Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Business of the house
Program
Business of the house
Program
That, under standing order 94(2), the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5 pm on Thursday 9 March 2023:
Disability and Social Services Regulation Amendment Bill 2023
Water Legislation Amendment Bill 2023.
So another sitting week and another very full agenda from the Andrews Labor government as we focus on getting on with the job of delivering for the people of Victoria. Indeed one of the things that we will talk about during this week is the notice of motion that I put on the notice paper back in February in relation to the Suburban Rail Loop. I will, for the house’s benefit, read out that motion:
That this house notes that Victorians resoundingly supported, for a second time –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, for the benefit of the house I think the Leader of the House has accidentally moved the motion referring to the names of the bills that were introduced this morning rather than those that are going to be debated in the week. For the assistance of the house, perhaps the leader may want to correct that.
Mary-Anne THOMAS: I thank the Manager of Opposition Business for being alert and focused on what is going on in the house, not just in his party room. 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 pm on Thursday 23 March 2023:
Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2023.
Thank you. I ask for the house’s indulgence, and I apologise for that earlier error. But, as I was saying, we are looking forward to debating the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) motion, which reads as follows:
That this house notes that Victorians resoundingly supported, for a second time, the state-shaping Suburban Rail Loop, including SRL Airport, described by the Shadow Minister for Education on social media as ‘a mangy dog’ of a project.
Well, I think we can all agree that Victorians saw the SRL somewhat differently. I am certainly looking forward to that debate, and indeed for each of those members – I might say, all of whom reside on this side of the house – representing communities that will benefit directly from the Suburban Rail Loop, I look forward to their contributions.
On the other hand, I wonder what we will hear from those on the other side. They have had two elections to consider the SRL, and each time they have fallen on the wrong side of history when it comes to supporting state-shaping projects, projects that deliver jobs –
The SPEAKER: Order! Can the Leader of the House come back to the motion before the house.
Mary-Anne THOMAS: Thank you very much, Speaker. As I said, I think it will be a terrific debate.
We will also be debating of course the government’s Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2023. Once again, this is a bill about a very important reform – a reform that was delivered by the Andrews Labor government, because we believe that all lives matter and we believe in supporting those who are most marginalised in our community, including injecting drug users. We know that the facility has safely managed more than 6750 overdoses and has saved 63 lives. Once again, this promises to be a very interesting debate, and I will be looking forward to hearing how those on the other side attempt to argue against a facility that is providing life-saving services. I might say, unlike so many on the other side of the house, I have had the opportunity to visit the safe injecting facility. It is a comprehensive health service. There have been more than 3200 referrals to health and social services from the service –
The SPEAKER: Leader of the House, can I ask you to come back to the government business program.
Mary-Anne THOMAS: Thank you, Speaker. I have had that opportunity, and I look forward to that debate.
Finally, of course we will also be talking about the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. This is a bill that delivers much-needed reform to our building system, and consumer protection is central to those changes. It implements key foundational improvements identified by the building system review expert panel, and it will enhance our building system here, creating more jobs and opportunities. I commend the government business program to the house.
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:18): The coalition will be opposing the government business program. Those that were watching the debate on the government business program in the last sitting week will have noted that part of the debate was about the government moving a government business program forward that lacked detail. It simply made as a final point that there could be items considered by the Parliament that week that were on the notice paper – and clearly that cuts against the grain of the concept of what the government business program is all about. But they were listening. The government were listening; I have to give them some credit. This week they have come back with a program, and they have actually listed their items that they want to debate. Unfortunately, what they have confirmed in writing for the world to see, for Victorians to see, is that they want to waste the Parliament’s time. They want to use Parliament’s time to sledge the opposition. That is purely what the Parliament will be doing this afternoon. The government are going to waste time and debate a motion moved by the government which is effectively a matter of public importance item or a grievance debate item, because they have no program. And the reason they have no program is because in the last sitting week a number of bills were introduced on Wednesday, not Tuesday, and so today the notice paper is spare and there is nothing for them to debate. So what do they have to debate this afternoon? They have to debate a coalition sledge motion. What a waste of the Parliament’s time.
Not only is there that item, but the government has also listed for potential debate the Statute Law Amendment Bill 2022. For those that were watching, that was a bill that was introduced in the last Parliament, but it is a different bill in this Parliament. We on this side of the house are very disappointed that our side of the house and the non-government benches have been refused a bill briefing on the bill. Outrageous. It is outrageous that the government is now so arrogant it would refuse a bill briefing – a longstanding tradition not just of this place but of parliaments full stop – to brief the non-government benches on a bill. The government’s line on that is that the bill is not a new bill. Well, it is a different bill. It is not the same bill that was introduced in the last Parliament, and so we have a bill before this place and a government who have confirmed in writing they are not willing to provide a bill briefing. Outrageous. It is a bill that has already gone through the Council without a bill briefing. The sheer arrogance and lack of courtesy I think is staggering. It is perhaps not surprising to all but disappointing nevertheless.
There are a number of other issues that we will deal with this week. I note that the Leader of the House moved a motion relating to some committee changes, and I appreciate that. I will note that the second part of the motion that was moved, which the Leader of the House has noted will be dealt with tomorrow, in relation to the Standing Orders Committee will change the proportion of the Standing Orders Committee, and it will change the proportion such that there will be more Labor members on that committee than there were in the last Parliament. Every Victorian should be looking at these changes the government are bringing in with a very watchful eye, because effectively they are trying to increase their proportion – some might use the term stacked out – on a very important committee that will deal with standing orders. That debate tomorrow will be had because the Standing Orders Committee is a very important committee in this place. As someone who has a keen eye on the standing orders of this place, I hope the Speaker will note over time my obsession with the standing orders. The Standing Orders Committee is a very important committee, and I think it is important that proportions on committees are not misused by the government in a way that diminishes the non-government members’ view.
We have seen just in terms of the management of the standing orders that the non-government business dealt with by this place by comparison to other parliaments is quite shameful and obvious. So for all of those reasons, the coalition will be opposing the government business program this week. I thank the government for being more specific in the program and confirming their use of the Parliament’s time in a wasteful way.
Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (12:23): It is great to rise and speak on the government business program, a wonderful and forward-thinking agenda once again of the Andrews Labor government. I was a bit worried today whether the coalition – because they had a big meeting today – would get here for the government business program. We wondered if they were going to be here –
The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mordialloc will come back to the government business program.
Tim RICHARDSON: We wondered if they would get here in time to start debating. Just to clarify for the member for Brighton – you can envisage how he was speaking in the party room today just from that contribution just before. He would have been –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the member for Mordialloc may not have been here last week, but I am sure he has not forgotten the rules of this place.
The SPEAKER: Order! Is there a point of order?
James Newbury: There is a point of order. I would ask you to draw him back to the motion – again – for a second time.
The SPEAKER: The member for Mordialloc will come back to the government business program.
Tim RICHARDSON: So there is a bit of confusion in this government business program from the member for Brighton, because the Statute Law Amendment Bill 2022 was actually briefed by member Davis in the other place in the Council. So I do not know how divided they are on that side, but they are not across the government business program. And I want to say also, because I said this earlier on in the year, there has been a lot of discussion around how we use the time in this Parliament, and the coalition and others have talked about getting more time. But when I go through a bit of a stocktake of who has spoken on bills in this place I see a very interesting trend – a very interesting trend. Second-reading speeches and the opportunity to contribute is really interesting. So I have put this forward, and I was going to –
Roma Britnell interjected.
Tim RICHARDSON: Well, no, Roma, you are in the Liberal crew.
The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mordialloc knows to refer to members by their correct titles.
Tim RICHARDSON: Thank you, Speaker. You see here that they are asking for more contributions and time in consideration in detail, but just since the start of this year we have had 29 hits on second-reading contributions as part of the government business program from the Liberals, the Nationals have had 19 and the government 88 – so 88 times we have fronted up and spoken. Last sitting week only seven Liberals contributed on the government business program during second-reading debates – there were 10 Nationals. So it is an extraordinary thing to say you need more time and you need to contribute more and put that forward but then not rock up to speak on important legislation in this house. That is the challenge for members in this Parliament: to contribute on behalf of their communities to debate on each of those bills. Some members here have only spoken on one bill, and when you say on the government business program that you want to contribute more, you need to put that forward as well. Those contributions are really important to our communities, particularly with some of the bills that are coming forward.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: The member for South-West Coast!
Tim RICHARDSON: They get a bit sensitive because I have raised this before; I have raised their contributions before. But these are two really important bills.
The Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, as the Leader of the House has put it, is a really important bill across those various reforms that have been recommended and put forward. That is going to be important in a long context of work that is being done. We see how substantial the building industry is, particularly in construction and the work that comes with that.
Importantly – very importantly – this week there is the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2023. This will be really important, with the discussion and the contributions members make and the speeches and contributions they put forward. This is literally a life-and-death debate, this one, on whether we support the safety of Victorians. These are bills on the government business program that it will be really important that we have contributed on into the future.
It will not come as any surprise that I will be fronting up to speak on the Suburban Rail Loop motion; I have got my name up there. I hope the member for Brighton fronts up and talks about this one as well. These motions are important because they are an opportunity to speak about state-significant policy and the impact that that has on our communities. We have had that in regard to rights and respect for people from the LGBTIQ+ community. That is an important values prism. The government business program offers all members of Parliament the opportunity to send a signal to their community on where they stand on important policies with their contributions. For the member for Brighton to so sheepishly discount motions just shows how disconnected they are from how important these are in our Parliament. We have had other motions put forward in that sense as well –
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: The member for Eildon!
Tim RICHARDSON: I think the member for Brighton said I am very classy. I appreciate that reflection from the member for Brighton. But this is a really important motion on the Suburban Rail Loop which will give an opportunity to every member of this Parliament to talk about a project of generational significance across our community. Once again the Andrews Labor government, after 3000-plus days, is delivering for Victorians.
Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (12:28): I rise to make a few brief comments on the government business program. I certainly support the idea that if you run out of things to say, you probably should sit down, and the member for Mordialloc should take heed of that.
This is another week that is light on legislation and another week of missed opportunities, and while the priorities of this state are the corruption and the dishonesty in this state, you do not see any of that in the government business program. What we will hear is government members spruiking the injecting room – an injecting room next to a school, which is quite disappointing. The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2023 – well, that says it all. I mean, there are so many things that we could be talking about from within our electorates and things like that, but sadly the government members will spruik the Premier’s lines. One after another they will continually speak these carefully managed lines, but not one of them will vote against an injecting room located next to a school. Not one of them wants it in their backyard, and they are happy to see the trial, which is turning permanent, in somebody else’s backyard.
Obviously, the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 has got broader community support, and there is more substance in this bill. Building is going along nicely in the Yarrawonga and Bright areas from my perspective, and if you want to see a progressive and forward-thinking community, come to Yarrawonga and Bright.
I am also told there could be a joint sitting and I am also told there could be a debate on the Statute Law Amendment Bill 2022, but there is definitely nothing on the government business program talking about the corruption of this government. With those few words, we have no choice but to oppose the government business program.
Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (12:30): I rise to discuss the government business program for this coming week, but I feel I must make an observation about the Manager of Opposition Business’s assertion that we have no meaningful business program. We have several important bills –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a very narrow debate. This is not observations on members time, this is a very narrow debate on the government business program.
The SPEAKER: I think that the member for Monbulk was just beginning, and I do ask her to speak to the government business program.
Daniela DE MARTINO: Thank you, Speaker. Coming back to my point, we have several important bills to debate, including the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2023, the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 and the Legislative Council’s amendments to the Health Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023. Some of these bills will be without much controversy, as was just alluded to, whilst others will invite a more rigorous debate – but that is actually the purpose of this place. This place is not a mere symbol of democracy, it is democracy in action.
If I may, the etymology of the word ‘democracy’ is well known but worth reminding oneself of whenever one has the opportunity. It stems from the Ancient Greek ‘dēmos’, meaning ‘the people’, and ‘kratia’, meaning ‘power’ or ‘rule’. Democracy is literally the rule of the people, and it is the contest of ideas. Sometimes the government business program ahead of us may invite very robust debate – as I am sure you are very well aware, Speaker, as you have to manage us all and temper the robustness of some of our debates – but it is a contest we should never shy away from and hopefully engage in with dignity. That is why we are all here – to be voices for our constituents, to debate these bills before us all with respect and to exercise the power to create laws in the name of the people whom we serve. These are critical pieces of legislation, and I fully anticipate that there will be some strong debate over the coming week. I am looking forward to hearing the contributions from all the members in the chamber. It goes without saying that we eagerly anticipate hearing the contributions from members of the government, but I am genuinely always interested to hear what is said on the other side of the chamber as well. The insights that are brought into this place are important. We all have our experiences and ideas, and we are all here to reflect the experiences and ideas of our constituents. I am here to represent the people of Monbulk, and I will be putting forward the interests of my community as I debate some of these bills before us this week.
In addition to these bills that are to be brought before this place, this week the government will introduce a motion on the Suburban Rail Loop, and I know many members are looking forward to speaking to this motion. The SRL is an exciting project with overwhelming public support, and there are sure to be many fine contributions made here in this place in regard to it. We can always look forward to further addresses in reply to the Governor’s speech from our returning members; they are sure to be compelling, and I look forward to hearing them all. We have certainly heard some wonderful speeches in this place so far in reply to the Governor’s speech from new and returning members from all sides of the chamber.
The Andrews Labor government has an incredibly important agenda of reform for this great state of Victoria, and the bills to be debated are evidence of such reform. This government, of which I am incredibly proud to be a member, does not shy away from the difficult decisions. As the Premier has stated on several occasions, leading is not about doing what is popular, it is about doing what is right, and we are here to do what is right. So whilst those who are here in opposition may not always agree with the government’s business program ahead or on what right looks like – we may not all have consensus on what right looks like – I am sure each and every one of the 88 of us that take a place in this place can agree it is an incredible honour to come in here and represent our communities and, collectively, all Victorians. So I look forward to the week ahead and participating in our government’s reforming agenda to make Victoria a better place than we found it.
David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (12:34): I rise to speak against the government’s business program, and already we have heard fine contributions from the member for Brighton and the member for Ovens Valley that have pretty much said that the government have run out of ideas. This is a very interesting government business program. It is one that you would expect to see in a fourth term leading into an election when you have got nothing really to talk about and you do not really want to talk about government business and bills but you want to get on with the next term of election.
The government had the four years and the government had an election, and you would think in the first year we would be up and about with a government with a huge number of bills to bring in to get on with the job – not to be lazy, not to be tired, not to be wasting our time. And this is what this government has done. This government has actually run out of ideas. In the first year in the first term they have run out of ideas, and as the member for Ovens Valley has said, they have run out of dough – they have run out of money. That is what they are doing. So what do they do instead? They bring back old bills into the Parliament, and then they decide, ‘You know what? Like we’re in some kind of student union debate, let’s just bring up a notice of motion and let’s have a debate about that and try and have a whack at the opposition.’ You would think that the government would have enough to talk about themselves without having to talk about the opposition. They have had an election and they have put a number of ideas to the public. You would think that the government would be ready to go, fired up, to bring in bills – and what do we have? Two bills, and with another one, ‘You know what? We’ll kind of see where we go’, because that is how planned they are, that is how rehearsed they are. We have got a statute bill that we still have not even had a briefing for. We are not sure whether we are coming or we are going. Seriously! And then in the notice of motion that the government have put up trying to bag the opposition they actually have not even got that right. They have not even got their own notice of motion right, because they are busy bagging the opposition but with the Suburban Rail Loop motion they are forgetting about all the other people that disagreed with the SRL – people like Michael Buxton, a planning expert, who disagreed with the SRL, and like a number of other planning experts who disagreed, like the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, which disagreed with the SRL. We have got so many people that have opposed the SRL, yet this motion before the house that we are going to debate only talks about the opposition.
They have not considered it in proper detail; they have not thought about proper detail. They are just, ‘You know what? We’ll give the opposition a whack.’ I think you would find that those Victorians who have the time to listen in to this Parliament – I am sure they have got plenty of other things to do, but if they have the time to think about this Parliament – would expect the government that they have elected and that they have invested in would actually have things to talk about and would not run out of ideas in the first year in the first term and would not effectively have to bring in these motions that are not even right. I look forward to talking about that SRL motion. I look forward to it and to being able to add to the list a very, very long list of people, including Michael Buxton, that have called it a thought bubble. They have called the SRL a thought bubble. He is a very, very, very, very –
Members interjecting.
David SOUTHWICK: Well, I will tell you what: certainly Michael Buxton is not a planning expert from our side. He is somebody that is very well respected. It is all very well for the government to be able to take on somebody when it suits them, but like we have seen before, when it does not suit them – and we have seen that in recent times – then they distance themselves from people, like we have seen in recent times with a former judge. It is very, very important for us to get on and do things and talk about things that matter. It is appalling that the government has run out of ideas so early, and if you are going to talk about a notice of motion, let us get it right and talk about all the other people that have opposed the SRL because of lack of detail, lack of dough and lack of a plan.
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (55): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Daniel Andrews, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Darren Cheeseman, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Jordan Crugnale, Daniela De Martino, Gabrielle de Vietri, Steve Dimopoulos, Will Fowles, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Sam Hibbins, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, Tim Pallas, Danny Pearson, Tim Read, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson
Noes (28): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Annabelle Cleeland, Chris Crewther, Wayne Farnham, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, Ryan Smith, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Jess Wilson
Motion agreed to.