Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Environment and Planning Committee

Inquiry into Securing the Victorian Food Supply

Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (11:02): I rise to speak on the Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into securing the Victorian food supply. That makes the third for today, having only tabled it yesterday. In a rare show of collegiality from me in the chamber, I would like to thank all of our wonderful colleagues, particularly our chair the member for Wendouree, deputy chair member for Morwell, members for Bass, Monbulk, Ripon and Croydon and of course our wonderful secretariat, who also happen to be here – how special – from Igor to Sam to Helen, who is on maternity leave, and Imogen as well. Welcome to the team, and thank you so much for all of your hard work to make this committee report and inquiry a success.

It is one of those things where you have opportunities where you get feisty and you fight in the chamber but you can be friends outside. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to get together on this committee with members from both sides of the aisle and get out to places like Morwell and Ballarat, where we were shown a good time by all going out for dinner together as a committee. It was just so lovely to work in a collegiate way with members from across this place. I do thank them for it just being a wonderful committee. There were never any dramas, never any issues, and we all got along. It was a fantastic committee as my first committee to come on to.

If I can note as well, as the member for Morwell alluded to, yes, there was a baby boom in the committee. Watch out for, all of the other members, particularly the members for Wendouree and Monbulk, there was something in the water that we were drinking. In the time that we were on the committee, particularly in the public hearings, was when I found out that I am pregnant. In that same time we had the member for Ripon give birth to her beautiful baby Liam. In addition, one of the members of the secretariat, who kept it under wraps the whole time, told us at the very end and gave birth to a beautiful baby and is now on maternity leave. Would you believe that? That happened all throughout the committee this year, and that was pretty wild, so there you go. What was I going to say on that? The baby boom, yes. It was just wonderful, so lovely. It is a cautionary tale from both the member for Ripon, who gave birth six weeks early with her first baby, and the member for Kew, who gave birth five weeks early with her first baby.

I am 32 weeks pregnant, so I am a little bit nervous, if that is the track record so far for members of Parliament who give birth to their first children. But I am hoping for the best and that I will last longer than the next couple of weeks – but anyway, that is an aside.

While I am thanking people, if you would indulge me, given this will be one of my last opportunities before Christmas and before I go on maternity leave, I would love to just thank all of the people that make Parliament possible – all of the staff, all of the clerks, particularly in the Legislative Assembly. We are so grateful to Bridget, Vaughn and the team. You guys are just wonderful. From Rachel at member services to Ros at the front desk to Adam in security, there are just so many moving parts in Parliament and so many staff that make it possible, so thank you so much for all of your work this year.

I want to also thank my electorate office staff, particularly my office manager Diti and my staff Lenny, Nathan and Brandi. Thank you for just making this wonderful. My first 15 months in Parliament has been fantastic, and that is thanks to the aid and support of my staff, so thank you to you.

In the very last minute that I have left, what I did want to talk about and highlight as part of this inquiry was Victoria’s green wedge. That is something that we have looked at together as a committee, and from the beginning of my time here, from my maiden speech, I talked about the green wedge, because part of that is in the electorate of Warrandyte. It is a beautiful place, and we say that the city meets the country in the electorate of Warrandyte, and indeed there is green wedge in it. I said in my maiden speech that I would be, as my predecessors were, a defender of the green wedge, because we live in the lungs of Melbourne. It is a Liberal idea that was birthed through Rupert Hamer, and it is something that we are so blessed to live in in my part of the world, and so that was part of what we looked at as part of the committee.

I have just rambled a little bit, and I have got 10 seconds left. Thank you to the committee, thank you to everyone who made it possible, and thank you for a wonderful year in Parliament as well.