Tuesday, 27 May 2025

Appropriation (2025–2026) Bill 2025

Appropriation (Parliament 2025–2026) Bill 2025

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (18:27): I am so pleased and proud to be able to rise on my feet today to speak on this great Labor budget, a budget that was handed down only one week ago by the Treasurer Ms Symes in the other place and one that focuses on what matters most to the people of Victoria. That is writ large in the budget, given the $11.1 billion investment that is being made in Victoria’s world-class public healthcare system. I want to again acknowledge the work of the Treasurer and the Premier in bringing this budget to this place and sending a very clear message to our healthcare workers that the work they do every day is very much valued by this Allan Labor government. That is why we will continue to invest in the public health services in which they work. I am so pleased that I have been able to talk to health services about this – that every health service will receive an increase in funding this year.

This year we will be investing $31 billion into our health service system. I have no shame in saying that it is my expectation that right across the health service system this funding will be directed to where it is needed most, and that of course is in the delivery of frontline healthcare services. When you are entrusted with that much taxpayer money, then it is incumbent on all of us – well, on me as the minister and on the health services in particular – to ensure, as I said, that that money is being used to deliver the world-class care for which the Victorian health system is famous. Of that $11.1 billion, I can report that $9.5 billion is going directly into our hospitals. Of that money, $634.3 million will be used to open new and to expand health services right across the state.

The member for Frankston is in the house, and he will be delighted to know that this year’s budget delivers the funding for us to operationalise that magnificent new development at Frankston Hospital, one that I know the member has fought very hard for – I congratulate him on that – and one that will deliver the expanded services to meet the needs of his community and indeed beyond, including across the south-east and the peninsula.

There is also funding to bring on the new Footscray Hospital. If you have not been out west for a while – and that obviously excludes everyone on the other side of the chamber – you cannot miss the new Footscray Hospital. I know the member for Laverton is really excited about what it will deliver. Similarly, I know other members from the western suburbs cannot wait to see the new Frankston Hospital. Of course it only adds to what we have been delivering for the people of the west. It was our government that built and opened the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital out at Sunshine, and it is our government that is building the Melton Hospital. So the public health footprint in the western suburbs just continues to expand. And of course the Maryborough hospital is a commitment only made possible by this Labor government. That hospital is now open. The Premier joined the hardworking member for Ripon at that opening not long ago, and this budget includes the funding to ensure that it can serve the needs of the people of Maryborough and surrounds. The budget also delivers for emergency departments at Swan Hill, Albury Wodonga Health and University Hospital Geelong and operationalises community hospitals in Cranbourne, Phillip Island and Craigieburn, and I look forward to having more to say about Mernda very soon.

This is a brilliant healthcare budget, but of course included in our healthcare funding is money to make sure that we are really addressing the cost-of-living pressures that Victorian families are experiencing. That is why our budget includes $18 million in order to expand the conditions which pharmacists can now treat from four to 22. We will do that in partnership with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia to implement this new program of work. The access to that consultation will be free. Other states charge a fee, but we will not here in Victoria, because we want to ensure that for this episodic care we make it fast and easy for Victorians to access that care.

Can I say it is also why we are tripling the capacity of the virtual emergency department. The minister at the table, the member for Mill Park, knows it full well because we have been out together many, many times to Northern Hospital to see this fantastic innovation in action – an innovation that has been backed every step of the way by the Allan Labor government, because that is what we do. We back our healthcare workers, and when they come to us with great ideas we stand ready to deliver. We will continue funding for our urgent care clinics, which of course are now being implemented right across Australia. They were picked up by the Albanese Labor government, but you know where they started – they started here in Victoria, because that is where innovation in health care really starts. We have been very proud to continue to invest in those services.

The virtual emergency department of course is able to deliver care to Victorians no matter where they live, so it is a particular boost for people in rural and regional Victoria. I know for many families, particularly those with little babies and young ones, that children always seem to get sick at around about 7 o’clock at night or even a bit later. The virtual emergency department is there for you when you need it. Similarly – and I note the member for Melton is in the chamber – the Victorian Ambulance Union were key backers of this initiative, because what it enables our paramedics to do is to resolve issues, particularly for older people in residential aged care, so that they can be left at home rather than being transported to hospital. This is a win-win for everyone, because the last thing a frail and elderly person needs is to be transported to emergency when they can receive the care that they need by highly qualified, skilled paramedics supported by the virtual emergency department.

So the budget really delivers for health, and that is something that we can all be very, very proud of.

I have not yet mentioned, and it would be remiss of me not to, the investments that we are making in our workforce. We are continuing to support the RUSON and RUSOM model in our public hospitals – that is, registered undergraduate students of nursing and registered undergraduate students of midwifery. This was a model that was created back in the days of the Bracks–Brumby government. Indeed it was the former health minister, then Daniel Andrews, who worked with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation to develop a model that meant that student nurses and student midwives could actually be registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to perform certain duties in our hospitals and do their casual work in a health setting rather than at Maccas or a pub or all the other places that we know that students work in order to support themselves during their university studies. The RUSON and RUSOM model also ensures of course that the young people undertaking this study can be clear that that is what they want to do by having that real-life experience in hospitals – so that they know that they have made the right choice – but also they get that real-world experience working in a health service before they graduate. As a consequence of that, often many of them are offered jobs before they even graduate.

We are absolutely thrilled to be continuing our investment in the RUSON and RUSOM model. I did mention of course it was introduced by the Bracks–Brumby government. I need to remind everyone that it was then stopped by the Liberal government, by the Baillieu–Napthine government. They cut and culled that program, and then it was brought back by our government.

We will always back our healthcare workforce. It is why there are now 40,000 more healthcare workers in our system than when we came to government some 10 or so years ago. Last year our workforce grew by 6.7 per cent. That is the largest single increase in the health workforce ever, because our government backs healthcare workers. Healthcare workers know that Victoria is a great state to work in, because (1) we have a world-class healthcare system and (2) for our nursing staff we have ratios. Again, I am reminded that we introduced legislated ratios, because under the previous Napthine–Baillieu government, what happened? Mr Davis in the other place tried to bargain those ratios away. So we have protected them as best we can through legislation, and they will remain while there is an Allan–Labor government. Because let me say this – and this brings me to some of the risks that I need to alert the house to of a potential Liberal government: should a Liberal government be re-elected in this place, then I posit that those nurse–patient ratios are absolutely at risk.

What we saw today from the member for Brighton was a very shouty contribution – a lot of people have commented on that already – one that will rip $4.6 billion out of the Victorian budget. So my question and the question I think all Victorians should be asking themselves as well is: where is this money going to be cut from? I suggest to you that a good indication is to look at what they have done previously when they have been in power. We know that when the Liberals were last in power they attacked our nurses, they attacked our ambos and they went to war with our ambos. We also know, because they have got previous form, that they cut, closed and privatised hospitals. I mean, that is what Liberals do. So today I listened to a speech by the member for Brighton, a speech, I might say, that failed to mention health at all – made zero mention of health. I mean, we have got a budget that invests $11.1 billion into health. We have got a budget that proudly talks about the fact that we invest 30 per cent of our state budget into health care, and yet the Shadow Treasurer did not mention health once.

That sent alarm bells ringing for me, because we know they sold off Mildura hospital and they sold off Latrobe Regional Hospital. Let us not mention the eight or 12 or – well, maybe I will mention them now that the member for Benambra has come into the chamber. They closed hospitals in Eildon, Koroit, Mortlake, Murtoa, Red Cliffs, Macarthur, Clunes, Beeac, Birregurra, Lismore, Elmore and Waranga. What I would suggest is, should they be returned to power, this is what we can expect: hospitals being closed, hospitals being sold off, nurses being sacked and paramedics being sacked. This is what Liberal governments do.

People say if you want to see what people really value, look at where they put their money. So I would say: have a look at our budget. It tells you all about our values: massive investments in health care, massive investments in education, massive investments in public transport, cost-of-living relief for families – a whole range of initiatives that speak directly to Victorian people. Whereas those on the other side have come in here today and outlined that they are going to rip $4.6 billion out of the budget, and as I understand it, when questioned by representatives from the media about how they will pay for this: ‘Oh, well, we’ve got nothing to say on that right now. We’ll let you know about that in November next year.’ The Victorian people are not going to buy this. The Victorian people want to know where that money is coming from. I will be out there and I will be letting our healthcare workers know that they need to be alert to what those on the other side propose to do should they ever win government in this state of Victoria. This budget is a true Labor budget. It is one that is focused on what matters most to Victorians, and I commend it to the house.

Matthew GUY (Bulleen) (18:42): In making some comments on the budget, I note, yet again, that this is probably the sixth, seventh or eighth budget in a row where the people of Manningham, and particularly West Manningham in Bulleen, have received very little from the Labor Party, despite schools falling apart, despite roads in atrocious conditions and so forth. But when a budget, as the previous speaker said, is a true Labor budget – a budget that is about taxing, stealing, lying and delusion – I guess we should not be far from accepting that that is what we would expect. There is nothing for any of the schools in my electorate and no increases to any of the maintenance around the parks, which are being left to overrun in native vegetation close to people’s homes. The North East Link is a disaster for people who live near it. It is fine to show up in a hard hat and get your TV opportunity – that is nice. But for a budget that the Labor Party say is about people and caring for people, they could not give a stuff about people who live near the North East Link construction site – about the parking, about the traffic, about the noise or about the businesses that are dealing with dust over and above what are normal rates, which is dangerous to their health and to their staff’s health. All of this has been raised – nothing in this budget to manage it or to deal with it.

I just simply say to Labor: you are quite right, it is a Labor budget, because it is about delusion. These boneheads are all about theft, delusion and taxing, and that is what they have thrived on for the past decade. Thankfully, Victorians are waking up to this hallucinatory approach from people like the member for Mill Park, who is just one of these meatheads who gets up in the morning and focuses on nothing else but her own talking points. Let us focus on PT tickets –

Members interjecting.

Matthew GUY: Well, I can, because you talked about my kids before, so we can go for whichever you like.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): Through the Chair, member for Bulleen.

Lily D’Ambrosio: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I am offended by the member’s naming of me, and I request that he withdraw the comment.

Matthew GUY: I am sorry if the member is offended. I withdraw it if the member is offended.

Lily D’Ambrosio interjected.

Matthew GUY: I withdraw it. I said I withdraw, and I withdraw. I withdraw absolutely. If that is what is required, I will do it absolutely and unconditionally.

I say this again: the glass jaw of the Labor Party – you know, you go to schools, the schools that are unfunded in my electorate, and what you see in every school that you go to up there is the word ‘resilience’. Resilience – it is fine for the Labor Party, isn’t it? They will talk about resilience. When it comes to this chamber there is no resilience in the Labor Party, because they throw mud at everyone. They throw lies at people. They go back 30 years, but they will not cop anything about themselves, because these people are the kings of lies and the kings and queens of spin, and we have seen that in this budget.

So let us go through some of the points in this budget I noted, particularly in relation to public transport.

A member interjected.

Matthew GUY: I hear loudmouth up the back. He has obviously taken one of his pills to stay awake. You have taken one of them to stay awake, have you mate? So what we have got – and I am being constantly interrupted – is again more issues in relation to public transport. While the Labor Party had a fair policy, particularly in relation to kids – it was actually not bad – there was no rolling stock follow-up, not one bit of rolling stock follow-up whatsoever. Instead we had the Labor minister just before the budget boasting that we were going to be able to tap on to trains with smartphones and credit cards in about three months. The budget was going to be announced, there was going to be money, it was going to be launched in 2026 – and in this budget, yet again nothing. Not only was there nothing, there was another 18 months worth of delays.

But of course let us go back in history – this government talks all about going back in history. Labor has got form with public transport ticketing, because if it was not Tom Roper who was getting scratch tickets back in the 1980s, if it was not Myki –

A member interjected.

Matthew GUY: I am glad the member interjected. Tom Roper actually shut the railway lines to St Kilda and Port Melbourne. The Labor Party not only shut the St Kilda line and the Port Melbourne line, they wanted to shut the Upfield line. They shut the line between Somerton and Upfield as well. And then they walk into the chamber and say, ‘Oh, well, you know we’re the best ones for public transport in the city.’ Well, unfortunately they are the ones who cannot get ticketing right, which is why public transport patronage is 50 per cent lower in Melbourne than it is in Sydney.

The Western Rail Plan – and I notice there are a number of members in the chamber from the western suburbs – was abandoned. All the loudmouths who come into this chamber mouthing off – they have got all the words and insults in the world, but they were the ones who promised Melton rail electrification in 2014. What a lie – never happened. In 2018: what a lie – never happened. They promised it to Wyndham Vale. What a lie. They are stuck on three-car VLocitys, which have 222 seats, as opposed to a six-car suburban train that has 1200 seats. But the best the Labor Party can do is say, ‘Well, it’s going to take another $5 billion to rebuild another station that we promised four budgets ago to rebuild, to enable the promise that we made six budgets ago that is not in this budget at all.’

So why would we believe any of the public transport initiatives – some of which are worthy – in this budget when these people are just simply liars? There is no other word for it. When you deliberately mislead people, you are a liar, and the government runs out and deliberately misleads, time and time again. Three months ago we heard we are going to be able to tap on with our credit cards to pay for public transport ticketing. How is that going? This budget then showed, yet again, another 18 months of delay.

Michaela Settle: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I think calling the government a liar is unparliamentary language.

Matthew GUY: No – it is when it is one person, not a group.

Michaela Settle: I think using the word ‘liar’ is unparliamentary language.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): The use of the word ‘liar’ is unparliamentary. That is a ruling from Speaker Maddigan. I would ask the member not to use that term.

Matthew GUY: So when the government engages in deliberate mistruths, what might we want to call that? Well, you can take your pick; I do not mind. But it is deliberate mistruths on the Western Rail Plan, on public transport ticketing and on fast rail to Geelong, which was also going to be in this budget. We were told we were going to get fast trains to Geelong – 250 k’s an hour. We were going to get these trains to Geelong.

‘A real plan for fast trains’ was the now Premier’s press release in 2018 – that is what it was. ‘A real plan for fast rail’ was the then Premier and the current Premier’s press release way back in 2018, which would have required funding in this budget. As you know, because of the deliberate mistruth, or whatever you want to call it, it is absent from this budget. Also absent in this budget is funding to fix what was promised, again years ago, and that is the Bunyip rail duplication to increase capacity on the Gippsland line. Again it was a deliberate mistruth from the Labor party to say they would take the feds’ money – the Liberal federal government’s money – to fix the Gippsland line but then spend it on everything but the duplication of the Bunyip rail bridge.

What are Victorians meant to think when we have got promises such as tap-on, tap-off tickets, which was meant to be in this budget – it is not – and a fare policy that is not too bad but no new rolling stock to follow up with. So you have got people packed into 222-capacity, three-car VLocitys who should be on what was promised seven or eight years ago, which was 1200-crush-capacity six-car suburban trains – not to be – on the Melton line and on the line to Wyndham Vale, or maybe on the fast trains to Geelong. Again, they are not in this budget. This was committed to, having 250-kilometre-an-hour trains from Geelong to Melbourne, by the then Premier and the now Premier. Maybe for Gippsland the fast trains would be able to operate much more efficiently after removing the single-track section between Bunyip and Longwarry, which would be the duplication of the Bunyip rail bridge – not to be. How about the Cranbourne East railway extension? This was also promised by Labor. Again, it is not in this budget. Or how about the Somerton connection, which was promised – I go back further to the Brumby government – under Melbourne 2030. It would have been done according to Melbourne 2030 plans, but under the life of the Allan Labor government it is not funded again between Upfield and Somerton. That rail connection has been scrapped. Or Donnybrook – I am glad the member for Mill Park is here, because she might remember, near her electorate, what was then promised as the Lalor to Donnybrook extension. The government’s own developer VicUrban then sold lots of land at Aurora at inflated prices saying, ‘You’re going to live right near a railway line’ – never to be realised. There is no money in this budget for that commitment, which the government made 10 years ago. I simply say: when the Labor Party deliberately misleads people in this manner, what is the average Victorian meant to think? Maybe they have gone AWOL like the 3000 hospital beds that were promised during COVID. Remember those?

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Matthew GUY: Four thousand, says the member for Eildon. ICU beds – 4000 were promised. Or the community hospitals – I am still struggling to find the one on Ryans Road in Eltham. When the community get told these things are going to come but they never eventuate, people do scratch their heads and say, ‘Well, come on. Let’s be fair. Let’s be realistic about this.’ I noted again in the budget whether there would be any new rolling stock for country and regional Victoria given the government’s fare initiative, which is not bad and I support. I think it is not a bad initiative; however, there is no use making fare initiatives which vastly increases patronage when you do not match that with increased rolling stock numbers to cope with what will then be a massive use of the system. Any fool can tell you that. Look at Queensland, look at New South Wales and of course look at Victoria, where we had that as a commitment at the last election. Now the government has got three-car trains with a 222-seat capacity. The member for Benambra knows all about this. You can hardly book a train seat from Albury to Melbourne, let alone get on at Euroa or Avenel or Wangaratta or Benalla, because they are full, because the government is not matching this with the infrastructure to service the commitment they have made. I simply say that I looked in the budget for the extra VLocitys or whether we would have five-car CAF trains, like New South Wales, as part of our system – nothing in there. Let me circle right back to the Western Rail Plan, which was the electrification to Wyndham Vale and to Melton. People online are absolutely livid, and yet again complaining that this budget has delivered them nothing but words, because you cannot fit 1000 people on a three-car VLocity train, which is what was operating this morning on the western line trains and the regional rail link. People cannot fit in them, and the government does not have the VLocitys to service what they are trying to commit to regional Victoria. And they cannot build those trains for one key reason: because they are out of money.

There are consequences for debt. There are consequences for having to service $1.2 million an hour in interest payments, or $29 million a day, which would pay for 1½ new three-car VLocitys, or $200 million a week, which is the value of five new X’Trapolis trains. There are consequences for that, and everything I have mentioned is part of the consequence of having to service the largest state government debt in Australian political history – a government that inherited debt levels at $18 billion and will no doubt bequeath the next government around $200 billion. You can point to projects, not mentioning of course that they have overrun by $48 billion, but the point is, as I said before, there are consequences for bad management.

I note, for members in the chamber who are interjecting – some were before – that $48 billion could have funded the Melton hospital 60 times, and that is the project overrun, not the project cost of the Big Build. I point out the minister who was predominantly responsible for those project overruns: at Metro, $6 billion; level crossings, $6 billion; the western distributor, $6 billion; the North East Link, $18 billion – and those are the overruns. The person responsible for all of those is now the Premier.

It is no wonder we have got what Labor members say is a real Labor budget, and we would agree: it sure is. It is one of taxes, theft, lies and delusion that is going to cost Victorians for many, many years and potentially generations while we pay off a Labor government who cannot manage money.

Katie HALL (Footscray) (18:57): I am delighted to make a contribution on these bills, because the budget has delivered some great outcomes for my electorate of Footscray in Melbourne’s inner west. I am really proud that we have upgraded almost every government school in my electorate of Footscray, because I believe that state schools are the great leveller in life.

With this budget I have been able to work with the school community of Yarraville West Primary School, and I would like to acknowledge the principal, Karen, and the school council, because we have worked together and we are delivering $493,000 to upgrade the school foyer. This was a priority for the school. Anyone who knows this school knows that the entry to the school is right on the footpath there in Yarraville, so that is a great outcome for the school, and it shows what can be achieved when you have a seat at the table of government and when you can advocate with a community organisation or a school for an outcome and work over a period of time to get a great outcome.

Another great outcome for my community is Maribyrnong College. My dad was the school captain there a very long time ago, and even though it is well known for its elite sporting facilities, Maribyrnong College’s academic buildings do need an upgrade. I have been working with the school council there and the principal Michael Keenan on securing some planning funding for the next stage of Maribyrnong College’s journey.

It has been a great budget for the residents of Maribyrnong, because one of the things they know is that our SES provides such a vital service. They know that from the 2022 floods, when so many residents experienced just devastating flooding in their houses and in the streets and in the parks. The SES did a power of work, but their home is currently in the Maribyrnong council bus depot, so I was really proud that after a few years of advocacy we had the planning money last budget and this budget we have secured $14.5 million for a new home for the Footscray SES.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.