Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (17:01): I do rise to speak on the grievance debate today, and it has been about – not that I have been counting – nine or 10 months since I had the opportunity to do so, and I have got a bit to say because of that, because in that time I think it is a fair question to ask: have things got easier for Victorians or have they got harder for Victorians? Has this Labor government made life easier for Victorians in that time, or have they made it harder for Victorians in that time? I contend, with every fibre of my being, that life is harder for Victorians because of this Labor government.

Let us just start with the economy. There have been more than 60 new or increased taxes at the hands of this Labor government over the last 11 years – almost 12 years – alone. Every time a new tax is introduced in this state, someone needs to pay for it, and the people who have to pay for it are often the people who cannot afford to pay for it. Even if there is a perception that someone can pay a new or increased tax, the actual economic impact is passed down to someone who cannot afford to pay for it. Around 50 per cent of those new or increased taxes are on property. So you wonder why the cost of property is going through the roof. You wonder why the cost of rentals is going through the roof. And the simple answer is this: because of Labor’s taxes. I also acknowledge that there is a supply and demand circumstance here as well, and yes, we need to be building more homes, but the fact that Labor have increased taxes, and that around half of those are on property, has not made the situation any easier for Victorians.

The priorities of this government are all wrong. The Suburban Rail Loop, as an example – in my community, where the Suburban Rail Loop starts, at the intersection of Bay Road and Nepean Highway, at the Sir William Fry Reserve. I can tell you, having had the great privilege of serving as the member for Sandringham since being elected in 2018, my community has asked for many, many things. They have asked for a safer community. They have asked for improvements to schools. They have asked for a better Sandringham Hospital. They have asked for improvements to roads, which now have potholes on them, something that perhaps once was only a circumstance faced by our regional and rural communities. But no, that is now hitting metropolitan Melbourne. They have never once asked me for a train line to Box Hill – not once. Not once has anyone in my community ever asked for that. I acknowledge that there are some transport deficiencies between my community and, say, Clayton, where Monash University is – a great educational institution.

I also acknowledge that many in my community aspire to do great things. Many young people in my community aspire to do great things, and a pathway to do great things is through a university degree. Many of those people like to attend and choose to attend the great Monash University, and transport connectivity between my community and Monash is an issue. I get that. But at this point in our history we desperately need to ask the question: is the Suburban Rail Loop the right answer to that question? On the Suburban Rail Loop, in this year’s budget the Allan Labor government has a dollar figure next to it, but in the second year, the third year and the fourth year of this year’s budget, titled ‘Focused on what matters’, budget 2025–26, the Allan Labor government are being a bit tricky. They do not have a dollar figure next to the line item expense for their Suburban Rail Loop. They simply have three letters, T-B-C, to be confirmed. They are not being frank with the Victorian people about how they are going to pay for this infrastructure. How sustainable is this? How rude of the Allan Labor government not to be up-front and frank with the Victorian people about how much their signature project is actually going to cost.

This is not a priority for our state at this time, at a time when crime is through the roof. Just last week I sat down with a mother of a six-month-old baby and her husband in their living room in Hampton. They had been recently subjected to an attempted home invasion. I sat down with them on their couch and I heard their story. At around 2:30 in the morning, when this young mother, who works in allied health, was breastfeeding her six-month-old son, on the other side of the window were youth offenders who had targeted their family home and had targeted other family homes in that neighbourhood. This just did not happen a few weeks ago. This happens every night. This family, by one measure, were quite smart. I mean, they have got a dog. They have got security lights. They have got security cameras. It did not stop these youth offenders from targeting their home. Just imagine for a second if that six-month-old baby’s older sibling had been up and about, had a disturbed night’s sleep and wanted to find mum and dad’s bed and was confronted by one of those youth offenders. These are the very real situations that families in our state are pondering at the minute and, worse, are being subjected to.

Community safety should be a priority in this state. Community safety should be a priority for this government. They say it is. Time and time and time again they say it is, but it is not, because offenders keep on offending. They commit a crime. They get caught by Victoria Police. I want to put on record the admiration and the respect and regard that I have for the work that Victoria Police do. I am certain that there is a reason why there are around 1100 Victoria Police members who are on leave at the minute. They are sick of it. They are sick of doing the very best they possibly can to uphold the right, which is their sworn obligation as members of Victoria Police, and yet night after night they are out on the beat, picking up youth offenders, doing the right thing and then being let down by the justice system that puts those youth offenders back on bail so they go out and re-offend. No wonder those Victoria Police members, who I hold in the highest regard, are sick of it. These should be the priorities. Fixing these situations should be the priority of our state.

Alleviating the tax burden created by this government should also be a priority of this state government. In a life not so long ago I had the great privilege of committing to, together with our team, the repeal of some of the taxes that Labor have introduced. The repeal of Labor’s schools tax, which is an attack on educational choice; Labor’s holiday and tourism tax, which makes going on a holiday and choosing to stay in a short-term rental that much more expensive for families who, frankly, save and save and save and make decisions within their own family circumstance in order to have a break; and Labor’s health tax as well, which makes the cost of seeing a general practitioner, and not just a general practitioner but allied health professionals as well, that much more expensive, which in turn puts more pressure on the public health system, which in fact costs Victorian taxpayers more.

We have committed to repealing these taxes under a Liberal and National government, and we will.

One of the things that we have also promised to repeal is Labor’s emergency services tax. There is an impression that Labor’s emergency services tax, which is being attached to rates notices sent out by local government at the minute, is a tax that impacts principally regional and rural communities. It does, but it also impacts metropolitan communities. It also impacts residential homes in metropolitan Melbourne. It also impacts small businesses in metropolitan Melbourne, as it has in my community. I have before me a number of rates and valuation notices from various local government areas in my community. There is a wonderful family business in Park Road, Mitre 10. This is a third-generation business that has been in operation for close to 70 years, and the sons of the father, who has since passed, are now in control of this business and running it and providing those opportunities for people to earn a wage and just understand what the dignity of work actually is.

Yet they have got their rates notice, and credit to Bayside council, who have not increased their rates from one year to the next. But I will tell you what has increased: the Victorian government Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, Labor’s emergency services tax. It goes hand in hand. This particular property, Park Road Mitre 10, is over a couple of different sites. I have got one bill here where the rates from Bayside council are $3423. Labor’s emergency services tax charge on this rates notice is $3932, so in fact more than council rates. I have got another rates notice here for a property which is part of this business. The council rates are $2700. The Victorian government Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund tax is $3001.50, so more than the council rates. What is the impact of these things? What does this actually mean? For this third-generation family that is providing those opportunities for employment so that people can understand truly what the dignity of work is – for them to be able to earn a wage, stand on their own two feet, provide for themselves, provide for their families, pay their school fees and pay their power bills, which are only going up and up and up – that may not be possible anymore.

Labor’s taxes are making life harder for Victorians. Labor’s taxes are not making life easier for Victorians. Labor’s taxes are squeezing small businesses where they are getting to a critical point and having to make a decision about what they do in the future with their business. Do they continue providing those opportunities or do they not? Do they continue, frankly, bending over and copping it, or do they take a stand? I think we are at a critical point in our state’s history with the decisions that many businesses in this state need to make. Do they continue or do they fold? That is on the minds of many, many businesses around this state at the moment. I think there is a better way, and I grieve for Victorians in the intervening period between now and the next election, because up until this point the Allan Labor government, formerly the Andrews Labor government, show no sign of changing their tune. This Labor government had an opportunity to do the right thing by Victorians. My contention today is that they have done the wrong thing by Victorians.

I contend that under Labor life is harder, not easier. I also contend that we need a fresh start. We need new leadership, we need new ideas, we need optimism, we need enthusiasm and we need a new team in place to offer Victorians the pathway and the certainty that they need to invest in our state. We need to create opportunities in our state and not punish Victorians for simply having a go, not punish Victorians for simply wanting to provide for themselves and their families.

The circumstance in Victoria is verging on untenable. If only the members of the Labor government recognised that. If only those members of Labor’s backbench who enable the draconian actions of the Premier and the Treasurer – only today they introduced another state tax amendment bill, which no doubt will increase the tax burden on Victorians – recognised that their actions have consequences. Victorians are on the receiving end of a Labor government that frankly does not care. It is about time we had a fresh start in this place. It is about time we had a fresh start in this state, and only the Victorian Liberals can deliver that.