Tuesday, 30 August 2022

 Ms GREEN (Yan Yean) (19:13): (6511) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for Housing, Minister for Government Services, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Regulatory Reform, and the action I seek is for him to visit the Ripon electorate to observe firsthand the myriad of economic opportunities that exist across its great communities.

In Dunolly the community there has a fantastic proposal for social housing to be co-located with the Dunolly hospital, where my late father was born as well as four of his brothers. We know that it was a Liberal government in the 1990s that tried to close that hospital. The community fought that action and won, and they are still an active community looking out for each other and coming up with ideas.

In St Arnaud a late, great mayor of Northern Grampians, Cr Tony Driscoll, told me and Labor’s candidate for Ripon, Martha Haylett, that he believed the old campus of St Arnaud High would make a perfect and central location for affordable housing. He was worried that a number of local businesses were operating at only 60 per cent capacity because there is not enough key worker housing in the town. It would be a fantastic thing to look at this issue in his memory.

In Maryborough the upgrade of the magnificent Central Goldfields Art Gallery, funded by Regional Development Victoria, is nearing completion, and it will be a fantastic drawcard not only now but also when the Commonwealth Games visitors come in large numbers to our wonderful regions. In short, Minister, there are a myriad of economic opportunities across these brilliant—

Ms Staley: And you’ve announced none.

Ms GREEN: You wait, member for Ripon, there will be stuff announced.

Ms Staley: None yet. You can’t deliver.

Ms GREEN: I can’t keep up? Give me a break.

Ms Staley: No, you can’t deliver.

Ms GREEN: I think you are seriously being outrun at the moment, sister. I look forward to joining the Labor candidate, Martha Haylett, for a fantastic visit with the minister to see what fantastic opportunities there are in the Ripon electorate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Yan Yean, just to clarify, which of the minister’s portfolios was that question directed to?

Ms GREEN: Government services.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Government services, thank you.