Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024

Introduction and first reading

The PRESIDENT (20:08): I have received the following message from the Assembly:

The Legislative Assembly presents for the agreement of the Legislative Council ‘A Bill for an Act for the appropriation of certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund for the ordinary annual services of the Government for the financial year 2024/2025 and for other purposes’.

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (20:09): I move:

That the bill be now read a first time.

Motion agreed to.

Read first time.

Harriet SHING: I move, by leave:

That the bill be read a second time forthwith.

Motion agreed to.

Statement of compatibility

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (20:09): I lay on the table a statement of compatibility with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006:

In accordance with section 28 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (Charter Act), I make this statement of compatibility with respect to the Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024.

In my opinion, the Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024, as introduced to the Legislative Council, is compatible with the human rights protected by the Charter Act. I base my opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement.

Overview of Bill

The Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024 will provide appropriation authority for payments from the Consolidated Fund for the ordinary annual services of Government for the 2024–2025 financial year.

The amounts contained in Schedule 1 to the Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024 provide for the ongoing operations of departments, including new output and asset investment funded through annual appropriation.

Schedules 2 and 3 of the Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024 contain details concerning payments from advances under section 35 of the Financial Management Act 1994 (Vic) and payments from the Advance to Treasurer in the 2022/2023 financial year, respectively.

Human Rights Issues

1. Human rights protected by the Charter Act that are relevant to the Bill

The Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024 does not raise any human rights issues.

2. Consideration of reasonable limitations – section 7(2)

As the Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024 does not raise any human rights issues, it does not limit any human rights and therefore it is not necessary to consider section 7(2) of the Charter Act.

Conclusion

I consider that the Appropriation (2024–2025) Bill 2024 is compatible with the Charter Act because it does not raise any human rights issues.

Hon Jaclyn Symes MP

Attorney-General

Minister for Emergency Services

Second reading

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (20:09): I move:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Ordered that second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard:

We are here today on the lands of the Wurundjeri People and I acknowledge them as Traditional Owners.

I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Aboriginal Elders of other communities here today.

The Allan Labor Government is committed to Truth, Treaty and Self-Determination for First Peoples.

President, as I stand here today to deliver the Victorian Budget 2024–25, times are tough for many Australians. Indeed, for many around the world.

Inflation is hurting. Interest rates are higher, and the cost of groceries, petrol and bills continues to rise.

That’s why this Budget is focused, firstly, on helping families.

From help with the cost of living, to investments in education, healthcare, road and rail – we want to make life easier.

Secondly, this is a Budget focused on fiscal discipline, making sensible decisions that respond to the challenges ahead.

It considers our two big problems – high inflation and workforce shortages – and how best to manage them.

And thirdly, this is a Budget for the future – we want our prosperous economy to stay strong.

In this Budget we’re making sensible choices. We’re helping families. And we’re building a strong future for Victoria.

SENSIBLE DECISIONS

As the world deals with challenging economic times, we need to face reality and make clearheaded decisions.

Just as inflation has impacted families – it’s also impacting our economy.

Rising prices of materials, labour and transportation have pushed up construction costs by around 22 per cent since 2021.

It’s not just cost pressures – we’re facing workforce pressures too.

Unemployment remains around its lowest level in nearly 50 years – and more Victorians are working than ever before.

That’s good news. But it also means we’re constrained by limited workforce capacity.

Infrastructure Australia estimates that demand for workers exceeds the current national public infrastructure workforce by 129 per cent.

To put it another way, Australia is already 229 000 workers short of what we need.

This worker shortage is hitting our construction projects, but it’s also hurting our caring and social sectors. Early childhood worker vacancies are three times higher than in 2019.

President, at the height of the pandemic we stepped in and used our state’s balance sheet to protect household budgets. This underlaid our strong economic recovery.

Now it’s time for Government to recalibrate, ensuring our investments are right for today, and tomorrow. This year’s Budget makes a range of sensible and disciplined decisions, while continuing to invest in the health, education, transport and housing Victorians need.

It responds to the capacity constraints in the economy, and inflation, that we’re seeing worldwide.

It does this by taking the following four actions:

• investing in workers’ skills to tackle labour shortages

• aligning our infrastructure program to better reflect workforce capacity

• supporting Victorian families with targeted cost-of-living help, and

• stabilising, then reducing, net debt to GSP, in line with our strategy.

President, with high global inflation, the International Monetary Fund, in its recent report on Australia, says now is the time for governments to adapt infrastructure investment to economic capacity.

We’re recalibrating with a clear path forward, backed by disciplined decisions.

Expenses are growing at 2.2 per cent per year on average in this Budget, below average nominal economic growth at 5.3 per cent – so we are shrinking the size of government as a share of the economy.

We’re also responsibly managing our capital program, with new capital investment lower than recent years. Infrastructure investment is expected to decline from a peak of $24 billion in 2023–24 to $15.6 billion by the end of the forward estimates. That doesn’t mean going from feast to famine. In this Budget we will progressively return the capital program to pre-COVID levels, to better align with the ability of our economy to deliver.

A sustainable, ongoing pipeline will provide certainty to the construction industry, and help them to build critical social and economic infrastructure for all Victorians.

Right now, we’re delivering a number of city- and suburb-shaping projects, including the Metro Tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel and the North East Link.

At the same time, we have a huge amount of funding tied up with the Melbourne Airport Rail project. We need to be realistic about the project and its timeline.

We’ve made the sensible decision to acknowledge the project is now at least four years delayed.

We’re also winding up COVID-era programs that are no longer needed, as we move into a new phase.

We’ll reduce the Government’s advertising spend, and decrease office space across the Victorian Government, reflecting the changed nature of work.

Our Best Start, Best Life reforms are transforming early childhood with free kinder, increased hours and government-owned childcare.

But with sustained low unemployment continuing to impact our workforce capacity, we’re going to roll these reforms out a bit more gradually, ensuring we give the workforce time to build up and skill up.

We’re taking a similar approach with the rollout of our Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals.

To give us the time to ensure we have the people and skills we need, this Budget pursues a more gradual approach to the rollout of our Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals. That gives us the opportunity to train and recruit the required workforce – and it also makes sure we’re learning from the rollout of the first two stages.

Breakthrough Victoria was set up to help the economy recover and grow jobs after the pandemic – but with those tasks well underway, we will extend the fund’s investment profile from 10 to 15 years, giving Breakthrough Victoria more time to review and be selective about quality investments.

President, as the world faced a raging global pandemic, we laid out a four-step strategy for our economy to survive and emerge stronger than ever.

The first and most important step was to let the Victorian Government’s balance sheet absorb the blow of the pandemic – protecting jobs, businesses, families and the community.

Our steps two and three were about returning to surpluses. We achieved step two by delivering an operating cash surplus in 2022–23, which continues over each year of this Budget and forward estimates.

We remain on track for step three, and this Budget forecasts an operating surplus in 2025–26 that is higher than previously predicted.

The Government is forecasting operating surpluses of $1.5 billion in 2025–26 and $1.6 billion in 2026–27, an improvement from the 2023–24 Budget Update.

The operating surplus is then forecast to increase further to $1.9 billion in 2027–28.

As a proportion of GSP, net debt is projected to be 24.4 per cent in June 2025 before reaching 25.2 per cent in 2026–27 and then declining to 25.1 per cent in 2027–28.

Economic indicators show our plan is working – our economy is now estimated to be almost 11 per cent larger, in real terms, than before the pandemic.

That growth is predicted to continue, with Deloitte Access Economics forecasting Victoria’s economy will outpace all other states over the next five years.

Business investment in Victoria is leading the nation at almost 6 per cent higher than the national average growth.

It’s clear – businesses are backing our plan.

Our disciplined and sensible decisions mean that now, with this Budget, we’ve been able to deliver on Step 4 – stabilising net debt as a percentage of GSP, for the first time since the pandemic.

That means we can add a new step to the Allan Labor Government’s fiscal strategy.

That is – the reduction of net debt to GSP.

This updated fiscal strategy is right for our times – with a firm focus on driving new growth across our state, while also acting to reduce debt.

To put this into perspective, our economy is worth about $600 billion today, but by the end of the forward estimates it will be worth nearly three quarters of a trillion dollars. The strength of this growth is helping drive a reduction in net debt to GSP.

HELPING FAMILIES

President, this is a Budget about helping families.

With the cost of living higher, we know how kids’ school expenses – things like uniforms, camps and excursions – can really add up.

That’s why we’re going to help families with a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus, to land right at the start of the next school year.

It’ll cover a range of school expenses, including the extras that make school fun.

We’re helping kids stay active, with vouchers of up to $200 for eligible families, to fund sporting memberships, uniforms and equipment.

We’ll give eyesight tests to more students in schools, tripling our free Glasses for Kids program.

Just like our Smile Squad’s free dental checkups in schools, it’ll save families money – and the hassle of getting kids to appointments.

Since 2014 we’ve invested more than $8 billion to transform early childhood education and development. This Budget invests to keep delivering Free Kinder, saving families up to $2 500 per child.

We’re also helping keep bills down with clean energy initiatives, like a $38 million boost for energy efficient hot water heater subsidies, and $6 million for more interest-free loans on solar battery storage systems in homes.

Reflecting the Allan Labor Government’s priorities – children and young people – this Budget continues to invest in our kids and our classrooms.

President, we promised to build 100 new schools by 2026, and this Budget delivers on that promise.

Seventy-five new schools are open, nine more are underway, and this year’s Budget invests $1 billion in 16 more new schools and additional stages at two recently opened schools.

We’ll upgrade 25 existing schools, with $227 million for things like new learning spaces, sports fields and playgrounds.

President, great teachers change lives, and in this Budget we are investing $139 million not only to get more teachers in our schools, but also importantly, to keep the ones we have.

We’re helping schools create job-sharing and part-time leadership roles, offering teachers more flexibility and work–life balance.

When crisis or illness strike, there is nothing we want more than world-class healthcare for ourselves and our loved ones.

This Government has invested $59 billion into our healthcare system – and the workers we need to run it – since taking office in 2014.

We have 60 per cent more doctors, 40 per cent more nurses, and almost 40 per cent more healthcare workers, than we did a decade ago.

From that base, this Budget now delivers the biggest investment in our healthcare system, ever.

It includes an unprecedented multi-year investment of more than $11 billion for services to meet the future health needs of Victorians, including more than $8.8 billion in operating funding for hospitals.

This is the biggest single investment in our hospital system in the State’s history.

We are enormously grateful for the talent and dedication of Victoria’s health workforce, and we will never forget the sacrifices they made through the pandemic, and continue to this day.

Our investment in this Budget secures the financial sustainability of our health sector, so our healthcare workers have what they need, to keep providing world-class care.

We’ve shifted care closer to home, with targeted interventions to get people better more quickly, and to reduce pressure on emergency departments.

We’re investing over $900 million to upgrade the Austin Hospital’s emergency department, and to deliver a new ED and more beds at the Northern Hospital.

We’re funding Monash Medical Centre with nearly $500 million to expand. It will get more maternity care, operating suites and intensive care beds.

And we’re helping Ambulance Victoria maintain life-saving services, with $146 million to support ambulance capacity.

We all know that nothing is more central to our safety and wellbeing than having a home.

But right now, many families are getting priced out of the market.

That’s why this Budget provides a further $700 million boost to the Victorian Homebuyer Fund – helping more Victorians realise their dream of owning a home and setting up our partnership with the Federal Government’s ‘Help to Buy’ scheme.

Our Housing Statement, released last year, also lays out a plan to increase housing in areas close to jobs and transport.

We’re investing $107 million to progress our ambitious housing agenda, creating the conditions needed for 800 000 new homes to be built over the next decade.

Building a home is a big venture, and we want Victorians to feel safe from being ripped off when they take this on.

We’re strengthening the Victorian Building Authority, and we’re protecting people building or renovating their home, with better access to domestic building insurance.

We’re helping keep communities safe, with programs to keep at-risk and vulnerable people out of the justice system and to address the causes of offending.

And we’re delivering some of the strongest gambling reforms in Australia, with $165 million for Gambler’s Help services, education and research.

It’s a travesty that women and girls are still experiencing family violence.

In Australia, one in three women over 15 years of age has experienced physical violence, and one in five has experienced sexual violence.

Ten years after the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence, we have implemented all 227 recommendations through an investment of $3.8 billion.

But as we are seeing daily, tragically, there is still more we need to do.

This year’s Budget invests a further $211 million to keep women and children safe, with interventions to prevent family violence and to help victim survivors – including funding to stop violence before it starts, with targeted investment in prevention.

President, regional Victoria matters to this Government.

Since first taking office, we have announced more than $45 billion of funding into the hospitals, TAFEs, schools, roads and rail that country communities need.

This Government has introduced and retained the lowest regional payroll tax rate in the country – and it’s paying dividends.

More than 170 000 jobs have been created in regional Victoria over the past nine years – right now we have more people employed in regional Victoria than ever before.

This Budget keeps that focus. We’re building four new schools and upgrading seven more, and supporting families with the cost of living.

We’re beginning to operate the expanded Latrobe Regional Hospital, and delivering a new mental health and AOD emergency department hub for Ballarat Base Hospital.

And we’re investing in V/Line, with $133 million to support the regional rail network, including operating new train yards, stations and VLocity trains.

This year’s Budget will spend $964 million to maintain our state’s road network this coming year alone – including extra funding to clean up the damage from flooding.

This is nearly double the average annual spend of $493 million between 2010 and 2014.

A POSITIVE FUTURE

President, this is a Budget that looks towards a big and prosperous future, with Victoria set to hit 10 million residents by 2050.

When we came to government in 2014, we immediately got on with delivering world-class roads and more public transport.

These projects are transforming our state, creating thousands of jobs along the way.

We are proud of the generational infrastructure legacy we are creating.

Since 2014, we have committed $120 billion to planning, building, operating and upgrading Victoria’s transport network.

Our Big Build – including the Level Crossing Removal Program, the Suburban Rail Loop, West Gate Tunnel and North East Link – will transform the way Victorians travel.

These assets will also hugely strengthen our state’s economy, and a stronger economy pays off debt faster.

The Metro Tunnel will open next year: the biggest and most city-changing public transport project since the City Loop opened more than 40 years ago.

This year’s Budget provides $233 million to get us ready for the excitement of Day One at the Metro Tunnel – for training drivers, timetabling and final testing.

President, the Victorian economy has created more than 560 000 jobs since September 2020, the highest jobs growth in the nation – accounting for about 1 in 3 of all jobs created nationwide over this period, and 1 in 7 of all people employed in Victoria.

We’ve supported thousands of jobs through our Big Build, we will have trained 17 000 nurses by the end of the forward estimates, and we have invested $32 million to incentivise doctors to become GPs.

We’ve invested $370 million to bolster the early childhood workforce, and we’re setting up training centres to create our clean energy workforce.

But with skills shortages in certain areas, it’s never been more critical to build the workforce of the future, today.

This Budget builds on our record with more than $550 million for skills and training, including:

• $394 million to continue access to training and Free TAFE, with its 80-plus free courses

• $117 million to continue supporting the TAFE network for students and teachers

• $11 million to support apprentices, trainees and their employers, and

• $16 million to skill up more mental health professionals for the future.

We’re also helping workers to upskill or change careers, with $32 million for retraining in high-priority industries like disability services, clean energy and construction.

Building a big future for Victoria means helping business owners invest and grow.

That’s why this past year we’ve worked with industry leaders to progressively abolish stamp duty on commercial and industrial properties.

This is a landmark reform that will make it easier for businesses to set up, invest in new land and buildings, and move locations.

It will create 12 600 jobs, and increase the size of the Victorian economy by up to $50 billion over the next 40 years.

Broader economic benefits aside, it means businesses pay $266 million less in stamp duty over the forward estimates – as shown in this year’s Budget.

This is about supporting business and growing the economy; an inclusive economy, that leaves no one behind.

President, our Early Intervention Investment Framework builds a better future by helping people early, before their problems get critical.

It puts evidence at the heart of budget decision-making, seeking out proposals with the greatest impact, and it measures outcomes over time.

For example, five initiatives in this year’s Budget set out to help victims of family violence, providing safety early, while also aiming to change perpetrators’ behaviours.

Overall, we’ll fund $167 million to deliver these services, generating at least $175 million of financial and economic benefits, as well as, critically, helping people.

It’s our fourth budget to use this groundbreaking Framework, with an overall $1.1 billion invested across 28 initiatives in this Budget alone.

Over the past four budgets we’ve funded $2.7 billion for early intervention projects, expected to generate benefits of $3 billion, in a double dividend that also helps Victorians.

We expect a return of up to 1.3 times the funding for service delivery, making this smart and effective spending that saves money and, most importantly, improves lives.

Building a better future also means dealing with the past – the Allan Labor Government is proud to walk with First Peoples in Victoria towards Truth and Treaty.

Together with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, we established Australia’s first formal truth-telling process, the Yoorrook Justice Commission, in 2021.

This Budget invests in self-determination and support for First Nations Peoples, including $6.8 million to extend the Commission as the state’s first truth-telling process.

We’re delivering better education for Aboriginal students in Victoria.

And we’re investing $51 million to improve shared decision making with First Nations people, and to get a greater understanding of our state’s history into schools.

Building a better future means preparing ourselves for a changing climate, and for extreme weather events.

Over this summer we’ve already had floods and fires, with more than 40 homes lost to blazes near the Grampians. Storms left thousands of households without power.

In this Budget we’re helping communities hit by catastrophic weather events, with more than $300 million to rebuild and recover.

We’re funding new fire trucks for the CFA and Fire Rescue Victoria, supporting our frontline emergency crews.

And we’re investing $25 million to support the State Control Centre, the heart of our emergency response system.

Following our move away from native timber logging, we’re making sure Victorians can experience and enjoy our forests.

This Budget provides $11 million to support the work of the Great Outdoors Taskforce, which will advise on future uses of our state forests.

This includes the nearly two million hectares of State forest previously used for timber harvesting.

An additional $105 million will help restore native forests, promote biodiversity, and maintain roads for bushfire access.

And we’re providing $290 million to create jobs for former forestry workers in forest and fire management.

We’ve brought back the State Electricity Commission – to cut carbon emissions, generate cheaper energy and support thousands of jobs.

And this Budget invests more than $18 million to plan for offshore wind generation, and $17 million to continue planning, and designing, a renewable energy terminal at the Port of Hastings.

We’re investing $85 million to help shield Victoria’s agriculture sector and natural environment from biosecurity risks.

We’re providing $44 million to the Environment Protection Authority to crack down on illegal dumping and other waste crimes which threaten our environment.

And we’re investing $17 million into our state and national parks, so they can be enjoyed by all Victorians.

President, as a community, we have a lot to be proud of in building a fairer, more equal Victoria for women and girls.

But, gender inequality remains all too common – here, and around the world.

Our Labor Government introduced Gender Responsive Budgeting three years ago, to get fairer outcomes for women.

I’m proud to be embedding Gender Responsive Budgeting into law this year, making Victoria the first state to do this.

It’s all part of building a safe and fair future, with equal opportunity for everyone.

President, in the past ten years we have faced natural disasters and a global pandemic – but it has still been a period of success and growth for Victoria.

Cast your mind back to 2014 and before we came to Government, when the state’s unemployment rate reached a peak of 7 per cent – and up to 14.6 per cent for young people.

Infrastructure was groaning with the burden of a growing population, but nothing was being built. The state was grinding to a halt.

Ten years ago, our schools were at capacity, Victorians only knew cuts and closures.

A decade later, our agenda has launched careers and jobs for thousands of people, and we can be proud that the Victorian economy powers the nation.

We have steered this state through natural disasters and a global pandemic, and shown we can navigate any terrain, with strong leadership, and compassion.

Only with clear-headed and firm decisions can we ensure the best future not just for us, but for our children, and our grandchildren.

We make our best decisions when we consider the generations to come, and take their needs fully into account, as we work to make a better world.

This country recently lost a great Victorian, and a great Australian, in Simon Crean.

Two decades ago, he described what a civilised society should aspire to be:

‘a country where anyone, regardless of where they live or how much they earn, can get the same standard of medical care when they get sick; a country where education is available on the basis of ability, not ability to pay; and a country that protects its natural environment for future generations to enjoy.

That is the sort of civilised society I want Australia to be.’

It is in fact the sort of society the Allan Labor Government is making a reality in this State.

Because at its best, good government enables, enlightens, enriches, enhances, and empowers – each and every member of its community.

To do so we must embrace the challenge of today without abandoning the opportunity of tomorrow.

President, it is my honour and privilege to deliver my tenth budget as Victorian Treasurer.

But the hard work must continue.

This Budget addresses the tough realities of our times with sensible and disciplined decisions.

It puts care for Victorian families at its heart.

And it lays the path to a bright and prosperous future.

I commend this Bill to the House.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (20:09): I move on behalf of my colleague Mr Mulholland:

That debate on this bill be adjourned for one week.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned for one week.