Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Motions

Budget 2025–26

Debate resumed.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (18:01): I cannot necessarily say it is a pleasure to speak on the budget today, especially when this state, as we know, is broke, busted and disgusted, because we have seen the government waste money like there is absolutely no tomorrow. You would equate it to going to use the EFTPOS machine to use your credit card only to find that it literally had no money on it, because that is where we are right now in Victoria. So there is no surprise that when you look at the budget and you gradually go down to the electorate of Caulfield and what is there for Caulfield in terms of where all the dollars are, there are not any, and no surprises there.

This is a state that really has spent so much money on blowouts. We saw the Big Build blowout – we are up to about $50 billion in blowouts – and a Premier that before being the Premier was the infrastructure minister and was responsible for the Big Build. We have seen on the Big Build the corruption with the CFMEU – the exposé that we have seen with Nick McKenzie calling it out on 60 ‍Minutes to say, ‘Here is a government that has allowed corruption to happen on these Big Build sites, which has caused an additional payment of about 30 to 50 per cent on every single contract.’ And that flows on to homes, because you cannot get a home built without paying a premium because the materials are diverted to the Big Build and the staff are diverted to the Big Build, and ultimately you cannot find anybody to work on a home. So the government has a housing plan with no housing and no money, and ultimately we are all paying the price.

We have a cost-of-living crisis, we have a housing crisis and we also in Victoria have a crime crisis. We have seen a government that has failed in keeping the community safe. In the budget that we have seen delivered, $50 million has been slashed out of the police budget in a crime crisis. We have 2000 ‍police short on the beat – 1100 that have not been recruited, 50 less police than were promised in the last election, 700 on WorkCover, 300 on extended sick leave. That is 2000 police. On top of that, our most senior police are taking an early retirement package because of an EBA, we have police that are exhausted, we have police that are also being diverted from police stations – 41 on reduced hours because the police have been babysitting some 500 protests since 2023. We are just about to hit 100 protests in the CBD. What does that mean? That means that the CBD, which used to be the world’s most livable city, is now the most leavable city. As a result of all of that, retailers are down somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent on their weekend trade, because our city has been hijacked by protesters. So welcome to Victoria, where we are not rolling out the red carpet but we are rolling out the right to protest and for extremists to go with it. No powers, no action, no care – this is a government that absolutely has done nothing.

If you look at the crime crisis in Victoria, whether it is machete attacks in your homes or whether it is in the businesses where workers have been attacked with machetes and knives pointed at them and bashed and spat on, what has this government done? Absolutely nothing other than to say that they will look at worker protections by the end of the year. This was a promise during COVID, and now we are going to have worker protections by the end of the year. Well, welcome to Victoria. Every other state has worker protections except for Victoria. Then the retailers are asking for worker protection orders because retailers and workers are being held up with machetes and this government is doing nothing.

That is what we see in Victoria – a crime crisis. We see a youth crime crisis. Two young children were brutally attacked in Melbourne’s west. The attackers are still on the run, and this government is just seeing it all play out. We saw the Premier missing in action for two days before she came out and said anything with a press release announcing that we would have another review and another taskforce. This is a government that is caught up in taskforces, and I would hate to cost out how much it would be to fund the taskforces. We are not funding more police, we are not funding more courts, we are not funding more opportunity for more businesses; all we are doing is seeing a government wasting taxpayers money at the expense of the community.

Victorians do not feel safe and Victorians do not feel supported, and Victorians are tired of a government that talk big but are weak when it comes to action. We are sick of weasel words. We are sick of a Premier that cuts a ribbon but runs away when there is a crime committed in Victoria. We are sick of that. Victorians are sick of that. When I speak to many of my constituents in Caulfield, for years we have been talking about having more divvy vans on the streets. With 150,000 people in the City of Glen Eira, we still only have one divisional van, when we can, patrolling the streets. We wanted more and we have needed more, but when I talk at the Caulfield police station or at St Kilda, at the moment their rosters are down 30 to 40 per cent. They cannot even get the one divisional van out on the road because they do not have enough police. So we do not have community safety.

What is the government’s response? This budget has been able to fund $13 million worth of machete bins, which are meant to keep the community safe. Well, the crooks are not handing in their machetes on the way from committing a crime – or maybe they are and are hiding the evidence; who knows. But it is not keeping the community safe. It is not making one iota of difference when it comes to actually tackling crime. We have got to take the machetes off the crooks in the first place. That is what we have got to do.

Other states have laws to be able to address this. Queensland have led the way with Jack’s law. New South Wales is the same. This Premier will not even meet with the Beasley family to talk about Jack’s law. They will not even meet with them. They will not even look at other states, because they are an arrogant government that say, ‘We won’t see what other states are doing; we know best.’ Well, why is it on retail crime we are the worst? Why do we have every 50 seconds a crime committed in Victoria? Why do we have retail figures that show that not only that we are the top of the pops when it comes to assaults and retail crime happening in Victoria but every 12 minutes we have retail theft in Victoria, when the other states are reducing their retail crime? Why do we have tobacco stores firebombed in Victoria – 150 of them? Why do we have synagogues burnt down in Victoria? Why do we have that in Victoria? Because there are no consequences for the laws in Victoria. Weak laws, weak consequences, not enough funding for police and not enough police – it is very, very simple.

Steve McGhie interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: And then we are hearing from the member for Melton, who should look at crime in his own backyard, because that has completely failed. The member for Melton should be looking at crime in his own backyard because he is letting down his constituents. Melbourne’s west is being neglected. The member for Laverton knows that. The member for Laverton allowed machetes to be sold at the Laverton market for months before taking them out – for months in Laverton. So Melbourne’s west has been neglected. Victoria has been neglected. This government does not give a toss about keeping the community safe, and this government is a disgrace. They are an absolute disgrace. They can laugh in the chamber, they can joke, they can interject like the member for Melton does, but I would love to know what the member for Melton and every other member sitting in here is doing about crime right now. They are doing absolutely zero, and they have failed Victorians.

Steve McGhie interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: You have failed Victorians, Melton. That is what you have done.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): Order! The member for Caulfield will sit down. Member for Caulfield, before you recommence, you did not respond to my call for order. All of your comments should be directed through the Chair. You should not respond to interjections. Particularly with the use of the word ‘you’, you are reflecting on the Chair. I ask you to make all your comments through the Chair.

David SOUTHWICK: As I said, this is a government that has failed Victoria in keeping the community safe. Every single member in this chamber has failed, along with the Premier, to keep the community safe. We have seen people brutally attacked on the streets, two children murdered. Where was the Premier for two days? In witness protection for two days. This government celebrate that and think that is a good thing. Do you think it is a good thing that the Premier was missing in action for two days?

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

David SOUTHWICK: Gone. The Premier was missing in action for two days. The Premier said nothing for two days – nothing – while those families grieved. Those families needed leadership. We have no leadership when these things happen. When your child is murdered and you are holding your child in your arms, where is the Premier? The Premier has been missing in action every time there is a tough decision to be made in Victoria.

Anthony Cianflone: Acting Speaker, on two points of order here: one is that the member for Caulfield is continually defying your ruling that he address the Chair, and the second point of order is in relation to the fact that this is totally irrelevant. We are talking about the budget here, as far as I understand it. It is a motion about the 2025–26 state budget. He is not talking about the budget. He is not referencing any budget papers or any particular subsections within the budget papers. I ask you to draw him back to the budget.

David SOUTHWICK: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, that was a frivolous point of order. I have been referring to the police budget, which has been slashed by $50 million in a crime crisis.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): Order! Member for Caulfield, I am going to rule on the point of order. On the first point of order in relation to speaking through the Chair, I do uphold that point of order. I would ask the member to direct his comments through the Chair. On the second point of order, the budget take-note is a broad debate and can reflect on matters that are canvassed in any part of the budget. I ask the member to continue but to make their comments through the Chair.

David SOUTHWICK: It is obvious that this government does not like to hear the truth and is very happy to interject, because this government knows $50 million was slashed out of the budget in a crime crisis. The 1100 police that were promised are still not hired, and the acting commissioner when he was asked by the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee said it would take five years to get to full strength in policing here in Victoria – in a crime crisis. We have weak bail laws – in a crime crisis. We have police suggesting that this government is providing weak laws – in a crime crisis. We have heard from detectives and we have heard from the current Chief Commissioner of Police that this government is not doing enough on tough laws – in a crime crisis. We have every single failure pointing very simply to a government that is missing in action in a crime crisis. Only in the last few days, when we saw two children murdered, the Premier was nowhere to be seen for two days, and that is an absolute disgrace and a crisis.

No wonder this state is in disrepair. No wonder this state is in a situation where people are leaving in droves. No wonder we have African families suggesting that they have got to send their kids back to Africa because it is not safe in Victoria. Dr Ahmed, who I spoke to only a few days ago, said to me that this has been happening for a long time and that, unfortunately, he had been calling out that something needed to be done, and nothing has been done.

This is a government that has had its head buried in the sand, and this should have been a warning a long time ago for the government to do something. The government has done nothing. The government has failed. You see crime out of control. We see $20 million a day in interest payments alone to pay down the debt that this government has created. This is a debt crisis that Victorians are all paying for. With $20 million a day to pay the interest bill, it is no wonder that this government has slashed $50 million in police, has not hired 1100 police and does not provide police with the resources to do their jobs. This is why Victoria has had a crime crisis under the Allan Labor government.

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (18:16): I also rise to contribute on the motion and the debate about the 2025–26 budget. Perhaps I will change the tone a little and, as I am sure many of my colleagues are looking forward to doing, discuss many of the positive things in this great Labor budget. I am conscious that a number of other colleagues are keen also to talk about this great Labor budget, so I will keep my remarks perhaps just to 10 minutes this evening. I do want to focus in that time on three things in particular that are very important to people in Preston and Reservoir. The first of them is urban greenery and tree canopy cover. My favourite sentence in the budget is on page 34 of budget paper 3, and it reads:

Funding is also provided for tree planting in open spaces around Preston and Reservoir stations to address the low level of tree cover and improve existing green spaces.

In fact we are hopeful that that funding will deliver a thousand new trees in that part of Preston and Reservoir and also the associated shrubs and green cover to really transform what is currently quite a sparse space.

I have spoken about this topic previously in this place, but if we look around Melbourne it is very obvious that those famously leafy suburbs – if you think of Canterbury, Toorak or Ivanhoe for that matter, or Kew – have tree cover levels that are between 20 and 25 per cent. If you include the shrubs and the ground cover, their green space is very significant – almost half of the land area. If you come out to Preston and Reservoir, it is a very different story. We have tree canopy cover of about 9 per cent and a little bit more in other green space. If you head a little further north of us up to Thomastown, it comes down to 5 per cent.

I think for a long time we have just accepted that the leafy, wealthy suburbs look like leafy suburbs, the northern suburbs do not and thought there was not much we can do about it, but I am hugely impressed by the action of our Minister for Environment in recognising there is something we can do about it. In fact with modern horticultural practice we know how to grow trees right across the north and the west of Melbourne. Indeed locally we have shown that with the level crossing removal projects, which have planted thousands of trees, shrubs and ground cover across our part of the world. Indeed we have shown it with our funding through the Green Links program, which has planted a huge swathe around Edwardes Lake and up along Edgars Creek, and our thanks to Kate Jost and Friends of Edwardes Lake and the Merri Creek Management Committee for their help on that planting recently. We have also seen that through our trees for the west initiative.

We just know that if we can get these trees in the ground in parts of Melbourne that have not previously had good tree canopy cover and have not really had those good vegetation levels, we can improve the environment, improve biodiversity, improve amenity, improve people’s property prices and reduce heat effects in summer. There is a long list of benefits, and we can do it in all sorts of different parts of Preston and Reservoir. We were very grateful, as I said, to the Minister for the Environment for his work and his team’s work in putting together that somewhat bespoke program for our part of the world, but we really look forward to that being part of the larger agenda I think he has to improve urban greenery right across Melbourne. I should just touch on the fact that that funding will also hopefully provide some trees down at Herbert and Bruce streets, which did lose some trees during the level crossing removal project. I should say in net terms we had a lot more new trees, but they did lose some in that particular location. I should acknowledge Louise Crowe, who has been a very strong advocate for both planting more trees and also getting the plantings right where we have done them. We thank her for her ongoing advice.

A second topic I want to touch on is one that the Minister for Carers and Volunteers spoke about earlier in her contribution, and that is the $18 million for food relief. We have a number of organisations that do fantastic work supporting our more vulnerable community members through their food relief programs. As many of us know, those programs do not just deliver food, but they are a point by which you can organise other important referral services for those community members. I do want to give a shout-out to DIVRS – Christina DiPierdomenico, who runs that great organisation just around the corner from our office, and Chloe Tredrea and her team, including a couple of great long-term volunteers in Paul Daly, who I understand has been volunteering with their food relief program for 15 ‍years, and Sam Ferraro, who has clocked up 10. I should also mention the great work of Bridge Darebin across the road. It is run by Chris Lombardo, but Amelia Barr runs their food relief program and their Friday community lunches in partnership with Quest Preston, who I think do a great job of supporting local community events and community action like that. I give a shout-out to their volunteers, Jacqueline Fennell and Marg O’Farrell, a couple of great volunteers on the Bridge Darebin food relief program.

Finally, Reservoir Neighbourhood House have a food relief program run by Kate Hatton and Vicki Boyle, again with some wonderful volunteers who I just want to recognise for their ongoing contribution to that program – Jenny Gailans and Margaret Styles – and of course Rotary Preston, who do all the food bank pickups. A thankyou goes to Geoff McIlvenna, Ruth McCall and of course Gerry ‘G-Man’ Lyons, the new president of Preston Rotary, for their work supporting the food bank and that food relief program. I am not sure if they are still running it, but Reservoir Neighbourhood House used to run a student pantry as well at Reservoir High, which was run by Lia Caelli. I do not know if it still is, but that is just an example of the great things they do with food relief.

I should let you know, Acting Speaker, I am actually raising some money for Reservoir Neighbourhood House on that note – something you might have seen. I am attempting to run every single street in Reservoir, which turns out to be quite an ambitious endeavour. It is a very large, established suburb with over 300 kilometres of streets. I am only about halfway through, and it is now September. I thank those MPs and colleagues who have donated to that little fundraiser, and indeed I thank Rebecca Szucs, Mick Ricardo, Margaret Styles and Hendrik Jakob, who have also donated generously. I did promise that if I failed to run every single street I would double everyone’s donations, so I thank people for their generosity, but it has also made me quite nervous that I will now be forking out well over $1000 if I do not get through all the streets by the end of the year. I will keep the house updated.

I should, just while I am talking about food relief, recognise not just the organisations I have just mentioned but Anglicare in Preston and All Saints Anglican Church down on Murray Road and Bell Street. And indeed the Salvation Army do a lot of important work, similarly, through Major Mim Adams and her team.

Finally, I did want to touch on a particularly important grant that came out of the budget process for us, and that is $150,000 for Lakeview Tennis Club to install lighting on courts 5 and 6, which have not had lighting. I have raised this issue in Parliament before, and we were very pleased and very grateful to the Minister for Community Sport that the funding did come through in this budget to address that issue. I want to recognise longstanding president Richard Cosway’s very longstanding advocacy – I think over five or six years now – on that issue. It would be great, as Richard knows, to actually get LED lighting across that whole site, which is something that we might look to do in the future.

I do want to flag something I have chatted with the member for Melton and the member for Greenvale about, and the minister at the table, the Minister for Climate Action, might appreciate this. The one challenge with energy efficiency with our sports clubs is that typically the council own the asset but lease it out to the normally incorporated associations that are the sports clubs and then make the sports clubs pay the electricity bills. So through that mechanism the council do not actually have much incentive to put energy efficiency capital upgrades in place because of course they are not the ones who will see the savings. I do not want to disparage Darebin council, who do a lot of important work in the climate change area, but we do see around the place that challenge that sometimes it takes a little bit of extra effort to convince council to make energy efficiency upgrades. It has crossed my mind sometimes that perhaps if we just legislate to force councils to pay the electricity bills for all the sporting clubs, we might see those upgrades faster. No doubt that proposal would be very popular with the sporting clubs.

Finally, on that exact issue, I was very pleased, and I am sure other government MPs – in fact probably all MPs – were pleased, to see that the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund had another $20 million appropriated to it through this budget. As I was speaking about lighting, I perhaps should not leave that topic without pointing out that of course the Victorian Labor government is installing LED upgrades through grants directly from that particular fund. We will be chatting to some of our local clubs, including the Keon Park Stars, Reservoir United Soccer Club, Thornbury Athletic Football Club and many others, about the possibility of accessing that funding.

I promised I would keep the contribution relatively short, just to 10 minutes, to allow others to make a contribution.

Anthony Cianflone interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: Actually the member for Pascoe Vale encourages me to keep going. I will very briefly, on that note, recognise the free public transport for kids under 18. I mention it just because the member for Pascoe Vale joined me, the Premier, the Minister for Public and Active Transport, the Minister for Children and the member for Northcote at the great launch of that event. We were very grateful to have the Premier up in our part of the world. This is a good, strong Labor budget. It is a balanced budget. It is a sensible budget. I commend it to the house, and I commend this motion to the house.

Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (18:27): I rise to have a little bit of a talk on the budget take-note motion. In hearing about all the good stuff and the money well spent in the budget around metropolitan Victoria and regional Victoria, I do have a little bit of a different take. Down in my area of the Latrobe Valley we have had a couple of minor wins, which we have to acknowledge, and hardworking places that have been wanting upgrades and so forth now are seeing them in one particular area. Last year I stood here and spoke about the Commonwealth Games legacy, and I must say that we do have a particular development going on with the with the Commonwealth Games legacy. I am sure the community that is receiving this funding will acknowledge and be very happy that that is going on. Unfortunately, I do not think there is a lot of local participation in the works down there with this proceeding, but that is another story for another time.

I would like to talk about our road infrastructure down in the Latrobe Valley. I stood in this place late last year when I was afforded the opportunity to talk on the budget take-note motion and spoke about a couple of intersections which were earmarked for upgrades. Unfortunately, in the budget that was just handed down we still have not seen the opportunity for those to take place.

I talk in this place a fair bit about the Bank Street intersection in Traralgon. This is an intersection which was upgraded probably nearly close to two years ago now. Talking with the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, there have been issues with the upgrade of the VicTrack line that comes through Traralgon, with the signalling system. So we have got a major intersection which crosses over the main highway that goes through Traralgon which does not have traffic lights. At the moment what happens for the people that drive through there at this intersection is they can go straight on. It does have the golf club. To everyone that has been to a golf club, you do have people that drive their golf carts from their homes. If they live within a certain distance, as required by the golf club, they can drive their golf carts, but they still have to traverse across the major highway. With no traffic lights there, we have had a couple of minor incidents, luckily. One that was not so minor involved a school bus full of school students going home, which was hit at that intersection. The money and the continued upgrade that we need there are paramount, because it is, as I have said many a time, an accident waiting to happen, and we do need to make sure that those lights do go up. The upgrades to the signalling system, which have taken over seven years to complete, were meant to coincide with those lights coming on board, and that has not happened as yet. So the people of Latrobe Valley continue to wait. Although we have been waiting patiently, this is an intersection that needs to be upgraded.

The Lloyd Street intersection is a level crossing, and I hear members on the other side talk about level crossings here all the time and how the level crossing removals in certain areas around metropolitan Melbourne make a huge difference with the traffic flow. The one at Lloyd Street and Waterloo Road, Moe, we do not want removed, but it needs a major upgrade, because at school times, at either drop-off or pick-up, or if there are major works that are going on at the Moe Racing Club, it is near on impossible to get across. When the boom gates go down, hopefully there are no cars stuck on the track. We have had that before, but then the cars are ramped all the way back, and it is an incredibly inopportune time for someone that is stuck there. This has been an ongoing concern from before my time as the local MP, but it is one that the people of Moe are waiting for and we keep asking for. The money has been allocated to do it and we have had part of the works, but we just do not get that commitment or the start for that to be able to go on.

What we do see, especially at the Bank Street one in particular, is that the way that the government has made it safer is to drop down the speed limit. So we go from an 80-kilometre zone, because we are getting up into a residential area, and it just drops down and we are travelling through there at 60 ‍kilometres an hour. From what I can see, if we do have extra incidents there, it will drop to 40. For anyone driving along a highway at 40 kilometres an hour or even 60 kilometres an hour, it is a major concern.

On public transport too, with that signalling system that I did talk about, with VicTrack, Morwell has a new train station. Well, it is a building opposite the train station that has been built and only recently opened. It has been built for two years and has not been able to be opened because of these signalling systems. At the moment, now that the signalling system is working, the trains can come onto the other side of the track. We do have officers of some description in there – I see them, but I have not been in ‍– wearing their fluoro vests. I am not sure. I do not think they are council. I think they might be V/Line people that are there, because what we do have is a lot of unruly people that are in that area, and it is like they have opened up a new home for them to go in and stay and loiter around. So there is great concern from the normal people that are trying to get on the train that there are going to be incidents there. So at the moment we do have, obviously, paid people – but I am not sure where they are being paid from – that are making sure that people are safe and moving on these people.

This leads into my next point about PSOs. We have PSOs on all train stations through metropolitan Melbourne. Obviously, with new train stations opening up, there are going to be more PSOs on that front down here. But we only have four places in regional Victoria that do have PSOs. One of the issues that we do have is our major towns need, obviously for safety, PSOs that are walking the beat. People who see a uniformed officer, one, feel safer. We hear about people in our crime releases and crime stats all the time that are doing the wrong thing, causing grief in main streets and, particularly down in my area, at bus interchanges. We need to make sure that the general public are safe.

I want to bring up a point about how we know this works. There has been a lot of conjecture: will it work or will it not work? We have just come off a major court case in Morwell – Erin Patterson, the mushroom case down there – and before the case started the police had things put in place so that they could actually stop and check people on the street. They actually had that visible presence on the street, and within an hour of them coming on and people actually seeing that the police were there or that a uniformed officer was there, we actually had the streets clean up. For the entire time of the court case that visible presence was there. I think that just goes to prove that the people in metropolitan Melbourne get that security blanket of having the PSOs on the beat. It is the same in regional Victoria, but we do need them also to be travelling on the trains in regional Victoria. It is legislation that needs to be changed, I know, but we need to make sure that we have got designated PSOs for regional Victoria that can travel on the trains and that can get off randomly and hold people to account that are doing the wrong thing. We have issues right across the place with safety on our streets, on our trains and on our buses, and this visible presence all the time is what we need.

I have got an education one, and I do see the minister at the table. This was one that we had last year, Minister, and it was the Victorian School Building Authority make-safe program that we had go through our schools. There is a way that the schools need to engage if they have got concerns. What happens is, when the works need to be remedied and people come down to check out what is going on, these people are coming from outside Melbourne, so we need to have tradies and so forth that come down and actually check out exactly what is going on in the schools. That is fine, but then we need to be able to be housing those particular trades when we could be using local trades to come in and actually complete the works in the schools at a much cheaper rate – people that are living in the area. The further point I want to make is that nine times out of 10 the schools actually have to dip into their own money to achieve some rectifications on certain parts of their buildings. So we do need to make sure that if that is the case the schools are compensated in that area.

While I am going and I have also got the Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for the State Electricity Commission here, I may as well touch base on our area. It is absolutely great that I have been able to come in tonight and start it, and I will keep moving on. On our job front down in the Latrobe Valley, as we all know, and rightly so, the coal-fired power stations are closing down and we are going to renewables. That is what the people are asking for and what the people want. But my issue at the moment is job security for the people that are in the coal-fired power stations at the moment and the associated workers that rely on the coal-fired power stations continuing at the moment for their jobs. Families that are trying to make a living are actually being sucked up, not just those digging the coal up out of the ground but the village that is around that – the people that are dry cleaning all the uniforms, the people that are supplying the food and the people servicing the cars and all that type of stuff that goes on there. We need to make sure that heading into the future we have sustainable jobs, and not just jobs where the workers have been trained in the field and are earning good money to work in the coal-fired power stations; we also need to make sure what they are moving into are generational jobs. What I can see, if we do not have these jobs for these families to go on to – we are moving headlong into a massive build up in Queensland with the Olympic Games coming in.

We do not want to lose these families from the area that have lived in the Latrobe Valley for their entire lives. They have relied on either (a) working in the power station or (b) being associated with works that go on around the power station. So we need to make sure that out of these 59,000 new jobs that are that are coming we do have the set-up and the new manufacturing for our current workers to transition into but also for the next generation of workers, who would have been relying a few years ago on being able to step into that working environment, to make sure that we are set up and the government is not forgetting about these workers and their families. For over 100 years now the valley has powered the great state of Victoria, and I am positive that with the change in going to renewables, we will be powering the state for the next 100 years also. But we need to give the people the security and the knowledge that the government is not forgetting them and be on the front foot and say, ‘Yes, we have the manufacturing jobs. Here they are.’ We need to be up-front and be honest as we move through that transition.

As I said, last year I stood up here in this place and spoke, and not a lot has changed down in the valley in this current budget. We hope with bated breath that next year the budget will hold a little bit more joy for us. But thank you for your time as I have stood up here and spoken on the take-note budget motion.

Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Education, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC) (18:42): I also rise as the proud member for Niddrie to speak on the 2025–26 Victorian budget take-note update. This is an Allan Labor government budget that does deliver real and tangible benefits for my community in the electorate of Niddrie, which I am very happy to be part of and very happy to have been born and raised in. But not only that, it has investments across education, across infrastructure, across sport and across transport. The budget does build on our government’s track record of investment where it matters most – supporting families, supporting services and shaping a better future for all Victorians.

One of the things I am most proud of is our $19 million investment into Buckley Park secondary college on Cooper Street, Essendon. This is a once-in-a-generation upgrade that will include a brand new STEM centre as well as advanced laboratories, robotics rooms and innovative maker spaces where students can explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics in modern learning spaces. The school, under the principal leadership of Harold Cheung, have worked very hard to do the master plans and the advocacy, and to be there to make that announcement with the whole school community that have been there for multiple generations going through Buckley Park secondary college was really, really important. It is a school that does need a refurbishment, and it will get enhanced heating and cooling and fully accessible entrances. It will be a transformational upgrade for one of the best local schools in the heart of my electorate in Niddrie. The students and teachers deserve the opportunities that come with world-class facilities, and that is what this funding will deliver.

As we all know, community sport is the backbone of every community. We know schools, education and community sport are the most important protective factors, particularly for youth that are growing up and wanting to be part of the community. I grew up in Airport West, and I was very proud to see that our government is investing $400,000 in the Bowes Avenue community recreation reserve. This upgrade will provide local sports players with a safer and more modern space to train and play basketball and netball and to thrive. It is a real win for grassroots community sport and wellbeing.

Leading with that, we know how important is to keep our kids active. More and more we are learning about the dangers of iPhones and Samsung phones and the addictive nature of the dopamine hits that our mobile technology gives us. What I am so proud about under this Allan Labor government is the 65,000 Get Active Kids vouchers worth up to $200 each to help families cover the cost of equipment, uniforms and fees, which we know are so important. These vouchers ensure every child has a chance to play the sport they love.

One of the most transformative projects for our region out in Melbourne’s west is well and truly underway, and it is the development of the Sunshine superhub, a key component of the Melbourne Airport rail link. Sunshine has about 70 per cent, I think, of the V/Line trains going through it. I and the member for Laverton were out there very recently. We know how popular airport rail is for Victoria, and we know that it will be a game changer for Melbourne’s western suburbs. The member for Melton is also in here. We know airport rail is more than just getting business leaders and business community people to their flights on time, it is a transformative project that will help tackle transport emissions and bring public transport options to people that have only ever been dependent on cars.

The Minister for Climate Action is to my left here. The minister is doing a great job with climate action and the SEC. The trees for the west program is one of the most important programs that has ever been rolled out in Melbourne’s west. We know we do not have the tree canopy of other parts of Melbourne, and trees for the west is something that is going to be so good for our amenity, so good for our lungs and so good for our health in Melbourne’s west. I can see the member for Sunbury over there too. We have Melbourne Airport and trees for the west, and we are making electric buses a home in Melbourne’s west. Something that I am very proud of too, which the Minister of Public and Active Transport is delivering and which I had a little bit of a role in when I was the Minister for Public Transport, are the new trams that are coming out to Melbourne’s west. The only steel wheels I knew were the tram wheels of the route 59 tram, and they are very old. Bringing next generation G-class trams on the route 59 is going to be so important. Accessible public transport and making sure that it is emission-free and supporting tackling transport emissions is so very important. I cannot wait to be getting on those trams and supporting my local community with brand new trams in my electorate. That will occur next year.

I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge the $100 power saving bonus for anyone with a concession card to help ease the cost of living. We have had the most interest rate rises since 1989 – 12 or 13 interest rate rises back to back – and this is a government, under Premier Allan, that is focused on the cost of living. We know the cost of living is one of the most important issues affecting everyday Victorians. We have done all sorts of initiatives, but there is no doubt the power saving bonus – and I get traffic through my electorate office on it – is something that everyday Victorians, from everyday Victorians to pensioners, appreciate so much.

I also want to acknowledge how important our road infrastructure is. In addition to our major initiatives, we are also making important investments in the local roads that are really key interchanges in the Niddrie electorate and also neighbouring Essendon. Our $6.55 million investment for road upgrades along Mount Alexander Road, Napier Street, Fletcher Street and Russell Street in Essendon will improve safety, reduce congestion and ensure people can get to where they need to get to quickly and safely.

This is a budget that delivers for everyday Victorians, from cost of living to climate action, to better public transport options and to support for our young kids in school and through local sport. I am very proud to be the member for Niddrie. I know the local community’s priorities, and to be delivering another budget that will deliver for them is so important. Better schools, safer roads, stronger transport and a healthier, more connected community are what it is all about and what happen only under a state Labor government. I commend it.

Jess WILSON (Kew) (18:49): It has been 113 days since the state budget was handed down, and it is a delight to finally get an opportunity to speak on the budget that was handed down to the people of Victoria.

A member interjected.

Jess WILSON: I did run here, because I was so pleased to be able to give a contribution tonight. Unfortunately, the Labor members cannot even go for the full time to speak about their own budget. But we on this side of the chamber will speak about the impact of 10 years of financial mismanagement on every single Victorian. It has been 113 days since the budget. If we look at the budget papers, the net debt this financial year will be $167.6 billion. In one year the net debt in this state will be $167.6 billion. That means, according to the budget papers, that Victorians will be paying $7.6 billion this financial year in interest repayments alone – not paying down the debt but just paying interest repayments. $7.6 billion this financial year means Victorians are paying $20.8 million a day in interest every single day in this state.

As I said, it has been 113 days since the budget was handed down by the Treasurer, and that means that Victorians, since that budget was handed down, have paid $2.4 billion in interest repayments – $2.4 billion in the 113 days since the budget was handed down. What could that $2.4 billion fund? I am very, very disappointed that the Minister for Education has left the chamber, because that $2.4 billion could have fully funded government schools in this state by 2028. But because of this government’s financial mismanagement, Victorian students are not getting the education that they deserve. Our schools will be underfunded. We have the lowest funded government schools in the country. We have the lowest paid teachers in the country. You only have to look at the black and white in the budget papers to see why. Ten years of financial mismanagement, and Victorians are paying the price in the interest bill – $2.4 billion since the budget was handed down in interest repayments alone. That could have fully funded government schools under the Gonski agreement – but not under this government’s watch.

When we saw the government hand down their budget earlier this year, we saw a government that had lost control of the state’s finances. We saw a tired government and a government that was incapable of arresting the debt in this state – $194 billion in net debt by 2028–29. What does that mean? That means by the time we get to 2028 Victorians will be paying more than $1 million an hour on interest repayments. What are the consequences of Labor’s record debt? This government cannot deliver the vital services that every Victorian needs. They cannot deliver the services. When it comes to education, schools in the electorate of Kew are falling apart because this government does not invest in their desperately needed upgrades. We see a government that cannot deliver simple road safety measures like pedestrian crossings or speed reductions because it cannot even afford to install basic road safety measures because of 10 years of financial mismanagement.

Where do we see this really starting to hurt for Victorians? When it comes to community safety. Under this government’s watch not only have we seen record debt climb every single day, but what we see now is the crime rate climbing right beside it, because we are seeing cuts to Victoria Police. We are seeing Victoria Police not adequately resourced in this state. We are seeing cuts to crime prevention, and we are seeing a government that has completely lost control of crime in this state. Every single day I hear from my local community and I receive CCTV footage of constituents being terrified in their homes because every single night there are armed offenders with machetes trying to break into homes in my electorate. What is this government’s response? To weaken bail laws. The bail laws in this state are weaker today than they were in 2023 when the Labor government first introduced legislation to weaken the laws. What is the consequence? The consequence is that people are petrified in their own homes, and it is unacceptable that this government has failed in its most sacred duty to keep communities safe. It comes down to the fact that this government cannot manage the finances in this state. They cannot deliver the essential services that Victorians deserve. They cannot ensure that Victoria Police are adequately resourced and able to have cops on the beat to keep the community safe and to respond to the alarming rise of violent crime in this state.

I note that the Premier visited the seat of Kew today. I hope that she took the opportunity to speak to the local residents – and not just about her planned planning changes without the consultation that our community deserves and without taking their feedback. The Premier visited the seat of Kew, and I am sure she took the time to listen to the local residents’ concerns, because they would have told her they were afraid in their own homes.

Sarah Connolly interjected.

Jess WILSON: It is not funny, member for Laverton. It is not funny that people are terrified in their own homes. Every single time we raise this in this chamber – every single time – the member for Laverton thinks it is amusing that people are afraid in their own homes. This is the job of government: to keep people safe. The Premier visited the seat of Kew today. Did she talk to the residents that are terrified in their homes, who have been victims of home invasions? The Premier has not even had the decency to respond the three times I have raised in this house over recent months these home invasions and what her government is doing to arrest the rising crime rates with violent offenders in our streets. Did the Premier listen to the fact that people are struggling under the cost of living in this state? Did she hear from my local community about how that is impacting them? No. The Premier likes to go out and make a glossy social media video but not actually deal with the real issues facing Victorians – the fact that they are terrified in their own homes at night, the fact that they cannot afford their bills because this government has mismanaged the finances and continues to try to solve the crisis by putting up taxes. We have the highest taxes in the country in this state.

This is a government that has lost its way. It is a tired government, and these are the consequences of 10 years of financial mismanagement. You only have to look at every single major project. The North East Link, affecting my community, is another example of where the government fails to actually listen to the local community. Residents there are awake night after night because of the construction. And what does this government do? It ignores their plight. This is an arrogant government that is more interested in saving itself politically than listening to the community and actually delivering the government services that every Victorian deserves. Enough is enough when it comes to the financial mismanagement of this state and the fact that Victorians will be paying more in interest repayments every single hour than is being invested into core government services. The fact is that people feel unsafe in their homes because this government weakened bail laws and is failing to ensure that the laws around repeat violent offenders are in line with community expectations. That is all we are asking ‍– that they are in line with community expectations, nothing more. This government ignores the plight of Victorians and fails time and time again to make decisions to ensure that this state can actually fund those emergency services.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.