Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Leader of the Opposition

Chris COUZENS (Geelong) (17:16): I grieve for Victoria and for Victorians if they were ever to be led by a part-time Liberal opposition leader who prioritises holidays over community safety. While the Liberal leader was living it up on a cruise last week, the Allan Labor government was announcing Australia’s toughest bail laws ever. To me, this shows really poor leadership, but maybe they know that they have already got poor leadership and that is why they have had three leaders. Maybe there is number 4 on the way. Not a lot has changed from when they were last in government. They basically did nothing. They still do nothing except oppose everything and have no policy. They drifted through that four years delivering nothing. As a government, they delivered nothing. I am going to go on a bit of a history lesson here.

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Nepean and the member for Eureka can leave the chamber for half an hour and have a chat by themselves.

Members for Nepean and Eureka withdrew from chamber.

Chris COUZENS: As I said, they drifted through four years in government delivering nothing. There is a bit of a history lesson here. They promised a new public hospital for Waurn Ponds, for example, but it was never delivered, because in fact what they did was give that significant funding to a private hospital which was built, so we never saw the public hospital that they promised. When the Liberals were in government, Avalon was in serious doubt. There were 250 jobs on the line. The Liberals would not support Avalon to get out of the difficulty they were in, and it meant that it was probably going to shut down. They refused any support. Luckily for those workers, we won the election in 2014 and we saved all of those jobs and in fact increased the number of jobs that are there now and got Avalon back on its feet. During their time in government there were no new schools, there were no new hospitals and there was no new infrastructure. There was basically nothing. They delivered nothing. I know in my electorate and the entire region and I know in other areas around the state it was exactly the same. They were not delivering anything.

In recent times, those opposite turned their back on First Peoples. They withdrew their bipartisan support for treaty, adding to the cultural load on First Peoples in this state. The negotiations on treaty, which are underway right now, have been a long journey – a journey over eight years. It was only after the result of the referendum that those opposite decided they were not going to support it anymore. But instead of actually sitting down and having a conversation or a yarn with First Peoples, they just announced in the media that they were no longer supporting treaty, that they were withdrawing their support. There was no decency or respect in sitting down with First Peoples to have that discussion; they just withdrew it.

Those opposite’s behaviour during the pandemic, standing out the front generating hate and division in this state, was nothing more than disgusting. They stood out there on the front steps of Parliament spruiking misinformation, hate and division. What sort of leadership is that? Why would the people of Victoria accept that in any shape or form as any way of leading this state?

Now more than ever we must support and safeguard vulnerable members of our community and take steps to reduce divisive and harmful attitudes. The transgender community, particularly youth, face higher rates of abuse and traumatic stress compared to their peers. Traumatic stressors that youth face often include socially embedded forms of stigma, discrimination and marginalisation. What we are seeing and hearing from those opposite is a petition from Bev McArthur in the other place against the rainbow libraries toolkit. In May last year Brad Battin released a statement that said:

A Liberal Party I lead will never tolerate hateful and divisive rhetoric …

Yet he rewards a member of his team who continues to exhibit divisive and hurtful behaviour with a shadow ministry position. The point about that is that that position will have oversight of local government, including our public libraries. Just as disappointing is the harmful reality that the Liberals have spread outright misinformation about the content of this resource and confirmed that they would scrap it if elected. This intolerance for supporting diversity has a long history. This is the same party that fought against Safe Schools, a program supporting young people and families to feel safe.

I also do want to point out that Bev McArthur in the other place was present at a recent book launch here at the Parliament where a book by Dianna Kenny was presented and discussed at length. The book opposes inclusion and questions the legitimacy of a person’s gender identity. Her book opposes treatment and promotes divisive and harmful attitudes. What sort of leadership is that, where we are saying to transgender kids that this is not something that they can be part of. The fact that it was held here in the Parliament is concerning in itself. What sort of leadership is that. I continue to ask that question. This is not what the Victorian community expect of their leaders, I can tell you now.

Those opposite have generated a licence for hate, racism and division in this state and have continued to do that over a long period of time. They have no policy, they have no plans. Their plan is to cut services, things like what we have put in place. We compare that with what the Labor government has done and delivered. We have created the commissioner for LGBTQIA+ communities. We funded and built the Victorian Pride Centre. We developed the rainbow libraries toolkit and the funding of QHubs, which provide support to young people and their families. I know my experience with the Geelong QHub, and I know the Ballarat QHub is exactly the same. In talking to those parents and young people, they are so grateful to the government for having that service there. They rely on that service for the intensive support that they need, particularly the families, when they are dealing with their young people who in some cases are suicidal. To get that support has been really, really incredible for those families. We have also got the Victorian Rainbow Ready road map and so much more that we have done as a government. That is what good, strong leadership, equity and inclusive policies are all about. That is what state governments need to be delivering to their communities. What we see from those opposite is there is absolutely no way it is even on their agenda. They are not interested in those areas. But we do know that generally the community supports those programs and policies to protect those young people, to support those families that need it.

The work we have done to support our communities right across Victoria has really been unprecedented. The free kinder program is providing support to families, and it is providing support to those that may not have been able to afford to send their children to kinder. That is all there now – three- and four-year-old kinders. Women can go to work and have their children looked after at the kinder.

Free TAFE has been extraordinary. I know the impact it has had on my community of Geelong, and not just for young people, but many, many people in my community. They have been able to access free TAFE and now have a pathway to a career, which they never saw themselves having. Many in the community are coming from households where nobody has ever worked, nobody has ever had the education to be able to go on to a career path, and now they are seeing that happen in their own families. It is making an enormous difference to them, to their siblings and to their children. It is making an enormous difference for them to actually look at having a career. I have spoken to many people who are doing free TAFE . Some are doing nursing, some are doing pathology – all sorts of different areas and career paths. They are just so excited that they have had that opportunity, and some have now gone into employment and are working as nurses, as pathologists or whatever they might have trained for. To me, that is what good government policy is. It is about seeing those results. And it is not just in my community; I know that is having an impact right across the state.

I think the work that we have done in women’s health has been extraordinary. In my community we are in the process of building a women’s and children’s hospital, something that my community has really needed for a very long time, and this will help many parents. Those that have to travel to Melbourne on a regular basis will now be able to get that same service in Geelong without having to hit the road to get to the Royal Children’s Hospital, for example. There are enormous benefits to that, and we are also looking at how we continue to make that an inclusive facility for everyone.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence made groundbreaking recommendations. We implemented every single one of those, and it has made such a significant difference. We know that the Orange Door, for example, have provided a fantastic service. Anybody can walk in off the street and get that. Safe Steps – there are so many services that have come to light because of that royal commission, and this government implemented those recommendations of the royal commission. I spoke to many women who gave evidence to the commission, as well as those who did not, actually. I was getting emails from women saying, ‘Thank God somebody is finally doing something about family violence,’ and talking about their experiences. They said, ‘This may not help me now, but as we go forward, it will help so many other women and girls.’ That is something that I think we are all very proud of.

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System was another significant reform that this government undertook. The mental health system was broken at the time. Not many governments are bold enough to stand up and say, ‘We know our system is broken,’ but that is exactly what we did, and we have implemented –

A member: It was broken.

Chris COUZENS: Yes, but it is not now. We have implemented so much. I know in my own community the drug and alcohol and mental health hub has now opened in Moorabool Street and is providing that direct service that people need. At a time when their mental health is not great, they can walk in off the street. That is a real game changer in my community, as are the youth mental health beds.

At the moment people have to go to Melbourne to get their children that intensive support that they need. In Geelong we are building those beds, and they will be completed by the end of this year. So the royal commission into mental health is something that we should all be very proud of. Things like school breakfast programs, the school bonuses, the Big Housing Build, new hospitals – these are things that other governments have not done in the past. We have taken that step and made sure that we are providing every possible service to our community.

Those opposite cannot cherrypick on equity and inclusion. That is not what good leadership is about. For those opposite to bang on about us over there during this debate, I would question a lot of what has been said on that side of the house. What we are able to do here on this side is stand up and recite all the different things that we have provided for this state, which is why we have been elected three times. And I am sure we will be elected again in 2026, because people recognise good leadership. They might not like a leader or they might not like some of the things that we do, but they respect a good leader. That is what Victoria needs, so we need to continue to do what we do. What the opposition do is their business, but I think they are looking at a fourth leader at the moment.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Eildon I would just like to acknowledge in the gallery Mr Philip Davis, former member for the Legislative Council for Gippsland Province and Eastern Victoria Region. Welcome.