Wednesday, 1 November 2023

 John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. The 2022–23 WorkSafe Victoria annual report states that:

Hindsight modelling shows that the premium charged has been below that required for a decade; resulting in an annual premium deficit of $1.1 billion.

The government has been in office for nine of the past 10 years. Why are Victorians being forced to wear the cost of its incompetence?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:11): Our Labor government has introduced into the Parliament this week – and I do want to acknowledge the bill is already listed on the notice paper, so I will not go to the detail – important forward-looking reforms of our WorkCover system. We are proud as a Labor government that it was a Labor government in the 1980s –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I would again ask members at the table to cease interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: It was a Labor government in the 1980s that created WorkCover. It took a Labor government at the end of the 1990s to save WorkCover after it had been ripped apart by a previous Liberal–National government. We are proud to be embarking on important reforms that are not about the Leader of the Opposition; they are about workers. They are about workers, and they are about making sure we have a modern, fit-for-purpose WorkCover scheme that is supporting workers to get back to work – to not languish in a scheme that does not provide them with support. So I hope the Leader of the Opposition supports this legislation, supports the establishment of Return to Work Victoria and puts workers front and centre and their care and support front and centre of the future of this scheme.

 John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): A 2020 financial sustainability review, which the government hid until after the November 2022 state election, revealed that WorkSafe then had a $600 million deficit. Given Minister Pearson as the minister for WorkCover has overseen this mess, does the Premier have full confidence in the minister?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I have asked you repeatedly to cease interjecting. Once you have asked your question, I expect the person you are asking the question of to be able to respond without interjections.

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:14): I am proud to serve in the government with the member for Essendon – the minister for WorkCover, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop and Assistant Treasurer. He is an outstanding individual, and I think it is very brave of the Leader of the Opposition to ask a question about confidence. Turn around and look over there.

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it is a simple yes or no answer. Does the Premier have confidence in the bumbling minister for WorkCover?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! A point of order is not an opportunity to repeat the question. The Premier will come back to answering the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Well, the Leader of the Opposition, through his consistent interjections, may have missed the point I was making about what an outstanding member of this government the member for Essendon and Assistant Treasurer is. I am happy to make it very clear – and if you would be quiet for a minute, you might hear the exact words you want to hear – that I have absolute confidence in the minister, because he is doing outstanding work driving reforms and delivering projects on behalf of the Victorian community.