Tuesday, 13 August 2019

Business of the house

Program

Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure) (12:37): I move:

That, under standing order 94(2), the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5.00 pm on Thursday, 15 August 2019:

Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2019

Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2019

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Amendment Bill 2019.

I will make a few observations on the government business program that I have just moved. There are three bills, as you can see, on the government business program. Each of them go to important policy matters that I am sure will see strong debate here in the chamber, particularly some of the measures in the Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2019. It is the culmination of some significant policy work that has been led by the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change on strengthening the powers of the Environment Protection Authority Victoria, which is both important from a regulatory point of view but also in supporting the communities that interact with the EPA in different forms.

I should also indicate to the house that the budget papers take-note motion that is sitting in the government business section of the notice paper will also be a feature of our business over the course of this week. We will encourage all members to continue to make their strong and vigorous contributions on the outstanding fifth budget of the Andrews Labor government and to talk positively and strongly about the various measures that are contained in the budget for their local communities, because it is a great budget, Speaker, and we are delighted to keep talking about the fifth budget of the Andrews Labor government.

Mr R Smith interjected.

Ms ALLAN: That is the word on the street. I will not allow myself to get distracted by the member for Warrandyte, but the word on the street is that this is a great budget. We have seen record lows in our regional unemployment rate; we are seeing great investment in our construction pipeline. There is a lot to talk about in this budget, which is why we want to keep talking about it during the course of our government business program for this week in addition to the three bills that I have mentioned, which, as I have already indicated, I am sure will invite some strong policy debate in the chamber this week.

Two other matters, Speaker. I would like to thank the chamber for its cooperation in the adjustment to question time for today to accommodate representatives from this place, particularly our two leaders—the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition—attending the funeral of a former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Mick Miller. I do thank the house for its cooperation in moving question time to 2 o’clock.

Those of us like the Manager of Opposition Business would remember well that not that long ago, in the olden days, 2 o’clock used to be the normal question time for this place, so it is a little bit Back to the Future for some of us. I am sure it will still be a great question time for those who are here or tuning in at home. Also I would like to thank various members of this place and indeed the upper house for their cooperation in finalising the Parliament’s nominations for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation board and the VicHealth board. As the motion has just been put to the Parliament, we look forward to 6.15 tomorrow evening and welcoming our friends from the Legislative Council to the joint sitting. Also those of us on this side look forward to welcoming our new member for South Eastern Metropolitan Region to the Parliament and wishing him all the best.

So we have plenty of action this week in the government business program. It is a strong agenda. It continues the strong policy work that the Andrews Labor government is delivering for the community of Victoria, and I look forward, as I always do at this part of the proceedings, with optimism to the strong and unanimous support of all in the chamber for what is a great government business program.

Mr WELLS (Rowville) (12:41): The Leader of the House will be very pleased to know that the opposition will not be opposing the government business program for the first week back after the winter break. We have looked at it, and as we have said, we have decided that we will not be opposing it. The point that the manager of government business made in regard to question time being put off to 2.00 pm is something we actually strongly supported because Mick Miller was one of the great chief commissioners of police in the history of this state. Not only did he have an outstanding record as a young police officer and as he progressed through the ranks, but he modernised the Victorian police force to what it is today. A couple years ago I sat next to him at a scout function and he was as sharp as a whip—unbelievable. For his age he was an incredible man and was still up to date on every single current affairs issue in this state. So I am pleased that the Premier, the Minister for Police, the Leader of the Opposition and our Shadow Minister for Police were able to attend that and by agreement put question time off until 2.00 pm.

At 6.15 pm tomorrow we will be meeting as joint houses in this chamber to replace the Honourable Phil Dalidakis. Phil Dalidakis is someone I will actually miss because he was the co-convener of the parliamentary friends of the St Kilda footy club—the mighty St Kilda footy club. I believe that it was a very tough battle to replace him, and the Minister for Mental Health, I understand after great negotiations, was selected into that position. Congratulations to him. But as I said, we will miss Phil Dalidakis and his commitment to that club.

The three bills that we are debating this week are the Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2019, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Amendment Bill 2019 and the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2019. On the last bill that I have mentioned, the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2019, obviously a number of MPs, if not all MPs, have received a significant number of emails, correspondence and phone calls about this particular bill. There are wideranging views within the community, so my understanding is that that will be a full and fulsome debate.

The manager of government business also mentioned that the take-note motion on the budget will continue. I am not sure whether we actually have any more to contribute on that. I think all those that have wanted to speak have actually spoken. So with those few comments, we will not be opposing the government business program.

Mr CARBINES (Ivanhoe) (12:44): I certainly welcome the spirit of bipartisanship from those opposite in not opposing the government business program. There are a few arrangements that have changed in relation to today, and of course we also pass on our condolences to the family of the former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Mick Miller, AO, LVO, QPM. It is most appropriate that there is parliamentary representation at the service today.

Just touching on a couple of other elements that have been mentioned by both the Leader of the House and the Manager of Opposition Business, the joint sitting in relation to the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation will take place tomorrow. For those of us who had success on the weekend in the retro round of the AFL, we are going retro in the Parliament with question time back to 2.00 pm today, for those of us who remember those interesting times.

I note also in particular the Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2019. There are a couple of environment bills that I was pleased to be involved in as a past parliamentary secretary for the environment—and particularly thank my ministerial colleagues for the work that they have done across the government in the review of the Environment Protection Authority Victoria, a very significant piece of work given the EPA was established back in 1971 and the ministerial advisory council work that reported after 10 months on 16 May 2016.

This bill that comes before the house this week relates particularly to a lot of the modernising framework in the legislation for the EPA as a part of that review to ensure that the EPA continues to meet the expectations of the community but also industry and others in the community who rely on having a tough environmental cop out there in Victoria. Clearly there was a need to not only review the operations of the EPA but particularly look at whether it is meeting the standards and the expectations of the community and also responding to and supporting industry in the work that it does—certainly a lot more about industry’s relationship and reliance and investments that it makes to work with the regulator but also the expectations of people in the community about what they want their EPA to be able to do. Of course, accepting 40 of the 48 recommendations in full, seven in principle and one in part was, I suppose, a large part of the work that has helped bring to fruition the EPA bill that we will debate this week. We certainly welcome that.

Not only that, but there is the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Amendment Bill 2019, which of course comes out of a significant amount of work that has been done to review that act to have a look at how we protect Victoria’s environment and the Biodiversity 2037 strategy that the government has been working on. We retain in that act the objective to guarantee the survival of all of Victoria’s flora and fauna. I think if memory serves me right it was the minister’s predecessor, the former member for Bundoora, Sherryl Garbutt, in her role as a past minister for the environment who did very significant work in her time around reviewing the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

I think it is only appropriate, again, that it is a Labor government that is taking on the task of reviewing that legislation and making sure that it reflects modern times and is nimble and adapts to the changing pressures. We have also read this week about our open spaces and the continuing pressures that flora and fauna are under, particularly with a growing population in Victoria, and the need to make sure that we strengthen that act and make sure that it is reflective of current practice and the significant work we are doing as we pitch towards Biodiversity 2037. I think that also reflects a very strong commitment to the environment from our government, underpinned by significant consultation work and recommendations to the Parliament. That has informed these reviews and the new legislative framework for both of these acts, and I certainly commend that activity and that legislative program that are based on some long-term and substantial work from our government.

Not only that, I have already made my contribution on the budget papers and I encourage other members to take up that opportunity. There will also be an opportunity to debate the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2019, which I know members have certainly had the opportunity to be briefed on and engage local communities on those matters. So I commend the government business program to the house.

Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (12:49): I take up the point made by the member for Ivanhoe encouraging people to debate the budget papers. Those of us who have been through the Public Accounts and Estimates (PAEC) exercise this year have probably already had enough of it, so I will politely decline to continue to debate the budget papers. I note that we are still going here in August, looking at the take-note motion on the budget—probably because the government’s budget sank without a trace when it was released, so they are desperately trying to keep it going and talk up what they are doing. But we saw through the PAEC process that there are many, many flaws in the budget.

I am pleased, though, to speak briefly on the government business program. We are a little bit delayed because of some shenanigans a moment ago. I am sure it is disorderly to refer to such matters, but I did note the comments about respecting elders. I would just say to those who are protesting: equally, have some respect for this place. Have some respect for this as an institution. I absolutely respect and support your right to protest and will fight to the death to ensure that you can have your view, but there are ways and means to have your view in this Parliament, and disrupting the Parliament, leading to it being shut down and indeed damaging the building itself, I do not think is going to do your cause any good.

On the business program, as the Manager of Opposition Business has said, we will not be opposing it. I note though there are three bills on the agenda and two of them are bills that we have previously debated in this place. I have commented before that this is supposedly the great reforming government and yet here we are with three bills, and as we have had for most of this year, two-thirds of them are actually bills from the previous Parliament. So that is interesting in itself. There will be a number of them that will be, I think, hotly debated. I look forward to hearing from both sides on that.

There is only one thing I will add. That is, that I would like to see some important issues in my electorate debated here in the chamber. The number one issue at the moment remains drought. I am pleased to report that we did have rain in Gippsland over the weekend—indeed parts of my electorate had far too much rain. But I really want to raise it because it is important that the government and the Minister for Agriculture and the Premier understand that the drought is not over. You get an inch of rain or so in Melbourne, that does not mean the drought is over.

I know the member for Gippsland East in particular remains concerned given the event we had on the weekend where there was over 100 millimetres in the Latrobe Valley and parts of West and South Gippsland. He got 7 millimetres at Bairnsdale. Certainly around Sale there was only about 17 millilitres at my place, and that is an issue that I think the government should remain focused on. It is not on the agenda this week, but it is something that this Parliament still needs to be considerate of. As I said, we are not opposing the business program, and I will leave my comments there.

Ms THOMAS (Macedon) (12:52): It is my pleasure to rise to speak on the government business program. It is great to be back after a significant winter break. I just want to call the member for Gippsland South and make the point that not all reform requires legislative reform. In fact one of the hallmarks of this government has been its significant reform agenda. So much of that is able to occur in our communities, like the fantastic announcement on the weekend of our Smile Squad vans. Three cheers for the Minister for Health in the other place for the delivery of this significant program that is going to make a real impact on the health and wellbeing of young people, as well as saving families $400 a child in dental fees. I did want to make the point that a lot of important business happens outside of this place. However, I am glad that those on the other side of the house are not opposing this program.

As it has already been mentioned, can I join the member for Rowville in also sending my condolences to the Miller family. I note that in this place there are a number of former police officers, and as members know, I also have a connection to Victoria Police. My partner, Graham, is also attending that funeral today at the police academy. So again it is opportune to take time to acknowledge the contribution of one of Victoria Police’s finest.

When we think about our business program, we have three bills before us, two of which of course have come back from the last Parliament. They did not make it through, such was the number of bills that we had in our first term. So I am glad to see that the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2019 and the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Amendment Bill 2019 are back before the house. Like the member for Ivanhoe, I was also able to reflect on my time in the previous term as Parliamentary Secretary for Health, where I co-chaired the LGBTI health task force on behalf of both the Minister for Health and the Minister for Equality, who is here in the chamber today. Certainly I understood from my time in that role the deep significance of the births, deaths and marriages bill, and I look forward to debate on it this week.

The Environment Protection Amendment Bill 2019 of course also looks to introducing a commitment that we have given to the people of Victoria to ban single-use plastic bags. This is an issue on which I have received lots of correspondence, some of which I look forward to sharing with the house when I make my contribution.

As has already been noted, we will have a joint sitting this week to attend to a number of important things, not least of which is the election of members to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation board and the VicHealth board and also welcoming a new member to the other place.

It is a good and important government business program. It is good to be back in the chamber for the resumption of Parliament after our winter recess. I look forward to the contributions of members of this house on this significant legislative program, and I commend this program to the house.

Mr TILLEY (Benambra) (12:56): I want to make a quick contribution to the government business program. As members have said in previous contributions, in this place we have three bills for debate, which will retrospectively change the genitals that you were born with, will talk about climate change and will ban plastic bags, in principle. We will deal with and dispense with those bills as the week progresses.

Also, with the take-note motion on this year’s budget, the opposition has pretty well exhausted its contributions to that, but I am aware that the member for Shepparton has the call and has about another minute to complete her contribution and the member for Morwell is keen to get on and make his contribution on behalf of his respective electorate.

In relation to some administrative matters here, there has been work between the Government Whip and the Leader of the House and likewise with the Manager of Opposition Business on pairing arrangements. There have been some pairing arrangements, but I would like to note on the record that we will not be providing a pair for the member for Burwood at any stage during this sitting week. However, there are a couple of others that we will deal with.

On that note, and as we are aware in this house, the opposition will not be opposing the government business program. But I make an observation for this week. Most weeks we see that there is some sort of a theme, but I went to my financial institution to make sure that my regular payments were going through and made the interesting observation that it is Scam Awareness Week. We know that on the government side of this house they are the professionals when it comes to scams. Whether it is the red shirts scam, the branch-stacking scams, the ripping off second residence allowance scams or printing scams, you lot are red-hot in that regard. Anyway it is a bit of a sore point. The member for Macedon claimed that the current Labor government is the great reformer, but what does not get debated—and you would think in this week that the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation would be provided with an opportunity to bring a bill into the house to—

Ms Allan: Speaker, I actually feel I am doing a favour for the member for Benambra and saving him from himself in quite an embarrassing display. Although we have become accustomed to having a reasonably broad conversation on the government business program, it is important for it to have some relevance to the motion that was put. I fear the member for Benambra has strayed far and wide from that task, and I ask you to bring him back to addressing the substance of the government business program, lest he invite further observations about some behaviours on his own side.

The SPEAKER: Order! Firstly, I ask the members for Bayswater and Macedon not to interject across the chamber while a member is on their feet, but I do ask the member for Benambra to come back to the government business program debate.

Mr TILLEY: Thanks, Speaker, for the opportunity. Ministers of the Crown are given the opportunity to bring a bill into this place, and it would be a great opportunity this week for particularly the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation to bring a bill into this place to address some of the issues that relate to her portfolio and the statutes within the state of Victoria.

What we are not debating, certainly, is opportunities. We are not talking about feral deer; we are not talking about the 1 million around the state of Victoria. We are not bringing bills into this place in relation to recycling. We are not addressing the issues in relation to recycling. The failure of the solar panels scheme that we have seen in this state—we are not addressing those issues while we deal with these three pretty basic, benign, mundane bills.

On that note, let us get on with the business. We have been interrupted enough by those protesters up the top. I will make mention in dispatches: certainly while I did not serve under Chief Commissioner Mick Miller, but as an external customer with another statutory investigative body, under his tutelage, under his leadership, Victoria Police in that day was the nation’s best police force, and the legacy that he has left for the state of Victoria is incredible. It must and should be remembered.

However, I will say that subsequently, in the years under those Labor appointments, some of those chief commissioners of police—we are seeing a royal commission in the state of Victoria at present, and heaven help you when that all comes out.

Motion agreed to.