Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Population growth

Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (14:39): My question is to the Premier. Victoria’s population is growing at a faster rate than at any point in the last 25 years. Many thousands of these new Victorians are moving to Victoria’s growth corridors located in outer suburban Melbourne and in regional Victoria. Is government investment keeping up with this massive population growth?

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, I believe the question is seeking a hypothetical.

The SPEAKER: I do not believe that is the case.

Will Fowles: Speaker, I just want to respond to the point of order. The point of order was suggesting that there was a hypothetical in the question. I will spring to the defence of my crossbench colleague here. The question asked about government investment. That is not hypothetical investment; that is investment, investment made, and I think that the question is entirely within order.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: In thanking the member for South Barwon, I do acknowledge that the member for South Barwon, like many members in this place, represents some of the fastest growing communities in the state. Indeed members who represent the municipalities of Wyndham and Melton represent some of the fastest growing municipalities in the country, which is why we do acknowledge that one of the important tasks of government is to support working people and families to have choices around where they can live, which is why building more homes in these communities is just so important. It is why we have outlined our plan to build more homes right across the state, but understanding too that as we build more homes, there is a need to keep pace with the infrastructure that makes these places not just great places to have a home but to be part of a local community as well.

In addition to all the work that we have done to build schools, to invest in hospitals and to invest in road and rail connections, of course we understand that there is more to do, which is why a really important feature of the work we are doing when it comes to building more homes is making sure that there is an infrastructure contribution regime that supports a fair distribution of the infrastructure that is invested in in those communities. At the moment the system is not fair. There is a hotchpotch; there are a range of different arrangements across the state as to how we partner with the developers and the industry to see infrastructure and community assets invested in at the same time as we build more communities. It is why, as part of the work we are doing to build more homes – to build more homes close to train stations, to build more townhouses and apartments – our 10-year release of greenfield land is all part of our overall efforts to build more homes right across the state. Whether you are in Brighton or South Barwon, we want to make sure that we are also investing in the infrastructure that keeps up with that.

That is why, alongside the work we are doing building more homes – and I am sure the education minister could tell me how many schools we have built; the health minister could tell me how many hospitals we have built – we also understand that we need to address some of those structural challenges, unlocking the planning system to make sure that there is a regime that gets homes built more quickly and that there is an infrastructure contribution regime that also supports the development of community assets as well. This is part of the work that we know we have to keep doing: building and investing in schools and hospitals and road and rail and community sporting infrastructure and having the structures around that to continue to support investments right across the state.

Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (14:43): Can the federal government do more to support local governments and your investments in delivering for these growth corridors?

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, Rulings from the Chair, page 156, from former Speaker Madigan, states that hypotheticals regarding future federal governments are out of order.

The SPEAKER: I believe the member for South Barwon was referring to the current federal government. I will allow the question.

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:44): I am sure it will come as no surprise to any federal government that a state premier is going to answer that question with a yes. Of course we will always look at opportunities to partner with Canberra, particularly following a decade of time when Victoria was not getting its fair share, when Peter Dutton was sitting at the cabinet table. What we have seen in the last couple of years is a partner in Canberra, where we have secured funding for schools, we have secured funding for important housing projects and we have secured funding for the Suburban Rail Loop as part of an infrastructure pipeline that includes the Suburban Rail Loop, the North East Link and the airport project – projects that support jobs as well as the infrastructure our communities need. I will continue to advocate on behalf of this state to get our fair share of infrastructure funding, because that is about supporting working people and families here in Victoria.