Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (16:16): I am afraid to say we do grieve for working families of Victoria, who the Liberal Party are so eager to talk down, because that is what Liberals do. And I am afraid even with the recent change with the newly minted Shadow Treasurer on the interchange of the opposition ministerial shadow positions, we can see that it is the same old rhetoric, the same narrative, nothing new. Nothing will change if they come in, because all they would do – I mean, when they say ‘Stop waste’, what they mean is massive cuts to health, massive cuts to education, because that is what they have done in the past, and they would be very eager to do that again. We saw in the Herald Sun on Monday a former Liberal staffer Innes Willox wrote a piece completely devoid of fact and substance attacking Victoria, Victorian businesses and Victorian workers. I think the other thing is, when we are talking about the Victorian economy we should be really careful about at least getting the facts right. So I am just going to put some facts on the table here.

Victoria creates more jobs with a higher participation rate than anywhere else in the country. It is a clear sign that in Victoria more people feel confident about finding a job than anywhere else in the country. Victoria has the lowest wholesale energy prices, and that is not a random thing that just magically happened; that is by design. The average megawatt price in Victoria is nearly half that of the rest of the country, and the national regulator forecasts prices in Victoria to remain below the price in states like New South Wales and Queensland into the foreseeable future. Victoria is the only state on the eastern seaboard to deliver an operating surplus, the only state with a fiscal strategy focused on delivering surpluses into the future and reducing debt as a proportion of gross state product. Global ratings agencies have all recently affirmed our ratings outlook as stable. Victoria completes major projects like the Metro Tunnel ahead of schedule. And we know those opposite, what did they say? They said it was a hoax – it could not be done. Well, look at it now. And we have a pipeline of projects with clear objectives, getting people out of traffic and into more homes. Even better still, with the Metro Tunnel, we know that the energy is being offset by the SEC investing in renewables. We know that the opposition are renewable energy phobic, and sure as hell if they were to get in, they would absolutely crush the SEC. There is no question whatsoever. But it is because of the SEC that we are able to accelerate investment in renewables in our state, which is without a doubt the cheapest form of electricity, and it is the fastest way to increase your viable and sustainable energy generation into the future.

I just want to come back to a few other points that have been raised in the chamber, saying, ‘The government – are they really going to deliver a state where Victorians are better off into the future?’ Well, I ask this question with a rather obstructive and anachronistic position on the development of new housing: how are future generations, young families, going to be better off with those opposite?

I know, for instance, the member for Brighton, respectfully, has made it clear that he will fight tooth and nail against new housing in established suburbs, even when it is sensible development near transport and jobs. In the last sitting week he declared, ‘We strongly oppose what the government has proposed with the activity centres. They will not happen in their form under a future Liberal government.’ And by ‘activity centres’ he means the plan to allow more medium-density housing around train stations and hubs. He is flat-out promising that if the Liberals win, they will put a stop to those new homes. He has form. For instance, he fought vehemently to stop 84 new homes proposed for the old Xavier College site, a mere 350 metres from Brighton Beach station. It is a prime location for transit-accessible housing, and yet he rallied against it. He whipped up fear, telling residents that Labor would ‘take a wrecking ball through our suburbs’ by allowing new development.

James Newbury interjected.

Nina TAYLOR: And he is not denying it now, I am afraid – case in point. He literally pledged to the locals, ‘If we are fortunate enough to be elected, that ain’t going to happen.’ In other words, he would cancel even modest housing projects, which would literally keep those suburbs frozen in time. But ultimately it is Victorians, future generations of Victorians, that will miss out. The other sad thing is that it is all about giving people choice. If people want to live further out, that is fine. But if your family is here and you have got ageing parents et cetera, do you really want to have to live 2 or 3 free hours away from them? You want to visit them regularly. These are the things that people want to think about. Do you want your children to be able to afford to live near where you live now? These are the choices that young generations of Victorians are having to make, and those opposite are doing nothing, absolutely nothing. In fact they are fighting against their future, and it is really, really sad.

But it gets worse. The member for Brighton even campaigned to close a homelessness shelter in his electorate. The temporary housing in Brighton East was giving people sleeping rough a roof over their heads. It was a small, humane step to address homelessness. But he objected because it was in his backyard. He said ‘We have a right to preserve our way of life’ as he fought to shut it down. ‘Preserve our way of life’ – I might just leave that there.

James Newbury interjected.

The SPEAKER: Member for Brighton, cease your interjections.

Nina TAYLOR: I will leave that there because I think it is pretty clear by inference what that means.

James Newbury interjected.

Nina TAYLOR: Well, preserving your way of life –

The SPEAKER: Member for Brighton, this is your last warning. I would ask you to cease interjecting.

Nina TAYLOR: That is the Liberals’ housing philosophy in a nutshell: if you are doing it tough, you are not their problem. They would rather sell the land to developers for luxury homes than use it to help the less fortunate. We know with the member for Kew it is saying one thing but doing another. On housing everyone agrees: we need more housing. Good. I agree with that point too. She admitted we have a housing supply problem, but when it comes to action she falls right in line on this nimbyism that, I am afraid, seems to be pretty consistent throughout the opposition. She seems more concerned with protecting the character of wealthy suburbs like Kew than with making sure young people have a place to live. She wants the development somewhere else. We need more housing supply, just not near her area, and we can see the hypocrisy in this.

The Liberals accuse the government of wrecking suburbs and being out of touch when in fact they are the ones blocking young families from having the chance to own a home in those suburbs. They fan fears and then wonder why housing is so unaffordable. The member for Brighton even smeared our comprehensive housing statement as a ‘dud’, ‘desperate’ and ‘nasty’. This over-the-top language shows an opposition long on insults and very short on solutions. It is all very well to say, ‘Not in my suburb; do it somewhere else’, but what are the solutions then? What are you going to do for the younger generations? We have not seen anything yet, and I do not believe we will, because sitting on your hands and hoping for a miracle – hoping that younger generations will randomly be able to afford housing if we do not build it – does not make sense. Particularly, it needs to be accessible too. One thing I love is that certainly some of the younger staffers in my office really love public transport. This is fantastic. It is quite an inspiration. They do not want to be stuck in cars and congestion, and they will actually choose to take public transport over a car because they can read and do other things while they are doing that. Some of them actually love to use active transport as well.

I actually recently had a traffic forum in my area, and I was really buoyed by the fact that the attendees there were just people who showed an interest in traffic – I did not know half of them before the forum – and nobody talked about parking; everyone talked about how to make safer access in terms of walking and riding and PTV, and I was so inspired by this. As I say, I did not know half of the people that were turning up, and I was ready for whatever might be presented, and I was really excited because I thought, well, these are people of all different age groups who are consciously making a choice: (1) they live right near the CBD, so they live in Southbank, but (2) they want accessibility other than by car because they know you cannot ‘car’ your way to reducing congestion. So this was really inspiring, and I think that this is called ‘reading the room’ and looking at the way that Victorians themselves are consciously making decisions to adapt. We need to back them in. This is the right thing to do, because we just know that more cars on the road lead to more congestion. I am sorry to state a really obvious point, but even when people convert to EVs – this is going to be a fantastic thing in terms of reducing emissions, and that is great – but even better still, more people on PTV and, for their health, more active transport. So yes, I am just saying this is the kind of feedback that I get in my electorate, and it is not something that I deliberately contrive or whatever – people can write in and say exactly what they think and feel – but this is consistently what is being put to me.

So, choices on housing: at the end of the day, Labor believes in housing opportunity for all, that young families should be able to buy or rent a home in the communities they grew up in and that everyone deserves a secure roof over their head. The Liberals, by their words and deeds, believe in keeping certain postcodes exclusive, even if it locks an entire generation out. I understand that it can be uncomfortable when you make changes to an area that you have lived in half your life – granted, got it – but I think Victorians are bigger and better than that, and as a collective we actually do deep down – or I would like to think a lot of Victorians do – care about fellow Victorians, but nonetheless their kids and grandkids, and making sure that they have a viable future, that they are able to visit them regularly and that they have access to public transport that is on their doorstep. That is what it is all about.

The best way to make housing more affordable is to build more homes, and that is exactly what we are doing. Whether it is slashing stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments and townhouses, utilising unused government land or making it easier to build townhouses across the state, we make no apologies for our bold planning reforms to build but also to boost housing supply. Work is well underway to overhaul the complex and lengthy Planning and Environment Act 1987, because we know homes do not get built when they are lost in the snakes and ladders of the planning system. So we actually have a holistic plan, and we are actually implementing change on all levels. We are pulling every lever to build more homes for Victorians, but we know that Brad Battin’s Liberal Party will do everything in their power to block, stop, slow and delay more homes for Victorians, and I just cannot understand why. When you think about –

A member interjected.

Nina TAYLOR: They just cannot help themselves. I just do not get it, because they have got some younger members in their party, but I think it should not be about age, it should be –

A member interjected.

Nina TAYLOR: Well, okay then, we are going on another tangent – I will not go there, but if we are thinking about having an open-minded and holistic approach I think it does not matter whether you are 18 or you are 80. What matters is that you care about your fellow Victorians and about fostering housing opportunities close to where people have grown up. Is that so terrible? I do not think so.

Victoria continues to be number one in home approvals, number one in home starts and number one in home completions, but you would not think that if you listen to the rhetoric of those opposite. The most recent ABS data shows Victoria continues to build and approve thousands more homes than any other state. In the 12 months to the end of August 2025 Victoria approved approximately 55,000 homes; that is 6100 more than New South Wales and approximately 15,700 more than Queensland. Victoria built almost 60,000 homes in the 12 months to the end of March 2025, approximately 15,600 more homes than New South Wales and approximately 26,000 more than Queensland. I know sometimes, because of the very negative and incorrect rhetoric of those opposite on this issue, that some people, when I put these stats to them, are like, ‘Really?’ But this is the truth; this is ABS data. It is a fact, and it does not happen by accident; it happens again by design. We are literally leading the charge because it is the right thing to do.

Whilst these results are encouraging, we know there is more work to do. That is why we are working to get more homes off the ground faster so more Victorians have the opportunity to buy or rent a place. Get this: okay, fundamentally what underpins it? Victorians have the opportunity to buy or rent a place closer to their family, their jobs or where they grew up, and how do we do that? Well, we have to challenge the way we live. Status quo simply will not deliver a future which means future generations of Victorians can be better off. We do have to challenge the status quo but in a way that is sensible and with a plan that has access to great public transport but also active transport as well, because that is in the best interests of Victorians across our great state.

The SPEAKER: I remind members to refer to other members by their correct titles.