Tuesday, 13 August 2024

Business of the house

Program

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Ambulance Services) (12:51): I move:

That, under standing order 94(2):

(1) the orders of the day, government business, relating to the State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill ‍2024 be considered and completed by 4 pm on 14 August 2024; and

(2) the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5 pm on 15 August 2024:

Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Bill 2024

Subordinate Legislation and Administrative Arrangements Amendment Bill 2024

Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024.

Again we are back in the house with a very important and significant legislative program. The question I suppose on many of our lips will be whether we will see an opposition in this place at question time, taking up their opportunity to question the government of the day, question the executive, or whether or not they will just choose to walk out like they did last sitting week, vacate the space and let the government get on with it.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Leader of the House to come back to the government business program.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: Of course the government business program is a significant one for this week. I want to acknowledge our government’s intention to move the State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill 2024 through this place this week and indeed to bring it to a guillotine tomorrow, and we are doing that in the best interests of the people of Victoria. That is what motivates us each and every day.

In terms of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Bill 2024, underscoring of course the focus on justice this week, we will move to debate that bill. The institute of course is a very important part of our justice system, providing world-class forensic medical advice to coronial, criminal and other legal processes, and the legislation will help ensure that the institute can provide the most modern, up-to-date advice to our legal system. It is part of our government’s broader reform agenda regarding this institute. The bill is a response to key findings of a review into the act. I note that the institute’s enabling legislation has not been substantially changed in over 30 years, so this is a significant piece of legislation to be debated in this place.

In terms of the Subordinate Legislation and Administrative Arrangements Amendment Bill 2024, I would note that occasionally it is really important that the house deals with these kinds of technical bills. While they are, as I said, minor and technical, they do have very important implications for the work of Victoria’s hardworking and highly professional public service. I note that elements of the bill are to amend legal definitions to provide greater clarity for our departments and agencies right across, as I said, the Victorian public sector and that these are clarifications that have been requested by those departments in order to enable them to do their work to the best of their ability.

I am sure that members on this side of the house will see the opportunity that this bill presents to talk about the great work of our government departments and agencies and of course the public service itself. As a former public servant myself, I am very proud that we have one of the best and most responsive public services in the nation here in Victoria.

And of course the bill that everyone is waiting for is the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill. The government will be debating and voting on that institute repeal bill. I note this bill is before our place because it has been requested by the institute itself, because having legislation in this day and age that governs one institute is perhaps not the best governance. It is a little bit restrictive in this day and age, so it is time to repeal that act. However, I do note that again I am sure many members of this place will use the opportunity to talk about not only perhaps the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute but indeed mechanics institutes right across the state and the great history of mechanics institutes in this place. The member for Wendouree, a history teacher in her former life, I am sure will be making a great contribution on this.

It is another important government business program. As always, the Allan Labor government is focused on delivering for the people of Victoria. We take our lead from the experiences and concerns of everyday Victorians to help us drive our government business program, drive our legislative agenda and perhaps also, I might say, drive all the work that we do outside of this chamber. But as always, this side of the house is up and ready for robust debate on each and every one of these bills, and I commend the program to the house.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:57): I rise to speak on the government business program, deeply concerned and alarmed at the design of the program this week. For those watching, what the government is trying to do this week is to split the program into two parts and deal with three bills that you could probably fairly say are not substantive statewide reforms. I am not in any way talking down those reforms, but you would not describe them as key priority reforms that have statewide impact, though I do know that the Leader of the Nationals is very, very much looking forward to leading on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024. He has been talking a very big game about how good his speech will be on this bill, so I would hope that the entire chamber is here, because he is very, very keen to impress us with his speech on this bill.

But the government is going to also try to ram a bill through this chamber. We saw today a bill introduced which the chamber has not seen – the chamber has not seen that proposed reform yet – and they seek to guillotine it tomorrow at 4 o’clock. So the process of the house will be that at some stage late morning tomorrow that bill will be tabled in this place and by 4 o’clock that afternoon it will be rammed through this chamber. It is deeply, deeply concerning to see that the government will do that. That is why I move:

That paragraph (1) be omitted.

It is just fundamentally not right that you introduce a bill into this place and only a few hours later take it to a guillotine. And we know that tomorrow, in between when the bill is tabled and when the guillotine is brought in at 4 o’clock, there will be question time and other procedures of the house and there will be a lunch break. So most of the time between –

Tim Richardson: interjected.

James NEWBURY: We would be more than happy, member for Mordialloc, to stay in here for the entire time and debate you. But it is concerning that, for the very few hours between when the bill is tabled and the government guillotines it in this place, we will not have an opportunity to debate it.

So we might have at best perhaps an hour to consider the bill. Normally the standard adjournment period for a bill that has been laid on the table is two weeks, and federally the rule of thumb is, unless it is an issue of national security or national emergency, bills do not get rammed through quicker. It is standard that a bill is for national security or a national emergency before it is rushed through. This clearly is not the case in this circumstance. We see we are in the middle of a youth crime crisis and the government has not put its shoulder to the wheel on any matters to rush through any changes that would actually protect the community, but when it comes to this one bill, after perhaps an hour of debate it will be ramming it through. So the coalition has moved an amendment to the government business program because of this outrageous guillotine, and of course that being the case, we will not accept a program of this nature and will be opposing it. So the coalition will be opposing the government business program.

I do also want to note the coalition has proposed amendments to the sessional orders which would require the government to actually answer some of the questions that they are being asked. Last sitting week we saw a shameful display of 22 questions being asked and none being answered, and I think that reflects on the Premier and the ministry. So we will seek an opportunity to have those sessional orders considered and passed.

Lastly, I will briefly step away this week for a very short amount of time for my grandfather’s funeral and would hope that no-one even notices I am not here. I think that would be the best part. I very sadly lost my grandfather, a beautiful man who lived 100 years. We were very fortunate, and I will miss him very much and love him very much.

Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (13:02): It gives me great pleasure this afternoon to rise in support of the government business program. Before I get to the substantive part of that I will note the Liberals’ opposition to the government business program this week, surprising absolutely nobody. We get elected, all of us get elected, to this place to represent not just our constituency but all Victorians. I know that those of us on this side of the house are stridently committed to that, and we do that by coming into this place to debate incredibly important legislation and in particular, in the last couple of weeks and this week, legislation that is designed to keep Victorians safe. Deputy Speaker, I do not know about you, but in my opinion you do not keep Victorians safe by coming in here and engaging in cheap political stunts. The Leader of the House rightly in her contribution asked the question as to whether we are even going to have an opposition in here in question time, and it was the right thing to ask. To come in here in the last sitting week and witness what was nothing more than a confected tantrum –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker: relevance.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member had strayed from the government business program. I ask him to come back.

Dylan WIGHT: Where I was getting to and the point that I was trying to make was that all of us are elected to this place to represent all Victorians, and that goes exactly to what this government business program aims to do this week.

I will note that there is an amendment to the government business program to debate the State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill 2024, but there are also significant pieces of legislation, significant bills, on this government business program that need to be debated this week, bills that go right to the heart of keeping the Victorian community safe. That is a policy point that has been the source of some debate over the last couple of weeks, and our changes that we have introduced and debated in past weeks do exactly that – they go right to the heart of keeping Victorians safe and the Victorian community safe – and this government program does exactly that as well.

The piece of legislation in this government business program designed to do that is of course the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Bill 2024. I will be making a contribution on this bill because I know that community safety is something that is incredibly important to my communities of Tarneit and Hoppers Crossing; I have said that in this place many times before. I will be making a contribution because what this bill is is a really important function for law enforcement. It is a really important function for law enforcement and for forensic officers with Victoria Police to be able to have the tools necessary for them to keep the Victorian community safe. There has not been a change to this area in Victoria for almost 30 years, and I think we can all imagine how significantly forensic science in that time has progressed. It is an incredibly important change that we are going to make this week that goes right to the heart of community safety.

As has been spoken about by the Leader of the House, we will also debate the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024. I, like others, am incredibly looking forward to the Leader of the Nationals’ contribution on this. I think a lot of these contributions are going to go to the role that the mechanics institutes all around Victoria have played for a significant amount of time. There is a whole bunch of history there, and I know there are a lot of history buffs in this place. I think it is really important just to recognise the contribution that these mechanics institutes have played right across Victoria but in particular in regional Victoria. I note that this bill comes at the request of the institute itself, so it is only appropriate that we debate it in this place. As I said, this is an incredibly important government business program, and I cannot wait to debate the bills on it.

Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (13:07): Again we rise to speak about the government business program, which the coalition obviously oppose given the weak legislative agenda this week. It actually contributes very, very little to the priorities of Victorians right now, which we know from talking to our communities. The member for Tarneit is absolutely correct when he says we are elected into this place to represent our communities and to keep them safe. What would be time better spent would be debating bills such as bail laws, for example, and actually contributing to keeping our communities safe, because that is what our communities, particularly out in the regions, are telling us they want to hear about. When we talk about cost of living or the health crisis, there is nothing on this government business program that is going to help any of that. The amendment to the government business program, which is essentially the Lawyer X bill, does not help everyday Victorians immediately. There are many other things that could be rammed through this Parliament to actually make change on the ground for those communities that we are elected to represent. This does not do any of that.

However, that being said, there are things that are incredibly important, like the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. Technology moves very, very quickly, and this is a space where we need to keep our finger on the pulse – pardon the pun. There is the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024. The Leader of the Nationals has been referred to a few times with regard to this bill. He is of course the lead speaker. This is an act from 1899. I believe the Leader of the Nationals has probably still got the original membership card, and in the 30 minutes that he has got he could perhaps give us a firsthand account of the history of the mechanics institute. And I am sure he will not mind me saying that, because he has been around a long time, the Leader of the Nationals. But we do like to concentrate on what is going on locally, and throughout regional and rural Victoria there are still many beautiful mechanics institute buildings, and they are all beautiful buildings. As the Leader of the Nationals has said, it is the barbecue stopper of this week’s government business program, so when that is debated I would urge everyone to pay attention.

We are just frustrated, and you can imagine why, when we spend our weeks out there in our communities talking about the issues that really affect families every day – and the top things on those priority lists are things such as health care, roads, cost of living, CFMEU corruption – and then we have an amendment to the government business program to protect the Labor government essentially rather than actually help out everyday Victorians and their families with things like the cost of living. You can imagine our frustration and why we continue to oppose government business programs that have little impact on the lives of everyday Australians when amendments to the government business programs could be presented that would actually make immediate change to those things that are a matter of urgency to everyday Victorians, particularly out in the regions. Our roads are crumbling. We do not drive on the left side of the road anymore; we drive on what is left of the road, particularly on country roads, with the potholes. There are things that could be done in this place, and that is our job. Unfortunately we are ticking boxes a lot of the time and having little to no impact.

However, the Victorian Nationals will contribute, as we do every week. We have got a full speaking program. Like I said, the Leader of the Nationals will be heading that with the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, but all of us here holding up the Nationals’ speaking program – me, member for Shepparton, member for Euroa, member for Morwell – will be speaking on all of them, because we know we have a job to do in this place, and that job is to represent our communities in the best way possible, even with such a weak legislative agenda like we see here today. So, yes, we do oppose the government business program, and we will continue to do so until we have a more effective way to represent our communities.

Pauline RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (13:12): I am very pleased to have the opportunity to support the government business program today, and I am looking forward to the contributions that will be made. I do note the member for Mildura’s sledge of the Leader of the Nationals as being around for long enough to have seen a few mechanics institutes, I think. I am really going to be looking forward to, as the member for Tarneit said, the contribution from the Leader of the Nationals on the barbecue stopper.

We have some very important legislation. I could not be in more disagreement actually with the member for Mildura that this is not an important legislative agenda. We have got of course the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Bill 2024, the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024 and the Subordinate Legislation and Administrative Arrangements Amendment Bill 2024. I completely reject the representation that it is a box-ticking exercise, because every time we undertake a reform we do need to make sure that the reform we undertake is appropriate and as required by the community, and that does include the context of the debate we are going to be having on the State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill 2024.

The Prahran Mechanics’ Institute bill – I will be really interested to hear a little bit as part of the debate on the pronunciation of the word ‘Prahran’, because I think I call it ‘Pran’, but now that I think about it perhaps it ought to be pronounced with an extra syllable. That will not be the barbecue stopper that the member for Mildura has foreshadowed, but it will be part of the fascinating history of mechanics institutes in fact. I was looking a little bit at the mechanics institutes and their history, the Scottish antecedents and the importance of the mechanics institutes not just in Australia and in the Victorian context but also internationally – they seem to have had a formation in Glasgow. I do not want to pre-empt any debate on this particular piece of legislation, but they are contributions that I will be interested to hear.

I will not be contributing on that particular bill, but I hope somebody does mention the Narre Warren Mechanics Institute, which is going to have an emerging artists creative hub. It might not be the subject of this legislation, but it is important in the context of those of us who represent the outer south-east.

I am going to look forward to contributing to debate on the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Bill 2024. I was fascinated, actually, to do some of that preresearch. One of the great gifts of this role as a legislator is you start to understand the importance of institutions of the state and the work that they undertake. It will be important to be able to ensure that the important agenda that we have set out in the government business program does acquit a modern, fit-for-purpose piece of legislation that covers this institution that in many ways is an institution that we will not have much to do with in our lives unless at the deepest and darkest times, which is obviously the role that it takes in Victoria. Interestingly, and I will be looking forward to the debate on this, it has a role internationally as a leader. Forensicare is leading the way on behalf of some of our international partners, including partners in areas in the Pacific and far beyond as well, so we will be making sure that we do have as part of our justice system a piece of legislation that is fit for purpose.

We have a lot to get done this week. I am disappointed, obviously, that those opposite will not be supporting the government business program and will seek to amend it, but I am as always looking forward to fulsome debates and thoughtful debates that really do consider the best of us and how we can represent our communities.

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (13:17): I rise to speak on the government business program and support the member for Brighton, my good friend, in his and the coalition’s opposition to the government business program. I also note his amendment to the business program to omit paragraph 1. As he mentioned, a bill being introduced that will be debated and guillotined shows complete disregard for the longstanding practice of this house of allowing a bill to lay over for 14 days. Instead of that we are going to see a bill possibly debated for an hour – a very limited time to actually look at and consult on the bill and allow members to have their contribution on that.

This government business program is weak to say the least. The legislation we have seen, while maybe important, does not at all address current needs or what Victorians are dealing with after 10 years of this government. While everyone keeps mentioning the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute – and, yes, there is so much history there, and I do also look forward to a history lesson from the member for Murray Plains, who has been in this place a lot longer than most others in here – I am not convinced that members saying that that is going to be the highlight of their week speaks to the strength of the government business program when there are so many other issues that Victorians are dealing with right now. If that is the highlight of a week in this place, are we as members representing our communities really doing our best to put the interests of Victorians at heart? I have respect that I will show to the member for Murray Plains, but if that is going to be the best thing we hear this week – no disrespect to the contribution or to the need for that bill, but if that is the highlight and the main thing ‍– then what are the priorities of this government after 10 years of being here? Are they running out of ideas, are they running out of legislation or are they just hiding away from the facts and the real issues that Victorians are currently dealing with?

I will point to last week in this place and the member for Malvern, who I am looking forward to hearing from on a couple of bills this week, including the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Bill 2024, which is obviously a very, very important bill dealing with some of the issues and tidying up and making that work more efficiently. But what we should have been hearing about from the member for Malvern this week was a bill that he tried to introduce last week around strengthening bail laws in this place. So many times I heard, when there is a place on the notice paper that literally says ‘Introduction of bills’, members on the other side of the chamber stand up and say, ‘This is not the correct time to introduce a bill.’ Well, if it is not the correct time to introduce a bill when on the notice paper under order of business it says ‘Introduction of bills’, then when is that time? When you talk about things that are important to the Victorian people, I would have thought that was hearing this week from the member from Malvern as well as other members of this chamber. Whether you agree or disagree, that is an area and that is an issue that is important to almost every Victorian right now. I do not think there is a member in this chamber who would not be hearing from their constituents about the current state of crime, of youth justice and of the bail laws. If you are not, I think you have got your head buried in the sand.

Also, we talk about issues, and the Olympic Games have just finished. Maybe the Premier was taking some inspiration from some of the sports, but I tell you what, the Premier would have earned a gold medal last week with the backflips that she was producing, especially when it came to health funding. There is another issue we absolutely could be speaking about this week, and many members in this place have issues on the notice paper. I know I have one in regard to Rosebud Hospital locally – 3500 ‍constituents want to see that being built. I know the member for Eildon has multiple petitions sitting on the notice paper, with over 15,000 signatures from constituents in her electorate in relation to hospitals in Yea and in Mansfield. There are other members in this place who have put notices on the notice paper in regard to health in their regions, and this government want to go and do a massive backflip but not actually sit and have the debate and address the issues in this place so the Victorian public knows what they are talking about.

I will also say, as we approach question time – and I will note the sessional order amendments moved by the member for Brighton – that I do hope, not just on behalf of the members in this place but on behalf of the Victorian people, that the government actually decides to give the answers to the questions. They can do it in their own roundabout way, but with 6-second or 11-second answers I do not believe this government is doing what is in the best interests of Victorians when it comes to accountability in this place. So I look forward to having the opportunity to discuss the amendments to the sessional orders that the member for Brighton has moved in the hope that this government will turn up to question time this week and actually answer those questions put to them by both the opposition and members of the Greens or the crossbench. I note that we will be opposing the government business program. The government needs to put the best interests of Victorians first.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Leader of the House has moved the government business program motion. The Manager of Opposition Business has moved an amendment. His amendment seeks to omit paragraph (1). Therefore the question on the amendment is:

That the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the motion.

Members supporting the member for Brighton’s amendment should vote no.

Assembly divided on question:

Ayes (51): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Darren Cheeseman, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, Tim Pallas, Danny Pearson, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Noes (30): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Annabelle Cleeland, Chris Crewther, Gabrielle de Vietri, Wayne Farnham, Matthew Guy, Sam Hibbins, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Tim Read, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, Ellen Sandell, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Nicole Werner, Jess Wilson

Question agreed to.

Assembly divided on motion:

Ayes (51): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Darren Cheeseman, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, Tim Pallas, Danny Pearson, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Noes (30): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Annabelle Cleeland, Chris Crewther, Gabrielle de Vietri, Wayne Farnham, Matthew Guy, Sam Hibbins, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Tim Read, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, Ellen Sandell, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Nicole Werner, Jess Wilson

Motion agreed to.