Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Members statements

Commonwealth Games

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (16:34): What do $30 billion in budget blowouts and $4 billion worth of Commonwealth Games blowouts have in common? The Deputy Premier. The Deputy Premier is the minister responsible for budget blowouts. The Deputy Premier said in February 2023 that:

The Andrews Labor government has grabbed with both hands the opportunity to bring the games to regional Victoria. The benefits will be significant and the legacy long-lasting …

The legacy of the Deputy Premier is to ensure that the games have been cancelled – an absolute disgrace and failure. The Deputy Premier should resign. The Deputy Premier is a local member for Bendigo. Local residents in Bendigo are absolutely embarrassed by the fact that their own local member has let them down – a member that should be out there advocating for regional Victoria has instead let them down. This is a huge embarrassment on the international stage. We have never seen an embarrassment like this before. The Deputy Premier should be ashamed of herself, and the fact that she is standing around here today laughing and smiling is a disgrace. Victorians have been let down. This is a disgrace.

Juliana Addison interjected.

The SPEAKER: The member for Wendouree!

David SOUTHWICK: To see waste and mismanagement at a time when we have a cost-of-living crisis – all Victorians are paying the price. The Deputy Premier, quite frankly, should resign from not just her portfolio of Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery, which she has handed back, but also as Deputy Premier and from each and every portfolio that she has.