Wednesday, 1 November 2023

 Josh BULL (Sunbury) (16:16): I am always pleased to follow on from the previous member, who spoke at length about golf. I was going to say that I grieve for anyone that is out on the golf course with me, perhaps at a hole when I tee off and the ball sort of sails off in the wrong direction.

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Josh BULL: Indeed. There probably need to be a few more lessons given.

This afternoon I am very pleased to contribute to this debate and grieve for those that are experiencing cost-of-living pressures right across our state. I acknowledge, and this government acknowledges, the huge challenge facing many in our community due to cost-of-living pressures. It is why this government has a swag of cost-of-living relief measures across a number of portfolio areas, many of which I will touch on more broadly before I go specifically to those within the transport portfolio.

This government has invested significantly in free TAFE after those opposite ripped it up, ripped it apart. Over the last nine years we have set out to rebuild TAFE. We are providing free teaching and nursing degrees – high-quality training and skills for these essential areas. We are also providing first home buyer grants, capped rent rises, bond schemes and of course capped council rate rises. We have released just recently our housing strategy. We have made kinder free, after those opposite ignored it – two years is always better than one – making sure that we are supporting our littlest Victorians to grow, thrive and develop and to be their best. We have delivered the power saving bonus, electricity discounts and the Victorian default offer and are supporting solar and battery energy, because we know energy costs are hurting Victorians.

What I want to do this afternoon in my contribution is, as Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, touch on a whole range of measures within the transport portfolio that are indeed going to provide important cost-of-living relief measures as Victorians face some significant challenges right across our state. I will start with, importantly, our free rego for Victorian apprentices program. We are backing our hardworking apprentices and helping them to ease their cost of living by making vehicle registration free. Apprentices that are eligible for free vehicle registration can save up to $865 every year. This is a significant amount. It is a $10 million initiative being delivered as part of the 2023–24 budget. We are making sure that we are putting money back into the pockets of apprentices – of carpenters, of joiners, of brickies, of plumbers, electricians and chefs – if their employer can verify that their vehicle is an essential part of their work. This initiative adds to a number of measures the government has introduced to ease financial pressure for trainees and apprentices – a whole suite of reforms.

Apprentices who need their car for work are already entitled to a 50 per cent discount on their vehicle’s registration as part of our trade apprentice registration discount scheme. Over 12,000 apprentices and trainees are currently taking advantage of that discount. That was introduced in 2016 and reduced the cost for trade apprentices needing to use the vehicle for work, and it is a significant and important reform.

Speaking of significant and important reforms, one of the initiatives that we released a number of years ago I am sure, Speaker, in your electorate and electorates right across the state makes sure that we are making car registration affordable for each and every Victorian. The initiative whereby registration is able to be paid in instalments rather than in one lump sum provides significant cost of living relief for many. Certainly within my electorate I know this was very warmly welcomed. Rather than opening the mailbox or opening the email and seeing that significant bill – $600 to $800 – we know that being able to break that down into increments is really important when it comes to cost of living, and that is something that this government is incredibly proud of.

I move to the learner and probationary licence online testing, which is now also free, whilst drivers who have not incurred demerit points or committed road safety offences in the three-year period prior to their license expiring benefit from a reintroduction of a 25 per cent discount. Young people across regional Victoria have also been given the opportunity to swap their old cars for safer vehicles thanks to the Labor government’s unsafe2safe program, making sure that we have safer, modern and more reliable vehicles and also helping with cost of living as well. It is a trial that aims to replace a thousand vehicles that are over 16 years or older, ensuring we have safety – that is paramount when it comes to our vehicles.

The list goes on. As mentioned today by the minister in question time, at the last election we promised to introduce the veterans card to recognise the service and the sacrifice of Victorian veterans. The minister is at the table, and I did piggyback on the back of the minister’s work. The minister joined me recently in my electorate a couple of months ago at our local RSL to talk about this program and the many significant benefits that are provided by it. As was noted today, since July over 11,000 veterans have signed up to the Veterans Card Victoria – a $36 million investment, Minister. Significantly and importantly when it comes to transport costs, 100 bucks off car rego, free caravan and trailer rego, free public transport on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day – happening soon – and just recently, free public transport during Veterans’ Health Week. These are very important measures, initiatives and policies that go to providing those cost-of-living relief measures. We saw firsthand within my community in Sunbury when we were at the Sunbury RSL just how important these programs are, and we certainly know that that is incredibly popular and something that we should continue to deliver on.

When it comes to delivery, regional fare caps – Speaker, I am sure something that is very popular in your electorate – are transforming the way Victorians travel across our state. A regional fare cap is making sure that we are providing regional public transport fares. The cost of the daily ticket on the entire regional Victoria network is now capped at the same price as metropolitan daily fares – currently $9.20 for a full fare or for $4.60 for concession. On a weekend or public holiday daily fares are capped at $6.70 and are currently just $3.35 for concession. This of course means more money in regional Victorians’ pockets and more opportunities for families in Melbourne and visitors across the state to move in and out of the city and to come from regional Victoria into the city – a significant saving indeed.

We know that the cap applies to interstate travel within 60 kilometres of the Victorian border, as well as Albury, Merimbula, Deniliquin and Mount Gambier, to ensure those living in border communities both in New South Wales and South Australia benefit. The cap also applies to all Public Transport Victoria regional buses, town buses and V/Line trains and coaches. It is a significant and important investment, and we know that is not just an opportunity to be able to put more money into the pockets of those that wish to travel from rural and regional Victoria, but also an opportunity for people to perhaps take that education course or perhaps catch up with family and friends or take an opportunity to move around our state which may not have been taken, therefore creating even more economic activity within our state because of this really important reform.

There is a significant list. I am conscious of time, but I just want to touch on that cost-of-living piece, whether it is driving down bills by increasing supply, investing in renewables and bringing back the SEC, as I mentioned at the start of this contribution, or whether it is making kinder free, making sure that our smallest Victorians have an opportunity to have two years of kinder instead of one or our investments in early childhood education and providing those key lessons. I have heard other members speak about the first thousand days, and we know exactly what the research does say when it comes to improving the educational outcomes for young people. Our kinder program is incredibly important and thus far has been very successful.

I have spoken at length about free TAFE. I have spoken about the power saving bonus – the $250 that has been very, very popular; making renting fairer; support for veterans, as I mentioned earlier; sick pay for casual workers; making wage theft a crime; and of course those many investments that have been driven through the transport portfolio. We know that Victorians are facing many and significant cost-of-living pressures, whether it is the price of petrol or the price of electricity bills. What is important is to have a plan that is dynamic and receptive to the views of the community and to have a plan that works right across all of our portfolios – in education, in health and in transport. I focus particularly on transport given my parliamentary secretary responsibilities, but what we know is that these challenges will continue, and we need to continue to invest. We need to make sure that we are working as closely as we possibly can with our Victorian community, with experts in the field, with those right across departments and with all of our responsible ministers to ensure that we are delivering in each and every way that we can.

We know that those opposite do like to talk about cost of living in some kind of vacuum, in some mythical sphere. They seem to forget that from 2010 to 2014 they had the great gift of being in government. Unfortunately they did not get on and did not deliver those important reforms, many of which I have touched on this afternoon, to drive down the cost of living but also to create more jobs – thousands and thousands of jobs. We heard about the SEC today and those 59,000 jobs. When it comes to investment in many of the projects and many of the initiatives that I have spoken about, there is that opportunity to provide people with the skills they need to get a job opportunity within a local community or a community close to home where they want to work and where they want to deliver. These are really important reforms.

We know that when you are given what is a great responsibility to be in government, you need to deliver across all portfolios, not just focus on one. You must be able to make sure that you are delivering right across government. What we have been able to outline and what we have been able to do is acknowledge and understand that cost-of-living pressures do occur through market forces, but policies, programs and initiatives through many of our portfolio areas – many of the things that I have mentioned in today’s contribution – go to addressing a number of these pressures. Does that mean that the work is done, that we are finished and that the cue is in the rack? Of course it does not. It means that we continue to work hard, we continue to listen and we continue to work with all of those agencies and experts in the field to make sure that we are providing that cost-of-living relief as best as we can, because we know the approach of doing very little leads to a very poor outcome for the Victorian community.

This government has a massive plan for this state in transport, in jobs, in health, in education, in our environment, in the things that really matter. It is a bold and visionary plan, yet it is practical, and it is also achievable. We understand our community is facing challenges. We understand that interest rates are rising and have risen extensively, particularly over the past 12 months. We understand that petrol and gas and many of these cost-of-living measures have increased. But having a plan that tackles these challenges head on, both today and into the future, is exactly what we are about. Being a team that is plugged into these issues, as I said before, that listens to and works with the local community, is incredibly important.

That is what we want for the great people of this state. No matter where you live, no matter your background, that is exactly what you deserve: a government that is responsive to your needs, that supports you through the hard times, that has an ambitious plan and that looks forward to the future but also addresses the challenges of today. This Allan Labor government is a team that is focused on doing exactly that. We understand that cost-of-living pressures via market forces and a whole range of other factors are significant and are important to the community, but having a plan that looks at free TAFE, that looks at free kinder and that provides a whole range of transport initiatives, which I have spoken on this afternoon, such as the cap on regional fares, and making sure that we are providing opportunities for Victorians and their families to be their very best is something that I know this team, the Allan Labor government, is incredibly focused on today, tomorrow and of course into the future.