Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Motions

Prahran electorate crime

Debate resumed.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:15): I was discussing many aspects of this motion as it relates to the Prahran electorate prior to question time at 12. I was informing the house, I believe, that I lived in Prahran for a couple of years about a decade ago, in fact not too long after the local member who has caused this by-election actually got into office. The only time I actually saw any local campaign by that member was on the subject of public transport, and responding to Ms Copsey’s comments earlier on that subject, I note that his one campaign on public transport was to make all the Pakenham and Cranbourne line trains that run express through Hawksburn, Malvern, Armadale and Toorak stop at those stations. Never mind the fact that these stations were already very well serviced by 10-minute services on the Frankston line, he wanted people on the Pakenham and Cranbourne line trains – constituents of mine have to travel sometimes up to an hour on those trains – to make additional time in their day so that people in the Prahran electorate could have even more train services. More train services are a very good thing but not at the expense of making journeys longer to the outer suburbs. Unfortunately, that is one of the many reasons why I never quite felt I fitted in with that community, as wonderful as it is. My heart is back in the outer suburbs, where there are real things this Labor government has actually been doing, and for that matter that includes upgrading the frequency of those trains on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines some time ago.

As I said, I know, Mrs McArthur, the Prahran electorate is not your cup of tea. This is a by-election that is being fought within the tram tracks, so I am sure that everyone else in your party groans every time you open your mouth to discuss it. I am sure they groan on your side, ‘Oh, if only you hadn’t knifed someone to get onto the front bench.’ At least you were two votes short of Mr Mulholland. She almost got you, Mr Mulholland. Two votes – it was so close to getting you as well, Mr Mulholland. Nevertheless, I do acknowledge the evidently regal ascent of Mrs McArthur to her role and the promotion of those views, which show to the Prahran electorate that the Liberal Party – just as it is out of touch with my constituents in the south-east, just as it is out of touch with the outer suburbs – is out of touch with Prahran. Evidently, as I say, the fact is that after just three speakers on their own motion, the Liberals have run out of puff. I would have appreciated your contribution, Mrs McArthur. I would have appreciated your valuable insights into the Prahran electorate, Mrs McArthur, but you have run out of puff on that side. You do not even want to debate your own motion. And the Greens, who are the other main party contesting this by-election, only had one speaker. It is very, very disappointing that they do not want to engage in this debate as well.

But nevertheless, this is a government that will continue to defend its record in Prahran and across the state and indeed, as I said at the outset of my contribution, most importantly, this is a government that will invest in supporting our police and the justice system to get the best outcomes for Victorians and community safety, because that is what this government is focused on. While you two are focused on fighting each other and throwing things across the chamber, this government is still working, whether it be for Prahran, whether it be for Pakenham or whether it be for Polwarth. Wherever you are in this state, this is a government that is working for Victorians. We are doing our bit, as I discussed extensively earlier in my contribution, to improve community safety, because it is an issue that we take very seriously. But what we have here is a party that has no idea what its position is on the inner city, whether it loves it or hates it, and a party as well who will not even speak up on behalf of their own campaign.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:19): I rise to speak on Mr Davis’s motion regarding the Prahran electorate. I had the benefit of listening to the contributions in this chamber, and I note that earlier in the contributions there was next to nobody on the opposition benches. That is how much they actually care about this motion; they could not even sit in the chamber and listen to their own speakers. I have got 3 minutes and 20 seconds left on the clock. What I would like to talk about is that the Allan Labor government knows and understands what local communities need, and that is why I just want to give a shout-out to our upper house members who actually service the electorate of Prahran, because they have been very strong in their advocacy around the needs of that electorate.

I am very happy to say that the Allan Labor government has made record investments – more than $4.5 billion – in Victoria Police to deliver the modern, world-class policing services they deserve. I just want to give a shout-out to our serving police officers, because they do a fantastic job and every day turn up to protect Victorians. Some of the debate that has been in the chamber today around this motion has been all about crime and victims of crime, and I just want to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to anybody who has experienced crime and has been a victim of crime. What we have done is we have delivered more than 3600 new police officers on the beat to keep Victorians safe, because we listen to our serving police officers, who tell us what they need, and we deliver what they need. We have also invested $1 billion into new and upgraded police stations across our state and will continue to invest in this critical police infrastructure, because what we do is actually listen to those serving officers who tell us what they need, when they need it, not like those opposite, who want to campaign in here on this issue. They have no interest in actually helping Victorians; we know that. We will continue to ensure that Victoria Police have the resources they need and the tools they need to keep communities safe.

As I said, the City of Stonnington is serviced by two 24-hour police stations, in Prahran and Malvern, and I think that is something that those opposite actually voted against. Also, since 2015–16 the Victorian government has invested $353,754 in crime prevention grants to improve community safety in the Stonnington local government area – and might I say the council actually has a role to play. Ms Crozier was talking about graffiti and dirty shops and that sort of stuff. Well, council have a role to play as well. They should make sure that they work with all levels of government to ensure that if the community are reporting that there is graffiti and dirty streets, the council takes responsibility for cleaning that up. As I said, we have announced a number of community safety grants in the Stonnington local government area, and I look forward to hearing about how the local council is utilising that money if people are reporting that they are feeling unsafe, because the council has a responsibility there as well.

The current Leader of the Opposition stated that the Prahran police station has not been upgraded since 2005. Well, that was wrong, and I have just gone through all the investment that we have provided to the police to do what they need to do. Again, I will thank every day our serving police officers for the important work that they do in keeping our community safe, because they do a fine job on behalf of Victorians each and every day. We know what would happen under the Liberals if they got in government: they would cut, cut, cut. They want to cut public services and wages.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (14:23): This is an important motion. It highlights the failure of the state government and it highlights the failure of the local lower house MP in the form of Mr Hibbins to advocate strongly for Prahran, to make sure that the resources were there and to make sure that the community was safe. The community is not safe, and we have seen today another stabbing in Prahran, on Chapel Street. The community understands that this is just far too extreme and it has got to be stopped. That is why the police resources need to be provided by the government, so they can be allocated. They are winding back police – that is what this government has been doing, winding back police at the Prahran police station. That is what the figures show convincingly from the freedom-of-information requests. And there has been a huge surge in crime – Ms Crozier spoke eloquently about her own personal story as well. The fact is this is something that needs to be dealt with properly, and the government has not done that and the Greens member that was there did not deal with it. The Greens as a party have shown a softness and acquiescence on these matters. They do not seem to care for the people in that seat. They do not seem to care about the violence that is there. They are more interested in defending the offenders in many cases than the victims. So I urge people to support this motion.

Council divided on motion:

Ayes (14): Melina Bath, Gaelle Broad, Georgie Crozier, David Davis, Moira Deeming, Renee Heath, Ann-Marie Hermans, Wendy Lovell, Trung Luu, Bev McArthur, Joe McCracken, Nick McGowan, Evan Mulholland, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell

Noes (21): Ryan Batchelor, John Berger, Lizzie Blandthorn, Katherine Copsey, Enver Erdogan, Jacinta Ermacora, David Ettershank, Michael Galea, Anasina Gray-Barberio, Shaun Leane, Sarah Mansfield, Rachel Payne, Aiv Puglielli, Georgie Purcell, Harriet Shing, Ingrid Stitt, Jaclyn Symes, Lee Tarlamis, Sonja Terpstra, Gayle Tierney, Sheena Watt

Motion negatived.