Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Motions

Budget papers 2024–25

Debate resumed on motion of Steve Dimopoulos:

That this house takes note of the 2024–25 budget papers.

Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (18:02): The Allan Labor government’s 2024–25 Victorian budget is a shocking budget that plunges Victoria further into financial ruin and sickening record debt. It cuts services and it increases taxes.

This budget was handed down in May this year, and six months later the government decides that we are able and allowed to debate the budget. For several months they have not allowed any of us on this side of the chamber to debate this budget because they know just how bad it is. After 10 years of Labor, Victoria’s debt will soar to an unprecedented $188 billion – more than New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined. To put that into some perspective, that equates to $67,000 for every single Victorian, an extraordinary record debt that this Labor government is burdening our children and our grandchildren with, and it does not even include the new debt that Labor will have taken on if it continues with its back-of-the-envelope, inner-city, city-centric Suburban Rail Loop project – not really a loop, but a train tunnel between Box Hill and Cheltenham.

Let us not beat around the bush. The Suburban Rail Loop is not fully funded, yet Labor is recklessly signing Victorians up to contracts for a project that is expected to cost $216 billion. It is a project that really should be shelved given the dire state of the Victorian state budget under Labor. If Labor ignorantly and arrogantly pursues and persists with the Suburban Rail Loop, it really could nearly double the already disgustingly mammoth level of debt that we have in Victoria. It will absolutely be a financial disaster. What is even worse is that Victorians will be forced to pay $26 million each and every day in interest repayments just to service this extraordinary level of debt. These payments will not do anything to pay down the debt; they are nothing more than flushing hardworking Victorians’ taxpayers dollars down the toilet. It is a consequence of Labor’s reckless spending and financial incompetence.

Just think what we could achieve in our community for $26 million a day – make the Warburton Highway in Seville East safer; fix all of the potholes; get some new trucks and equipment for all of our CFA fire brigades and the Lilydale and Emerald SES units; more local bus services; pay our police what they deserve to earn; pay our paramedics better; pay our TAFE teachers, who are still in a two-year protracted pay dispute with the war that the Labor government has with TAFE teachers; or provide desperately needed cost-of-living relief for people. Yet this budget provides nothing for my community in the Evelyn electorate – no funding to upgrade dangerous roads like the Warburton Highway, Seville East; Clegg Road, Wandin; Hull and Mooroolbark roads in Mooroolbark; or Hereford Road in Mount Evelyn; no capital funding beyond the design phase for Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood, our closest major public hospital; no funding for more bus services; and no funding to duplicate the Lilydale train line between Mooroolbark and Lilydale.

Victorians are absolutely fed up under a tired and dysfunctional Labor government. This is a financial disaster and has been made worse by the $40 billion in budget blowouts on major infrastructure projects and the cuts across the board. The budget reveals that almost $47 million has been added to Labor’s debt every day since the last budget. This is despite Labor, over its 10 years in office, adding or increasing taxes 55 times. That is right, and the Shadow Treasurer knows this only too well – that is 55 new or increased taxes under Labor. It is only adding to the cost-of-living pressures that Victorians are facing right now. Victoria is now the highest-taxed state in Australia, with Victorians on average paying over $5700 per person in taxes due to Labor’s financial mismanagement. It is absolutely staggering that Labor’s debt now represents 25 per cent of Victoria’s gross state product. What is even worse is that Labor is doing absolutely nothing to fix these problems. They are only making them worse.

Government expenditure is estimated to increase this financial year by $98 billion over the next 12 ‍months. That is $5.4 billion more than was forecast in last year’s budget. Do not worry, you can always trust and rely on a Labor government to ensure that taxes will always go up and never go down as they would under a Liberal government. Under the budget revenue from Labor’s economy-destroying taxes, it is expected to increase by $45 billion, the budget revenue from Labor’s taxes. Specifically in this budget, Labor increased the waste levy, a tax on putting out the rubbish, and they increased the fire services levy despite – and I think Acting Speaker De Martino will know this – our local fire brigades not seeing any of the financial benefit from the fire services levy, forecasting these two tax hikes will rake in an extra $1 billion in tax. So Victorians will be paying more tax just to put out the bins. No wonder they are itching to bin Labor in 2026, of course seeing that the Premier’s approval rating at this point in time is absolutely plummeting, at 29 per cent.

The main driver of this unsustainable expenditure is the growth in the public sector wages costs. Public sector wages costs are now expected to hit $40 billion by 2027–28. Public sector wages costs are now double what they were when Labor came to power in 2014. This is the big slap in the face for so many Victorians. When the Labor government gave out cheques for $5600 for every public sector worker for voting up their new enterprise agreement, this just goes to show how out of touch the Allan Labor government really are, because throughout the pandemic of course government workers maintained their jobs and their salaries without interruptions and continue to this day to be allowed to work from home. This is a massive contrast to the thousands and thousands of Victorians in small family businesses, both the operators and the workers in small family businesses, who had their livelihoods ruined through the extreme lockdowns that were imposed by Labor. Many of these small businesses closed and never reopened after the COVID lockdowns imposed by Labor. Some of these businesses are still pursuing the Allan Labor government through a class action.

Small Business Australia has put this budget in context and described this budget as a ‘whole lot of nothing’. It is right. This is a nothing budget because it does nothing – nothing to stop the spiralling debt crisis and nothing to help Victorian families and businesses recover from the financial ruin that we are currently in and deal with the cost-of-living pressures and the cost-of-business pressures. Labor says by virtue of some economic miracle it will achieve a budget surplus of $1.5 billion in 2025–26. How on any measure can Labor be taken seriously with this? Labor has been promising budget surpluses for years and has never delivered, and now they want us to believe that Victoria will return to surplus in 2025–26 with a surplus of $1.5 billion. They want Victorians to believe this despite delivering a $2.2 billion deficit this year, more than double their prediction last year.

Recall the recent fiasco a couple of months ago in the Department of Health where they threatened hospital amalgamations. Hospitals were closing wards because they did not have the funding to keep them open, resulting in waiting lists getting longer and ambulance ramping getting worse and worse. Then all of a sudden the Labor government miraculously found $1.5 billion after the budget processes. After the budget papers were published they miraculously found $1.5 billion that was not in the budget papers to allow hospitals to continue treating patients, to stay open. When the Premier and the health minister were asked about this additional $1.5 billion and where it came from, they refused to answer. It was clear that the Treasurer Tim Pallas was furious about the massive blow-out in the health budget, because only a month into the new financial year the Treasurer said that he was rather unhappy with the presented ‘shortcomings in budget management’. But I think the real reason why the Treasurer was so angry with the health minister was because only a month into the financial year the Minister for Health had already blown his promised $1.5 billion budget surplus. That is right, the promised budget surplus of $1.5 billion is exactly the same amount the Minister for Health needed to recover and cover up her budget shortcomings, her budget black hole, so it is clear that the promised budget surplus has already been blown away under the Labor government, another Labor broken promise.

Credit rating agencies have expressed serious concern about the rising debt and fiscal position of Victoria. Moody’s has raised doubts about Labor’s debt affordability, warning it will significantly constrain Victoria’s operating profile over time. They also expressed doubt about Labor’s ability to stabilise debt, meaning further pressure will be placed on the state’s credit rating. S&P Global Ratings confirmed that Victoria’s current AA rating was the lowest of any state or territory and noted Victoria’s recovery from the global pandemic had been slow in comparison to the rest of the world. S&P Global said that the budget confirms the government’s accounts are in large structural fiscal cash deficit. It is clear Victoria’s credit rating is at serious risk of being downgraded again given the Treasurer’s hastily organised trip to the United States back in July to lobby the credit rating agencies not to downgrade Victoria’s credit rating further. I can only imagine the Treasurer’s horror, after promising and undertaking to these credit rating agencies that Victoria’s deficit was under control, when he found the health minister had ripped up his promise of a $1.5 billion surplus because she needed to fill her budget black hole.

In my portfolio of industry, innovation and manufacturing we have seen Labor’s creative accounting at its finest. Touted as a savings measure in the budget papers, the government said it was taking $360 million out of the $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria Fund, but under sustained questioning in the Parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) process it was revealed that the $360 million was not a saving at all. Instead the $2 billion being spent over 10 years as originally planned would now just be spent over 15 years, meaning there was actually no cut. That $2 billion was still committed and the funding would just be delayed. Again, if this is the kind of creative accounting that Labor is relying on to deliver so-called surpluses, it is any wonder that Victoria is in the diabolical financial mess that it finds itself in under Labor. We were also promised that the government’s new mRNA manufacturing facility would be manufacturing 100 million vaccines by 2024. We have only got one month left of 2024. We are now told that this will not happen until 2025 at least. All types of manufacturers in Victoria are being taxed out of this state, with land tax hikes of up to 300 per cent, absolutely business- and job-destroying taxes.

In the skills and TAFE portfolio the Labor government is at war with TAFE teachers. TAFE teachers are walking off the job because they are sick and tired of being forced to work unpaid overtime under Labor as the two-year protracted pay dispute drags on. While Labor try their best to spin efforts on their supposed record investments in TAFE, that quickly evaporated when the minister was forced to concede in PAEC that more than half of the funding actually comes from the Commonwealth government and that there was not a single additional cent of funding under this budget; it was just money that, in the department’s terminology, was ‘repurposed’ from other programs. Victoria remains in a skills crisis and still invests the lowest amount in vocational education and training in Australia – and you do not have to believe me, just ask the AEU. The Victorian Liberals want to see a stronger vocational education and training system, but there is significant concern in the sector as private registered training organisations are being starved of contracts and in the upper house – the other house, the other place – Minister Tierney has refused to rule out that the Labor government will shut down regional TAFE campuses.

Again, for my electorate in Evelyn there was not one new cent of money for my local community. There is still no money to fix the Warburton Highway in Seville East, still no money to fix and ease congestion on Hull and Mooroolbark roads in Mooroolbark, still uncertainty about the upgrade for the intersection at Maroondah Highway and Killara Road in Coldstream despite the fact that the government has had money from the Commonwealth since 2019, and still no funding to fix Hereford Road in Mount Evelyn. Despite being promised over five years ago, the promised upgrades and expansions to the Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood continue to gather dust, and we are now hearing that potentially it is going to be moved to Wantirna, which would be a massive blow to the residents of the outer east and the Yarra Ranges.

This is a horror budget. Labor is ruling over Victorians with the highest debt in the country and the highest taxes and forcing up people’s cost of living. It is a budget that does nothing to arrest the cost-of-living crisis that Victorians are facing right now because of the reckless spending of the Allan Labor government. Our state has become weak and vulnerable, but only a coalition government has the courage and conviction to set Victoria on a path of prosperity, to be financially competent, to lower taxes and to be pro business and pro Victorians.

Ros SPENCE (Kalkallo – Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Community Sport, Minister for Carers and Volunteers) (18:17): That was what can only be described as a negative and angry contribution from the member for Evelyn, and I can promise you a different tone. We are going to have an optimistic and positive tone. It is terrific to have the opportunity to rise and speak on this year’s Victorian state budget because it prioritises the delivery of the infrastructure, the services and the support the families across our state actually rely on.

As the Minister for Carers and Volunteers I spend a lot of time talking to people who provide support to others right across the state. There is a consistent message that I get – I am sure everyone here hears it – and that is that people are doing it tough. We know that. We know that the cost of living and interest rate pressures are affecting people across the state, across the country and indeed across the globe. There are many people, having never accessed support before, who are now requiring regular food relief, which is why this year’s budget provided an additional $6 million to support organisations to provide food relief, building on more than $56 million that we have invested in food relief since 2020. This funding includes $2.5 million to support the work of our neighbourhood houses, who are increasingly providing food relief; to continue the work of the state’s six regional food hubs; and to fund competitive grants programs for statewide food relief providers and for community- and volunteer-led organisations. This is critically important funding at a time, as I mentioned before, when we are seeing the cost of living continuing to rise and interest rate pressure really taking a toll.

This funding complements other cost-of-living relief being delivered by this government, which in this budget includes further funding in my community sports portfolio for the very popular Get Active Kids voucher program. This program provides vouchers of $200 to help eligible Victorians aged 18 and under to play grassroots sport. This program is not just popular, it is working. In the latest round of the program more than 50 per cent of applicants have told us that they would not have been able to participate in community sport without the voucher program.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): Order! The time has arrived for the joint sitting to choose a person to hold the seat in the Legislative Council rendered vacant by the resignation of Samantha Ratnam MLC.

Sitting suspended 6:20 pm until 6:28 pm.

Ros SPENCE: Acting Speaker Walters, it is terrific to see you in the chair.

A member: Horrific, did you say?

Ros SPENCE: I did say it was terrific. I would never say that to my neighbouring member, because I know that what I have to say in this contribution will also be of interest to the member.

Before the joint sitting I was talking about our very popular and effective Get Active Kids voucher program. We know that it is working because more than 50 per cent of recipients have told us that they would not be able to participate in community sport without their Get Active Kids voucher. That is really a terrific outcome to have from that program, and it is something that I am very proud of as the Minister for Community Sport.

Of course our government also understands that in order for Victorians to participate in community sport we need to have facilities that are fit for purpose, facilities that are appropriate and facilities that are accessible. That is why in this budget we are investing an additional $17.5 million to upgrade infrastructure to improve ovals, pavilions, courts and change rooms, bringing our investment in community sport infrastructure since 2014 to over $2.3 billion. I am very pleased that in my electorate we are chipping in $90,000 for new lighting at the Craigieburn tennis courts, and this is in partnership with Hume City Council. What it will do is provide more court time for people who want to get out and play some tennis, and it is building on our really significant investment, which is helping to get more residents out and active. The budget backs more local clubs in every corner of our state with the continuation of the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund alongside basketball hubs in seven locations and of course the very popular country football and netball program.

Our regional communities are incredibly important, and they are home to much of our world-class agriculture sector and our many primary producers. Having taken on the agriculture portfolio last October, I am delighted that this budget continues to support this sector. This includes supporting farmers and communities to save water and become more drought resilient with a $59.8 million investment to develop sustainable irrigation practices. Additionally through this budget we are partnering with the Commonwealth government to deliver a combined investment of over $20 million in the Future Drought Fund to support farmers in preparing for future droughts. We are also helping farmers protect their livestock from pest animals with an additional $2.74 million, which includes the continuation of the fox bounty program.

More broadly this budget makes a significant investment in supporting animal welfare research, policy, education and compliance, with over $13 million provided in this budget. We released the draft animal care and protection bill for public comment late last year, and this was a really important step in reforming existing laws, which are almost 40 years old. I look forward to continuing this important work in partnership with a really wide range of stakeholders and the broader community.

This budget also makes significant investments in protecting the state’s biosecurity, which is critically important to our state’s prosperity and our $20.2 billion agriculture industry. The budget delivers $15.8 million to support emergency animal disease preparedness, and this is on top of the $69.7 million announced in December to support the national eradication effort of the dreaded red imported fire ants.

I am also pleased that this budget supports families in my electorate of Kalkallo, which I note is now the largest in Victoria, with over 60,000 electors. As my community continues to grow we are continuing to build on the biggest investment in local education that our community has ever seen with funding to build a new secondary school and a new specialist school in the suburb of Kalkallo, both of which will open at the start of 2026. Mickleham South primary school, to be located to the west of Oscar Romero Catholic Primary School, which we have recently visited together and we also contributed to, will also welcome its first students in 2026 when that school year kicks off. Mickleham Secondary College, which opened just last year, will benefit from more than $26 million in funding to deliver the next stage, including a new learning neighbourhood and arts building and the creation of an extra 675 places for local students.

Our government’s investment in local schools has been massive, and by the end of this term I will have opened 14 terrific new local government schools as well as six non-government schools that we have contributed to, giving thousands of families access to state-of-the-art facilities close to home. In addition to these new schools, there has been consistent investment in school expansions across the electorate as well as expanding important programs like the school breakfast clubs; Glasses for Kids; Smile Squad; the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund; the affordable school uniforms program; and the tutor learning initiative – all really important programs that help ensure equitable outcomes for students.

Access to health care across Melbourne’s north also remains a top priority for residents, and it is terrific to have secured funding to support better local care. Construction of the new community hospital in Craigieburn is well underway. In fact it will soon be completed, providing a wide range of services in a convenient, accessible location. Just down the road this budget has funded a massive upgrade to the Northern Hospital, including a brand new emergency department with a dedicated paediatric zone, additional inpatient beds and a mental health, alcohol and other drugs hub. The Northern Hospital emergency department is one of the busiest in the state, and pressure is taken off this service by the virtual emergency department public health service for non-life-threatening emergencies. Whilst this service is part of Northern Health, it provides emergency care to Victorians anywhere in the state 24 ‍hours a day, seven days a week.

Finally, there is the important issue of transport in this growing community. We have continued to fund work to progress major projects like the Watson Street interchange in Wallan, which will see the delivery of a full diamond interchange at Watson Street and the Hume Freeway. This project is really important to the Wallan community, and with the business case now complete we are getting on with the environmental surveys and investigation work so construction can start on this much-needed project.

Melbourne’s outer north is a community of choice for many families, and it is why access to public transport is so important, whether it is giving young people the freedom to get out without relying on Mum and Dad or whether it is simply giving commuters the option to leave the car at home. Building on our investment in bus services, the new route 524 bus service will provide better access to transport across the Kalkallo community. This service will operate between Olivine and Kalkallo, connecting at Donnybrook station with route 525 and the 501, which is the new shuttle service that has already been delivered by the government. It is a direct shuttle between Donnybrook station and Craigieburn station, taking people from the V/Line service to the Metro service. It is incredibly popular and important to getting all of those new residents where they need to be.

As a representative of a rapidly growing community, I am focused on making sure that our community has the infrastructure it needs as it grows, and I am very pleased that in this year’s budget we are continuing to deliver for all Victorians, both in my community and across my portfolios. As I said at the outset, we know that people are really doing it tough. That is one message that continues to come through. That is why it is important that the supports that are provided in this budget are there and that they go to the people that need them when they need them. That is what this budget does.

Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (18:37): I am very pleased to finally get to speak to the budget. The state budget highlights the reality and disadvantage that communities face due to this government’s financial mismanagement and cost blowouts. I have never known a time of distress like people are experiencing right now. Cost of living, housing affordability and availability, rental stress and homelessness are at an all-time high. It has simply become so hard for so many just to make ends meet, and this government has a lot to answer for. Victorian families are facing really tough times, all because Labor does not have a plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis or pay down the record debt that will make life harder for generations to come.

Victorians have been hit with more than 56 new or increased taxes, with the recent addition of a death tax, since 2014, and our state is being forced to pay the highest taxes in the nation, with less money to spend where we need it most. The $216 billion in cost blowouts on the Suburban Rail Loop and the billions in cost blowouts should be spent on the housing, hospitals, roads, schools and infrastructure needed in our communities. We are currently in a health crisis, with hospital and service cuts. This budget cut health by $207 million, down 33.8 per cent. Cuts to health will force Victorian hospitals – many, like GV Health, are already operating in deficit – to reduce services. It was appalling that the government called on hospitals to cut budgets in the planning of hospital amalgamations. This led to an outcry and community protest. We still do not have the details regarding cuts to hospital services and staff.

We do know that the government is forging ahead with grouping 74 health services into 11 local health service networks, as it is calling them – this is amalgamation – and the government is progressing measures to cut costs on the already distressed health sector. What does this mean for health services? The government then did do a backflip and there was an announcement of $1.5 billion due to the outcry. There are still no details regarding funding from that budget announcement to assist GV Health, which in recent times had to close beds and put a freeze on staff recruitment. A community forum was held in Shepparton in August, where we heard firsthand from hospital staff from GV Health about extreme staff shortages, staff recruitment being frozen, staff burnout, ambulance ramping and patients being left on beds in hallways. There are still significant issues that need to be addressed across the health sector, and this government is failing.

In this budget we also saw dental services cut by $36 million, ambulance services cut by $24 million, the home and community care program for young people cut by $41 million, health workforce training and development cut by $24 million and maternal and child health and early parenting services cut by $2.6 million. This government have their priorities all wrong, and health care must be a priority. It is also appalling that 75 per cent of funding has been cut to cancer research. Cutting critical cancer research is scraping the bottom of the barrel and has outraged Victorians. After a decade of Labor we now have an exorbitant debt forecast to reach $188 billion by 2027–28 and interest payments expected to hit $26 million per day. This government has lost complete control of its spending and complete control of its debt, and it is Victorians who are paying the price.

Victoria has been labelled one of the country’s biggest underperformers by the Reserve Bank of Australia, as new data ranks the state the worst for doing business. Victoria is ranked the worst state in the nation for payroll tax, land tax and land transfer duty. RBA assistant governor Sarah Hunter singled out the Victorian economy as one of the worst performing in the nation during an appearance at a parliamentary inquiry.

Cost of living is a significant issue impacting the lives of Victorians every single day. People are doing it tough, and my office is inundated with many people struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. My hope from this budget was that we could help those doing it tough, but that has not happened and things just keep getting harder. Cost of living and financial stress have got to a level that is overwhelming, and the level of hardship continues to grow. How does this government expect people to manage with increased power bills, rental increases, increased grocery bills and increased taxes? I recently had a response from the Treasurer to my adjournment matter. He said:

We know Victorians are paying more at the bowser, the supermarket and for their electricity bills.

The Treasurer’s own response acknowledges the increased financial pressures being put on Victorian households. Well, Treasurer, you need to do something about it.

A growing number of working families are joining the queues for the first time of hungry Victorians relying on food donations. Just recently Shepparton Foodshare had a fundraiser, highlighting the significant increase of people seeking food relief. The alarming increasing trend shows that many families are anxious about adequately feeding their families. I have been a volunteer at Foodshare, and it is overwhelming to see the enormity of the need to help people get food on the table. Agencies are stretched to the limits, constantly putting a call out for more support.

Just this week Shepparton Family and Financial Services put out a call for help for food donations. They are really struggling to meet the demand for food relief from the community as the numbers are growing at such a significant rate, and they mentioned their grave concerns for the increased number of families that will need support over the Christmas period. Organisations like Shepparton Foodshare are also putting calls out to the community to help provide food for those that are struggling.

People Supporting People are another local organisation who provide meals for the homeless and those in need, and I am a volunteer. I want to acknowledge the amazing work of Azem Elmaz and his team and the other volunteers. Azem is an extraordinarily selfless man who lives his life giving to those in need. This government could learn a lot from him. People that are living on the street and sleeping rough depend on people like Azem and his team. Azem also goes out most nights, delivering hampers of food to the homes of those who do not have food to provide for their families. It is extraordinary to think that that level of demand and of need is happening. Azem has also found the increase in demand has grown, and it has become extremely overwhelming.

The government just keeps adding more taxes, expecting the family budget to stretch further, and many households are under extreme financial pressure. This budget saw an increase of two more taxes, the fire services levy and the waste levy, adding additional and unforeseen costs to a family household. Once again this government expects people to just find these extra costs. Well, it comes at a sacrifice. I recently heard of a family that said they had to cut out swimming lessons and gymnastics classes for their children as they simply could no longer afford them. This would just be one example of how families are having to make sacrifices to be able to make ends meet. Victorians are paying the highest taxes in the country. Every single Victorian man, woman and child has a yearly Labor tax bill of $5834 floating over their head.

Real cost-of-living relief comes from lowering taxes, something this government continues to ignore. More than 3000 businesses packed up and left Victoria from January 2022 to March 2024. 3085 ‍Victorian businesses moved interstate. At the same time Queensland welcomed 4276 new businesses. Victoria’s growth rate of new businesses was the lowest in the nation. Victoria has the reputation of being the most expensive state to do business. Surely this government has to acknowledge these alarming figures and see the damage being done to the state by losing so many businesses.

When it comes to housing, we are in the midst of a housing affordability and availability crisis. Labor has introduced more than 30 new or increased property taxes in the last 10 years, and we are paying the highest property taxes in the nation, which is leading to higher property prices and higher rents and is driving critical investment in new supply interstate. The unexpected change in land tax, which has lowered the tax-free threshold from $300,000 to $50,000 during a housing and cost-of-living crisis, has had a significant impact and has been completely detrimental to the rental market. Property owners who had planned for their future are now finding themselves in a position where they must either pass on their costs to the tenant or sell their property. Just this week it was announced that Victorians are struggling to pay Labor’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes on time, as new figures confirm that more than one in three unpaid land tax bills are more than 12 months overdue. This should be no surprise when so many Victorians are under extreme financial pressure. The headlines of ‘tax to the max’ are very accurate.

Let me read an email I received from Mr Stafford from Numurkah, who said:

I have made the decision that it is no longer feasible to own a rental property in Victoria, which is resulting in two families in Numurkah that will be looking for a new residence …

based on someone buying the properties to live in. With the incredibly short supply of rental properties in regional Victoria, why on earth would this government target landlords? I have also been contacted by many self-funded retirees who are now faced with financial uncertainty, who thought they were set up for their financial future. These are people who are not financially dependent on the state, and who have tried to put themselves in a positive financial position for the future.

The state budget has failed to address housing. Housing availability and affordability have increased homelessness along with soaring living costs. We are going backwards fast in my electorate when it comes to housing, and those reaching out for housing support have significantly increased. Last week I met with Celia Adams, CEO of Beyond Housing, and we discussed the significant housing and rental stress in the Shepparton electorate. We have 2239 people on the waiting list for social housing, with half of those classified as priority applicants. We have one of the highest rates of homelessness across the state. It is a daily struggle for people trying to find an affordable house or rental, and if you do, there are probably 50 others in line. We have people living in cars, sleeping rough or couch surfing. The government promised 80,000 homes a year. The reality is 51,000 homes were built last year and mainly from the private sector. This government keeps making promises that it cannot keep. I ask: what housing in my electorate will be received out of the 80,000 homes a year? This government is turning its back on housing in regional Victoria.

When it comes to roads – where do we start with roads? My office is inundated with complaints about the unsafe state of our appalling roads. I have never seen our roads in such an appalling state. Based on a poll of more than 7000 Victorians, Goulburn Valley Highway, Nagambie to Shepparton, was ranked fourth of the state’s top 20 roads with safety concerns, with motorists citing potholes, poor road conditions and intersection safety concerns. Labor failed to meet its road repairs target by 25 per cent. The road asset management budget was cut by $19 million, and we have 16 per cent lower spending than in 2020 on road maintenance. We have local trucking companies having to pay thousands of dollars per week on repairs to their damaged vehicles caused by the appalling condition of the roads, and many drivers are experiencing damage to their cars. Victorians do not feel safe driving on our dangerous roads, and this government needs to prioritise roads and road safety.

If we go back to Labor’s daily interest bill, which is over $20 million a day, in one day this could pay for 128 ambulances, two breast cancer centres and 2715 elective surgeries and fix many of our roads. In one day we could pay the yearly salary of 315 nurses, 510 police recruits or 305 paramedics, and the list goes on. Less than one day of interest payment would fund the state government share of $20 million for the development of the Shepparton Sports Stadium. It is astounding that my community has been waiting for decades to have this stadium funded, yet you think about the astounding interest on the state’s debt and what we could do with that money. There are many other rundown sporting facilities across my electorate calling out for investment. It is appalling.

The $600 million it cost to cancel the Commonwealth Games is $600 million of hardworking taxpayers money just gone, which could have gone towards important community projects. This is public money getting thrown away due to the financial mismanagement of this government. The economic opportunity that would have been invested into the regions is also now lost. It was an embarrassing debacle not only for our state but nationally and internationally. You do not have a significant announcement like the Commonwealth Games and then cancel and then pay for another country to host it. Tourism and major events have also been cut by $286 million, down 60.9 per cent. Regional Victoria depends on tourism and major events, which make a significant financial contribution. The Airbnb tax will have a significant impact on regional tourism and visitation.

Labor should pause the Suburban Rail Loop, which is costing Victoria billions in cost overruns, and this project is still significantly underfunded, while Greater Shepparton is still awaiting a significant contribution to the Shepparton bypass. We have been waiting for funding for this for many, many years. The state government funded a business case showing that they do support and acknowledge the need for the Shepparton bypass. Twenty-five per cent of the state’s trucks are registered in Greater Shepparton, yet we have this primitive road network where we try and navigate trucks trying to do what they need to do to get their produce to the port. We also have trucks belting through the centre of Shepparton and Mooroopna on the main streets every single day. It is dangerous, it has a huge impact on local businesses and it is time that this government supported regional Victoria when it comes to our road network. Infrastructure – there is so much that we need within our community. As I said, there is much run-down sporting infrastructure.

We also have been asking for a bus review, at a very minimal cost. Our region has grown significantly, yet we cannot even get the government to support a bus review. Many of our small towns – our regional towns – on the outskirts of the Greater Shepparton region do not have a bus connection. We have very minimal bus services. This makes life very difficult, because not everyone has their own car. People depend on public transport, and I have been calling for the minister to support this bus review, this much-needed, small contribution to my region.

Finally, I think the government needs to do more, and particularly more for regional communities. We are feeling very disconnected, and we need to make sure that this government governs for all Victorians.

Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (18:51): It is an absolute pleasure to rise in this place to make a contribution to the budget take-note motion. I do so knowing that I will be making somewhat of a truncated contribution. To that end, I will get right to it and speak to some of the benefits from this excellent budget, the first budget under an Allan Labor government, which is committed to delivering for all Victorians. I will be moving to speak to the parts that will really benefit my constituents in Narre Warren South.

The 2024–25 budget is helping families in my electorate of Narre Warren South, and it is doing so by investing in education as well as outcomes for our kids, both inside and outside of the school gates. I look at a fantastic school like Lyndhurst Secondary College, which will receive some $13.6 million to upgrade and modernise the school. The funding for Lyndhurst Secondary College matches the commitment that we made in the lead-up to the 2022 election, and it is an investment that I am incredibly pleased to see come to fruition. It will meet the needs of our growing community out in the south-east through renovations, as well as adding more classrooms and amenities to this excellent secondary college. It was an honour recently to welcome our Deputy Premier and Minister for Education to Lyndhurst Secondary College, where we met the principal Eloise Haynes and students, who are very excited about the future of their school.

As a part of the $948 million statewide investment, families in Narre Warren South will see a new primary school in their area as well. The new Casey Central primary school is set to be built by 2026 and is one of 16 new schools across the state. I am very happy to say that construction has already started on that site. This will provide young families with another excellent public school in our area.

Students around the state, including at schools in Narre Warren South, will also be able to hone their sports skills while strengthening their education outcomes. The Academy Movement, which provides rugby and other sports programs to schools, will be receiving $747,000 in increased funding to help expand its programs to 10 schools. I know that the member for Melton has one of those schools in which the Academy Movement is supplying that program, and the funding has come through for that. I would just like to give a special shout-out to Jimmy Orange, who runs that program, a fantastic individual and a fantastic educator and motivator who is really bringing the best out of not just special needs kids in our communities but kids from different communities who would otherwise slip through the cracks. He is really making a massive difference to those students and their lives, as well as those of the whole community.

It was also excellent to welcome our Premier to Narre Warren South P–12 College earlier this year to see the wonderful outcomes for students who take part in Academy Movement’s rugby program, and a thankyou to principal Peter Thatcher for facilitating that and to the founder of Academy Movement Jimmy Orange for his work in that program.

Narre Warren South is an incredibly diverse electorate, and there are many initiatives under the budget to cater for the wideranging needs in our community. As part of a $3.5 million program, a Punjabi and Hindi VCE language program will be introduced at Alkira Secondary College; it is one of three beacon schools where these language studies will occur. Under a $1.35 million package, community hubs, which service many migrant and refugee families in my electorate, will receive funding to continue carrying out their holistic and wraparound support services. The 2024–25 state budget will also invest in community legal services. South-East Monash Legal Service, an organisation which services many in my electorate, will receive a share of the $28.78 million that was allocated to that. South-East Monash Legal Service provides invaluable legal support and resources for those trying to navigate the legal system, which at times can be quite complicated and inaccessible. The funding also helps to support the South-East Monash Legal Service Sporting Change program, which partners with schools in the south-east to teach young people about the justice system and provides schools with a school lawyer, integrated into their wellbeing team, as well. A big shout-out to CEO Kristen Wallwork and deputy CEO Ashleigh Newnham.

We know that greater attention on women’s health is needed, and that is why $18.3 million has been invested in women’s health services. To that end I would like to acknowledge Women’s Health in the South East, or WHISE. They are an organisation supporting a really diverse cross-section of women in my area, and they will receive a share of that funding to expand their work. Another shout-out, this time to the CEO of WHISE, the fabulous Kit McMahon. She really does some terrific work, and she and her team are just incredible at advocating for women’s health and the prevention of gender-based violence in my community. WHISE made a submission to the Victorian government’s inquiry into women’s pain this year, and we know that that will help to shape systemic solutions to the gender pain gap that exists in Victoria. There is some groundbreaking work that the government is doing in that area, and it really is terrific to have organisations such as WHISE adding their expertise and their skill set in contributing to the wonderful work that is being done by our Minister for Health. I know that this funding to WHISE will help give them the boost that they need to continue carrying out their valuable work in the future.

As I said, the budget not only provided directly to Narre Warren South but also contributed to various statewide programs that are assisting my community. We know that families are doing it tough, and that is why the state budget is helping to alleviate everyday costs through these statewide programs. This will make a difference to the hip pockets of families across the state in all electorates but also in Narre Warren South. There are quite a few highlights to go through, but I think I might just state what some of them are. They include the $400 school saving bonus, the school breakfast clubs, the Glasses for Kids program, the Get Active Kids vouchers, community sport infrastructure and participation grants and the early childhood education grants as well. To that end I will leave it there.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.