Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Business of the house
Program
Please do not quote
Proof only
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 31 October 2024:
Duties Amendment (More Homes) Bill 2024
Agriculture and Food Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Transport Infrastructure and Planning Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2024.
What a busy, jam-packed week we have here in the Victorian Parliament addressing the matters that are of concern to all Victorians, and I might start by outlining the Duties Amendment (More Homes) Bill 2024 and how much every member on this side of the house is looking forward to having their opportunity to get on their feet and outline how our government is working every day to deliver more homes and more opportunities for Victorians wherever they live. Be they in the inner city, in the suburbs, in regional cities or indeed in rural and regional Victoria, we have got something for everyone when it comes to delivering the homes that people need, because without a roof over your head your options are exceedingly limited. I note the member for South-West Coast is chuckling on the other side –
James Newbury: On a point of order on relevance, Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mary-Anne THOMAS: laughing as I outline the concerns of Victorians right across our state that only the Allan Labor government are addressing, and we are doing that through this very urgent bill that we have brought into this place. We will be debating it this week. The opposition are getting their briefing. I would have thought that the second-reading speech tells you all you need to know to get right behind it, but no, they need to be briefed. We will do that of course, as a courtesy, but as I said, we are builders on this side, not blockers, and we will see where we end up when this bill is voted on towards the end of the week.
We also will be debating the Transport Infrastructure and Planning Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. Our government’s transport infrastructure agenda is central to our housing agenda, because we are about delivering homes close to transport, close to jobs, close to schools and close to TAFE institutes and universities – close to opportunity – because that is the mantra of our government. We have got a track record of delivering on transport infrastructure. Everyone knows that only a Labor government invests in the infrastructure that our community needs. In fact we are the only party that has delivered infrastructure in the last 25 years, because I can tell you in the four short years that they were in government not a single major project was delivered.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, this is a procedural motion, and on relevance, I would ask you to bring the Leader of the House to the motion.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a procedural motion on the government business program, and I ask the Leader of the House to continue on that.
Mary-Anne THOMAS: The bill will also make important amendments to precinct planning, which again is all about delivering projects and housing.
We will also be debating the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2024 and the Agriculture and Food Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. Both of these bills are very important. The agriculture bill is helping us strengthen food safety, and there is education regulation, and we are making sure that Victoria has up-to-date and effective regulatory powers to ensure that all Victorians have access to safe food and indeed good schools.
This is a government business program of which I am very, very proud. I know that on this side of the house there is a great deal of energy and enthusiasm and readiness to get up and debate, and I look forward to hearing our members on this side on their feet, delivering for Victorians with a focus on housing – the number one issue of our time. Only the Allan Labor government has a comprehensive response to this crisis. While those on the other side – excuse my French – bitch and moan and block, we –
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House! We would encourage parliamentary language to be used.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, in relation to the government business program, when we got version 1 of the government business program – because we are now on the second motion; that has not yet been reflected in the Parliament’s printing because of the changes today – it listed three bills, one of which the Leader of the House just spoke about: the Transport Infrastructure and Planning Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. I think it is actually called the railroading communities bill. The coalition sought from the government an opportunity to consider that bill in detail, because effectively what that does do is railroad communities and take away all community rights.
The coalition went to the government seeking an opportunity to consider that bill. The government, as they are prone to do, felt that their minister was not able to deal with a consideration-in-detail process and declined the opportunity. On that basis we will be opposing the government business program, because there must be opportunities in this place for ministers to have the character and capacity to debate what they are putting to this place. When it comes to that bill and bills in other weeks when we have sought to take those bills into consideration in detail, the government has said no, and that is just fundamentally wrong. Only one time in this term has a minister taken a bill into consideration in detail.
This bill specifically will railroad many, many communities, and we know that Victorians and Melburnians will see this; they will see it over time, and they are starting to see it. They are starting to stand up and say what the government is doing is wrong, and that is what Melburnians and Victorians will do.
They will understand that the government is railroading them, and that is what Victorians will do over time. Again, we sought an opportunity to take this bill into consideration in detail and that was declined. We also earlier sought to move to introduce a bill in relation to the tobacco firebombings and a fix for that, and we would have hoped that the government would have not only allowed it to be introduced but afforded it an opportunity on the government business program. Unfortunately, it was not provided an opportunity. We do know 108 bombings have occurred over the last 18 months – that is two a week. It is shameful to know that the government has not allowed the bill to be introduced or included in the government business program.
We heard a debate earlier about the government pushing forward with a bill immediately, and I did note at the time that the government had indicated that debate on that bill would occur after there had been a briefing on the bill and there had been some discussion. The Leader of the House spoke about our understanding of the bill. I was handed a copy of the bill and the second-reading speech when the Treasurer stood up. Having an opportunity to open it is not unreasonable, as it is not unreasonable for the opposition to be briefed on it so that they understand it. As I said in an earlier debate, the coalition will always stand for lower taxes and always deliver lower taxes than the Labor Party will in their wildest dreams. On principle we are very strongly for lower taxes. It is just in relation to that bill that it was not unreasonable that some process be followed rather than just the straight, raw, opportunistic politics of the Premier, but I think that was for all to see over the last week.
I know that each week I try and lobby the Leader of the House to allow a third of the Parliament – just under a third – to speak on the budget bill, because the Leader of the House does not want her own members to speak on the budget motion. There are a number of members who have not had that opportunity. I know it was a dud budget. We know it was a dud budget because the Leader of the House will not even let their own members speak on it, but every member should have the opportunity on principle to speak on it – every member.
Members interjecting.
James NEWBURY: There are members who are saying they spoke on it. Stand up for your colleagues, my friends. Stand up for your colleagues who have not spoken on it.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Brighton.
James NEWBURY: It is not unreasonable. The coalition will be opposing the government business program.
Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (13:23): It gives me great pleasure in this early afternoon to rise and speak in favour of the government business program, and what an incredibly busy government business program it is. I mean, if you want a government with a legislative agenda, well, gee whillikers, you have got one. This week we have four incredibly important pieces of legislation on the government business program. The Duties Amendment (More Homes) Bill 2024 is an incredibly important piece of legislation, because whilst those on that side spend their weekends organising little protests with their Liberal Party branch members –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, the member is not being relevant in any way to the procedural motion, and I would ask you to bring him back to the motion.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Tarneit to continue on the government business program.
Dylan WIGHT: To continue, whilst those on that side are concerned with spending their weekends organising protests, those on this side of the house –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, the member is defying your ruling.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I was listening closely, and there were seconds, and I am sure the member for Tarneit was coming straight back to the government business program.
Dylan WIGHT: Indeed I was, Deputy Speaker. Those on this side of the house are concerned with building more homes for more Victorians. The Leader of the House rightly said in her contribution that housing is going to be one of the most defining political and policy issues of our time.
It is not enough that Victoria is building more homes than any other state in Australia. We know that more has to be done. We know that that great Australian dream of owning your own home –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, again, this is a procedural motion. I am not sure what the talking points say, but the member is not dealing with the motion before the house.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will rule on the point of order. There is some context and latitude, member for Tarneit, but you need to bring it back to the government business program.
Dylan WIGHT: As I said, there are four incredibly important bills on the government business program this week. I will note that the coalition are not supporting the government business program, but quite frankly it is completely irrelevant because the government and those on this side of the house will get on with delivering what we have to do for all Victorians. As I was saying, housing is going to be one of the defining issues of our generation, and we want to be able to tell our kids and our grandkids that we did absolutely everything we could in our power to make sure that they have a roof over their head.
On the government business program we also have the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2024. When we got elected in 2014, we said that we were going to make Victoria the education state. On this side of the house and in this government we do not close schools, we build them. On this side of the house we do not sack teachers and principals, we give them the tools to give our kids the very best start in life possible. Look no further than my electorate of Tarneit for an absolutely massive example of that incredibly important legislation, and we have an incredibly important legislative agenda in that education space.
We have got the Transport Infrastructure and Planning Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, and as the Leader of the House said, our transport infrastructure agenda is as much about housing as it is about transport, because what we know is that to give people the best quality of life, they need to have the best possible transport infrastructure around their home to get them from A to B to C.
Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (13:28): I rise to speak on the government business program. As the member for Brighton has said, I will be opposing the business program once again this week. There are some good things on the business program, and anything that makes housing affordability better for Victorians, especially regional Victorians, we are all for. We will speak on the motion that needs to proceed through to make that happen for Victoria. But we do have the right to be able to get up and discuss it as a coalition and to be able to see what it is that we are actually dealing with, because at the moment the housing crisis in regional Victoria, especially in the Latrobe Valley, is probably the worst it has ever been. So we need to see detail to make sure that these changes that are going to come through are going to make housing more affordable and create opportunities for the people who live in the Latrobe Valley and also right around regional Victoria, to make sure it is going to work and not just be city centric, as a lot of it has been. I am happy that we are getting a bill briefing later in the afternoon, and then to be able to come back and discuss it I think is fine. But anything that can make housing more affordable for my constituents – they are always ringing me and knocking on my door, and that is one of the bigger problems.
The Agriculture and Food Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 is another one that we will be discussing today, and I think people on both sides of the house will be wanting to get up and work their way through these amendments.
There are parts of it that are going to be quite interesting to debate. There is a section there in the seafood one questioning people that are in the seafood industry. I am wondering why it is only the seafood industry that is being drawn upon, so it would be good to be able to glean why it is not a wider area across a lot of workforces where that needs to happen.
The Transport Infrastructure and Planning Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, as we have heard from the members on the other side, also is to do with the Big Build here in Melbourne – to make sure that is right. We need to be able to get up and discuss this, because as I said, we should have a state of cities around regional Victoria, not a firm focus on a city-state being here in Melbourne, because the housing crisis is right across the board. It is not just here in inner-city Melbourne, it is out in the regions. I know all members on both sides that are in regional areas know that this is the number one issue, to be able to house people, and to also have access to transport, to move them around, is a huge issue. We need to be able to discuss these procedures, which is really good.
The Duties Amendment (More Homes) Bill 2024, which I spoke on before, did come in late. We are really interested to support that as a coalition, and I look forward to being able to do that later on.
The other thing is the opportunity, as I think the member for Brighton said before, to be able to talk on the budget reply. The member for Shepparton and I, on this side of the house, still have not had the opportunity, and we are very keen to stand up and talk on how the budget has affected us in regional Victoria. We have had the Premier, the Minister for Housing and also the Minister for Energy and Resources move through my area of the Latrobe Valley, cutting and slashing – I suppose I could throw the Treasurer in there as well – services, shutting down industries like the timber industry and the white paper industry and forcing the rapid closure of the coal-fired power stations without really providing any guidance or any future development and also lifestyle that we can have in the Latrobe Valley.
We have really had a bit of a gutful of what the government is telling us. I need the opportunity to reply, to let the government know what we do need and what we do want in the Latrobe Valley, rather than being gagged because the Labor government does not want to talk about the budget reply.
Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (13:33): I am so happy to rise and speak to what is essentially a classic Labor agenda. This week we are going to be talking about housing, talking about transport, talking about education and, most importantly, talking about giving people a go, giving people a hand, giving people a leg-up into housing. I am absolutely proud to stand and speak on that.
It did not escape my notice that we will also be speaking about agriculture and food safety, and some of that is around creating offences relating to the sale, delivery or provision of raw milk. Reading that, I could not help but feel that this is a fantastic opportunity to warn people against crying over spilt milk, because we know that crying over spilt milk is pointless. Throwing up your hands and saying, ‘Oh, there’s a housing crisis’, and having a cry does not help anyone. Get in and clean it up. Get a mop and get to work. That is what people on this side are doing. We are not crying over spilt milk, we are fixing it, and that is why we are rushing to get more support for people who want to get into housing. That is why we have an absolutely big agenda that is focused not on bemoaning things as they are but on changing things to be as they should be, and that is the way a government should be.
I do not want to come the raw prawn on that either, but there are some seafood amendments. We heard from the member for Morwell about that.
Lauren KATHAGE: There is something fishy opposite, and I thank the member for Point Cook for that, because it is much better than my joke about walking the plank. I really appreciate that.
I mentioned education before, and this is the Education State. We have seen the release of the Education State: Excellence in Every Classroom resource, which has come out from the fantastic Minister for Education. So of course there should be no surprise that this week we will be talking about making sure that we have high-quality standards for education providers in this state. We do not want to have unregistered schools. We want to make sure that there is quality education available for everybody in Victoria, whether they are going through the standard schooling system, through private education providers or the like. Pleasingly, this bill, the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2024, will also be looking at ways to support principals by allowing work experience arrangements to be through other nominated persons. It just reminded me of what a fantastic opportunity work experience is. I recall fondly Liam from Mernda Central College, who was a fantastic work experience student in my office. I think I learned more from him than he learned for me, that is for sure.
Even our transport bills cannot help but focus on getting people into housing. We heard from the Leader of the House about the changes that we are making to ensure that precincts which are close to transport and close to existing services are made available for people to live and establish a life for themselves if they choose to in that location. If that is close to where their family is or where the jobs are, the more the better. It is all about increasing choice and maximising the benefit that we get from the massive transport infrastructure investment this government has made. We are not seeking just to have people move from point A to B. We want to give them a home at point A and a home at point B, because we know that that is how you get quality communities and quality living in Victoria.
We are looking at changes to stamp duty. We heard from those opposite that they want to cut taxes. Now is the opportunity, and they want to drag their feet. They suddenly want to know more: ‘We need more information about cutting taxes. How does that work? Can we please have a briefing on that?’ For people that talk about it so much, you would think that they would be right behind us and ready to support. We are in a rush to get things done. We are cleaning up spilt milk. Grab a mop and help us.
Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (13:38): I rise to oppose the government business program and support my colleague the Manager of Opposition Business in doing so. The reason is that this government refuses to allow debate and consultation to take place in an informed way and to have debate occur, which is how this chamber should operate. I have heard from the member for Tarneit and other members that providing information prior to debating a bill is irrelevant. Here we have a government business program put forward by the Allan Labor government of three pieces of legislation, and one of the pieces of legislation that they actually want to debate is not even on the program yet. They have just introduced it, and they want to debate it today and do not even want to give the people debating with them – the opposition here – the opportunity to be informed. They certainly do not want to give anyone the opportunity to go out to the community and talk about it. We have seen that so many times. That is why we oppose this program, because we have asked for respect and to go into consideration in detail on one of the bills – the Transport Infrastructure and Planning Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 – a bill which I think takes away, without a doubt, the voice of local community, the voice of local government and the voice of the people who will be affected by the changes this government wants to introduce.
This is a government that says it has been building more houses. This is what I have heard in this government business program motion debate, but they have not been building more houses. There is less social housing and dwellings – that is, a net loss in the figure of houses under this government for the last 10 years. So they can pull the wool over your eyes as much as they like with words, but the facts speak loudly – that is, a net loss in the amount of dwellings in the social housing figures that the government have got.
So here we are with three bills on the agenda, and one of them they refuse to actually consider in detail. The other two are very much tinkering around the edges. The Agriculture and Food Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 puts forward some changes to the sale of raw milk, something I absolutely endorse. I do not want to see raw milk sold, compromising our standing as a green and clean producer of milk. However, this raw milk bill was debated in 2022, so the reason we need another change now is because the government actually did not do the job properly in 2022, so here we are in 2024.
The Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2024 – they are saying they are proud of their Education State. Well, have a look with your eyes wide open. We are in a situation where we have got an education crisis. We have got teachers leaving the system in droves. Here we have a government that does not have legislation on the table that will actually bring about the legislative changes that are needed to address the areas of failure of the Labor government.
In fact one of the bills that we have put forward today which would have been debated is the Tobacco Amendment (Stamping Out Fire Bombings) Bill 2024. This is to introduce licences to try to bring our state in line with other states that are not having the firebombing of tobacco shops like we are seeing – two a day, 108 over the last 18 months, terrifying communities. We can see change that is really being called for if the government will put on the agenda the program that will actually bring about change and address some of the crisis. You cannot tell me that two firebombings of stores is not a crisis for this state. It is. It is extraordinary that we are in a state where we wake up every morning and hear these stories about people being terrorised.
Not to mention the housing crisis that the government are trying to wash over; not to mention the health crisis, where people in pain are waiting for extraordinary amounts of time on waiting lists. There is the education crisis, as I have already mentioned, with teachers feeling unsupported and not backed in and leaving in their droves. We have got a road crisis in south-west Victoria and in fact right across the region, where our roads are crumbling.
This is a government that has forgotten to listen to the Victorian people, that wants to shut down debate and calls information given to the community ‘irrelevant’, as heard here today, when we have a state in crisis under this government. Enormous debt – they do not know how to fix it. We have got children dying in the child protection system. We have got roads crumbling, a health crisis, an education crisis, an energy crisis – the list goes on. Victorians are in a world of pain because of this Allan Labor government.
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (50): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Eden Foster, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, 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, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson
Noes (25): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Chris Crewther, Wayne Farnham, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, David Southwick, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Nicole Werner
Motion agreed to.