needed to be catered for. That really has been a summary of the entire length of the Andrews government: doing the things that matter and looking after local communities, particularly in schools and local sporting communities.

I do want to focus a lot of my contribution on those two particular elements and how they relate to my electorate of Box Hill. I might just start by reflecting on how it is actually a really opportune time to be speaking about this this week, because there are a number of projects that we have committed to which really emphasise and highlight our government’s commitment to female participation in sport. I would like to acknowledge at the outset just what a tremendous performance the Matildas had last night and for the last few weeks. They have been an absolute inspiration for our nation and also for a generation of young women coming through and seeing the potential that they might have. I noticed the viewing numbers for last night’s telecast have been released, and there were more than 11 million viewers across the country. It was Australia’s most watched sporting event ever, which is really an absolutely amazing achievement – to think that that was a standalone female event that captured the hearts and eyeballs of a nation. I think this also reflects on what this government has been saying for many, many years, and not just saying but doing – doing in terms of investment in community sport, investment in female sport and investment in the Matildas, Victoria being the home of the Matildas.

Locally the budget did deliver on our local election commitments, and in the community sport context that included $1.5 million towards an upgrade of Springfield Park. Springfield Park is a local park in Box Hill North, and it is home to the Whitehorse Pioneers football and netball club and the Whitehorse Colts football and netball club. As with many football and netball clubs, particularly in the metro area, there are football facilities but there are no netball facilities. So while there is inclusivity in the club name and the club make a wonderful effort in trying to engage with all members of their club, whichever sport they are participating in, there is nowhere for their netballers to train let alone play. Most of the competition is held at larger regional venues. But unlike the junior footballers, who can come down and kick a ball at the oval at almost any time of the day, the netballers do not have that opportunity. Through a $1.5 million investment in this year’s budget there is a commitment to delivering a master plan and upgrading the facilities at Springfield Park to provide a multipurpose court that will be available for use for training for the young netballers of the Whitehorse Colts. I want to pay particular tribute to Melissa Collard, who was the president of the Colts netball club, for her tireless effort in her commitment to this project. Time and time again on this project there had been barriers put up by council and by others, giving reasons why the project could not be completed, and Melissa would not take no for an answer.

She did come to our office sometime in 2021. We helped her organise a petition, and within two weeks she amassed more than 1300 signatures on her petition to have a netball facility at Springfield Park, which was part of a petition that was delivered to council and really set this ball in motion. It was wonderful to be able to make that commitment prior to the election, and terrific to see that that commitment was being honoured in the budget.

I also want to highlight the investment of $3 million into Mirrabooka Reserve in Blackburn South. Again, this is going to be much-needed investment in accommodating our female sporting participants. This will be combined with $2 million, which was announced prior to the federal election and was delivered in the first Albanese federal budget, to develop a new female-friendly pavilion at Mirrabooka Reserve. That is home to the Blackburn NewHope united soccer club and also the Blackburn South Cricket Club. Currently, would you believe, they operate out of a single change room – not even two change rooms for home and away. Home and away have to share the same change room – one change room for everyone. The girls who play there obviously do not use the change room. They change at home and then come in their kit, and then they will go home again and change out of their kit because it is simply not an appropriate facility. Both of those clubs have been pushing for investment for a number of years, and I was very pleased to be able to be down there at the time with the member for Chisholm, Dr Carina Garland. We have now got $5 million towards that facility to make it female friendly and encourage female participation in soccer and cricket. We can see how well not just our Matildas did but how well our female cricketers did this winter in retaining the Ashes.

Again on our community sport, there is $6 million for the Box Hill City Oval redevelopment. This project had a previous commitment from the federal government and local council. It is home to the mighty Box Hill Hawks. For a professional VFLW and VFL team, the lack of quality facilities that exist there at the moment is astounding. When the club tries to organise double-headers – the VFLW followed by a VFL match – the teams have to wait on the ground while the other team is changing or getting their rub-down because there simply are not facilities to accommodate male and female sport. This is a professional league. This is the second-highest league – the highest league below the AFL and AFLW – and we have facilities like these in our community. It is a massive investment and a much-needed investment, and I am really pleased that all tiers of government have been able to come together and will be able to deliver this really important project.

The other area of investment – and I touched on it briefly before – is about schools. I want to give a big shout-out to all of our schools, this week in particular, who are participating in National Science Week. Given my engineering background, I am really passionate about the promotion of STEM and STEM education throughout primary and secondary education, again really giving opportunities to women to participate in STEM and making sure that it is seen not just as a male domain. My professional background reminds me too much of a male-dominated profession. It is really important that we encourage all of these disciplines to be welcoming of both men and women.

I did, I guess you could say, open Science Week locally at Blackburn High at their fantastic STEM centre, which was committed to a number of budgets ago and was completed late last year. I had the opportunity to test-drive a robot that the school’s robotic class had built from scratch. Luckily, I managed not to knock anything over. I completed the task. I am not sure if it was in time, but I did complete the task. It was just a fantastic group of students. Everything, literally, was built from scratch, including the circuitry.

In terms of the continuation of STEM education and its importance, I was really pleased to make the announcement during the election, and see that it was committed to in the budget, of $13 million towards a new STEM centre at Orchard Grove Primary School, a primary school in Blackburn South with a large number of students. Many of the buildings are still the original buildings from the original establishment of the school back in, I think, the 1960s. It will be huge for the school to have this fantastic learning facility.

Of course we also made another school commitment, and that was $8.9 million for Koonung Secondary College to deliver the next stage of their rebuild plan. The first stage of their rebuild plan was announced in the 2019 budget, and that was completed in, I think, early 2022. The students love it. It is mainly used for years 7 to 9, with a new amphitheatre. I know we have managed to take a number of ministers through there. The Treasurer has been there and the Minister for Education and the Premier have been there. It is just a fantastic space for students to gather, to have presentations and to listen and learn. The learning spaces are fantastic too. The project that was announced in the budget will fund the remainder of that building, extending that building out to the existing gym and performing arts centre. I know that the school community is absolutely rapt with the investment that has been made over a number of years now in the school, after a period of many years where there was not any investment at all. The remaining buildings, again, mostly date from the 1960s.

I will turn to some of the other really important elements of this budget and focus on our CALD communities. In particular, Deputy Speaker, we share in common a large community from China, both from the Chinese diaspora countries and from China itself. They are very pleased to be part of the Chinese community infrastructure program. I think $10 million was dedicated to that fund, which will help deliver a Chinese community centre in the east. I commend the budget to the house.

Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (16:29): I rise to speak on the state budget 2023–24. This budget has axed millions of dollars from roads, agriculture, health and infrastructure, and regional communities continue to miss out on critical funding. Let us start with the roads. Victoria’s regional roads will continue to decay further, with maintenance funding in this budget having been slashed by millions of dollars. Since 2020 this funding has been axed by 45 per cent, yet sadly, 179 lives have been lost on roads in Victoria, up from 144 last year. More than 100 of those lives lost were on regional roads, an increase of 27 per cent from last year. I have never seen the roads in such a dangerous and unkempt condition, and this is a safety crisis. The recent report that no contracts for road resurfacing have gone to tender this year is shocking. The need to address the condition of our roads is urgent. It is also noted that there have been over 5000 new potholes reported statewide, an increase of 272 per cent. I am sure everyone in this chamber has a story to tell when it comes to potholes.

Agricultural funding is down 34 per cent on last year, from $687.3 million to $454.8 million. This directly impacts regional hubs like Shepparton. The Goulburn Valley is the nation’s food bowl, something I am incredibly proud of. Our farmers and growers are still struggling to recover from COVID and last year’s floods and weather events, yet the budget cuts critical agricultural funding. Trade and global development was cut by $60.3 million – almost 60 per cent since 2020 – despite Victorian farmers and businesses continuing to face uncertain times. Regional development has been halved, from $211.5 million to $106.6 million. Since 2020 this funding has been slashed by 80 per cent. This is at a time when my region is trying to recover and rebuild. We were the most locked down regional city during the pandemic.

Flood recovery remains a major issue, with many still not getting the support they need. The budget overview says additional flood recovery support is yet to be agreed by the Commonwealth government, yet the Andrews Labor government failed to declare a state of disaster. While every other state will receive a share of the federal government’s $1.8 billion advance disaster recovery payments for declared natural disaster areas, Victorians miss out due to the Premier’s refusal to declare the October 2022 floods as such.

There is also no funding commitment to critical infrastructure priority projects. Stage 1 of the Shepparton bypass will play a critical role in the progress and the safety of my region. Twenty-five per cent of the state’s trucks are registered in the Shepparton district. Think of that number: 25 per cent of Victoria’s trucks. This is a testament to the many successful and growing industries in my region, and many of you would know many of those brands: SPC, Campbell’s soup, Huggies, White King. You will see these brands on supermarket shelves not only locally, not only across the state but also internationally, and we are very proud of that. We are a major transport route, and we have a continuous convoy of trucks going through the CBD of Shepparton and Mooroopna. This has a significant impact on the local businesses in the CBD, other vehicles and the safety of pedestrians. We need more efficient and safer movement of transport that caters for the significant growth and progress of our region. Stage 1 of the Shepparton bypass also includes a second river crossing between Shepparton and Mooroopna. We had significant safety challenges during the floods when the only river crossing between these two towns was closed.

The Victorian government allocated $10.2 million in the 2017–18 budget for the finalisation of the business case for stage 1 of the Shepparton bypass. The federal government committed $208 million in construction funding in the 2018–19 budget. This is an active project that must be committed to, yet it continues to be ignored. We are experiencing a primitive road network and transport movement. This has gone on for over 30 years.

We have been calling for investment in the Shepparton sports stadium and events centre for many years. Built in the 1970s, the building is deteriorating at a fast rate and the community has outgrown the stadium, with both Basketball Victoria and the local council nominating this project as one of their highest priorities. The current seating capacity is limited, and fans and event holders are being turned away. When the floods hit my electorate last year this venue was unable to be used as an evacuation centre due to the building leaking, and it was the first priority to be used at that emergency time. The redevelopment includes a brand new facility with a 3000-seat show court catering to a diverse range of indoor events, something that we do not have the capacity to hold in Shepparton now. This multipurpose venue would also offer significant economic opportunities for the region by hosting major sporting tournaments and other major events, which are now being missed out on. We offer a lot of diverse opportunities through the clubs at this facility, including badminton and others, with many using the facility for sport. At the moment when we talk about sport and the Matildas – you know, that aspiration of getting young people into sport – we want that to happen in our region, but this facility is not fit for purpose and is limiting that opportunity.

With the completion of stage 1 of GV Health, we are left with an incomplete hospital redevelopment, with no funding committed in the budget for stage 2. Stage 2 works include construction of an integrated cancer centre on the GV Health site. I have consulted with an organisation who are looking to expand services to Shepparton to provide support and accommodation to cancer patients and their carers, but without a commitment from the state government this will be another lost opportunity to provide complete services to cancer patients. The new PET scanners for GV Health to assess cancers have been funded, yet an integral part of that care, the integrated cancer centre to support the cancer patients whilst they go through their cancer journey, is not being committed to. Stage 2 works also include increased acute and subacute inpatient capacity, additional care services for specialist clinics, additional car spaces, a helipad and clinical support and diagnostic services. GV Health service’s primary catchment is forecast to grow by 17.5 per cent from 2022 to 2036. Seventy per cent of GV Health’s primary catchment live in Shepparton, but a significant number of patients come from further away for treatment and are in need of ongoing treatment that they cannot access locally.

Regional Victorians are made to travel to receive medical care and treatment away from home. This puts enormous pressure and stress on both the patients and their families. This government has said that health care is a priority. Make it a priority for all Victorians, including those who need critical health care in my electorate. You cannot leave a hospital unfinished without the facilities needed to provide the very best of health care. We have had stage 1, but stage 2 is not committed to. We have a three-quarter-finished hospital. It is a disgrace.

The five regional Growing Regional Opportunities for Work programs have been discontinued due to lack of funding. GROW Greater Shepparton has driven inclusive employment outcomes at a time when there are unprecedented workforce shortages. This program has worked closely with local high schools to offer students with disabilities the opportunity to combine school with part-time employment and training. The program had made a significant difference, yet funding has now been cut. The local community connector program is another example, supporting over 100 local businesses and 500 professionals and key workers to relocate to Greater Shepparton. The community connector program assisted businesses to retain new talent by supporting the employee and their family to more rapidly connect to the community. It is a simple concept that masks a very sophisticated service. Fortunately, stakeholders indicate there is an appetite to continue the program; however, this would not be sustainable, and there is uncertainty whether this will happen. This is yet another example of Victoria footing the bill for the government when critical services for the prosperity of the region are taken away.

Under Labor, Victoria is broke and life keeps getting harder. The state’s debt is costing Victorians over $10 million per day, and we are yet to know the cost of cancelling the Commonwealth Games, which will add another significant cost to our state. Victoria’s debt is projected to climb to $171.4 billion by 2026–27 and interest payments will more than double, to $22 million a day. Imagine the roads that we could be fixing with the taxpayers money and the housing that we could provide, which are being neglected due to cost blowouts and out-of-control debt.

The Andrews Labor government is raising taxes in a cost-of-living crisis. People are struggling to pay their rent or their bills or to get a roof over their head. The Labor government have forced up the cost of electricity and gas by over 35 per cent. This is impacting on both households in Victoria and particularly businesses and our food manufacturing sector. This is one of the reasons that grocery bills for the average family have now risen by nearly $1700 per year. Since being elected in 2014 the Andrews government is now on the cusp of having introduced or increased 50 taxes. Life has become so much harder for Victorians under this government. The budget is another example of the Andrews government’s financial mismanagement, and regional Victorians continue to miss out under this government.

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (16:38): I also rise to speak on the motion that this house takes note of the 2023–24 budget papers. As you know, Deputy Speaker, we were debating this previously, on 22 June, and it is a pleasure to pick up on the debate now some 55 days later. The budget is a complex document, over 1000 pages in total. We did have a great opportunity to –

Mathew Hilakari interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: Well, that is true, as the member for Point Cook mentions. But look, we have had a chance to debate and discuss a great deal of it in the sitting weeks during May and June. I will not try and recap all of that here. The key driving theme of the budget, if you like, which the Treasurer set out, was that we had a global pandemic, of course, that had very significant health effects and very significant economic effects. The government has access to finance. It can move around its expenditure in time, and the government made the very reasonable, sensible and widely supported choice to spend money first addressing the pandemic directly, but then also supporting economic activity during that period.

It was the right thing to do then. We would do the same thing now, and of course as others in this debate have noted, it was also very similar to the actions of the then federal Liberal government. We do, as part of the budget, have a COVID debt repayment plan, which will raise about $30 billion over a decade by making some adjustments to land tax, payroll tax and expenditure within the public service. There was an interesting debate about that from the member for Prahran when he stood up on this motion for the Greens, and I was hoping to pick up on a bit of the debate with the Greens, but I notice that they are not here.

A member: A forlorn hope at this hour of the day.

Nathan LAMBERT: A forlorn hope indeed at this late hour on a Thursday.

Members interjecting.

Nathan LAMBERT: That is right, I am not sure they are still here. There seems to be a unity ticket on that one. I will save you all that debate with the member for Prahran, which I can take up with him privately, and skip perhaps to the equally important topic of the effects of the budget in Preston and Reservoir.

If I can, I would like to start with child protection. We saw approximately half a billion dollars of additional funding across the board for child protection and for improving outcomes of children in out-of-home care generally, and that is very welcome. But specifically within that there was an additional $140 million to help Aboriginal-led organisations to provide child protection services to Aboriginal families and indeed to keep Aboriginal families together. Those of us who attended the Labor conference back in May will remember the Premier speaking about the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative, BDAC, and all the wonderful work that they do.

But closer to home in Preston we have the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, and it has been in effect the major authorised organisation under the act for a long time now, almost 40 years. In fact if you go back in Hansard, you can read the former member for Werribee, Ken Coghill, back in 1984 talking about the great work that VACCA were doing then, and they have continued to do so since. I actually saw that Ken Coghill was in the paper just the other day with a great little letter in the Age about the Voice. It is good to see he is still going strong. But as I was saying, it is a source of pride to everyone in Preston that we have VACCA headquartered locally and indeed have done so since 2014. And as well as doing all the wonderful work that their several hundred employees do in that office, they also get out and grab their coffees from Moon Rabbit and Brown Bear Cafe and support our local businesses. So a shout-out to Leo and Santos and all the teams at those great cafes who will benefit from the additional caffeine-fuelled activity under this Labor government’s further support for VACCA and the work they do to reduce Indigenous over-representation in child protection and out-of-home care.

While we are in that part of the world, it was great to see $100,000 in the budget for Bridge Darebin, for their food relief services, which will support the wonderful work that CEO Chris Lombardo and Ramona and the rest of the team there do. We were down there chatting with them a few months ago with the Minister for Equality in the other place about their Queer Gathering program, and no doubt we will be back down there again soon to support all of the work they do.

If we do then head just further along Cramer Street to Melbourne Polytechnic, the budget provided, again, almost half a billion dollars in additional funding for TAFE, including $90 million that continues to directly expand our free TAFE program. Free TAFE is of course a signature program for this government. We were recently at Melbourne Polytechnic – they have a great campus on St Georges Road – and we had a chance to see their early childhood training at work. For those who have not got along to that campus, they actually have a great set-up where you can go in and there is a one-way mirror so that the students can observe the kids and the way that other students are interacting with them as educators. You can sit back, sort of like a focus group room, if you like, and you can watch the way that the children and the educators are learning together. It is a fantastic facility and one that allows us to deliver some great education. They are supported by the free TAFE initiative of this government. And indeed we also dropped into one of the Auslan classes at Melbourne Polytechnic. Thank you to Wendy and the team, who do such good work there. Should anyone want to get into Auslan interpreting, there is a growing demand in that area, and I am sure Wendy and the team would be very happy to have you in their classes – again, I stress, funded by the free TAFE initiatives in the budget.

I continue my way along Cramer Street up to Preston Mosque. There was funding in the budget for a culturally appropriate health and mental health centre, which follows on from the very significant upgrade to the mosque that this government also had the opportunity to support previously. We do note the great work of Tarek, Mohammed, Jamal and everyone who is involved in running that very important centre for people of Muslim faith in the northern suburbs and indeed across the state. We had the pleasure of being joined there by the Premier just a couple of weeks ago to get on with the job of building that particular health and mental health facility, and we look forward to that taking shape on Cramer Street.

Further west, getting across to Newlands Primary School, some wonderful work continues there upgrading a very significant component of that school. I noticed there was also some extra funding there in the budget for their out-of-school-hours care, and I am sure parents at Newlands Primary will be grateful for that additional support. Many of those students then go on to Coburg High. I was going to talk at some length about our investments in Coburg High –

Iwan Walters interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: Well, I say this to the member for Greenvale, I did notice, just looking at Hansard, that the member for Pascoe Vale has already mentioned that school 44 times this year –

A member: 44!

Nathan LAMBERT: 44 – expanding upon our $18 million investment, so I will not add to that very considerable record that he has laid down. But I will note that we are in fact also funding the development of the new Coburg Special Developmental School next door on that site, and that will be a very welcome facility as that progresses.

Heading a little bit north up to Edwardes Lake, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the unfortunate death of Mabel the black swan. Mabel the black swan was a beloved local figure at Edwardes Lake, and unfortunately, she was killed in a dog attack that occurred a few months ago. I say ‘unfortunate’ that it happened – unfortunate given that there had been considerable advocacy by Friends of Edwardes Lake and their leader Kate Jost to Darebin council asking for a little bit more enforcement and a little bit more education around the way that people control their dogs around the lake, and I just say I fully support their efforts on that. We have seen since then some movement from council. Hopefully we will not see another death of a swan as we saw with Mabel. We welcome those changes, and we welcome whatever further changes are needed to protect wildlife at the lake.

If I continue around the electorate, getting up to Prace, which is a great facility that we have got up there, an adult education facility partially funded by our suburban development funds, I was very pleased to see them continue. There are a number of really important programs that have run directly out of the suburban development portfolio, and we work closely with Prace and indeed many of our local organisations on that.

Coming across to JC Donath Reserve – and I may if I can for a moment, just a suggestion or a policy idea – I do sometimes wonder if we still need to have the two initials out the front of many of our reserves. We have got GH Mott, JC Donath, and I could go on and on. I do not want to disrespect John Donath, who I understand that the reserve was named after, who served, apparently, admirably as treasurer of Preston City Council for 25 years, but I feel that John, I think, who has passed away, would be comfortable enough if it was just ‘Donath Reserve’. I do wonder if we cannot just rename some of those. I might talk to Darebin council about that –

A member: Are you thinking of Lambert Park?

Nathan LAMBERT: Okay, I can see some interest in the chamber in this exciting policy idea. Coming back to Keon Park football club, who I wanted to talk about, they play at the reserve. They are a great local club. The men seniors play in the men’s state league division 5 north, the women play in the women’s state league 4 north and they have junior boys and girls teams as well. I should note they are sponsored by Tonda Italian, a fantastic Italian place – a shout-out to Liza and the team who do such a good job at that little restaurant on Plenty Road.

Wayne Farnham: Hear, hear.

Nathan LAMBERT: A great restaurant I do recommend to the member for Narracan. Should he be up in that part of the world, he should check out Tonda Italian. But another supporter of that great football club is the Victorian Labor government, and we have contributed $600,000 to upgrade their change room and pavilion. Of course this week, if any week, we note that that upgrade will improve female-friendly facilities for the young women and girls playing soccer there, and that is something we absolutely welcome. If you do get up to their clubrooms, they are of a 1980s vintage. I think there is probably some further work to do to really get them up to scratch, but we look forward to that investment taking things in a good direction.

There is so much to talk about in this budget, and I note that I probably will not have time, as I bring home the debate this afternoon, to touch on everything that has occurred in Preston and Reservoir. I might just quickly note as well that at Keon Park Children’s Hub we announced recently some funding for a new children’s crossing out the front of that great facility. That was funded through the TAC. I note that there was some further funding for food relief programs at Reservoir Neighbourhood House, and on behalf of the community I would like to note the wonderful work that Angie Davidson did as the executive officer there for the last 12 years. Angie has just stepped down to take a well-earned break for a little while and no doubt go on to other great things, but we recognise her very significant contribution to the Reservoir East community. There was also funding for an upgrade of the art rooms at Preston Primary School and indeed some money for the new Reservoir East Family Centre, which is a new kindergarten that we have opened on the same site as Reservoir East Primary School.

I might draw things towards a conclusion. If we look at the broad picture of the budget, as you would expect of a Labor government, we are fundamentally committed to the core services that make up state government: health, education, transport and our justice system. We talk a lot of course about what changes in each budget, but it is important to note that we still see 75 per cent of our expenditure going towards those fundamental things that are so important to the community: staff and equipment for our schools and staff and equipment for our hospitals, our courts and justice facilities and so on. Then if we look across to the capital spending, again, that is where most of our spending goes, but particularly for this government there is that big capital spending within the transport area as we get through our Big Build.

I want to give some credit to the Deputy Premier and her team, because transport is not an easy area to do that sort of capital expenditure. You are often retrofitting stuff in urban environments, which can be difficult. It is an area in which the way that transport reacts to changes in population is not always easy to predict, but I just want to recognise the effort that has gone into that area by the Deputy Premier, her team, her department and her agencies. That has of course been in the budget for a good seven years now. They have built up their expertise, they have built up the workforce and we heard a little earlier this week about the great work they have been doing on the level crossing removal program, the Metro Tunnel and so on and so forth. It has certainly had huge benefits in our part of the world with the removal of the level crossing at Reservoir and the removals at Bell Street, at Cramer Street and at Murray Road, and in 2025 there will be the removal at Keon Parade.

I could talk at length about those particular projects, but I see that we are getting close to 5 o’clock. I will wrap up by saying it is a good budget, and I want to quote the member for Bentleigh earlier on in this debate. He said it is a budget that contains some tough decisions – that is true – but very sound decisions, and it is a budget indeed that contains a great deal of positivity for our state. I support the budget and I wrap up my remarks on the motion.

Wayne FARNHAM (Narracan) (16:53): I am pleased to rise on the take-note motion for the 2023–24 budget. I suppose the first thing I will say is that everyone on that side thinks it is brilliant and everyone over this side does not think it is that good. I am going to carry through that opinion right now. I will start with the timber industry. The member for Gippsland East spoke earlier on the timber industry, and I support every comment he made. It was I think one of the cruellest things I have seen any government do in my life, when you give a guarantee to an industry until 2030 and then you just rip that out from under them with no notice, no compassion. It does baffle me. I still do not understand why.

When we talk about the reduction of carbon, it is scientifically proven the timber industry does it better than anyone else. They pull out those trees that are 80 years old and they plant new trees – and it is roughly three or four new trees to one old tree – which contributes to the reduction of carbon. This has been this government’s main thing. They are talking about wanting to be at zero by 2045, or whatever year it is, but they had an industry up and going that was actually generating billions of dollars into our economy that they decided to shut down without notice. It is not just this; there are 21,000 affected jobs from the closure of the timber industry. I will say this to any member in this chamber and any member listening, especially on that side: if the timber industry is so offensive, go home tonight and pull everything out of your house that is made of timber, like windows. If you own a two-storey home, pull out the stairs. Pull all your chairs out, because a lot of people have chairs with timber on them, and put them on the nature strip. Back yourself. If it is that offensive – if the timber industry is that offensive – then do the right thing. Do not be offended; throw the stuff out on the nature strip and let someone else take it.

The member for Gippsland East had a very good point when he was talking about fire management. The timber industry are front and centre when it comes to fire management. When we have massive, massive bushfires, the timber industry are the first ones on the scene.

Kim Wells: With their bulldozers.

Wayne FARNHAM: Exactly, member for Rowville, with their bulldozers, with their grabbers. They are cutting through the firebreaks as quickly as they possibly can, and they put themselves in danger doing it. They have served this community for over 100 years, protected this community when it came to bushfires. I know what is going to happen. The problem we have now is we have lost a skill set – a skill set that would be able to support those CFA units out in the bush. It is a skill set that will be gone forever. I can tell you now there is not an excavator operator in the city that can do the work that they did in the bush – they would get bogged and they would get burnt – because this timber industry had a specific skill set that benefited every Victorian in regional Victoria. The fact that this government has ripped this industry apart is actually criminal.

I met with a business in Trafalgar – and this will show you the effect that these decisions have had from this budget – called Samba Metal Works. It is a mum-and-dad business. When this decision got put through on the timber industry, they had to sack 30 per cent of their staff and their turnover dropped $400,000 to $500,000. Now, that is a lot of money for a mum-and-dad business. So there have been job losses, and their turnover has dropped. The worst part is that they have got specialist machinery there now that is redundant. So when we talk about the compensation for the timber industry, the government needs to be very clear how far this goes. It is not just the loggers, it is not just the haulage contractors, it is the other 21,000 jobs affected by this. I do not think the government thought this through, I really do not. I think it was a kneejerk reaction.

The Premier did say – because the member for Gippsland South asked him the question directly – ‘We have to do this. Otherwise, if we reverse it, it will get tied up in the High Court.’ I have asked the Premier this, and I am going to ask him again, because it is not fair on these people when you make a statement but you do not follow it through. The Premier said, ‘It’s going to be tied up in the High Court. That’s our legal advice.’ We have asked this of the Premier before: release the legal advice. Release it, because it is not fair on this industry that they get shut down without warning and then there is no backup to the narrative. That is getting typical of this government: there is absolutely no backup to the narrative.

In my area, in the member for Morwell’s area, in Gippsland South and Gippsland East, we have been decimated by this decision. It is one of the cruellest decisions I have ever seen.

The SPEAKER: Order! The time set down for consideration of items on the government business program has arrived, and I am required to interrupt business.