Tuesday, 30 August 2022

 Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale—Leader of the House, Minister for Planning) (13:53): I move:

That, under standing order 94(2), the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5.00 pm on Thursday, 1 September 2022:

Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022

Early Childhood Legislation Amendment Bill 2022

Major Crime and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022.

Monitoring of Places of Detention by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (OPCAT) Bill 2022.

There are a number of important bills to debate this week, and I think that after this morning’s efforts everybody will be glad to get to the consideration and debate of those bills. Can I again, as I usually do, begin my remarks by thanking the Manager of Opposition Business for continuing to work with us over the past two weeks and for having a constructive relationship. In terms of this week and next week—the last two weeks of debate to go in this place—we are certainly very committed to providing some very important bills to be considered within the house. There are four bills, as I said, proposed for debate and consideration this week, and I am delighted to provide a brief overview of each of those.

Firstly, we have the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, which goes to enhancing the regulatory system for early childhood education in Victoria. As the mother of a four-year-old—I accidentally last week described her as a three-year-old, and apparently she just missed seeing it on the screen, which both the grandparents and my husband reported was very fortunate—I know firsthand just how important the government’s agenda in this regard is and how much it goes to ensuring that we provide for the best possible opportunities for all children to develop and achieve their full potential. The bill is about ensuring that Victoria continues to be a nation leader in providing children with quality early childhood education that sets them up for life. It builds on the work that has already been undertaken by this government in supporting the regulator and giving them tools to uphold safety and quality standards across the early childhood sector. It is certainly something that I think is important and dear to all of us.

We have the Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022, which follows the release of the report of the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence in October last year. The bill represents the most significant reforms to casino regulation that this state has seen in decades. It also marks the next step in our comprehensive response to the royal commission’s recommendations. It introduces nation-leading reforms to tackle gambling-related harm and address money-laundering risks at Crown Melbourne in response to the concerns found by the royal commission. Victorians are absolutely entitled to a casino operator that acts with integrity and transparency, and this bill is the next step in ensuring that that does happen and that we can give Victorians the confidence that those integrity checks are there.

We have the Monitoring of Places of Detention by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (OPCAT) Bill 2022. This bill demonstrates our support for the principles of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. When we turn our minds to the atrocities that continue to be inflicted on our fellow people around the world, bills like this really are of absolute importance and are so crucial to the work that government does in supporting the human rights not only of our own citizens but of our fellow people around the world. I am very glad that we have the opportunity to consider that bill.

We have the Major Crime and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, which modernises and streamlines essential powers to combat crime and target the proceeds of crime in Victoria and acquits significant commitments of the Community Safety Statement 2018–19. It will also streamline, clarify and modernise fingerprint and search warrant powers and the use of assumed identities in criminal investigations as well as create operational efficiencies for police and, importantly, for our courts, and it will give police and law enforcement partners the tools that they need to respond and to keep our communities safe.

Deputy Speaker, thank you very much for your patience this morning. We certainly do have a very busy government business program ahead of us for the remainder of this week, and I look forward to the continued cooperation of those on the benches opposite and of course those around us in supporting the government’s agenda going forward. I commend the government business program to the house.

 Ms STALEY (Ripon) (13:58): I rise to speak on the government business program motion in the name of the Leader of the House. I can advise that on this occasion we will not be supporting this motion. We do so because we asked for a bill to go into consideration in detail and, as is often the case, that was not provided by the government.

I note that the Leader of the House in her contribution to this debate mentioned a couple of times that this week we would have four bills for debate and consideration. We will certainly be having them for debate, but the Liberals and Nationals did ask to go into consideration in detail on the Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022 because there are things about that bill. We would like to ask some questions and perhaps move an amendment. But I understand the Leader of the House, as is her practice and that of her predecessor, asked the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, and the minister in this case, the member for Williamstown, I believe, declined the opportunity to go into consideration in detail on the Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022, which is a pity. We do think that consideration in detail should be more the rule than the exception, and certainly under this government it is absolutely the exception. I think we have done it twice in this Parliament, and yet we ask—

Business interrupted under sessional orders.