Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Opposition performance

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (16:46): Today I rise and grieve for Victorians who are facing substantial cost-of-living pressures and who would suffer severely if the divided and destructive coalition were ever to be responsible for these policy areas. I want to just address the Leader of the Nationals and some of his contributions. It is like today he picked up the talking points of October 2022 and was doing a doorstop not realising that Victorians have voted – Victorians have decided once again. That was probably the golden era for the Leader of the Nationals, back in 2014. The Office of Living it Up was just seeing the exit there. He is talking about things back in 2014. It is extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary. So he has gone through a bit of a litany of the talking points from October 2022 in his contribution. It just shows that they are arguing the toss, thinking Victorians did not get it right, that it is the Victorian people’s fault for overwhelmingly increasing the margin of the Andrews Labor government, for wanting us to deliver in fairness, in education, in health, in mental health reforms, in infrastructure and in cost-of-living relief.

I think some of this has been a bit more of a diversion today, some of the questions that were put forward. We have had a really serious incident in this Parliament today. A member of this Parliament in the other place has stood up and made some serious allegations about treatment in this place, and I think they need further consideration. The things that have been reported by Sky News are troubling for all of us, and they reflect the standards of this place and how we treat other members of Parliament and how they feel safe and secure in their place of work. I want to read a little bit of what this email said and put forward:

I once again feel completely stitched up and misrepresented by the leadership …

I am upset. Very upset. The way I have been treated and the way other conservative women in this party are treated is nothing short of bullying.

Bullying has been alleged today in that conduct.

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Speaker, I refer you to the previous point of order that was raised about impugning members, and I think that the member for Mordialloc is actually doing exactly that now.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mordialloc has not mentioned any members by name. The member for Mordialloc to continue. There is no point of order.

Tim RICHARDSON: So it goes to the heart of the distraction that the Liberal Party face at the moment, not so much the Nationals. You will remember the member for Gippsland South had a cheeky little reference where he said, ‘Oh, well, maybe we need to review the coalition agreement and maybe go it our own way.’ He has not said anything like that since – very quiet now about that. They did get nine members of Parliament in the most recent election, so they increased their representation and have substantially more representation in the shadow cabinet. They have more female representation in this place, which I think is really important as well. Our party has led that way in government boards, in representation of women in Parliament, and more than half of our cabinet are female ministers. It goes to the heart of treatment in this place and the distraction. The Leader of the Opposition talked about new standards, setting a new course. We saw this question time that already the Leader of the Opposition I think is now up to 50 or 60 times where he has asked for the Premier to resign.

We heard the member for Bulleen talk through how distracted – the leaking and the undermining that was going on, the destructive leakers. I am sure the 58 minutes that the member for Bulleen – I mean, literally the member for Bulleen was in the moment, shadow cabinet, shadow policy, the leader of the coalition, putting that forward. He sat down for a significant tell-all, and it is a really important description and overview of just how divided and destructive the Liberal Party is. You see those actions, what has been put forward and how the policies that they come forward with are really populist, really in the moment and trying to get a grab in the moment because they are so distracted, destructive and internally divided that they are not focused on serving the people of Victoria but on serving themselves and getting the next hit. So if you hear the member for Bulleen’s contribution, it is quite a telling representation of not being focused on outcomes.

A lot of the policy issues that were obviously debated and put forward we disagree with as a party, but I remember driving in this morning and him talking about the fact that they were already leaking as we entered the campaign period at the end of October. So they were more interested in leaking, being divided and going after one another than responding to the challenges that Victorians were facing. The cost-of-living pressures that Victorians are under now are unprecedented. The Premier today talked about another interest rate rise hitting working people who do not have any more to give. They are not the source of the challenges that our nation faces in inflation but yet have to pick up the slack each and every day as another interest rate rise happens, and they feel that pressure each and every day.

The mental health and wellbeing impacts that that has and the pressures we hear about coming through from Lifeline; people talk about cost-of-living pressures being one of the telling things. Luckily they have got a government here who is investing. We are investing in the recommendations of the royal commission. We have a levy that was supported by this government but opposed by the coalition to guarantee and ring-fence funding for mental health and wellbeing support. The Minister for Mental Health today talked about a massive increase. I think it was a doubling of mental health and wellbeing practitioners, mental health workers, who do an extraordinary job in mentoring and in supporting mental health and wellbeing outcomes. That is what we are focused on: supporting and delivering for Victorians, supporting the Victorian people with our election commitments, our positive plan that we took forward for fairness, investment in education and health and supporting our nurses and our paramedics – not some of the divided, nasty, low-road politics that we have seen from the Liberal Party and defined by them.

When you see members of their party who are under significant duress today and who do not feel safe in their place of work, in the Victorian Parliament, and who have today said that they have been bullied, it needs to be taken seriously. So we can have a diverted conversation about reports that do not find things, but when this is straight from the mouth –

James Newbury interjected.

Tim RICHARDSON: The member for Brighton might have a chuckle about this. The member for Brighton might audibly laugh about these things. He might audibly laugh about these things, but there is a member of your party today –

James Newbury interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Brighton!

Tim RICHARDSON: who is on the record as saying that they are very upset; they are to the point of distress. I think some of those opposite should be checking in on this member of Parliament who then said that this is nothing short of bullying and in a desperate action sent an email to every member of the Liberal Party today. So their distraction and their diversion – and this is apparently the new era of the Liberal Party. This is the new way under the Leader of the Opposition: no more negativity, no more division and being conciliatory with government.

We are not even five months in and the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hawthorn, is 10 times more negative than the member for Bulleen ever was, has nowhere near a constructive policy and has asked for the Premier to resign on 50 or 60 occasions. He is angry at the table, raising his voice towards the Deputy Premier and the Premier. We have not seen this since probably the first-term leadership of the member for Bulleen, that audible, visceral anger that is played out. Maybe this is the cultural pressure of a party that is divided, that is destructive and that is having a culture war in its own house rather than focusing on the outcomes and the needs of Victorians.

So that is the challenge today. Rather than diverting away from grievances and shopping lists that the Leader of the Nationals – I mean, seriously, we have heard that speech like 50 times in the grievance. He gets up and reads the same thing. It is like, seriously? He is arguing the toss, like did Anthony Rocca kick that point for Collingwood against Brisbane Lions. Was it touched on the line? Steve Silvagni in the Essendon and Carlton grand final – I mean, the Leader of the Nationals is prosecuting the 2014 campaign. That is just the inability and the disrespect – the inability to accept the election outcomes and the disrespect towards the Victorian people who resoundingly voted 47 seats in 2014, 55 seats in 2018 and 56 seats now. That is just the fact of the endorsement of our positive and optimistic plan about doing what matters rather than doing in each other like they do in the Liberal Party at the moment. That is the challenge today: will the coalition today, and will the Nationals. Obviously the member for Gippsland South has talked about rewriting the coalition strategy. Maybe that needs to be looked at – it is 19 members in here and nine – and the representation in the upper house. Are they feeling that this is reputational damage? Do the Liberal Party members get around their member of Parliament today?

James Newbury: How’s the low road?

Tim RICHARDSON: The member for Brighton did not want to cover any of this, and when the interjections were coming across today there was no discussion. Eyes were down. It was very obvious where the questions went today and who was not asking questions until the back end of this. But I think today is an opportunity to set new standards. In May, today, in 2023, in the 60th Parliament it is not too late for the Leader of the Opposition to rule a line under this conduct. He has had a rough start and gone down the negative road. It will not track well in an electorate like Hawthorn, where positive, optimistic, inclusive leadership is the only way to go. In our local communities, that is what Victoria is defined as. We accept all. We love and respect all – not some of the nasty politics of negativity and division that we see time and time again. But then we see today a line-in-the-sand moment. Maybe there is still time before the grabs at 6 pm. I think the Leader of the Opposition needs to go out and explain tonight whether the member of Parliament that has detailed her grievances and concerns is safe in her workplace. Is she safe in her workplace today? Has anyone else –

Ryan Smith: Why hasn’t Dan made you a minister? You’re very good.

The SPEAKER: Member for Warrandyte, you are not in your seat.

Tim RICHARDSON: He has got a pulse, the member for Warrandyte. He has been a bit quiet this term. The member for Warrandyte is not a fan of the member for Hawthorn. We remember when the seating plan came in and he was put up in the back row near the member for Benambra.

James Newbury: You know what that’s like, mate. Come on.

Ryan Smith: At least I’ve been up the front. You haven’t been there yet.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Warrandyte, you are warned.

Tim RICHARDSON: I do not have an ego the size of Brighton, my friend. I am very happy being on the backbench in here. But the member for Warrandyte said, ‘No, not back row, I need middle row, John. If you want me to be a team player, member for Hawthorn, you’ve got to put me on the second row. I’m not copping that.’ We do not see as many points of order from the member for Warrandyte, so it is good to hear his voice. I had forgotten what he sounded like, genuinely, so it is good to hear that he is up and about. He is ready to go. His good mate – they ran against each other, but they were not really; I think he was a feeder for preferences – the member for Berwick here is in the number one slot, isn’t he. When you see the train wreck of the member for Hawthorn’s contributions in question time, everyone sort of looks down, or there is this audible gasp or holding the mouth. We group-text and go, ‘What’s going on there?’ It looks sad and depressed over there. It looks very low. But there is a twinkle in the eye of the member for Berwick, who knows it is just a matter of time. Play line and length, look like the team player and then the member for Warrandyte and the member for Berwick will finally get their day. It will come.

It is an extraordinary moment, the performance today. We were looking sideways at the member for Hawthorn, the Leader of the Opposition. He came into this place, and the first speech he gave was about lifting standards. It was a big press conference. He loves the sound of his own voice. It went for about 2½ hours. It was long, but you thought, ‘Okay, maybe this is a new era.’ The member for Brighton had some things on Facebook and Twitter, a bit of relevance deprivation, and just wanted to be out there as well. But you thought, ‘Oh, maybe Victorians are going to get a coalition, a Liberal Party, that now is setting the tone and standards for what they expect, representing good values.’ We saw this in New South Wales with Chris Minns and Dominic Perrottet. You could not get a more different standard to what we see in Victoria. Literally, Dom and Chris are very friendly – amicable. I think they are friends, from all reports. Then on election night you thought, ‘Maybe this is the new era. Maybe the member for Hawthorn has taken that.’ But it has just been low road after low road.

Victorians will be focused on the outcomes and supporting the cost-of-living pressures with the power saving bonus. I will say those opposite originally thought that was a waste – we should not do it. Now they have DLs out on it. That is an amazing thing: ‘We’ll help you apply for the power saving bonus.’ That is importantly what it is. It absolutely is important that everyone gets around it and makes sure that we are helping Victorians – but they opposed that. They opposed that initially and then came on board. The sick pay guarantee – they vehemently opposed supporting working people; they were completely opposed to that. You get sick, and it is not a choice between fronting up to work or putting food on the table – we will back you with the sick pay guarantee. And then of course there are the fairer V/Line rates and the fairer rental housing reforms.

When it comes to supporting Victorians, we are focused on getting the job done. It is why the Victorian people resoundingly endorsed an Andrews Labor government. It had never been done before on the Labor side – and we have increased the margin beyond that as well. Rather than the health and safety risks and the impacts that are going on in the Liberal Party – that is what defines them: negativity, bullying, intimidation, particularly of female members of Parliament. It is terrifying space that the Liberal Party find themselves in, but luckily Victorians have an Andrews Labor government.