Tuesday, 10 September 2024
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 12 September 2024:
Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Short Stay Levy Bill 2024
Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024.
The Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 enacts some of the commitments that this government has made with regard to the 24-hour truck bans in the inner west, which is part of the delivery of the West Gate Tunnel Project. I note the member for Footscray is in the house; this is something that she has long advocated for. The bill will deliver the framework so that the government will meet the commitment that has been made. I know that members on this side of the house will be very proud to stand up and speak not only in regard to this project and this benefit but in regard to all the ways in which our government is delivering for the people of Melbourne’s west. What a great asset the West Gate Tunnel will be when it comes to taking trucks off local streets.
We will also be discussing the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024. We have talked about housing quite a bit. I have to say on this side of the house it is one of the reasons that we come in to this place every single day to work, in order to deliver the housing that people need. The housing challenges being experienced in this state are being felt right across the state, and I say that as a regional MP. The Short Stay Levy Bill is an excellent initiative by our government, which seeks to get the balance right when it comes to ensuring that we can deliver houses that working people can afford. I know in my own electorate of Macedon one of the greatest challenges facing tourism operators is the lack of available staff to work. It is a circular problem that we have and one that we will look to address.
Our government has a long list of commitments that we have made, a significant number of initiatives that we will deliver, because we want to ensure that both social housing and affordable housing are available right across the state – and that is indeed what our government is doing. As we will discuss, when residential properties are used for short-stay accommodation they cannot be used to house the essential workers that are needed in our communities. I know full well from travelling right around the state that some of the significant challenges we face in the healthcare workforce, the education workforce and the tourism and hospitality workforce come from the inadequacy of housing options. That is why our government has a housing statement. It is why we have a raft of legislative initiatives that we are introducing and a whole range of other programs.
The government business program includes the Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024, an important bill that contributes to the government’s broader work to tackle organised crime as set out in our Community Safety Statement 2018–19. This bill complements earlier legislative work of the government, including the Confiscation Amendment (Unexplained Wealth) Bill 2024, which of course was passed earlier this year. Collectively this work has helped to expand powers around cybercrime, cryptocurrency seizures and electronic and specialist search powers, giving our law enforcement the tools they need to deal with organised crime.
Of course this is the last sitting week before most of us in this place head out to work in our communities to do the important work of a member of Parliament – that is, meeting with community groups, meeting with local sporting organisations, meeting with the CWA, meeting with our Rotary clubs and so on. In my role I get to travel all around the state meeting with our healthcare workers and seeing the real difference that our significant investment in health has made. I know that representing our communities is the reason that we are all here. It is what drives us every single day. While we are out there visiting our local constituents, helping them to resolve challenges and issues and advocating on their behalf, where will those on the other side be?
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:29): I will start on the government business program by letting the house know that we will be opposing the government business program this week. On the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024, the coalition again went to the government and said we would like to take a bill into consideration in detail – it has only happened once in this term – and the government again said that they did not have a minister who was able to stand up and argue the case, so the offer was declined. It is disappointing to know that no-one has the capacity to stand up to the scrutiny. That is something the Parliament should expect; the Parliament should expect bills at times to go into consideration in detail so that the detail of those bills is not just rushed over and the bills are not simply rushed through. I will say for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, although we agree on nothing, that in one case he was the only minister who agreed to take a bill into consideration, so he deserves one point for that. He is the only minister thus far who has had the skill level required to take a bill into consideration. So the coalition will be opposing the government business program.
The Leader of the House spoke about the ‘excellent initiative’, the short-stay levy. In her words it is an excellent initiative, or as Victorians I am sure will come to say of it, the 55th new tax this government has introduced – 55 of them. Though the bill has disingenuously been titled a levy, it was somewhat bizarre to hear the speaker stand up in the last sitting week and read out a statement in which he confirmed that the levy was in fact a tax. The levy was a tax, but the bill was not called a tax. No, of course the government would not have called it a tax, because why would they be honest? The Treasurer in the last sitting week stood up in his speech and admitted that the levy was in fact a tax – the 55th new tax – and we will have a lot to say about that 55th new tax that is being imposed on the community, which the Leader of the House describes as an excellent initiative. The Shadow Treasurer has made the point a number of times that this new tax has not got a single friend. I will let the Shadow Treasurer know that there is one: the Leader of the House. The tax has one friend, the Leader of the House: the ‘excellent initiative’.
The other things that are worth noting: each week the government notes in the business program notification that the Leader of the House will be providing an opportunity to speak on the budget bill. I know I get up every week and I plead on behalf of the third of the Labor caucus who have not had a chance to speak on the budget that this week maybe the government will give them their shot. Both on our side and on the government side a third of the members have not had a chance to speak on the budget – the budget the government is clearly trying to hide. Every single week it is on the government business program: ‘We might deal with the budget bills.’ Last week, no. The members did not have a chance to talk about it, but why would they? Why would the government want to provide an opportunity to debate that budget? They want to hide it. So again I am going to get up on behalf of the government members and the coalition to say: Leader of the House, you are letting your own side down. There are so many members of this place who have not had an opportunity to talk about what the government has not delivered and the $190 billion in debt. Hopefully we will see an opportunity for all members to have the right to speak up on behalf of their community.
This week there are a number of other bills, but there are also roughly 200 motions on the notice paper, and the government has not provided any opportunity to talk about those motions other than previously allowing time for sledge motions. The 200 motions that are sitting on the notice paper are being ignored, and there are important ones, including standing order reform in relation to questions not being answered in question time. So we will be opposing the government business program for the reasons that have been outlined.
Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (12:34): I rise more in sorrow than anger at the news that the opposition is opposing the government business program today. I do take exception to the member for Brighton’s characterisation of some of the motions that have been brought to this place, suggesting that they are sledge motions when, as he has said himself, there are some 400 motions on the notice paper –
James Newbury interjected.
Iwan WALTERS: 200, I beg your pardon, member for Brighton – 200 ad hominem motions, which apparently should pass for an energy policy today if we are led to understand anything. But I rise to support the government business program. As the Leader of the House said in her contribution, this is the final sitting week for some time. The previous week was an incredibly busy one in the electorate of Greenvale, a week indeed where, in the words of HG Nelson, too much sport was barely enough, with footy finals and with soccer completing its regular season. It was wonderful to be at so many of those events and also with organisations like Australian Chaldean Family Welfare and many other multicultural organisations. I mention these organisations because they are indicative of the kind of constituents and residents that we all represent and at whom the government business program this week is targeted. It is substantive, meaningful policy that is reflected in bills like the Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024.
The member for Footscray is in the house. Like her, I have worked with organisations like the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group in the past, so I emphasise how timely it is that this bill is being brought before the Parliament this week in the context of the West Gate Tunnel nearing completion and in the context of money having been allocated in the recent budget to ensure that there is a system of vehicle cameras – I am not sure what the terminology is, not speed cameras but road safety cameras – that can monitor truck movements in and out of the Port of Melbourne on what are residential streets, streets where real people live and where we know that there is a particularly high incidence of carcinogen-related diseases as a consequence of truck movements and the diesel particulate that congregates in those places. That is why it is timely to bring this bill to the house. There is also a significant level of investment in things like the port rail shuttle as well as the West Gate Tunnel, which enable bills like this to begin to have an effect. There is no use in having measures that deter trucks from entering the Port of Melbourne if there is no other way for the freight to get in there, but with initiatives like the port rail shuttle and with major infrastructure projects like the West Gate Tunnel there is now the basis for a bill of this nature and the measures that it contains to be brought to this house.
Another provision within that bill relates to digital drivers licences, which have been taken up with alacrity by many Victorians. I believe over a million people across the state have already taken the option to have a digital drivers licence on their phone. As the members for Wendouree and Eureka could attest, the trial in Ballarat that occurred recently was hugely successful, with a really high uptake, which gave us the basis for a statewide rollout. It is now timely to ensure that the legislative framework that surrounds those digital drivers licences is fit for purpose to ensure that people can have confidence that the licence that is on their phone will be treated as a legal document in the same way that a plastic licence is – or the polymer that is used for licences.
Roma Britnell interjected.
Iwan WALTERS: The member for South-West Coast’s interjection I think is just indicative of the fact that those opposite have a paucity of ideas and only indulge in ad hominem motions – 200 of them – rather than engaging in the substantive policy work that is reflected in the kinds of bills that have been brought to this house today, which will have a profound impact, a positive impact, on our communities. Bills like the Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill I talked about, as well as the Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024, really get to the heart of one of the fundamental responsibilities of government, which is to keep communities safe.
Sam Groth interjected.
Iwan WALTERS: I look forward to the member for Nepean’s contribution. It would be lovely to see him make a contribution on his feet at some point as an audition for his movement down to the front bench and into that leader’s chair, which will be vacated soon enough.
Members interjecting.
Iwan WALTERS: I think it is pretty poor form to suggest that people who may stutter, member for Brighton, should be somehow mocked. I think that is a pretty poor thing to do.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, what an outrageous assertion. The fact that the member does not want to use the word ‘tax’ should not be misused.
The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order. Members will show some respect to members on their feet.
Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (12:39): I rise to speak on the business program once again this week. As the member for Brighton said, we will be opposing the business program this week, although we do have, this time, three bills to talk about. I will be up and talking on all three because whether it be something that just needs dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, a little bit of cleaning up and housekeeping, or bills that are really, really important to the people of Victoria and the people of my electorate, I enjoy being able to get up and talk on them. A lot of the time we do oppose the business program because we should be having hard conversations in the chamber about the things that really do affect Victorians right across the board.
We are talking about roads and road safety at some stage this week, and that may be up today. We are talking about trucks entering the new tunnel that is being built down Footscray way. The member for Footscray I know is very happy about that – being able to get trucks off the roads down there – but it also affects truck drivers coming from my patch and from out of Gippsland on their journey to get down to the ports to unload their goods, with the atrocious country roads that they need to navigate. A lot of the financial gain, a lot of the money, that they get for doing long hours and delivering this stuff to the port and bringing it back is going into maintaining their trucks so that they are up to the standard that VicRoads need them to be at. It is not their fault that the roads are in disrepair and they need to spend extra time making sure that their trucks are safe. These are issues outside of what that bill goes into that we should be actually talking about.
On the Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024, I think this is the third time the act has been amended, and I note that the last time it was amended I do not think there was any notice given to any of the organisations. Once again the government is amending it to make Victorians safer. The first time it was not done and the second time it did not quite get it right, so hopefully the third time, when we discuss it this week, we can get it right to keep Victorians safe.
We move on to the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024, which will be very interesting, and I notice that it is proposed that it is going to be spoken about on Thursday – not for a very long time. It will be one of these bills that is possibly rammed through the house with a limited number of people able to speak. But in talking to people in my electorate, I do not think I have spoken to anyone that thinks this is a great idea. People are not going to be taking their houses off the short-stay register, they are just going to be passing on these costs to other Victorians that want to get away and enjoy a holiday. I know we cannot speak a lot now about what is in the bill, so I am really hopeful that we do get an actual timeframe so that every member inside this chamber gets to speak about it, because, as the member for Brighton said, this is just another tax. You can sugar-coat it and call it what you want, but it is just another tax that is going to be dumped on not only the owners of these short-stay dwellings but also the rest of the Victorians who like to get away for a holiday, whether it be for two or three days or for a week. It is just going to be an extra cost.
I would love to be able to talk about energy. Why has the Premier got a vendetta against plumbers and gasfitters? Trying to shut down the gas industry here in Victoria is really affecting a lot of people. I am a former plumber myself. What have they got against us? We are trying to do the best we can and supply home owners in Victoria with a safe, cheap and reliable option for their energy needs. Unfortunately the government will not let us do that. They want to shut down and ban gas, and I think it is poor form that the Premier has got a vendetta against plumbers.
Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (12:44): I rise to speak in support of this fantastic and busy government business program. I note that those opposite are opposing this business program. We heard from the member for Brighton that essentially they are having a little tantrum because they did not get what they wanted. They want to consider the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024 in detail, and I think that is because maybe they do not realise, they have not been in touch, they do not understand or they have not been listening to the people who need affordable, accessible and safe housing. But those of us on this side certainly understand the pressure that people are under to get access to housing.
Just last week in my electorate I met with a man who is homeless and living behind our local library in his car because there is a shower there and a microwave. His car is not the only car behind our local library, and that is heartbreaking. So this government is doing heavy work, busy work, to make sure that we have housing available for people like Macca. Also, from speaking with the council for single mothers, we know how difficult it is for single mums at the moment in the rental market.
Emma Kealy: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a very narrow debate which is about the government business program. I ask you to bring the member back to that point.
The SPEAKER: Many members have strayed far from the government business program this morning. The Member for Yan Yean to continue, remembering that this is the government business program.
Lauren KATHAGE: My heart really belongs with this bill, Speaker, which is why I am dwelling on it, having spoken to a homeless man in my electorate last week. We heard from the member for Brighton ‘55, 55’ – he is obsessed with the number 55. On this side of the house we are obsessed with women over 55 who are experiencing increased homelessness at a rate of knots. We have fantastic people like the member for Footscray, who is looking forward to the Lions village in West Footscray – affordable, accessible housing for women over 55, Vietnamese women in her electorate. This is the action we are talking about. This is the 55 that we are focusing on – getting women into housing, keeping women safe – and we will not apologise for that, because we are focused on what matters. We are focused on getting roofs over people’s heads and on safety, as you can see with the Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024.
The member for Morwell thinks that we should just set and forget with bills, but that is not how it works. We are actually busy and active in responding to changes and updates in our context as they happen. We are busy people. We have already had the Confiscation Amendment (Unexplained Wealth) Act 2024 and the major crime act as well.
It would be a crime if I did not mention that it is the last sitting week for a while. I cannot wait to stay away from the city; it is not always great being in here. MPs on this side of the house will certainly be busy in their electorates while the MPs on that side of the house will be busy testifying in court. I know which activity I would rather be involved in.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I do appreciate it is a wideranging debate and normally I would not call a point of order, but in this instance I would ask you to bring the member back to the government business program.
The SPEAKER: Members are reminded that this is the government business program and to speak to the government business program.
Lauren KATHAGE: On the government business program this week we also have the Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, so we are going to hear a lot about the West Gate Tunnel, which is very exciting. It will create a smoother journey not just for locals but for freight as well and get those trucks off the road. We are also going to be talking about customised plates, and I thought those opposite would be taking that up quickly. I can see the member for Nepean with ‘R2SERVE’ as a great plate. Maybe the member for Hawthorn will have ‘SOSUEME’. The member for Brighton could go for ‘NASTY1’.
James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the member – I cannot recall the electorate – from the impartial speakers panel should come back to the government business program.
The SPEAKER: Member for Yan Yean, come back to the business program.
Lauren KATHAGE: It is a busy week. We have not been wasting time this morning like those opposite. Let us get on with it and deliver for the people of Victoria.
Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (12:49): I rise to oppose the government business program and support the opposition’s position this week, because as has already been stated, we would like the opportunity to go into consideration in detail. Once again the government have decided that they have all the understanding needed and we do not need to actually be able to ask questions in detail on bills to be able to provide answers to the community.
The bill in question that we wanted consideration in detail for is the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024, or the short-stay tax bill. This is a bill that even the Treasurer had to make a special statement about, because he did not want to call it a tax, he wanted to hide it under the guise of a levy. But it is quite clearly the 55th tax, and the short-stay bill will be taxing mainly regional Victorians who are already hurting from the 55 taxes that this government has introduced and putting enormous pressure on the hip pockets of taxpayers, trying to fund the big black hole, the $188 billion debt that has been created by this government, who have spent all their time trying to spin their techniques to the community about how they think they are looking after Victoria. What we have seen now are 55 taxes. This is the 55th tax that they have introduced, and the reason they have done that is because of their mismanagement.
The government have been spinning the story that this will assist the housing crisis. There is no doubt we are in a housing crisis, and that is because after 10 years in government the targets that they even set themselves have not been met – in fact dismally missed – and people are struggling. They will not provide and cannot provide any modelling or any evidence that this new tax will actually return properties to the rental market. In fact just today a lot of the evidence is becoming more clear that this will actually dismally fail in achieving that and what will happen is 50 per cent of this tax will come from regional Victorians but only 25 per cent of the tax will be returned to regional Victoria. The lack of fairness and the typical behaviour of this government to punish regional Victorians is something we have seen a long history of.
We have also got the Roads and Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, a bill that will do a number of things, one of those being that it will make sure that trucks that are going on certain roads in the western suburbs will be photographed and have to provide evidence as to why they are on those roads. There are concerns around that bill from the industry, which I will outline when I contribute to that bill, and once again the industry feel that they have not had the consultation. They are unaware of how it will play out, and one thing the truck drivers are very concerned about is the amount of red tape that they will be dealing with on top of all the other issues that affect the transport industry that keep our state from being efficient – things like trying to get permits efficiently. Victoria fails dismally compared with the other states, and this is an imposition on truck drivers which is passed on to the cost of goods, which increases consumers’ cost of living – another way that this government just do not understand the opportunity they have to streamline systems like the transport permit system to be able to get the cost of goods down. We are seeing a bill that does a number of things but does not go far enough. We have got the worst roads in the nation, and that is quite clear and evident in South-West Coast, where even today my constituents are telling me about a four-wheel drive that was damaged coming into the town of Portland because of the size of the potholes – in a road coming into a main town like Portland. That is how disgraceful the state of our roads has got.
The third bill we will be discussing is the Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024, and it again shows the chaos of this government. This is the third time Labor have had a go at this bill, and they have clearly failed time and time again. Nothing from this bill has been achieved, and they are going to have another go. I am not sure it will work. We have seen how it has all been laid bare: their association with the corrupt unions and the cost of projects that has blown out, which is why we are seeing $40 billion in cost overruns – because the government are in bed with the unions. It is quite clear that this is another go at trying to do something, but they fail time and time again.
Assembly divided on motion:
Ayes (49): 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, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, 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, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Belinda Wilson
Noes (28): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Chris Crewther, Gabrielle de Vietri, Sam Groth, Matthew Guy, Sam Hibbins, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, John Pesutto, Tim Read, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, Ellen Sandell, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Nicole Werner
Motion agreed to.