Tuesday, 28 November 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 30 November 2023:
Biosecurity Legislation Amendment (Incident Response) Bill 2023
Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2023
Land (Revocation of Reservations) Bill 2023.
Speaker, and to those members of this place, this is our last week for 2023, and it is fitting of course that we end with the debate of a number of substantial bills that have been brought to this place. I know, once again, as I know every parliamentary sitting when I stand on my feet at this time, the interest of members on this side to get up on their feet, to join in the parliamentary debating process and to make a contribution in the many other ways in which there are to make a contribution during the course of a parliamentary sitting.
I want to talk to the bills but also make the point that there is an opportunity this week for members on their feet to talk to a very important motion that I am pleased to have brought to the house in relation to our government’s commitment and indeed that commitment in action to make public fertility services available across Victoria and expanding into the regions as satellite hubs. So that will be a great opportunity. I know that many on this side of the house will look forward to the opportunity to get up and talk about that as well as our commitment to early parenting centres, and they are an absolute game changer when it comes to supporting families across this state.
If I talk to the bills for a moment, the Biosecurity Legislation Amendment (Incident Response) Bill 2023 – as a former agriculture minister I know full well how important this bill is. Biosecurity is a key challenge, and we all have a role to play in ensuring that we keep our state and indeed our nation free, where possible, from a range of pests and diseases that could cause absolute devastation in our state and indeed the nation. So that is a very important bill, and I know that there are many that will want to get up and speak to that. The bill of course ensures a holistic and effective legislative framework for exotic pests and diseases to ensure that our very valuable agriculture sector is protected. We have seen, disturbingly, an incursion of red fire ants from Queensland now into northern New South Wales, and I commend the federal minister for agriculture Murray Watt for the work that he is doing to do everything that is possible when it comes to biosecurity to try and keep these pests out of our state.
In terms of the Land (Revocation of Reservations) Bill 2023, Crown land, as you know, can be reserved either temporarily or permanently. This bill forms part of the process to make sure that land is reserved where appropriate for functions into the future. Again it is one of those bills that is very important. We bring these bills from time to time. It allows for the revocation of permanent reserves at 13 sites across Victoria as well as six corresponding restricted Crown grants.
The final bill to be debated this week is the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2023. Having heard those on the other side speak very loudly about police matters, no doubt they will join in with enthusiasm to speak on this bill. This is about improving Victoria Police’s internal discipline process, strengthening their capacity to regulate firearms and expanding the circumstances in which VicPol can deploy a vehicle immobilising device. This is an excellent example of a bill that is supporting Victoria Police with the powers that they need to keep our community safe. I make the point that the Andrews and Allan governments have a proud history of backing in our hardworking police officers, and we will continue to do so.
Finally, if the Victorian Electoral Commission can find its way to conclude the count and declare the new member for Mulgrave, I know that the opposition have already generously made it clear that they will enable the inaugural speech of the member for Mulgrave Ms Eden Foster. What a great note on which to end my contribution on the government business program and this last parliamentary sitting – that we are getting the opportunity to welcome a new Labor member into this house, the member for Mulgrave Eden Foster.
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (13:03): The coalition will be opposing the government business program. Before going into further debate on the program I do think is important to note a couple of things. As the Leader of the House rightly said, this is the last parliamentary sitting week for this year, and one thing that perhaps has gone a bit unnoticed has been the construction work around this historic building slowly coming to a conclusion after the best part of 20 years. Almost 20 years ago restoration works started at this Parliament, and so significant works have been going on for a very long time. In fact there are many people here who have worked here on the restorations who have held over their retirement so that they can stay with the project until completion and new people who have come onto the job and learned the skills of the trade in a unique setting. I think many members will come back to this place next year and notice some differences around the building and Victorians will notice structural differences and less scaffolding around the building, so I think is important that this house notes all of the work that has been done around this building and thanks the companies and the workers that have been involved over such a long period of time. We thank them for their work.
We also thank at the end of the year the clerks, the team and the attendants, who do an incredible job, and all of the staff of this place, who have done an incredible job this year and always do. I think it is important to acknowledge their hard work this year, including my own team in my own office, of Allie Amey, Elouise Ager and Liz, who has just come on board. All of our staff do an incredible job, and I think it is important to acknowledge that at the end of the year.
In terms of the government business program, as I said, we will be opposing the government business program. I pick up the proposed government business program, noting the difference between what I am holding and what was sent out to the public on Thursday as the proposed government business program. A number of bills proposed for the week’s debate are missing. Where are they? The government shelved them, much like a number of other pieces of legislation the government has shelved. The State Electricity Commission Amendment Bill 2023 and the Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023 have both been pulled from the program that was sent out on Thursday – the program we hold before us. That tells us that the government does not have a strong legislative program this week, and it has confirmed an intention to deal with a motion which, though important – it is an important matter – does say that there was capacity for further legislative debate during the week. But those bills have been removed, much in the same way as the state tax bills have been shelved and the WorkCover bill – who knows where that is at. The government’s legislative program is in tatters. We hold a proposed program that is an amended program that is missing a number of bills that were proposed last Thursday. This week we will, as the Leader of the House said, be debating three bills. We could have been debating the SEC bill and the constitution amendment bill.
If you look to the vote that just occurred earlier, we had proposed including a further community safety bill in relation to machetes and had hoped that that would be on the program. Unfortunately, that is not listed for debate. On the division on that debate there were 52 government members in the chamber. You would note that the Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill would have required 53 government members to be in the Parliament to pass that bill and earlier today there were 52 in the chamber. One would not like to reflect overtly on why the government pulled the bill, but it appears that they could not even get their own members to the chamber this week.
It is embarrassing that the government has completely dropped the ball in relation to their government business program and their broader legislative program. The Parliament is clearly in chaos in terms of legislative reforms. The SEC, being the most important thing the government committed to do at the last election, has been shelved. It is embarrassing, and the coalition will be opposing the program.
Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (13:08): It is a great pleasure to rise to speak on the government business program for this sitting week, the last sitting week of 2023. It is always a pleasure to follow the member for Brighton, because while he talks about the doom and gloom, I am going to talk about some really fantastic things that we are going to talk about this week here in this place as part of our final 2023 legislative agenda as we wind down the year. I will say what a year it has been. As the first year in a new term of government, again so many bills have come before this house that we on this side of the house have debated, talked passionately about and shared experiences on. It has been a remarkable year for legislative reform here in this state, thanks to the Andrews and Allan Labor governments.
It has been one year since we were re-elected to this place, a timely reminder to continue delivering for Victorians, and that is exactly what we have gotten up to over the past 12 months. We have not wasted a day in this place passing legislation. We may have ended the year with a new Premier – again, I will say the second woman Premier that Victoria has ever had, a remarkable achievement – but the work of our government remains the same. We are getting on and delivering for all Victorians.
I am also going to add that I really look forward – along with, I know, the rest of my colleagues on this side of the chamber – to, hopefully, welcoming the new member-elect for Mulgrave Eden Foster to this place. It is a remarkable achievement for such an incredible woman to join this place and our government to continue to deliver for Victorians. What is also incredible about Eden joining, hopefully this week, is that finally in the history of Victoria we are going to reach gender parity here in this Parliament. That is a remarkable achievement. Some of the stories that I have listened to over the five years that I have been here include that when the first ever female member was elected to this place I do not think they had a female bathroom, and they actually used to travel home to go to the toilet. I remember that struck me, as someone who has had three babies and might be running off to the toilet more often than most – not to have your own bathroom to use because you were the only woman here in the Victorian Parliament. Now we have half–half. That is a tremendous achievement, and indeed it is something we are going to celebrate this week with, I believe, a photo of all the female MPs that represent Victorians here in this place. I know my colleagues are very keen on having the photo taken, but that invite has been extended to those on the other side of the chamber as well. It will be wonderful to have all the women here in this place having a photo taken together to celebrate what could only have been dreamed of and imagined by that first woman who entered this place many, many moons ago.
We have also got another motion by leave that we will be looking at in relation to IVF that will be brought back before this place, and I am really looking forward to making a contribution – I think I am first up to speak on that motion. I have many stories to share. I have not decided which stories to share about that IVF journey. Some of them are very funny. I can tell you, member for Brighton, there would be plenty of laughs here in this place through the stories I could share about the road to parenthood and using assisted reproductive technology. But there are also some really sad, tragic stories along the way, so I am just trying to decide which ones I want to share today, with this being the last sitting week of 2023.
Of course we are also going to be debating another three really important bills that have been talked about by previous speakers here as part of this government business program: the Biosecurity Legislation Amendment (Incident Response) Bill 2023, the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2023 and the Land (Revocation of Reservations) Bill 2023. In the last 20-odd seconds that I have got left I would like to wish members here in this place, if I am allowed to say it, as we approach December a very merry Christmas and give a very heartfelt thankyou to all of the parliamentary staff that make this place function and make it such an incredible workplace to work in. I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas.
Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (13:13): I also rise to talk on the government business program for this our last sitting week. As the member for Brighton alluded to before, we will be opposing the government business program. Of course we do have some worthy items that we do need to discuss – the biosecurity amendments and the land bill and justice legislation amendments. Yes, we do need to be able to stand up and debate across the chamber with each other, but it was a little bit disappointing, as the member for Brighton said, that two of the bills that were going to be discussed today involving the SEC were pulled late last evening. I was certainly looking forward to being able to stand up and talk about them, because the SEC is a topic down in the Latrobe Valley. I am probably a little bit passionate about it because it is the home of the SEC and power generation for Victoria, and it would have been great to have been able to finally talk about and listen to how the SEC was going to be achieved and what outcomes the SEC was going to bring to us, because it is one of the major things that the constituents down in the Latrobe Valley constantly ask me about.
It was 12 months across the weekend since we had that election. Luckily, I won the election down in Morwell and I get to represent my community here in Parliament. It is a blessing that I can stand up in the chamber and speak about the issues that we find a little bit concerning, one of them being bringing back the SEC. It was also 12 months ago, probably a week out from the election, that the jewel in the crown of the Labor government was launched down in Yallourn at the power station there – that they were bringing back the SEC – with great fanfare. The following day – or I think it was actually the day; they might have gone a little bit early – people were handing out how-to-vote cards wearing their SEC paraphernalia, caps and old jackets. And still we wonder what it is that the SEC is going to stand for.
I get to sit in the chamber every single week and listen to the Minister for the State Electricity Commission and Minister for Energy and Resources talk about how many jobs bringing back the SEC is going to give us, what it is actually going to do. At the start it was going to drive down our cost of living, our out-of-control energy prices, and now it is changing and the SEC is going to stand for renewables, so we would also like to find out the finer details of that.
With this government business program I thought, ‘It’s finally going to happen. I’ve been sitting in the chair for 12 months, and I’ll be able to get some answers. I’ll be able to stand up and debate, with those across the other side, what it is that the SEC stands for.’ We know, because we constantly hear, that Victoria voted to bring back the SEC. Well, if that is the case, why aren’t they standing up this week and talking about what the SEC is going to do? If the public voted for it, give us the details, please, about what it is going to actually do.
We sit here patiently waiting to hear about how it is going to work, when it is going to work and why we should have it, but most importantly, how much bringing back the SEC is actually going to cost us and the general public of Victoria. These are questions we want to know. I am sure the constituents of the members on the other side of the chamber all want to know as well. They might think they do not want to know, but it is a burning question right across Victoria: what is it going to stand for? They had their opportunity in the last sitting week to come and tell us so that we could tell our constituents. That is why we will be opposing the government business program today.
Belinda WILSON (Narre Warren North) (13:18): It is always an honour and a privilege to speak on the government business program and listen to both sides of the chamber talk about what has been happening in the last 12 months. It has been a big year. I did note that the member for Brighton thanked many of the staff that have helped and assisted all of us throughout the past 12 months. I would like to do exactly the same and say thank you to the clerks, to the security team, to the catering staff and to everybody here who does such an incredible job in this place to help and assist us in our place of work, especially for those who are newer to this place than others.
I have only been here for under 12 months. A few of the new members here with me have put on their crowns many a time through this journey. I look to the member for Mildura, remembering how well she wears her crown in this place – and she will understand that in-joke, which is just between the class of 2022. I know the member for Brighton is dying to know what I am talking about, and he is unsure what that secret little service is. In that little group of us, the class of 2022, we know there are some tigers and some crown wearers. We are all very au fait with what we are talking about – a little secret message that we have on both sides, which I think is one of the great things about this place.
We are very excited about welcoming a new member to our team, which will be happening, hopefully, later on this week: the member-elect for Mulgrave. She is going to make an incredible contribution to our group, and we look forward to having her come into this chamber to be sworn in and to do her inaugural speech, which may happen this week or it may happen next year. Sometimes we have to wait for great things. The SEC is not happening this week, but perhaps we will be holding on with bated breath to let you all know on the other side how incredible and amazing it is. That may have to wait until next year, but don’t you worry, you will find out about it and you will see how incredible our program is.
I am also really excited about the 50–50 gender equality list in this Parliament. As the granddaughter of a former member of Parliament I often have a little smile to myself when I see so many incredible women in this place. As I look at you, Deputy Speaker – he did hold the Deputy Speaker’s role – I often think about what his thoughts would be on how many women are in this place. He would have, looking down, a little smile of amazement, I would think, at how many women are in this place now, which I think is very exciting. I know that some of the members on the other side said they were not aware of the photo we are planning on doing tomorrow; I will ensure that that information is passed on.
One of the other great things about this week that I am really excited about and I am going to be speaking on is the IVF motion. As a mother of three I am so excited about this, because in my electorate of Narre Warren North, IVF is a program that is very, very expensive and is out of reach for many, many people. I have had a number of conversations with many constituents about the incredible agenda and program we have for this, and it is really going to make a difference to so many people’s lives. I am really, really excited about speaking about this and hearing these stories – and hearing the stories of so many people in this chamber. I think that IVF has touched so many people’s lives on both sides of the chamber, and it has made such a difference. Modern science, it is incredible – I mean, really incredible. It is expensive, and for us as a government to be able to offer that to so many people who could not afford that in the past is just, for me, really, really exciting.
We also have our Biosecurity Legislation Amendment (Incident Response) Bill 2023, which I know people have already touched on, and our Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2023 too. I am very excited about the government’s business program. I am disappointed that the other side do not agree with us, but you know, this is the great thing of politics, isn’t it? So I am looking forward to hearing the rest of the contributions, and I would like to commend the government business program to the house.
Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (13:23): I rise to speak on the government business program, but before I do, I want to take the opportunity as it is the last week of the sitting of the Parliament to wish everyone a merry Christmas and thank everyone in the Parliament who helps us here. I would like to send a message to all Victorians, particularly those from metropolitan Melbourne: if you are visiting South-West Coast or regional parts of Victoria, please take care on the roads. Our roads are in a deplorable state. It is with absolute genuineness that I say to you: just take heed and be very careful. You will not be used to it, and you will not realise just how bad it is until you experience it. I do want to see everyone have a happy Christmas with their family, but please take the time to be safe on our roads; they are in a deplorable state.
I stand to speak on the government business program, and I do so to oppose it. I oppose it because it is really disappointing. I saw last week that the government put the State Electricity Commission Amendment Bill 2023 and the Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023 on the program, and like I do, I sent out to my community that I would be speaking on these bills and looking for feedback. So it was with quite some surprise that I saw on Sunday night, after I had already informed my community, that the government were pulling these bills. It is probably no surprise, but I wonder: is it arrogance or is it chaos? Probably both, I would suggest, because what we know is the government promised prior to the election to bring back the SEC so they could bring down power prices. But what I think we will see in this legislation is that there is no ability for the government to enshrine these assets, because there are not any. It is a concept that they want to enshrine in the constitution, and it is actually nothing more than a con. Victorians are starting to see through this Labor government’s con. Pulling the wool over Victorians’ eyes can only last so long, and it has come to an end for Labor because that is what people are seeing. They are seeing it in the overspends on the big projects – projects that have cost over $11 billion more than predicted in the last three years, which came out last week.
It makes me very concerned about projects like the Warrnambool Base Hospital, which is the only significant health build that has not been given extra funding. It makes me wonder what the government will expect to cut from the Warrnambool Base Hospital build if they are not going to extend the funding further than $384 million. I am very concerned about that build, and I would like the government to come clean and tell us how they are going to build that within the scope from three years ago when clearly building costs have gone up by 30 per cent.
We are discussing a legislative program where the government have pulled their signature pre-election commitment, bringing down power prices by bringing back the SEC – clearly an absolute con to the Victorian community. It is probably very similar to the con that they did with the Commonwealth Games – a promise that they pulled, which has just left the community, particularly in regional Victoria, without any hope for the roads and the sports stadiums that could have been rebuilt and the athletes that have been disappointed. We also should be discussing legislation that will make a difference. During this cost-of-living crisis we should be seeing things that actually help bring prices down, like the SEC. We should be discussing legislation around things like what is happening in Glenelg, where we could have legislation that prevents candidates having to have a countback and wasting time if they want to say they are not going to be a councillor. We could declare that at the start and change legislation to allow for that. It is costing Glenelg ratepayers $1200 a day for monitors, and also this countback has to exclude people one by one. They should be given the opportunity to say they are not to take up the role. These sorts of things are costing ratepayers a lot and obviously get passed on to the community, increasing the cost of living. That would be costing a fortune.
This government business program is absolutely appalling because we are not actually able to debate something of substance. We have certainly got very good bills on the program, such as the Biosecurity Legislation Amendment (Incident Response) Bill 2023, which will see us talk about the importance of biosecurity in agriculture, something that has been a long time coming. We have seen trespassers on farms causing biosecurity risks and terrorising farming families for years, and it has been four years in the making and that we have been waiting for this to come into the Parliament – a long time waiting. When you see issues – (Time expired)
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (51): 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, 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): 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, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Nicole Werner, Jess Wilson
Motion agreed to.