Thursday, 28 August 2025

Motions

Budget papers 2025–26

Debate resumed on motion of Steve Dimopoulos:

That this house takes note of the 2025–26 budget papers.

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (16:06): I am absolutely delighted to be rising to speak on the Victorian Labor budget for 2025–26. In doing so, I would like to firstly acknowledge of course Treasurer Symes, the first female treasurer in Victoria’s history, on her most recent – not so recent now – budget going back to May, the Premier, the Deputy Premier, the Minister for Finance and of course all the cabinet ministers, ministerial officers, departments and teams for putting together and assembling this year’s budget.

The 2025–26 budget puts forward our positive, prudent and meaningful economic plan for Victoria for the year ahead while ensuring we can continue to take real action to support all Victorians, including people across Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West, when it comes to the cost of living, jobs and skills opportunities, education, transport, health and wellbeing, community sport, environment and sustainability, action on social justice and fairness outcomes for all.

Underpinning this approach is ensuring we continue to strengthen Victoria’s economic growth and overall financial position of course. In this respect I am very pleased to highlight that the 2025–26 budget will continue to support Labor’s approach since 2014 to build a stronger economy for everyone. Victoria continues to lead all other states in terms of real economic growth, which has remained the case over the last decade. We have added $138 billion in value and worth to the Victorian economy in our time in office, and the gross state product has increased by 1.5 per cent during the 2023–24 year. The economy is now 11.5 per cent larger than prior to the pandemic, and our economy has grown by over 9 per cent in the last two years alone, according to Deloitte.

We have continued of course that record jobs growth of 900,000 jobs created since 2014. We have continued to keep unemployment rates low – much lower than the nearly 7 per cent the Liberal opposition left behind when they lost office in 2014. We have supported businesses and industries to grow, with more than 113,000 new businesses having been created and opened across Victoria in the last five years, and 18 per cent growth in new businesses, higher than any other state in percentage terms. Business investment has grown by 30 per cent since 2020–21, higher than the largest percentage growth of any other state, reaching record high shares of overall economic activity, and business investment has grown by 3.7 per cent over the year to December 2024, compared to negative 0.1 per cent nationally.

It is also a budget of course that will return Victoria to surplus, forecast to generate a $600 million operating surplus by the end of the financial year; it is a budget that reduces net debt to gross state product, GSP, over the forward estimates; and it is a budget that will continue to invest in frontline services, cost-of-living relief and support for all Victorians.

It is a budget approach that is continuing to attract more investment and more people to want to come and live, learn, work, raise a family, do business and retire in Victoria. Victoria’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the nation. More people want to live here – 130,000 more people have moved here in the last 12 months, a 2 per cent growth in population across the state, compared to 1.3 per cent or 102,000 people in New South Wales – and Geelong is the top location for people to want to relocate anywhere in Australia – more than the Gold Coast.

When it comes to approval and construction of new homes Victoria also continues to lead the way, with 61,260 home completions as of 25 January, an 8.8 per cent year-on-year increase. That is compared to New South Wales, which delivered 45,600 new homes – a 4.4 per cent decline – and Queensland, which delivered 44,200 homes, 28,500 homes less than Victoria. Victoria also leads the nation on home approvals, approving 10,600 more homes than New South Wales and 17,000 more homes than Queensland.

Record numbers of tourists have continued to visit Victoria – international, interstate and intrastate. As we have touched on earlier in the debate today, 2 million people attended our major events across Victoria over the last year. Seven hundred thousand people attended the football. There were 465,000 people for the Australian Grand Prix record crowd earlier this year and 200,000 at the Avalon airshow. There were record crowds at Kusama at the National Gallery of Victoria and the food and wine festival, and coming up we have the NBL, the NFL and so much more.

Across many of our economic, financial and socio-economic metrics and despite international economic inflationary challenges, global geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainty the reality is Victoria’s economy is continuing to grow in a positive, stable and resilient manner. As a Labor government and Labor movement, we also know that a budget is much more than just a balance sheet; it is about helping people. That is why, along with solidifying Victoria on a prudent and stable economic and financial path, this year’s budget also takes that important action to support young people, families, workers, seniors and everyone in between. In this respect I very much welcome and support the range of cost-of-living measures in the budget, which include free public transport for kids under 18 years of age, every day saving families around $755 per year from 26 January; free public transport for senior cardholders on weekends, saving seniors more than $360 a year; making the pharmacy pilot bigger and permanent to treat more conditions via free consultations without the need to see a doctor for a script; the extra $200 Get Active Kids vouchers for families who need them most with the cost of community, sport and participation; uplifting the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund to $400 for all eligible primary and secondary school students in government and non-government schools; funding to all children under 16 years to keep enjoying free admission to the Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Kyabram Fauna Park; continuing our free kinder initiative for all three- and four-year-olds, saving families $2600 per year per child; and our ongoing support for our landmark free Smile Squad dental in schools program, which is saving families around $400 to $500 depending on the check-up and the treatment follow-up needed by children in schools. For ongoing support, the budget provides for our free glasses and vision screening program in schools, again saving families anywhere between $200 and $500 on the cost of vision screening and glasses.

We are bringing back the power saving bonus via the new $100 PSB for all eligible seniors and concession card holders as well. We are extending off-the-plan stamp duty concession for a further year to help those first home buyers, young people, families, workers, downsizers and retirees to find the home that they deserve. Of course we are providing a lot of different investments to support families through mortgage stress; those in need of food relief; for renters, with the minister at the table, the Minister for Consumer Affairs, here as well; and many other disadvantaged community cohorts. This is a budget that is on the side of Victorian people.

Along with the cost-of-living relief, the budget also very much continues our efforts to grow and drive jobs and skills outcomes for all Victorians – as I said, almost 900,000 jobs created since 2014, those continued lower levels of unemployment across the state and ongoing job-generating investments, including through the Big Build infrastructure, transport, kinder, school upgrades and hospital, housing and other service investments. More investment into frontline services – we are talking about doctors, nurses, health workers, kinder educators, school teachers, TAFE teachers, police officers, paramedics, firefighters, health and wellbeing, mental health and community and other services. Ongoing support to deliver free TAFE – over 80 free TAFE courses are now available to Victorians. Of course we are facilitating the implementation of our Economic Growth Statement to fully support industry, business and small business, including through the priority sector areas of advanced manufacturing and defence, health technologies and medical research, circular economy, digital technology and agribusiness, halving the number of regulators by 2030 and giving those practical supports and assistance to our small business community. I want to commend as well the Minister for Small Business, Minister Suleyman, for her work in this space, particularly around the payroll tax threshold reforms that are part of this budget from 1 July, with the threshold rising from $900,000 to $1 million, which will help a lot more small businesses not pay or pay reduced amounts of payroll tax across the state.

It is also very much a budget that is about revitalising central Coburg. One of the keynote projects we funded is the $6 million investment to deliver a brand new Bachar Houli Foundation academy of sport in central Coburg, to be built at the Coburg oval precinct on the site of the former Moreland bowls club on Harding Street. The new Bachar Houli Foundation, the Islamic College of Sport and Aspire college of sport will provide for a new main school campus for the academy; 12 new flexible-use classrooms and learning spaces; two new indoor sports courts and brand new change rooms; dedicated access to sporting facilities such as a high-performance gym and amenities; breakout areas for students and staff; administrative facilities and accompanying toilet facilities; unique and focused programs for students seeking a combination of high-performance sport environments; and a choice of education offerings – an inclusive and active place where both Muslim and non-Muslim Victorians can connect through sport.

Outside of school hours the facility will of course be utilised and accessed by the local community and sporting clubs, with a focus on enabling women and girls’ participation in sport by providing a culturally safe and welcoming space.

The Bachar Houli Foundation has a long, long history of building connections through mentorship and sport in the Victorian community. The school supports 76 students in years 11 and 12 through their VCE studies, with this important investment to expand to years 7 and 10 in the coming years in the heart of central Coburg, providing job skills and education pathways in the heart of the north for decades to come. I want to acknowledge the Premier, the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Bachar Houli, Ali Fahour and everyone who has worked so hard to bring this project together, including my federal colleague Peter Khalil, the federal member for Wills, who has helped secure $15 million from the Albanese Labor government towards realising this project as well. It will be a driving force for Coburg revitalisation in the heart of our community.

Along with this outcome, the budget also supports our government’s continued efforts, as I said, to facilitate new industry, business and small business jobs and skills outcomes. I would like to draw the house’s attention to the state’s 10-year plan to unlock underutilised industrial land to give business and community more certainty. In this respect, I am really excited about the opportunities associated with the former Kangan Batman TAFE site situated in Coburg North, in my electorate, which continues to provide new and future opportunities for economic development, jobs, skills, social enterprise, community and commercial pathways for locals to benefit from. I look forward to continuing that advocacy on that site through that statement, because along with jobs and skills pathways, the budget also recognises the fundamental role that a quality education plays in building and leading a prosperous livelihood.

We have supported teachers and schools to lift year 12 completion rates dramatically from 92 per cent in 2021 to 97 per cent today. That is why I am also delighted of course that we are continuing on with our free kinder initiative and continuing the pipeline of local kinder upgrades, with an $11.8 million investment towards upgrading 11 local kinders across Merri-bek, creating 385 extra places over the coming years. I am very happy to have previously visited the Derby Street Children’s Centre with the Minister for Children Minister Blandthorn to celebrate its completed upgrade and to meet with Louise Wood, the centre manager – a $3.1 million redevelopment that we have chipped in $1.2 million for. We have rebuilt the four-year-old kinder room and added 27 new, approved children’s places for the centre to now accommodate 110 places.

It was also great to visit the Merri-bek Toy Library with the minister too around that time and to catch up with Anna Figueiredo, the president of the Merri-bek Toy Library. We provided a $6000 grant to support the toy library to continue its good work. Over 500 families access the toy library across Pascoe Vale and Brunswick West, so that is a great initiative to support. I really look forward to also working with the minister on progressing early childhood and wellbeing opportunities on the old Coburg Special Developmental School site on the corner of Gaffney Street and Bishop Street, which I continue to advocate for and champion as well.

It was also a pleasure to have secured $436,000 for VICSEG New Futures, again in the heart of central Coburg – jobs in central Coburg – for them to continue their pioneering multilingual children’s program based in Coburg. VICSEG’s early childhood multilingual program now reaches across the north-west, supporting 22 playgroups and over 300 migrant, asylum seeker and refugee families. Commendations to the entire VICSEG team: Maree, Raftis, Caspar, Zika and all the others for their efforts in championing their work.

I was also very proud to have secured funding for the magnificent Coburg Primary School community in this budget. Coburg Primary will share in $10 million of statewide funding that will go towards essential planning for much-needed future upgrades and refurbishment to improve the learning spaces for teachers, students and the wider school community. It is one of the oldest schools in this state’s history, so it is well overdue for an upgrade and a facelift, to say the least. And again, commendations to the entire school community, who do a great job advocating for it: Jacob Kantor, the school council president; Mike Cormack, school council; Emma Burrows, school council; Charlotte Bouette, who was the acting principal; Matt Kerby, the principal; Lucy Williams, the assistant principal; and so many others. That of course builds on the work we have been doing with Coburg Primary to deliver them previously new portables on the junior campus and funding to upgrade and repair their accessibility ramps and for other maintenance and refurbishment work and road safety priorities along Bell Street, Elm Grove and Urquhart Street as well.

It was a pleasure to have helped support Westbreen Primary as well with a brand new double-storey portable that we delivered earlier in the year and Coburg North Primary with $500,000 towards upgrading their toilets. Commendations to Michelle Tedeschi, the acting principal, and the entire school community there.

We opened the $18 million upgraded Pascoe Vale Primary School as well recently. Commendations to school council president Deb Cowley and Anne McNaughton, the principal. Yvette Jones, the parents and friends association president and communications coordinator is so enthusiastic in championing the school, so it is great to open their new facilities.

We recently visited, Acting Speaker Lambert, Newlands Primary with the Premier to celebrate their $20 million upgrades that we have delivered. It was so fantastic to work with them. But of course there is more to do, with Merri-bek Primary School of course, which I continue to champion, and many, many others. We are continuing to deliver through this budget the aspirations of the Merri-bek North Education Plan and further improvements and opportunities for Coburg High, Strathmore Secondary, Pascoe Vale Girls College, Glenroy College and John Fawkner College so all students have the chance to aspire and succeed. We have invested significantly to improve school accessibility outcomes as well. And of course free TAFE will be continuing.

Transport – of course the free transport for young people and seniors is a huge, huge win through this budget as well. Ongoing improvements to the Upfield and Craigieburn lines through improved off-peak services are reducing them from 40 minutes to 20 minutes. It is a huge, huge uplift in services, along with the other improvements we are making along the corridor as well. The Brunswick tram depot has a $150 million upgrade to improve local tram services as well. Active transport and road safety upgrades of course are provided for through this budget. In terms of health, wellbeing, community sport, environmental action, climate action, social justice and the cost of living, this budget has a lot more in it I could talk about, but I commend it for now.

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (16:21): I also rise to take note of this year’s 2025–26 budget. Budgets are lots of paper, lots of words, lots of numbers, lots of spreadsheets, lots of dot points and lots of charts, but in essence what budgets are are an opportunity to demonstrate the priorities of a government. This is not a partisan comment; this is a general comment. They are the opportunity for governments, whether they be national or subnational governments of any colour, to demonstrate what their priorities are. This year’s budget, Labor’s 11th budget, is titled ‘Focused on what matters most’. I can tell you at the outset that Labor, after 11 years, is focused on anything other than what matters most to Victorians.

I want to take you on a bit of a history lesson. Net debt at the end of this budget cycle is expected to hit, according to Labor’s own budget, $194 billion – $194 billion.

Michaela Settle interjected.

Brad ROWSWELL: Don’t worry; I’ll get to what it started with. If you include in the net debt the general government sector, the debt is $234 billion. Now, we know that the annual interest payment is paid on the net debt only. At the end of the forward estimates over the next four years, as outlined in Labor’s 11th budget, the daily interest payment will be $29 million a day. That is around $1.2 million an hour just in interest payments – not capital payments, interest payments. The tax take has increased from $39 billion to $47 billion. Public sector wages have increased from $38 billion to $42.5 billion. Debt has grown by around 9 per cent each and every year since Labor has been in power. Just for a moment imagine if the way the Labor government ran their budget was applied to the way a family or a small business, or a large business for that matter, ran their budget – with an annual growth in debt of 9 per cent per year. Your tax take is increasing from $39 billion to $47 billion, but at the same time your debt increases to $194 billion. Every time this government have been warned to rein in their debt, they have done anything other than rein in their debt, and we know how they pay for it. Victorians know how they pay for it.

Victorian hardworking taxpayers know how they pay for it. What this government have done over the last 11 years has made their poor economic management the problem of everyday hardworking Victorians. That is what they have done with more than 60 new or increased taxes in that time. What do Victorians get to see for this?

We are now at a stage where Victorians are paying more tax than they have ever paid before, where in Victoria we have the highest taxes of any subnational government in the country. We have the highest business taxes of any subnational jurisdiction in the country. We have the highest property taxes of any subnational jurisdiction in the country, and what do Victorians get for it? Sweet nothing. They get more taxes. They are paying more in taxes, Labor’s taxes, than they have ever paid before, and they are getting nothing for it. They are being ripped off by a government who, frankly, after 11 years, has failed to care.

Labor continues to fail Victorians. Labor continues to fail everyday hardworking Victorians. And do not ask me, ask the Australian Bureau of Statistics. At a time when our national unemployment rate has decreased to 4.2 per cent, Victoria’s state unemployment rate has increased by 0.1 per cent to 4.6 per cent. That means that for 17 consecutive months, Victoria has had the highest unemployment of any state in the country. That 17-month streak – those opposite may wish to cheer and applaud, but I do not – is the longest streak since the Australian Bureau of Statistics began collecting labour force data in 1978. That is nothing to be proud of, because we know that if someone is unemployed, that means that they do not have the ability to pay their way, to provide for themselves, to provide for their families, to positively contribute to their community, to stand on their own two feet, to feel dignity or to feel worth. A job is not just that, a job is an opportunity for someone to feel self-worth and to contribute, and we on this side want more Victorians to be in jobs.

We have an appetite to drive economic growth, to target industries, to improve productivity and to adopt new and emerging technologies. The private sector is doing it. Why cannot the public sector? The private sector is adopting things like artificial intelligence. Why can’t the public sector – to achieve those productivity improvements that we so, so desperately need?

I am not here just to give you the bad news; I am here to give you the good news also, and the good news is this: on the election of a Liberal–Nationals government after the state election in November next year, we will scrap taxes. We will scrap Labor’s schools tax. Labor’s schools tax is a tax on choice. It is a tax on education. It is a tax on parents’ abilities to choose the best educational opportunities for their child. Labor will have you believe that those independent schools and those families that choose to send their kids to independent schools are rich – far from it. At those independent schools, those families who choose to send their children to independent schools – to give them, in their view, what is the very best start in life – many of them do not just work one shift in the taxi but a second shift in the taxi to pay those school fees.

Why are they being targeted?

We will scrap Labor’s health tax. We will scrap Labor’s health tax not just for GPs but for allied health, because we know and we understand on this side, more so than on the government side, the importance of primary health. The economic circumstance that those opposite simply cannot understand is this: primary health needs to be invested in. Primary health needs to be not just invested in but protected, because as soon as someone presents to an emergency department of a public hospital in this state it costs the Victorian taxpayer far more than investing in, defending and protecting primary health. We get that. Under a Liberal–National government Labor’s health tax will be scrapped.

The holiday and tourism tax will also be scrapped – their 7.5 per cent tax on short-term rentals. In another role at another time I had the great privilege of working with my upper house colleagues in the other place to propose to the upper house chamber at that point in time some amendments to Labor’s tax on short-term rentals, because not everyone is equal and we should respect diversity in our state and we should do our very best to protect the most vulnerable. We moved amendments in the other place to exclude disabled Victorians, veterans and those parents fleeing domestic violence circumstances from being taxed by Labor’s holiday and tourism tax, because Victorians in those circumstances do not want to stay in a hotel. They want to stay in a short-term rental, because short-term rentals, apart from being about a third of the cost of a hotel, also provide the home comforts that vulnerable people need in that circumstance. They provide a microwave, a fridge, a washing machine, a dryer, all those things that people in those vulnerable circumstances need. Together with the crossbench, this Labor government opposed those amendments. So those Victorians who are fleeing domestic violence, those veterans who are experiencing an acute mental health episode and those disabled Victorians who choose a short-term rental over hotel accommodation because hotels do not necessarily provide the set-up for their needs will also be charged Labor’s holiday and tourism tax – a 7.5 per cent tax on their stay. It is disgraceful. They say they care about vulnerable Victorians, and they simply do not. That is the good news: under a Liberal–National government we will scrap Labor’s school tax, we will scrap Labor’s health tax and we will scrap Labor’s holiday and tourism tax.

We will also scrap Labor’s emergency services tax. Those rates are being received by Victorian home owners and Victorian businesses at the minute, and Victorians are receiving those bills and being absolutely shocked. In my own constituency I have received an example from Mark Sutherland, who is the owner of Sandy Scoops in Bay Road, Sandringham, where he is paying more in Labor’s emergency services tax than he is in his Bayside council rates. Year on year the emergency services tax, a state government based tax, has increased by more than 30 per cent. How is that justified? It is really simple how this is justified, because they continue to spend, they continue to waste and they continue to treat Victorians with disrespect. They continue to treat hardworking Victorian taxpayers with disdain and disrespect, and they just tax them more, they tax them more and they tax them more. This is what is in the DNA of this Labor government, and it is an absolute disgrace.

We will legislate a charter of budget honesty. We will make available a public expenditure dashboard. We will release every five years an intergenerational report. We will establish a Victorian productivity commission. We will reinstate a Victorian code of practice for the building and construction industry and establish construction enforcement Victoria, and we will legislate a debt cap. These are important accountability measures that we are prepared to put on ourselves, because on this side of the chamber we respect Victorian taxpayers money more than they ever will.

In the time that I have left, which is not that long, I simply want to address this: when it comes to Labor’s Suburban Rail Loop, it is very, very, very clear they do not care about livability. It starts in my patch; it starts in my community. They do not care about livability in my community. All they want to do is ram through these plans without consultation and without care or concern for my community.

Nick Staikos interjected.

Brad ROWSWELL: Well, they elected me, minister at the table, so they have not voted for the Suburban Rail Loop. With a 5.1 per cent increase in margin at the last state election, they absolutely did not vote for the Suburban Rail Loop, I can tell you that. With the Suburban Rail Loop, in this year’s budget there is an item, there is a cost, and in the second, the third and the fourth year, do you know what they say – ‘TBC.’ Does that mean ‘to be confirmed’? Does that mean ‘too bloody costly’? What does that actually mean?

The ACTING SPEAKER (Nathan Lambert): Order! Member for Sandringham, I do remind you: parliamentary language, please.

Brad ROWSWELL: On this side of the house our message on the Suburban Rail Loop is really clear: we will pause it, and we will review it.

Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (16:37): I rise to speak in support of the 2025–26 Labor state budget, a budget that meets Victorians where they are and offers support where it is needed. In my community and indeed across the state, families are juggling the cost of living, caring for loved ones and worrying about the future. They do not ask for much. They are the things they all expect: a safe place to live, a school that gives their child the best start, a hospital that is there when they need it and a government that is on their side. This Labor state budget is focused on exactly that: the things that matter. It is a budget that backs Victorians, whether they are in our regional areas or at home in Northcote, by helping people with cost-of-living relief, strengthening the services we rely on and investing in a fairer, stronger future.

I am proud to be part of a Labor government that listens to what matters most and acts with purpose, and I am proud to represent a community that knows we are at our best when we back each other and bring everyone with us. Everywhere I go in Northcote, whether it is the school gate, Northcote Plaza or High Street on a Saturday morning, I hear the same thing: people are doing their best, but it is hard. That is why this budget delivers targeted cost-of-living relief – relief that people will really feel. When we tip into 2026, public transport will be completely free for every Victorian under 18. That means students in Northcote, from Fairfield to Preston, can travel to school, sport, dance class or their after-school job without it costing a cent. It means more freedom for young people and more breathing room for parents, with a saving of over $700 a year per child. For a community like ours in the inner north that relies heavily on public transport, with two train lines, two tram lines and multiple bus routes, this is a big deal. We are also extending free weekend travel to all seniors card holders, helping grandparents stay connected to the people and places they love.

I have heard from so many people in our community who are struggling with the cost of groceries, rent and power bills, so I am delighted that we are continuing the $100 power saving bonus for concession card holders. The initiative has only just opened this week, and already my office has been assisting locals in my community to put their applications in and benefit from this bill relief. Residents are also being encouraged to check their energy deal on the Victorian Energy Compare website, another initiative of the Labor government. If they switch to a cheaper offer, they can save on average $240 a year, but in many cases it is much more than that. Our budget also expands our solar homes rebates so more Victorians can switch to energy-efficient hot-water and heating systems to make their homes more comfortable and affordable to run.

Recently I had the opportunity to meet again with Darebin Climate Action Now, along with you, Acting Speaker, the member for Preston. DCAN continues to play such an important role in our community, and it was a good, robust policy discussion.

They welcomed the government’s strong record on electrification and highlighted further opportunities to support households and renters in moving away from gas, particularly in areas like cooktops and space heating. They also raised the importance of community education and accessible resources so people have the confidence to make the switch. Importantly, DCAN put forward a practical idea, shifting the daily gas connection charge from renters to landlords. They pose that this would create a real incentive for rental providers to disconnect from gas, while ensuring renters, who often have the least power to make those changes, are not left unfairly carrying the burden. I want to acknowledge DCAN’s thoughtful advocacy. These are the kinds of conversations that strengthen our collective resolve to not only cut bills and reduce emissions but ensure the transition is fair and leaves no household behind. That principle is at the very heart of the Allan Labor government’s reform agenda.

Adding to our cost-of-living initiatives we are also doubling our community food relief program, because for some a food parcel or a hot meal can be the difference between going hungry and getting through. Here in Northcote we have groups like Bridge Darebin, DIVRS and the Alphington Community Centre doing incredible work feeding families; meeting people with dignity, not judgement; and being the safety net our community depends on. Having been to quite a few of these community lunches, I can tell you that these initiatives mean so much to people. Just the ability to come along, sit down with others, share a meal, have a chat and feel welcome is immense.

We all know what it means to rely on our health system. When someone you love is sick, when you are sitting beside a hospital bed or waiting anxiously by a phone, nothing matters more. That is why this budget delivers record investment in health. Almost a third of the entire budget is dedicated to health and wellbeing. We are boosting emergency care, increasing the number of mental health beds, improving ambulance response times and making it easier to get treatment locally without the stress of long waitlists or costly appointments. That includes expanding our virtual emergency department and urgent care clinics, initiatives that are already taking pressure off our emergency departments and making a real difference. The virtual ED – what an incredible initiative. We are tripling its capacity in this budget so more Victorians get that free, 24-hour care from home. It has already helped over half a million people, including many in my community in the inner north, but also very importantly many people in regional areas. In this year’s budget we are expanding it to reach almost 1800 people every single day. That is less pressure on our hospitals and more care in our community.

Now with the expanded and permanent role for community pharmacists, Victorians can access free care for more everyday health needs too, including oral contraception, UTIs, allergies, asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure, without seeing a GP or paying extra. That is smart reform. It supports our workforce to work at the top of their scope and gives Victorians faster, more convenient access to care no matter where they live. As the daughter of a pharmacist, I have seen firsthand the role that pharmacists play in our healthcare system, from trusted advice to life-saving care. It is special to see our Labor government backing their role in this way.

For families with little ones in Northcote, we are doing something truly transformative. With a $5 million boost in this budget, we are delivering a brand new early parenting centre right at the end of Green Street in Northcote. This will be a haven for local families – a place where new parents can access day programs and overnight stays and get support with sleep, settling, feeding and bonding. Those early weeks and years are tough, and help should just be around the corner. With this centre, it will be.

Education changes lives. It did for my parents, it did for me and it must for every child in Northcote and in our state. That is why I am proud that Labor has delivered free kinder for every three- and four-year-old – making enormous investments in our local schools. We are continuing free TAFE to make sure Victorians have the skills they need for the jobs they want. Nothing brings me more joy than visiting one of our early learning centres in the inner north, where dedicated workers are giving children the absolute best start. We have been really proud to invest in those centres with important upgrades to expand their capacity and make their facilities more inclusive.

As with any Labor government budget, this one provides real support for school-aged kids. We are boosting the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund to $400 per eligible student, because no student should miss out on the chance to go on a camp. We are investing in literacy and numeracy with year 1 numeracy checks and free advanced maths camps. We are supporting pathways for high-school students with dedicated careers coordinators in government schools to help kids discover the future that they want and deserve. To make sure that every child gets the support they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond, we are completing the rollout of the disability inclusion reforms.

Sport is a part of who we are in the inner north. That is why we are delighted to hear about the $15 million Get Active Kids vouchers to cover kids’ uniforms, gear and club fees. But very excitingly, I am delighted to inform the house that the Allan Labor government has committed $100,000 for new coaching boxes and team shelters at Pitcher Park in Alphington. It was really special to join Parkside junior footy club to share the news with them a few months back. The club embodies what a thriving community looks like: proud kids, volunteers on the barbecue and families coming together, all cheering each other on. It is those connections that matter. It is why this investment in coaches boxes is not just about fixing some pretty shoddy, run-down local infrastructure, it is about showing the value that we place on community clubs and the role that they have in our society. I wish Parkside all the best with this project, and it will be wonderful to see it come to life.

In a similar vein, we are backing our multicultural seniors groups too, with public liability insurance covered and more upgrades for community facilities. We are also giving $50 million to boost public aged care, with more beds and nursing resources, and another $25 million to help seniors live independently at home. That is very important. We are improving roads, transport and pedestrian safety, with almost $1 billion in roads maintenance, new bike lanes, station accessibility upgrades and safer crossings. And with the Metro Tunnel opening later this year, unlocking faster, more reliable journeys, our city will be better connected than ever. We are also continuing to invest in community safety, with record numbers of frontline police and emergency services personnel along with increased support – nearly $800 million – for family violence prevention, crisis care and recovery, because everyone deserves to feel safe.

The values in this budget are the values of Northcote: fairness, community and showing up for each other when times are tough. That is why this budget delivers more support for housing, renters and people experiencing financial stress. We are building more social and affordable housing by unlocking government land and fast-tracking public housing renewal. We are investing in services like Mortgage Stress Victoria and the Good Money program, and we are extending off-the-plan stamp duty concessions for a further 12 months, making it easier for first home buyers to get into the market. As Parliamentary Secretary for Renters I am really proud of the work that we are doing to strengthen rental rights and fast-track tenancy disputes through the new Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria service that we launched this year – because a stable home is not just about bricks and mortar, it is about stability and dignity.

The budget puts people first, and it does so responsibly. We have returned the budget to surplus. We are delivering savings and efficiencies across government, and we are continuing to invest in what matters while keeping debt in check and backing economic growth. We are backing small businesses and new industries with the new Victorian Investment Fund and support to take Victorian products to the world, and we are creating jobs in construction, transport, health care and clean energy, building the workforce we need for the future.

The people of Northcote across Alphington, Fairfield, Thornbury, Northcote, Westgarth and Preston expect their government to show up and deliver, and that is what this budget does for our community. It delivers free public transport for kids and seniors; more help with power bills and energy upgrades; support for food relief and household essentials; better schools and disability inclusion; stronger health care, including women’s health, which is really important; support for renters; and new housing supply. These are not just abstract ideas. These are policies that you can feel at the kitchen table, at the tram stop, in the schoolyard and in your home. They are practical, they are progressive and they are fair. This is what Labor stands for. We believe in a fair go. We back working families. We strengthen public services. We invest in our communities. And we believe that every Victorian, no matter where they live or what they earn, deserves the support to thrive.

I am proud to be part of a government that does not walk away from challenges. There are those on the other side that want to create division and have that be their mantra, but we are not about that.

We are about creating unity in our state and supporting people that are doing it tough and not marginalising and stigmatising people in our community and not pandering to extremist elements in our society and not platforming them in our Parliament. I am really proud of this Labor budget and what it means for Victorians right across the state but of course in my community in Northcote, where I know that life can get hard and there are challenges before us. There are challenges before us as a community in Victoria, but we are up for the challenge. We are up for that fight. We are up for backing Victorians in and making life better and doing the hard work to get us there. We are not about slogans. We are not about just politicising every single issue. We are about supporting people. We face our challenges with compassion, with courage, with care and with commitment to making life better for the people that we represent.

For that reason I commend the Victorian state budget 2025–26 to this house. We are already seeing the benefits of it in the Northcote electorate and across the state. May we have many more budgets of the Victorian Labor government in this state, because that is what we are about. We are about supporting Victorians, making sure we have the services and infrastructure that we need for the future, making sure we are planning for our future in our state and the population growth that is going to happen in our state, and we are doing it, I think, very well in this budget. I commend the budget to this house.

Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (16:52): This budget was Labor’s chance to actually back the regions and actually stand by the words that they say and that they read from their talking points on the other side about caring for Victorians. Instead what it delivers is more taxes than any other state, and it is literally pushing Victorians into other states. Those of us that live outside of the metro areas and in border communities can actually physically see that. Those on the other side might laugh, but we can literally physically see it. I say this all the time, and I know I do, but honestly, living in a border community and watching people develop, build houses at a rate of knots and make housing subdivisions on the other side and meanwhile still come to school on our side of the river and use our hospitals – yet they are able to build and grow their families and businesses on the other side – is really sad.

As I said, this was Labor’s chance to actually look like they cared about the regions. They are the communities that grow your food and your fibre and generate power in the member for Morwell’s electorate and soon about 80 per cent of the rest of regional Victoria as they continue to bulldoze through the regions haphazardly with their transmission line projects. Instead this budget is written for Melbourne by Melbourne while treating regional Victoria as an afterthought, because we know that Labor cannot manage money, and it is regional Victorian families who are paying the price. In Melbourne we see billions flow into new train stations and dirty big holes under the city, into road upgrades and sporting facilities in the city, but out in regions like Mildura and right across regional Victoria we are left with crumbling roads, critically underfunded hospitals and classrooms that if they are not falling down are absolutely bursting at the seams. It is not just about dollars and cents – I know we are talking about the budget and there clearly is no sense – but about fairness and equity. Families in regional Victoria pay the same taxes. Actually those out in the regions pay enormously higher rates than those in the city, which is an inarguable fact. Our rates for a house in Mildura are triple the council rates if you were to live in Toorak or Prahran – triple the rates – and that is before adding on that extra emergency services tax. They are already triple.

And you have got a choice of hospitals. In Mildura you have got the public or the private, and that is about it.

We have got large local government areas, and in a rate capping environment like this we see more councils that are becoming less and less sustainable. We heard Mayor Shane Sali of Greater Shepparton talk at regional cities a couple of weeks ago – and I am glad the Minister for Local Government is sitting at the table – talk about the cost shifting of this government onto local councils and what they have to deliver, including things like their road repairs post the 2022–23 floods. The Buloke Shire Council, Minister, is still waiting on $60 million to $80 million in 2022–23 flood funding, which they have not been reimbursed for. There was a notice of motion moved at the council meeting this week.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Nathan Lambert): Order! Member for Mildura, direct your remarks through the Chair.

Jade BENHAM: The minister will be getting a letter next week after a notice of motion was moved at the Buloke Shire Council meeting last week, because they are literally a tiny rural council that just cannot survive. They struggle to be able to provide just the essential services of local government, much less renew their assets or do any of the pretty, shiny stuff.

Let us talk about health. I touched on it before: Mildura Base Public Hospital – 130 beds for a catchment of 75,000 people. If you do the math, that is one bed for every 577 people.

Michaela Settle interjected.

Jade BENHAM: This government bang on about it – the member for Eureka continues to bang on about it. I cannot understand what she is saying, and I do not particularly care. But when we talk about that public hospital, the government was supposed to invest in that hospital and upgrades and make it actually fit for purpose and fit for the community. That has failed to happen. I did actually manage after an adjournment matter a couple of weeks ago to sit down and have a very productive conversation with the Minister for Health. But one bed for every 577 people in Mildura – you can find hospitals with double or triple that capacity for a much smaller catchment in suburbs around Melbourne. There is dangerous inequity in the regions, and it costs lives every day.

Take transport. Our highways are crumbling. The rail network is neglected – no passenger train, despite promises, and no plans to reinstate it, as quoted by the Minister for Public and Active Transport in budget estimates earlier this year. Meanwhile billions are being poured into a Suburban Rail Loop because Labor cannot manage money and they cannot manage projects. Regional Victorians are not asking for gold-plated, shiny projects here. All we are asking for is the basics: safe roads, an actual train – much less a decent train, but decent rail freight would be good – and the infrastructure to live, work and thrive in the regions. Let me remind everyone in this house once again: without us in the regions you would be naked, hungry and sober.

Let us talk about waste in management. Instead of fixing these fundamentals, this government has blown billions on waste, billions on blowouts on the West Gate Tunnel. They are billions over budget.

Kim Wells interjected.

Jade BENHAM: Blowouts on North East link – thank you, member for Rowville – a $10 billion blowout. The Suburban Rail Loop has got no business case, but, what, $200 billion – throw that up in the air, put it on a dartboard and throw something at it, and that is what it might cost. But then, when it actually comes to getting invoices and signing, who actually knows? Because there is no transparency at all.

Nick Staikos interjected.

The SPEAKER: Minister at the table, just because it is the end of the day does not give you permission to interject.

Jade BENHAM: Meanwhile schools in regional Victoria are fundraising for basic equipment. There are classrooms being held together with chipboard because they are being eaten out by termites, and this has been going on for the past five years.

The SPEAKER: The time set down for consideration of items on the government business program has arrived, and I am required to interrupt business.