Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Opposition performance

Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (17:47): I have been getting into my Russian literature lately, especially Leo Tolstoy. I think probably one of the most famous opening lines in history is his line:

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

It made me think of those opposite and the myriad ways that they are unhappy. Since we are a government that backs families and supports families, I thought perhaps one of our family-friendly initiatives might help that unhappy family across the aisle. So I thought I would go through what we have got an offer and see how it might help them.

Firstly, the Get Active Kids voucher – what a fantastic initiative: $200 for kids to get involved in sport. We have had over 150,000 vouchers already provided to families to make sure that children have the opportunity to be involved in a team sport. I think team skills are something those opposite would really benefit from, learning to get along with each other and learning to coordinate and cooperate. I encourage those opposite to have a look at Get Active Kids, especially with all of that time sitting down over the last three weeks. Some of them have been benched. Some have been at the bench – definitely not on the field, helping families in their electorates, like this happy family has been doing. I encourage them to look into that.

Another family initiative which I am really proud of is the Glasses for Kids program. This one is personal for me. I had no idea my daughter had a vision problem until the school phoned me to say, ‘Your daughter can’t see below the second line.’ I had no idea; her teacher had no idea. We had heard from the teacher earlier that my daughter’s reading was stalling: ‘We’re not sure why – let’s put some extra effort in.’ It turned out she could not see and we did not know. When school started this term we packed her glasses into her bag as well for her to wear at school. The Glasses for Kids program, which checks vision for kids in prep to year 3, is so important. It also provides glasses for families that need them. This is about overcoming disadvantage. It is not just about helping with health but also countering disadvantage in education, and it also helps busy families who cannot necessarily do the running around to all the different appointments that we have to do. I thought the unhappy family opposite might benefit from our glasses program, because I do not think they have a vision for Victoria. If we could just get their vision tested, we might be able to help them with that. Their only vision is that they want power. They are power hungry and obsessed with power. Maybe they need to get some new glasses and take a look in the mirror, because people are not happy with how they are looking.

Another one of our family initiatives that would benefit the unhappy family opposite would be free kinder. My daughter is graduating from four-year-old kinder this year. We are so excited. A very big thank you to Kylie, her fantastic kindy teacher. Both of my daughters have had Kylie, and we have been so, so lucky. A big focus of what teachers like Kylie are doing at the moment is writing the transition plans for all the kids to go from kinder to school. It is about being ready and willing to learn, but those opposite just do not seem willing to learn. That is their problem. They went through the member for Bulleen as a leader twice. That shows us they do not know how to learn. I think that their leadership obsession would be better replaced with a learning obsession.

Speaking of learning, you cannot do your best learning on an empty stomach, which is why I am so glad – and it is great to see the minister here – that our breakfast club program has been expanded. We committed a further $21.1 million in the Victorian budget to expand the school breakfast club program to include all government schools that opt in across Victoria, building on $141.2 million already invested and having delivered more than 40 million healthy and nutritious meals to students in participating schools across the state, like Whittlesea Secondary College and other great schools in my area. It is really important not to be hangry. It is important to have something to eat so that you can focus, and we know that those opposite are very unfocused. We know that they are unfocused because they have got no policies that they are focusing on. All they are focused on is grabbing power for themselves, so they should break bread together, shouldn’t they? They should get together, break bread and maybe that would help them with some of their issues.

We have also got another great program for them, the Smile Squad. The Smile Squad provides dental check-ups and treatments, including teeth cleaning, fluoride application, fissure sealants, fillings and root canals, at schools to ensure that our children have healthy teeth. Again, this is a great one for busy families. It saves you the running around and it also saves the money for the appointments. We have had more than 100,000 government school students receive free dental care as of July, we heard from the minister. It is absolutely fantastic. The Smile Squad had an extended stay at one of the schools in my electorate. They got there and found that there was so much need among the children, so they stayed longer. They stayed for weeks and looked after all the kids at that school that were able to participate. I am absolutely proud of that. To be honest, though, I am not so sure about this family initiative for the unhappy family across the aisle. I think they have already got enough smiling assassins over there, but, do not be fooled, they are too busy fighting to worry about fighting to look after Victorian kids’ teeth. All they are smiling at are the donations they are receiving for their legal fees. So that one is maybe not for them.

But there is another one that could be for them. This is a new one. Some of these initiatives we have been rolling out for a decade. They have had a great time to build and support so many different families, but this is a new one. It is the school saving bonus, which is very exciting. Thank you, Minister. As a mum I have received the Compass notification to say how things are happening, and I do remind all parents that 18 October is the deadline to update your contact details with your school to make sure that the money that is coming for next year can come through. The school saving bonus provides a one-off $400 to help Victorian families cover the costs of their kids’ school uniforms, textbooks, excursions and activities. It is really important to get that certainty now, because families are planning and thinking about Christmas expenses and then thinking, ‘Okay, after Christmas we’re going to need to get new uniforms and books. When are we doing it?’ I have got a daughter starting school next year and I am thinking about her school shoes and that sort of thing. Families can choose how they spend the bonus. It can go towards camps, trips, excursions, swimming and sporting programs, outdoor ed, graduations, school uniforms and textbooks. The school saving bonus is fantastic. I think those opposite are more interested in saving their backsides unfortunately. The only excursion they have been on is to the Federal Court.

A member interjected.

Lauren KATHAGE: That was not expensive. This program supports camps. I think they have got multiple camps over there: some of them are solo campers and someone has been to tennis camp. If only they could all be in the same camp. I think that the school saving bonus would be fantastic for those opposite to help them really rally together and be their best selves – be the best that they can be, please, for the benefit of all Victorians.

Speaking of camps, I am really excited to see that camping is free for Victorian families this Christmas. We had actually already booked our camping holiday to Cape Conran. We were there last year, and we wanted to go back. Last year there was a dead whale on the beach, which for some people is great. The best thing the kids liked about the holiday was going and looking at the dead whale. That was free too, so thank you to Minister Dimopoulous for providing that whale for my family, and apologies to the whale. That is at Cape Conran. I encourage everyone to go. Free camping is about supporting families to enjoy time together at low or no cost, so we can get back to nature. The feeling when you are in nature, the way that you can relax, takes so much stress off. Families being together away from devices – all of these things are so important. Camping will be free at all 131 of Parks Victoria’s paid campgrounds from 1 December 2024 until 30 June 2025. If like me, you have already booked your camping holiday for that period, you will be refunded. Just letting you know: we have got you covered in any way.

This builds on the $25.7 million we have already saved campers since 2019, and that is why there are so many happy campers in Victoria. More than 50 million people visit Victoria’s iconic state forests and national parks a year. There is camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, four-wheel driving, trail bike riding, horse riding, birdwatching – hopefully not all at the same time, because that would be very dangerous. One by one is great. We have got 31 new and 60 upgraded campgrounds delivered by this government and 155 upgraded four-wheel drive tracks. My family loves four-wheel driving, so that will be great. The reason I thought this one might be good for the unhappy family opposite is because they really just need to take a chill pill. They need to take some time out. They really need to see what ‍–

Mathew Hilakari interjected.

Lauren KATHAGE: A bit of time around the fire, a bit of Kumbaya. I do not know if any of them can play guitar, but that is what they definitely need. And about the member for Croydon, ‘There is nothing to lose’ in going on a nice camping trip together. I wish them very well with that.

Something else that those opposite might benefit from, with support for families, is around free IVF. This government is giving the chance to more people to become parents, to start a family in the first place. Public fertility care is now available, and it is actually available right across the state, so it is at the Royal Women’s, Monash and the Mercy, as well as the Northern, but also out at Mildura, Bendigo, Warrnambool, Geelong, Shepparton, Ballarat and Sunshine. This is about making it fairer and more affordable for Victorians who want to start a family, and there is a special focus on low-income earners; Victorians living in rural and regional areas; people who need donor services; altruistic surrogacy support, such as LGBTIQA+ and single people; people needing fertility preservation due to medical treatments, such as those with cancer or undergoing gender reassignment treatment; and people who need genetic testing because they are known carriers of medical conditions that may pose a threat to the life of their child. This is a fantastic thing, an over $120 million program helping families save up to $10,000, and we welcomed the first baby last November, little baby Felix. We have seen the interesting rebirth in the last weeks of the member for Rowville. That was a great rebirth, and there are many people looking for a chance to be leaders. They say that success has many parents and failure has none, but I do not know: I reckon mum Bev and dad Brad are pretty happy with how things are going.

In summary, this happy family on this side wishes nothing more than happiness for those opposite. I have run through all the ways that our programs can support them. We know so many Victorian families are already on board and benefiting from the programs, because we have been busy focusing on Victorian families, not on ourselves. This list that I have gone through is the evidence of that, and the outcomes are there to see in our Victorian families, who will always be better off under a Labor government.

Question agreed to.