Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Business of the house
Program
Business of the house
Program
That, under standing order 94(2), the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5 pm on 16 November 2023:
Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill 2023
Crimes Amendment (Non-fatal Strangulation) Bill 2023
Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023.
I note the conversations I have had with the Manager of Opposition Business in relation to the workplace injury bill and this government’s commitment to take that into consideration in detail at a time which we will continue to discuss.
Obviously this is a very big week in this house, with some very serious legislation. It is legislation that really reflects our government’s priorities, our government’s values and our government’s determination to do the things that matter for Victorians. I look forward to those on the other side of the house making contributions to each and every one of these bills, as I know members on this side will. Indeed as is quite normal, we have many more speakers, people that want to rise, to get on their feet, to talk about our legislative program and how it impacts members in our community. I hope that those on the other side will also take up the ample opportunities that do exist to speak about the very important bills that are before us this week.
Now, in my time in this place I have had many opportunities to talk on the scourge that is family violence in our community, and I will be taking that opportunity again this week. Family violence remains the number one law and order issue in our state. It is still the reason for the majority of police call-outs at any given time, and when you look at the data it is horrifying. It is absolutely horrifying the number of women who are still being killed, murdered, in this state by a current or former intimate partner. I will not go into it now, but I look forward to taking the opportunity to talk about some very brave community members in my own electorate whose beloved sister and daughter was taken way too early by the man that claimed to love her – but I will leave that for the debate.
The non-fatal strangulation bill is a really, really important one. We know that attempts at strangulation are a precursor to murder. That is why we will be debating a bill this week that seeks to make non-fatal strangulation a crime in and of itself. This bill is a really, really important one, and I know many people want to speak on it. It is what we need to do as part of our government’s ongoing commitment to end family violence. That is not going to happen easily or overnight. It is going to take a generation, because it demands that people – men – respect women, and we have got so much more to do when it comes to reaching gender equality in this state and ensuring that women are respected for themselves, for who they are –not in relation to anyone else, just for being themselves. Unfortunately too often this is still not the case in too many incidents as we see disrespect of women and girls being a common occurrence.
We will also be talking about the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill, and I know those on the other side are really looking forward to this, as are members on our side of the chamber. It is very important work to ensure that we fix our workers compensation scheme here in Victoria.
We will also be talking about the Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill 2023 – once again another very serious bill that delivers on our government’s public commitment and our commitment to the families of Paul Denyer’s victims to ensuring that we introduce legislative reforms that will enable the Adult Parole Board of Victoria to provide greater certainty to victims of serious offending. There is very serious legislation to be debated in the house this week, and it is a very full government business program, one which I commend to the house.
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:26): The coalition will be supporting the government business program this week. As the Leader of the House said, there are a number of bills and a number of broader issues that the house will be speaking about this week that are such important issues – community safety, which the Leader of the House spoke to. May I say more broadly I am sure that most members will in their contributions refer to recent incidents around community safety both in relation to the bills and also events, including the horrible events that occurred in Caulfield on Friday. We are at a difficult time, and this house will be speaking about very important issues this week. So I think it is important to note right from the outset the coalition’s deep distress at the events that occurred in Caulfield on Friday, and I am sure that members across both sides of the house share in those concerns and will be speaking about those matters throughout their contributions.
As the Leader of the House did say, a number of important matters will be discussed. I will start by referring to the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023. I think for the third time in the time of this government, the government has agreed to take that bill into consideration in detail. What that means for those listening is the house has an opportunity to look at each clause of the bill and talk through the substance of each clause. The minister will be at the table to take questions in relation to the specifics of the clause. I am advised that the consideration-in-detail process will take place on Thursday. I have been given assurance by the government that there will be a reasonable opportunity to do that – so not a tokenistic one, a reasonable opportunity. I am sure the minister responsible for the bill would not mind me sharing that when requesting that the bill be taken into consideration in detail normally I would just request that of the Leader of the House, but in this instance I also copied in the minister, because I felt the minister would be the fiercest advocate for that process on this bill. I look forward to a reasonable time for the house to consider that bill, because it is an important bill and there are a lot of important aspects to that bill, so consideration in detail is reasonable in relation to that bill. I thank the government and note again that the coalition will not be opposing the government business program this week.
There are a number of other bills that the Leader of the House referred to. The Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill 2023 and the Crimes Amendment (Non-fatal Strangulation) Bill 2023 are both in relation to important issues of community safety. One is about ensuring that we keep the community safe in relation to parole, and this is a very important bill. I know that there are so many members on both sides of the chamber that are looking for an opportunity to speak on behalf of their communities in relation to those measures. But there is also the non-fatal strangulation bill. I know just on the briefing that took place on the bill how many members joined that briefing to understand and share their concerns about the importance of making sure that the community is protected around these important matters. The Leader of the House spoke to those matters and talked about domestic violence and the safety of women and that this bill will be an opportunity to make changes on matters that I am sure as a house we all want to see dealt with better and ensure that the community is safer.
Those are very important bills to be dealt with, which is why we will not oppose the government business program. We do hope there is an opportunity this week to speak to the move-on motion which was recently put forward by the Shadow Attorney-General. There is no doubt that there are questions regarding community safety and move-on powers that did once exist but now do not exist in that form, so an opportunity this week to discuss that would be appropriate. I will finish on this point by saying the coalition looks forward to speaking on these bills and will not be opposing the program.
Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (12:31): It is with some pleasure that I rise this afternoon to make a very short contribution on the government business program. I must say more often than not when I rise to speak on the government business program on any one particular sitting week it is through the prism of contest where the government has proposed a very sensible program and the opposition, as is their routine practice, are opposing it. However, today that is not the case, and I am very pleased and grateful that this government business program on the second-last sitting week of the year is not being opposed by the opposition.
From my perspective there are three very serious bills that are before the Parliament on this particular occasion. One is to deal with a wicked individual who committed a horrendous crime, and I know many people wish to make a contribution to the debate this week on those particular circumstances. We of course have a bill that advances the Allan Labor government determination to respond in a very, very strong way to family violence with the introduction of a crime to deal with non-fatal strangulation, and as has been raised by previous speakers, non-fatal strangulation is a hallmark more often than not of more extreme violence following that, which can lead to the death of an individual.
The third bill, the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023, is an important bill. It builds on profound work that has been undertaken by Labor in government. The very original bill setting up these arrangements goes all the way back to the Cain government, all the way back to 1985. As we are aware, those that have been following it, the workplace injury arrangements that we have in this state at the moment are not sustainable in their current context and they do need amending to bring them into a set of financial arrangements that see that scheme providing for workers that get injured in the workplace for many decades to come.
As I say, these three very substantial bills are all very, very important, and I am pleased to see that on this particular occasion the opposition will be joining with the government in supporting this business program through the course of this week. We have got one further sitting week this year, and I look forward to them supporting the government business program for the last sitting week of the year in a fortnight’s time.
Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (12:35): It is my pleasure to rise this week in support of the government business program, and as the member for South Barwon pointed out, oftentimes it is a fact that we do oppose the government business program, largely because – and I speak about this often – we do not often get the chance to go through bills in consideration in detail. I had all these notes prepared today –
Danny O’Brien: How many times have you done it?
Jade BENHAM: I have never done it. This will be my first time, which is very exciting. I did have some notes prepared, but the government’s willingness to go to consideration-in-detail stage on the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023 is a positive thing. I have had many discussions. Usually as the Nationals Whip it is my job to put together the program, and I do so off my own bat and I do not often get argued with, but actually this week I had the member for Euroa, I had the members for Shepparton and Morwell and I had all the Nationals members wishing to speak on all the bills on the program, particularly WorkCover, because it is something that has affected many, many businesses in particular in all of our communities. So the fact that we are getting to consider this bill in detail is a good thing. I look forward to the contributions from both sides of the house, and I look forward to actually going into consideration-in-detail stage for the first time, for those of us that are in our first term, which is fantastic.
The Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill 2023 is one on which I am very much looking forward to hearing the contribution from the member for Berwick, who of course proposed this bill months ago and has been working with the families of Denyer’s victims for quite some time. We acknowledge the work that he and the member for Mornington have done with the victims’ families and also that the member for Lowan has done with families that now live in her electorate. Again, that is a bill that we have managed to more than fill the business program with this week with members’ willingness to get up and make their contribution, because we know and we understand how important this is. Mind you, when the member for Berwick proposed this months ago, it should have been dealt with then so that the families do not have to relive their trauma again now.
The Crimes Amendment (Non-fatal Strangulation) Bill 2023: I was one of the members that attended the bill briefing with the member for Malvern. Family violence in my electorate is sky-high. It is something that I and other members of my close friendship group have firsthand knowledge of, and there will be some very interesting contributions. I know that the member for Malvern is referring to this bill as ‘Joy’s law’, and I do want to acknowledge the advocacy of the family of Joy Rowley, the very courageous advocacy that means that non-fatal strangulation will now be a crime in this state. It is a very courageous thing to do, to advocate for family violence and tell your story, and I also want to acknowledge the work of Conor Pall, a young man that the member for Malvern and I met with last week who has just launched a book. He has been advocating, even though he is only –
The SPEAKER: Order! I ask the member to come back to the government business program. You are going into detail on the bill.
Jade BENHAM: Referring back to the family violence bill, Conor has been advocating for coercive control to become a crime, so hopefully that is something that will be worked on closely. Of course there are many of our members, again, that wish to make contributions on this bill, and I look forward to hearing contributions from both sides. I am looking forward to a very productive week in fact. It should be very, very interesting.
Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (12:40): It gives me great pleasure to rise and speak in support of the government business program. Once again we have some very serious and substantive pieces of legislation coming before the house for debate, which speak to our Labor government’s commitment to making Victoria safer and fairer. These are values which are at the core of the Labor Party and run a continuous thread through many aspects of our legislation in general – a safer place for Victorians to live and thrive, a fairer place for Victorians to reach their potential. One of the particular elements of these values which I have had the fortune to work on in depth is gender equality and making our state safer for women, and later today we are going to be debating the Crimes Amendment (Non-fatal Strangulation) Bill 2023, which will introduce a standalone offence of non-fatal strangulation. It builds on our work across the last nine years to address the scourge of family violence and embed gender equality.
Before entering politics as an MP I had the honour of working alongside Victoria’s first Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Fiona Richardson, who was also the previous member for Northcote. Fiona used the final years of her life to drive and embed an extraordinary amount of reform to make women and children safer in their homes and in our communities. She was ferocious in those efforts, and as her adviser I was proud to be working at the coalface of an issue that had been left in the dark for far, far too long. Too many Victorian women and children still face family violence in our state, but through unprecedented investment and reform we are seeing more prevention efforts and more avenues for people to be supported. It is absolutely in keeping with our government’s program of work that this bill is brought forward – to add to those efforts and to recognise that linkage between serious behaviour and other patterns of family violence.
Labor’s track record here is undeniable. Whether it has been through the Royal Commission into Family Violence, our Gender Equality Act 2020, Respectful Relationships education in schools, establishing Respect Victoria or strengthening our laws around consent, we have been ambitious and we have been determined. This is an important aspect of our government business program today.
Later in the week we will be debating several other incredibly important pieces of legislation. In fact all three of the bills being debated this week are deeply impactful and relevant to the people of Victoria. The Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill 2023 is one which we wish were not required to be put forward, given the shocking crimes which led to its development, but it is one which Victorians rightly expect their government to bring forward and take action with. We expect the contributions on the bill to be respectful of the emotional toll that such debate inevitably has on families and communities that have suffered and continued to suffer because of those things. It is always important, I think, as we consider these heavy matters in the Parliament to be thinking about their reverberating impact for Victorians. While the content of what will be spoken about during that debate is difficult, including for my colleague the member for Frankston whose community was directly impacted, it is also incredibly necessary that we as a government do not shy away from complex and difficult issues, and confronting some of the darkest aspects of human nature and of history and working towards giving recognition and making legislative change to prevent such events from happening again is exactly what we have a record of doing in Victoria – on issues like conversion therapy, on issues like justice for Aboriginal Victorians and on issues like forced adoption practices. We do not shy away from those things.
The third piece of legislation coming before us this week is the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023, which will be an opportunity for members to make contributions about the future of this very important scheme. Members will have an opportunity to consider this bill in detail and talk thoroughly to the substance of the bill. This is appropriate, given how important it is to have a sustainable WorkCover scheme for Victorians. I think this is a very serious and significant government business program. It is good to see the opposition are not opposing it.
Wayne FARNHAM (Narracan) (12:45): I am pleased to rise today to talk about the government business program, and this side of the house does not oppose the program. In reference to previous contributions, the bills before us this week are important, and I will look forward to the debate or conversation at a later date. When we look at these bills that are before us – Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill 2023, Crimes Amendment (Non-fatal Strangulation) Bill 2023 and Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023 – it is incumbent on government, when things are broken, to bring bills in that fix the problems.
I look forward to Thursday and the consideration in detail of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023, because WorkCover at the moment is broken and small businesses around the state are really, really suffering with the uplift in their premiums. It is going to be very good to sit down with the relevant minister and have that consideration in detail in this house. I hope the minister listens and takes on board the contributions and the questions that will come to him, because I think Victoria is at a state now where we need to work together to fix the problem, because it is a massive problem and it is hurting small business. There is no doubt about that. We do not want to see any more uplift in premiums for small business.
The Corrections Amendment (Parole Reform) Bill is interesting. I am glad the government has brought this forward. I am disappointed that we have had to bring this forward again after the member for Berwick had this in this house some months ago. I think at times we are so hell-bent on being on opposite sides, but sometimes we need to actually look across the room and say that has merit, even if it comes from this side of the chamber, as it did with the member for Berwick. It came from this side of the chamber, and what he put forward had merit. It would have been nice at that point in time if those on that side of the chamber had actually thought ‘We should pass this. We should agree with this bill and let it go through’. But here we are today with this bill. The debate will happen later on, but there are parts of this bill that should not be debated today – they should have got passed months ago when they were put forward – because we all know that this is going to cause great distress to the families concerned.
The last one is the Crimes Amendment (Non-fatal Strangulation) Bill 2023. Again, I think it is always incumbent on government to look after the most vulnerable in our community, and non-fatal strangulation, as we know, is a precursor to domestic violence. Absolutely no-one can dispute that fact. I have told this house many times about the units that were developed in Narracan. A lot of that starts at this point, where especially women need to escape and need to escape quickly because they are in a situation that is not going to be tenable for them anymore. So I am glad the government has brought this in. I am looking forward to debating these bills. As you will see on the speaking spots, I have put my name down for every bill this week. I think the contributions from everyone in this chamber on these three bills this week will be significant. We do not oppose the business program, and I do look forward to the conversations later on in the week.
Motion agreed to.