Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Business of the house
Program
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Business of the house
Program
[CONTENT TO BE INCORPORATED]
Here we are in our first sitting week for 2025. I want to extend my best wishes for the parliamentary year to all members of the place but particularly those on my side, and I want to thank them for the diligence they showed in the last sitting year when it came to getting up on their feet, speaking to bills and getting those bills through the house. Did you know, Deputy Speaker, last year this house passed 51 pieces of legislation that responded directly to the real needs and the lived experience of the Victorian people, who we so proudly represent week after week after week not only in this chamber but out in our communities.
This week is no different. We are here in this place pleased to be able to introduce some bills today, but we have also got a number of bills on the notice paper. This week the government proposes that we will look at the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 and the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024 as well as the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024. But let me just give you a bit of a brief outline.
The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill – our newly minted Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Local Government the member for Bentleigh will proudly steer debate on that bill in the house, which is amazing. We congratulate him for that. Our government has always been committed to making renting fairer and cheaper, because we understand that many, many people in our community rent and will rent for long periods of time, and we are the party that represents renters. Indeed our fabulous candidate out in Werribee is a renter by the way – what a contrast to another candidate who is a real estate agent from Essendon. But I digress.
The Retirement Villages Amendment Bill once again continues to build on our government’s commitment to making homes fairer for Victorians. The bill follows a very important review, the retirement villages review, which highlighted the complexity and variety of retirement village contracts that make it difficult for people to compare villages and to understand their obligations and costs. I know that this would be a concern of many in this community as we look to best represent the needs of older members of our constituencies who are eligible to take up places in retirement villages. I fit into the over-55 category these days, but I have the good fortune of being a home owner. Not everyone is in that position, and indeed many people make lifestyle choices to downsize and move into retirement villages for all the social benefits that they can deliver, but we want to make sure that they are getting a fair deal and they are not getting ripped off. Because this is what our government does every single day: we stand for working people. We stand for people who have worked hard all their lives and who are now seeking retirement. We want to make sure that they can do so with dignity, that they are respected, that their hardworking money is cared for and looked after and that their investments are protected.
The Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024 is a very important piece of legislation. That is why it was the Premier that made the call that in fact we would hold this bill over and not send it to the guillotine this week, because we want to make sure – knowing that the opposition has now come out and said that they are opposing the bill – that we give them every opportunity for each and every one of them to get on their feet in this place and outline to the Victorian community and to members of our religious communities, including our Jewish community, why they will be opposing a bill that seeks to make antisemitism a hate crime. They can explain to our LGBTIQ+ community why they oppose the inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ community and members – and people living with disability also – in our anti-vilification and social cohesion bill. I look forward to that.
I congratulate the member for Evelyn on her newly appointed position as Manager of Opposition Business. I look forward to working with her; she is much better than the last one.
Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (15:14): I rise to make my maiden contribution on the government business program as the Manager of Opposition Business. It is a great privilege to hold this position, and I am very grateful to the Leader of the Opposition for providing me with this very important opportunity. Before commencing my formal remarks on the government business program however, I wish to thank the Leader of the House for her very kind words of congratulations. Thank you. I would also like to thank the parliamentary officers for their very generous time in providing me with briefings – thanks to the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk and all in the Clerk’s office for all of the assistance that they have provided in the past two weeks to help me prepare for this role. I am grateful for their advice and their outstanding professionalism; they are an absolute credit to this Parliament.
As I think the Leader of the House would agree, these roles do serve a very important purpose in this Parliament to help it function efficiently and fairly, and whilst the Leader of the House and I will undoubtedly disagree on many, many points over the course of the Parliament, I will do everything that I can to assist in the efficient and smooth running of this Parliament, as challenging as that may be, because we owe it to all Victorians to do that. This is their Parliament, and the effective functioning of this Parliament is for all Victorians.
Having said all of that, I respectfully advise that the opposition will be opposing the government business program on the basis that it has sought for the two bills on this government business program to be taken into consideration in detail, but unfortunately the Leader of the House has denied that very reasonable request for us to go into consideration in detail on the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024 and the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024. On that basis we will be opposing it. It is a shame because we consider that this Parliament is at its best and most effective when it is given the ability to apply proper scrutiny to proposed pieces of legislation to ensure all voices in the debate are heard, and it is a shame that we are not going to be given that opportunity by this Labor government. For instance, the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill seeks to make wholesale reforms to the retirement sector, and one of the many measures of a civilised society is how we care for our most vulnerable and our senior citizens. We wanted to go into consideration in detail on that bill, and it is a shame that we have been unable to do that.
The other bill we consider deserving of considerably more scrutiny is the anti-vilification and social cohesion bill. We understand there was a very last-minute change last night – that the government chose, extraordinarily, to change and revise their proposed government business program to curtail it so that this particular bill is not taken to the guillotine this week. I think that that is very interesting, to say the least. I should say, lest there be any doubt, that the opposition abhors racism and vilification on the basis of race and religion in all its forms, and the opposition has been at the forefront of this debate. In recent times we have witnessed and called out unacceptable levels of racist and religious vilification on our streets. The bill does seek to make considerable changes. It seeks to introduce some criminal and civil penalties which have implications under the Commonwealth constitution’s implied freedom of political communication. In short, it is not a bill that should be just waved through under the radar, that should be rushed through; rather, it deserves close scrutiny and consideration to ensure that it strikes the appropriate balance to protect all Victorians from vilification at all times. So we will be opposing the government business program.
I want to take this opportunity to deviate from that just slightly and reflect on and pay tribute to all of those communities in the Grampians bushfires. We have got bushfires in Grampians, bushfires in Mildura and bushfires in a number of parts of Victoria. Many communities are doing it very, very tough. Our hearts are going out to those communities. We thank the emergency services and all our firefighters for the exceptional work that they are doing to protect our local communities in these times of bushfires and pay tribute to them.
Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (15:19): It is so good to be back here in this place again, speaking on our government’s business program for this week, our first week back in Parliament for 2025. As the Leader of the House just said, 51 bills passed through this place in 2024. I would like to think I am not that competitive, but I would like to see more than 51 pass through this place in 2025. That means there is a lot of work to get on and do here in this place.
There are a couple of things that are different here in this chamber that we have to note from when we last sat. We have our fourth Leader of the Opposition in four years.
We have also got a revamped cabinet. I have to congratulate the member for Bentleigh on joining the front bench. The member for Bentleigh used to be, I think, on the same chamber duty swing, so he is very much and greatly missed over here on this side of the house. Congratulations, member for Bentleigh, if you are listening.
I do want to give a big shout-out to the member for Evelyn. It is so fantastic to see her promoted to a position of leadership on the opposition’s benches. It does not happen too often, but when it does happen – they have picked a good one. Congratulations, member for Evelyn.
With only two more years to go until the 2026 election, I know that our government is going to be working really hard to get things done on this side of the house.
Members interjecting.
Sarah CONNOLLY: As always – that is exactly right. So it is fitting then that in the first week back in Parliament we are continuing on with delivering a really big legislative reform agenda that is really about the Victorian people. This side of the house is absolutely committed to and passionate about delivering for all Victorians and making Victoria a safer and fairer place to be, to raise a family and to be proud Victorians.
There are three pieces of legislation that are up for debate this week. The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 is going to deliver on a number of housing- and rental-related commitments that we have made to strengthen Victoria’s rental market. I have been out and about in my local community over the summer talking about those, and I know that they are extremely popular with our local community, particularly amongst young people. This is all part of our housing statement and is part of the suite of reforms that we have introduced over the last year. So I look forward to contributing to this one later today.
We have got the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024 continuing the tremendous work that began in previous terms of government to deliver meaningful reform for the retirement village sector and the wonderful and incredible folks that live in these communities. I have gone and met so many wonderful seniors, some of my favourite people in the local community. I know I got Christmas cards from a lot of them in December last year, and it is wonderful to be able to make a contribution here in this place this week on that amendment bill.
We have also got the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024, which makes good on our government’s commitment to strengthening our anti-vilification protections and, by God, cracking down on hate speech. We have seen far, far, far too much of that over the summer since we were last here, and this bill comes at a really important time when we are seeing so much division and hatred fester in our community. I for one am a really keen to speak on this one later in the week.
All three pieces of legislation we will be debating this week reflect the kind of forward-thinking reform that Labor governments are renowned for and that many people time and time again vote for. Whether it is through what I consider to be landmark reforms, like the anti-vilification reforms, or major protections like those that are going to be found in the housing statement bill and the retirement villages bill, we are making meaningful change. It is change which the Victorian people have time and time again voted for and which will again come through and be put at the 2026 election; we are going to talk about things that we have gone ahead and done here in this place to make people’s lives better and fairer.
None of these bills are necessarily tinker-around-the-edges-type legislation. They make genuine change to make our state better and fairer for everyone because, as I have just said, this is who we are as a government. This is what Labor governments are about. They are about governing for everyone in this state, ensuring that we are an inclusive state, a fair state, and that this is a great place to live and raise kids and be proud to call yourself a Victorian. I will be supporting the business program.
Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (15:24): It is wonderful to be back, because there is a lot of work to be done in Victoria. I do not know that we will even get anywhere near 51 bills. As the member for Laverton pointed out, 51 bills were passed in the Parliament in the last year – and have a look at the state of Victoria. We are in the worst state that we have been in for a long time. Crime and justice – honestly. The roads are crumbling; 91 per cent are in a poor or very poor condition. The cost of living is out of control. There are legislative levers that could be pulled to alleviate some of these issues.
When we talk to communities and say that all of these bills have been passed, what kind of a difference has that made to everyday Victorians, to the common man? It has made it worse. As the Manager of Opposition Business pointed out earlier, we are opposed to the government business program because, although some bills will be introduced that could actually make a difference in everyday Victorians’ lives, they are all lumped into one bill and omnibus bills and not able to be considered in detail. Although there are elements – quite large elements – that we may not be opposed to, because there are a couple of clauses that make us uncomfortable or we are opposed to, lumping them all into one bill is why we oppose not only the government business program but also these bills.
There are things that could be alleviated. For example, when we talk about the housing bill that is to be debated this week and rental providers, if you ask any rental provider in this state how easy it is now to be a rental provider for long-term rentals – it is so hard. No wonder there is a housing crisis and there is an abundance of short stays and Airbnbs, and the 7.5 per cent tax is not going to fix that in a hurry and neither is this bill that is coming through the house this week.
When we talk about the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024, I know that the Nationals elders, some who may or may not be qualified to go into those retirement villages, are looking forward to speaking on this. Maybe there will be brochures circulated. The point is that the Nats, as per usual, are keen to debate these issues and these topics on behalf of their communities because that is what the Nationals do best. We are out living within our communities. We have been there before – maybe not to retirement villages, although maybe not so far away – and we are out in our communities each and every day. On the way here in fact on my very long drive down from Mildura I managed to stop into the township of Wycheproof, at the Terminus Hotel, and the issues on the cards there were renewable energy zones and the right of appeal that has been taken away as part of those 51 bills that were introduced last year, making life much, much tougher for regional and rural Victorians and doing business tougher for our food producers, who provide food not only for the cities but internationally as well. This is not a numbers game; this has got to be an outcomes game, and even though the numbers are in the 50s, the outcomes are very, very poor. Life is getting tougher, particularly in regional and rural Victoria, where farmers in particular feel like they have been backed into a corner, and that was the message I received loud and clear over the weekend.
Before I conclude I do need to acknowledge the CFA volunteers. We have also now got bushfires in the far north-west. Two houses have been lost at Colignan. I had a briefing earlier today, and I did have a chat with the Minister for Emergency Services. The fires were started with dry lightning, and there has been a huge amount of dry lightning. It is very, very dry out there. There is a lack of moisture in the soil. CFA volunteers – there was a fire in Ouyen over the weekend on Sunday as those storms started to roll through, and they had 30 appliances and 30 crews turn out. Meanwhile, we had crews from Merbein, Red Cliffs and Mildura all fighting fires in the Grampians over their Christmas or what should have been their Christmas break. Thank you, CFA volunteers. You are the very best of us.
Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (15:29): Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I am a bit closer than I am normally used to being, but it is good to see you there.
It is great to rise on the government business program today and recognise a really important start to 2025. While the positions over there have changed, some of the rhetoric around government business and what might or might not be has not. I mean, I did like the member for Mildura trying to dress up that the opposition to the government business program was found in how the legislation might be presented.
I will differ from the approach of anticipating the bills or even bringing them on for discussion. But the notion that they would not just oppose for the sake of opposing probably does not stack up from recent form. It also lends itself to a well-worn path that I anticipate, where rather than moving amendments, there will just be a reasoned amendment, a catch-all, as they say, where you leave your homework too late in the day and you cannot be bothered to actually put forward amendments, so you just say, ‘Reasoned amendment: we oppose everything until it’s pushed off for consultation.’ What I am hoping for is that with these three bills and the shadow ministers that represent those portfolios there is something a little more fulsome in this discussion. I mean, it has been three months. Half the shadows over there have changed over, and we have an anticipated grievance discussion. There might be a bit of a winners and losers segment to do over there, but hopefully those shadows bring forward some actual meat into what they see the housing reforms and targets to be, because there has been a lot of opposition. There has not been a lot of vision of what they would change or do.
The other big, big element of legislation this week is the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024. This is a really important piece of legislation to have on the record. Some 15 of the Legislative Council recommendations from that important parliamentary inquiry are brought forward for consideration. What I want to see here – and this is a challenge for the opposition, crossbench members and the Greens – is: where do they stand on behalf of their communities? How will they support vulnerable Victorians that are impacted and demonised each and every day? We have seen the proliferation of some of the most dangerous and destructive types, and we need to see on the record those members opposite bringing it forward.
I live in hope, because what we have seen in the greatest hits of 2023 and 2024 is the Nationals – sore backs, those Nationals. They carry the team over there, don’t they? Goodness me. I mean, even Walsh – I mean Walshy – who just got put out to pasture by the member for Mildura, is –
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Correct titles, member for Mordialloc.
Tim RICHARDSON: The member for Murray Plains is an absolute superstar but will contribute more than some of his Liberal colleagues, just on average. We need to see far more engagement that serves our democracy and lives up to the important institutions of this Parliament, because when you are averaging a bill speech at 0.33 – it takes some of those over there two months before they get up on a bill to even speak. You are not doing the job of what opposition should do. You are not putting forward an alternative vision, and you are not coming in here on behalf of your constituents. So we will be taking receipts, taking numbers. We will see how we go. Just looking, I mean, some of the Nationals have a very high speech load. The member for Narracan gets a few runs away early as well. We just want to see: where do people stand on the anti-vilification legislation? After a lot of talk around the impact on communities, what are the things that they are opposed to? When people are under a huge amount of pressure – and we are seeing it in conflicts around the world and we are seeing it based on their race, based on their identity and based on who they love – there is never a more important time to be counted than now in this place on that legislation.
If there are changes, as the member for Mildura talked about, do not come in here with a reasoned amendment that outsources and just says, ‘Oh, we just don’t think there was enough discussion’ when this was literally a parliamentary inquiry a few years ago with 15 recommendations, an open source engagement that was put forward – I mean, how much more? That is such a cheap way of outsourcing opposition to someone else. So that is the key thing; that is the key challenge this week. Let us front up and start 2025 with momentum, with vigour, with importance and with at least just a few speakers on the opposition side every now and then.
The member for Laverton summed up the importance of the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024 as well, something that is a big, key important contribution. I am a bit further down the bill speech list. I do not think I might get on that one, but that is a really important one for members who will talk about it.
Tim RICHARDSON: The member for Narracan says that is a shame. That is okay – he gets tickets to the Mordi show. But that is a really important bit of legislation that we want to see debated as well.
Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (15:34): I rise to speak on the government business program. In doing so I would firstly like to welcome everybody back to the new parliamentary year and to acknowledge the hardworking parliamentary staff, clerks, security, electorate officers, speakers and all that make sure this place functions effectively – especially, of course, the member for Rowville, the father of the house. I also acknowledge the hard work of the whips, leaders and managers of government and opposition business on all sides, and I particularly would like to welcome my colleague the member for Evelyn to the role of Manager of Opposition Business.
On Labor’s government business program itself, the coalition will be opposing it for the reasons outlined by the Manager of Opposition Business. On the organisation of this government business program, this appears to be a government that increasingly does not seem to know what it is doing. First, we were only sent the first version of the government business program after 6:30 pm last Thursday night. Under the Allan government it has continually been like this, whereas we normally had the government business program well before 5 pm on a Thursday under Andrews. This government business program set out that we would consider and guillotine three bills –
Members interjecting.
Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, I do not want to interrupt, but it is appropriate that former premiers of this state are referred to by their proper titles.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order, Leader of the House.
Chris CREWTHER: As I mentioned, this government business program set out that we would consider and guillotine at the time three bills – the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill 2024, the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform)Bill 2024 and the Justice Legislation Amendment (Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion) Bill 2024; however, at 8:08 pm last night the government then sent out a revised business program where they will only now consider and vote on the retirement villages bill and the consumer and planning bill. They have said they will still look to debate the anti-vilification bill this week but will not guillotine debate on this alongside the other two bills. Either this government cannot plan their week to start with or are worried about the serious backlash from the Christian, Islamic, Jewish and other groups over their ill-thought-out and religious-freedom-smashing anti-vilification bill – or both. Overall though, it is worrying that this Labor government have had a two-month break from parliamentary sittings to prepare and still could not get their original government business program right.
Now, you will have to excuse me. I am a little bit nasally today at the end of a cold, but it seems that this government has also caught a cold and equally cannot handle the heat. This government business program reflects an unwell government that is increasingly worried about crushing polls, the most recent putting Labor’s primary vote at just 22 per cent. That could explain some of the bills put forward in the government business program, combined with the Premier’s recognition of Labor’s failed bail laws.
One of these bills is the Retirement Villages Amendment Bill. This is meant to be the most significant reform in decades, and the government has taken about six years to reach this point, yet stakeholders, particularly residents, have still raised so many concerns about the rushed nature of this bill. Just last week I met with local residents of retirement villages in my electorate, and many were very concerned about this bill as it is – particularly in light of what they have experienced themselves. They were very surprised when I told them that the bill was going ahead this week. Instead of doing the necessary further consultation, we have a government that is just determined to ram this bill through in the first sitting week of Parliament. There are massive issues in the retirement village sector that need to be fixed, and Labor are worried about their polling numbers, but they still are not getting it right.
We also have the anti-vilification bill, which the government was originally going to guillotine this week but now is not but has said that they might debate. This bill may be well intentioned, but it is completely flawed in execution. Perhaps the government have delayed this bill from being guillotined given the potential unintended consequences particularly with its new ‘genuine political purpose’ defence, which has already raised serious concerns from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim community groups alike.
Finally, there is the consumer and planning bill as well, a bill that introduces very sweeping changes to the rental and planning sectors without properly considering the impact on rental providers and tenants. The Leader of the House talked about ‘fairer and cheaper’, but all I see is a fair price hike. (Time expired)
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (49): 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, Paul Edbrooke, Eden Foster, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, 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 (28): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Chris Crewther, Gabrielle de Vietri, 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, Tim Read, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, Ellen Sandell, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells
Motion agreed to.