Tuesday, 29 August 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 items be considered and completed by 5 pm on 31 August 2023:
Bail Amendment Bill 2023
Budget Papers – motion
Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Nuclear Energy – motion
Safe Schools – motion
State Electricity Commission – motion
Suburban Rail Loop – motion.
It is great to be back in the house. It is always great to be here proudly as a member of the Andrews Labor government, a government that spends every single day focused on delivering the things that matter to the people of Victoria. We are a government that governs for all Victorians no matter where they live, and we proudly stand here today with a government business program that addresses the real concerns of the people in our community.
Indeed we will be debating two very important bills during the course of this week’s sitting. Both bills that are on the program are the result of an enormous amount of work by this government and indeed in particular by the Attorney-General in the other place, and I want to place on the record my thanks to her for this important work that she has led.
I know that members certainly on this side of the house look forward to debating the two bills on the program today. They are very, very important bills that have been the product of wideranging stakeholder consultation, and they address a number of critical issues that are important to our justice system and the way it works in this state. Of course when we think about our justice system, it is a dynamic system. We are always ready and willing to make improvements where we see that they are necessary, and indeed they are very serious topics that are on the notice paper for us to debate during this week. I know that they will be respected by both sides of the house, and I hope in fact we might even get a government business program that is agreed to, given the importance of the bills that are on our government business program for this week.
We also of course have got the budget take-note motion. I raise this because the Manager of Opposition Business is always in my ear about the many members on his side of the house that want to talk on this. I mean, they have had many opportunities to do so, so I look forward to them taking up that opportunity this week. As I said, it has been on the notice paper for a long time now, so let us hope that they do take up that opportunity.
I will talk a little bit about the bills that are before us. The Bail Amendment Bill 2023: we know that our bail system is not working the way it should, and our government is continuing a process to ensure that it works better. It is our job to make sure that the protection of the community includes all members of the community, especially those who are most vulnerable. This bill comes here today as the product of extensive consultation, including of course with our First Nations organisations and community representatives through the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement, the legislative change collaborative working group and the Aboriginal Justice Caucus. This bail bill builds on our government’s commitment to listening to the voices of Aboriginal people, and we have been very clear here in this state. Not only have we already delivered every element of the Uluru statement, we have also been proud as individuals to get up and say we will be voting yes, because we believe in listening to the voices of Aboriginal people, because we know that when we listen to Aboriginal people we will get better policy outcomes for Aboriginal people. It would be great to see those on the other side get up and make their position clear, but I will leave that for another day.
Of course the other bill is the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 – more important work. It implements a range of commitments and recommendations to improve our justice system’s efficiency and functions. Importantly, it also works to clarify a range of information disclosure processes related to spent convictions scheme operations, the family violence information sharing scheme, protecting legal service consumers and making sure that the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service is contacted in all cases where a person is taken into custody. I commend the government business program to the house.
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:29): I thank the Leader of the House – the widely liked Leader of the House. I have been reading the internal assessments of each of the Deputy Premier candidates to be – the widely liked Leader of the House.
In relation to the government business program, the coalition will not be supporting the government business program this week, and let me speak to why. The government business program this week deals with two bills, four sledge motions and the budget take-note motion. For the house’s information, so far 26 members of this place have spoken on the budget take-note motion – 26 out of the 87 members you would assume would want to speak on the budget take-note motion, which means that 61 members have not had an opportunity to speak. It is extraordinary to think that the government has only provided just over a quarter of the members of this place an opportunity to speak on their own budget. I have never seen anything like that, and I am sure nobody else in this chamber has seen a government guillotine its own budget, and that is what is happening on Thursday. On Thursday this government is so ashamed of its budget it is going to guillotine debate on it. I was thinking about reading through the full list of every member who has not had an opportunity, but I will save the house from that full list. Suffice to say, 61 members have not had that opportunity, and I am sure as I look across to the other side of the chamber I see a lot of long faces looking down at their feet who have not had an opportunity yet to speak on the budget. I understand your dismay at the government gagging your opportunity, guillotining your opportunity –
The SPEAKER: Order! Through the Chair.
James NEWBURY: Guillotining – I am sorry, Speaker – the opportunity of members, because I know on this side of the chamber how much our members wanted to speak on what the government has not provided to our communities. On that point, can I say how much this side of the chamber is looking forward to welcoming the new member for Warrandyte into this place as soon as that opportunity arises. We are looking forward so much to welcoming Nicole Werner into this place. The result on the weekend shows how strongly the community endorses the new member for Warrandyte as a voice for this place.
Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, I am not sure how retaining a member in a one-horse race relates to the government business program.
The SPEAKER: Relevance is your –
Mary-Anne Thomas: It is irrelevant.
The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will come back to the government business program.
James NEWBURY: I understand why the government would be hiding from that result. We look forward so much to welcoming the new member for Warrandyte into this place. I know that Nicole is in the building today, and we welcome her so much. I know that the whole team welcomes her into this building.
But the coalition will be opposing the government business program because it has become clear to all that the government has completely misused the way that this chamber should operate – four sledge motions are being dealt with this week. I mean, it is now embarrassing. It is embarrassing that the government has so mismanaged the chamber. They are gagging their own members from speaking on the budget. I mean, if you were sitting on Labor’s backbench – I can understand why they are briefing away, because they want an opportunity to speak on the budget as we do, and we have not had that opportunity. So we will not be supporting the government business program. Again, it pains me to ask the government through the Leader of the House – as I read, the well-liked Leader of the House – to manage the house in a way that Victorians would expect, to talk about the things that Victorians want us to be talking about, to provide time to do that and to do it in a way that Victorians want. So the coalition on that basis will be opposing the government business program.
Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (12:34): Well, that has given me a chuckle on a Tuesday morning. If it was not bad enough that the former member for Warrandyte fled the sinking ship, it is –
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, as the Leader of the House pointed out, this is a tight debate and you have ruled as such, and I would ask the member for Frankston –
The SPEAKER: I ask members to stick to the government business program.
Paul EDBROOKE: I actually had not mentioned the new incoming member. I do wish her the best, and I look forward to hearing her inaugural speech as well. But to be at a point where you would be celebrating that win is quite funny to most of us, I think. It was indeed a one-horse race. Maybe your polling said you were going to lose it. Who knows?
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I understand why the government is embarrassed by the results on the weekend – I understand why –
The SPEAKER: Order! I will not tolerate points of order that are frivolous. Stick to the relevance. Member for Frankston, to the government business program.
Paul EDBROOKE: Thank you for your guidance, Speaker. Of course I stand to commend the government business program in all its forms. We are a very, very busy government. We have, since being re-elected, been fulfilling all the promises of our community. I just want to point out we have had those opposite talk about sledge motions. Well, I had the environment group from Frankston High School here today, and the question was, ‘So, what will you be debating in the Parliament today?’ I know the member for Mornington came over and said ‘G’day’, which was appreciated. I said, ‘Well, the State Electricity Commission.’ Now, this is the environment group at Frankston High School. They are a very switched on, motivated bunch of people that want to get things done. I said, ‘Well, we’ll be talking about the overwhelming support for this government to bring back the SEC and also to reach 95 per cent renewables by 2035.’ Indeed if I can take that as a sample from my community, there is a lot of support for that.
We will also be debating a motion on nuclear energy, which was a motion originally from the member for Eltham. I think most people would be shocked at the level of support federally and in the state opposition for nuclear energy. It is quite amazing that we are actually talking about this, but it is very, very important that our communities hear what different members have to say and what their opinions are on this, and I, for one, look forward to speaking on that.
I also look forward to speaking on the motion on Safe Schools. As a former teacher, this has been something I have been very, very interested in, and I think there have been some massive mistruths spoken by people in this house who evidently have failed to widely consult with teachers and students and also school communities on this. There are a lot of mistruths about what it actually is, and people have been left to run amok with that one.
Of course we have got the Bail Amendment Bill 2023 and the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 as well, which is, from what I have seen, kind of an omnibus bill. But the Bail Amendment Bill has been through a tonne of consultation and we are ready to vote that through now.
The motion on the government business program is a debate we have every single week, and I note that every single week it is this side of the house that wins that debate and that division when it does occur. But these are very, very important issues that we need to speak about. Many people in this house would really like to hear what some of the people on the opposite side think about some of these issues. Indeed many people on this side of the house would love to have their opinion heard and their opinion as representative of their own constituents. I think Safe Schools, the Suburban Rail Loop, nuclear energy and the State Electricity Commission are all issues that are definitely spoken about in my community and in many other communities around Victoria at the moment. People know that this government is a government you can trust to actually get on with the hard work, and sometimes people might not always agree with it. But it is in this house that we debate these issues in a true democratic style, and I certainly enjoy doing that. For those opposite to continually oppose the government business program – it is a bit of a laugh to be celebrating wins like the election on the weekend. We will let them have that. But I certainly commend the motion and support the program.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I would ask that you refer the member back to your ruling.
The SPEAKER: The member has concluded his contribution.
Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (12:39): I suppose it is my pleasure to rise to speak on the government business program, although the Nationals are not supportive of the government business program this week. Mind you, the two bills that we have on the program are important. I very much look forward to hearing the Shadow Attorney-General speak to those bills. He gave a very succinct yet comprehensive report on both of those bills. The Bail Amendment Bill 2023 is something that we have been discussing locally in Mildura for a long time now, with issues around youth crime and youth justice and cautioning rules that perhaps need another look at. It is certainly not overhyping things, but things have been escalating as far as youth crime goes and some changes to bail rules and to cautioning rules are needed.
Other things that are needed, though, are discussions on issues important to those in regional and rural Victoria, like obviously the motion that is in the notice paper from the member for Gippsland South regarding road trauma and road safety. If you have driven on roads at any point over the last three, five or 10 years throughout regional and rural Victoria, you would know that this is a huge issue for those that do not have freeways to drive on or suburban streets – of course we should be debating that.
Also a massive issue, as we have seen with the flood inquiry last week in Rochester, is the motion from the Leader of the Nationals regarding the serious impact of flooding in regional and rural Victoria. I am sure if you asked anyone in Rochester, in Seymour, in Mildura, in Swan Hill, in Shepparton or anywhere that has been affected by the floods of October 2022 and throughout – and the river is rising again – why on earth wouldn’t we be debating that in this house, which is the people’s house? The people deserve to hear about the issues that are important to them.
The other issue that is affecting people, obviously, is the budget. I am always interested to hear both sides of every story – it does not matter how flat you make a pancake, there are always two sides. It is interesting to hear both sides. So the fact that we have only heard so far from 26 members on the other side, I can imagine that they have been left feeling a little disrespected not being able to have a voice and speak to the –
A member interjected.
Jade BENHAM: Sorry, 26 in total. That is not a huge amount. I still have not even made my budget reply yet, so hopefully we will get to that. But of course being the whip, I respect my colleagues and will move them up before me. I hope everybody on this side does get a chance to speak on the budget reply motion – those that have not had a chance.
As for the four other motions, the member for Frankston pointed to the nuclear energy bill, and this is something that does need –
A member: Motion.
Jade BENHAM: Sorry, the motion regarding nuclear energy. It is something that we actually need to talk about in this place, because like I said before, it does not matter how flat you make a pancake, there are always two sides. And rather than watching TheSimpsons, I like to listen to scientists who have worked in the nuclear space, who have worked on Australia’s nuclear reactor and who know how nuclear energy could in fact solve some issues and fill some gaps that renewables may not be able to fill.
Apart from the rest of the sledge motions, there are only two bills – a justice bill and a bail bill. There is a clear lack of legislative content here but plenty of substance in the motions raised by those on this side. Even the member for Melbourne’s motion 13, I think it is, about non-government business and having space in the sessional orders for non-government business could fix a lot of this. We would be supportive of the government business program if we could address some non-government business and actually do our job, which is giving a voice to those in our communities – for those on this side of the house, those in regional and rural Victoria. But instead we are wasting time on four sledge motions that are guillotined before everybody gets a chance to have their say.
Belinda WILSON (Narre Warren North) (12:44): I am trying to establish why the member for Mildura is not happy with the government business program when she said she supported the bills. She is half with us, half not with us – I am not quite sure. I am glad to see that the member for Brighton has again brought in some props.
A member interjected.
Belinda WILSON: Yes, she is very widely liked; that is correct. We like each other on this side of the chamber. We actually get along. We actually encourage each other.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Narre Warren North, without assistance.
Belinda WILSON: Thank you, Speaker. We actually do like each other on this side of the chamber. We actually speak to each other, we encourage each other and we are very excited about the business program that we are bringing to this house. Each and every week that we come to this chamber we are excited about the changes that we are making because we won the election in November. When you are in government you get to make those decisions and you get to understand what the government business program is about, and that is what we are really excited to stand here and be part of. Some of the motions that are to be talked about this week are really exciting. It is interesting to talk about nuclear energy and the nuclear energy motion, that is for sure.
A member interjected.
Belinda WILSON: Did I not say it correctly? It is one of those ones that do bring a lot of debate to the house, especially when we are talking about clean energy, the way forward and the way to the future. It is certainly something that is debated very highly in federal politics and also here in the state, so I look forward to hearing the discussion from both sides of the chamber on that, coming up.
One of the things that I particularly have a big passion about is the Safe Schools motion. As a mum of three kids and being involved in many primary schools, this is something that is very, very important, and I think it is really interesting how so many people have tried to turn this into something that it is not. Our children, our kids, are the way of the future, and I think that it is so important to support them on their journey. I know that many of us who have got kids, on both sides of the chamber, know that our kids’ wellbeing is the most important thing to all of us.
I would like to acknowledge of course the Attorney-General in the other place, who has done incredible work on the bills that are before us, the Bail Amendment Bill 2023 and the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. She and her team have done incredible work, and I would like to say that these are really important bills that we will discuss and that we bring forward to make the changes that are necessary, especially for our vulnerable communities. I would just like to say I am looking forward to hearing the rest of the contributions from both sides, and I commend the government business program to the house.
Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (12:47): I rise today to speak against the government business program. I have not actually spoken on one of these motions before, and I was keen to speak today because this is yet again another incredibly lazy agenda that this government has put before the Parliament when there is so much going on in the state that needs immediate attention – whether it is the now reported $200-odd billion worth of debt that is sitting there with no plan and no solutions going forward. Victorians are looking for a positive, forward-thinking agenda from this government that is going to see Victoria try and repair the woes of the last few months that we just see revealed every day: cancellations of projects, the giving up of the Commonwealth Games, the loss of essential services and support to our healthcare sector and to our education sector – the list goes on and on and on.
Yet this government, week after week now, is producing a very, very light-on agenda – omnibus bills with everything thrown in them, with a little bit of this. It is like a salt-and-pepper approach. It is like going to a kinder and eating hundreds and thousands on bread. It is a really light, unimpressive agenda that is not speaking to the needs of Victorians. In fact the agenda is so light on and lacking in substance that we have seen now for the last three sitting weeks that not even the Premier himself has felt like it is worth turning up to Parliament to speak to or to participate in the debate that his colleagues are lazily putting together. It has been spoken of much this morning, the fact that so few of the government MPs are prepared to speak in favour of the budget. I guess we now know that the budget presented six months ago or three months ago, whenever it was, has changed so much in the last three months.
We are talking, just on one budget allocation alone, the Commonwealth Games, about a $4.4 billion mistake by the government, and we can only imagine that that level of incompetence and mismanagement is sprinkled right through the budget. So why would the poor backbenchers on the government’s side want to spruik to their communities the benefits of this budget? Because they know that they probably cannot say very much. I know that the member for South Barwon, the member for Geelong and the member for Bellarine have all been kept away from talking on this budget. Why are they being kept away? Because they have not got anything to offer. In fact if the members for the Geelong region were to get up and take note of the budget they would only be able to report to their community, to the Geelong Advertiser, to the Surf Coast Times, that there is nothing going. It is just cancellation after cancellation. It is loss of maternity services. It is loss of trains. It is the loss of the Commonwealth Games. It is failure after failure, and that is why they are very keen to pull that up.
We have also seen this light agenda, where once this Parliament could expect at least three pieces of legislation to be debated and worked through in a weekly sitting – serious ones, with policy and acts of legislation that would make a difference to Victorians’ lives. Instead we are just seeing two. And with all that extra time that should be available for good debate, this government refuses to go into consideration in detail. I know that the opposition was very keen to go into consideration in detail on the Bail Amendment Bill 2023 and the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, because while the government has put these together, there are still important issues that need to be uncovered and discussed and the public record needs to show that this Parliament has in fact gone through these pieces of important legislation that could affect some people’s lives – certainly those in custody or potentially going into custody or, worse still, those people out in the general public who could fall victim to poorly run bail legislation.
There has been an opportunity given to the government and an opportunity missed by the government in actually prosecuting that type of legislation in more detail and with greater scrutiny. So undoubtedly I am unable to support this legislative program this week, and I would urge the government in future to work harder. They have the resources of hundreds of thousands of bureaucrats. They have the capacity, surely, to deliver a functional and workable legislative program for this chamber and not use it for cheap political pointscoring in a sea of pointless motions.
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (52): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Darren Cheeseman, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, 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, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson
Noes (26): 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, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Bridget Vallence, Kim Wells, Jess Wilson
Motion agreed to.