Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (17:46): It is great to rise on the – no, it is not. I grieve today. I have never grieved before for a movement like the opposition party, and today I grieve for the opposition, who are now so dysfunctional in Victoria they undermine the very tenets of a Westminster democracy. They have got to the point of dysfunction now that they almost need an intervention, and there has been a call. For those that have not seen it, we have had a saviour come from the north – from New South Wales a leader of the Nationals has appeared. Like the white knight coming from the north, we have got the Leader of the Nationals David Littleproud out on the annexe right now talking to the Leader of the Nationals Danny O’Brien around what the next steps might be. I feel like the Nationals have seen the light. They have seen that this cannot go on anymore; they cannot be associated with the Liberals anymore. It is doing irreversible damage, and David Littleproud has come from the north with a plan.

I grieve for the opposition for the position they are in today, because it was the Leader of the Nationals, when he was the member for Gippsland South and had shadow portfolio roles, who said that they should break away in 2022. And you might remember, he got into a bit of trouble for that. It was the old proverbial ‘put in the freezer’ during that time. But I see Mr Littleproud out there now, and I am really interested if there are any Nationals out there. I think they are all just going and praising him and saying, ‘Thanks for coming to Victoria. Can you give any sense?’ Because the amount of backgrounding going on at the moment, the amount of commentary by the opposition on themselves, is at fever pitch. And we know when it comes – in the third year of the term the member for Bulleen is always just in that sort of rounding. And I know that they are ready. He has got the portfolio now of readiness for governing. I just think he is wondering which aspiring Premier he might be readying himself for governing, such is the uncertainty here.

I want to take the house through just how the Liberal–Nationals find themselves at the moment. You might have seen, Deputy Speaker, that there was an article by Shannon Deery in the Herald Sun this week. I do not know if you turned your attention to it, but it said that there has been a meme doing the rounds. Now, I do not know, Deputy Speaker, you are a trendsetter, but there has been a meme doing the rounds – that is a bit like a thing you put on social media that you might share in a WhatsApp or a Signal group – that has showed the member for Berwick’s head superimposed on Bernie Lomax. You might know that that is the character from Weekend at Bernie’s. The connotation here – and the absolute implosion of the opposition right now that they are openly mocking their Leader of the Opposition – is that the member for Berwick, who they describe as Weekend at Bernie’s, is only here to remain very soon. In quoting this article, ‘to say the knives are out’ for the member for Berwick, following the reshuffle recently that only half of them knew about, ‘would be to understate the mood inside his party room’.

Then you go across to the Age article and Chip Le Grand’s piece that says, in the quoting of that, and I do not know – the member for Polwarth might, because I know he is close and the numbers person for the member for Berwick over there – but you might just want to, when you are asked by media whether your colleagues have had a call about the shadow portfolio shuffles, probably not say the honest answer and all of the truth and say that they are too busy to take my call, and they are not quite sure what portfolios they might have.

Such is the dysfunction – and poor, poor member for Western Victoria Region in the other place, Joe McCracken, who was promised a portfolio, promoted, got ready, had the name, sized it up. I heard the business card order was done with the other member for Western Victoria Region Bev McArthur. They had it ready. They had it scoped out. They had the business cards and title, and by the time they went to print on the shadow, it was gone. Back to the backbench, he went. That is the level of dysfunction, those being promoted without portfolio responsibilities. They have now got the chief of staff and the opposition leader running the Liberal Party. It is an utter wasteland, but we look at that and wonder how it could get any worse, and it is going to get a lot worse.

We know in the next sitting week there is absolutely movement afoot. Not only did we see the extraordinary circumstances of the federal Nationals leader here trying to coax the Nationals away from this absolute rabble of an opposition right now – we see that. There is no other moment right now for Mr Littleproud to be here other than to say remember there is a bit of form there. Remember they did the separation with the Liberals nationally. There is a bit of form here.

But I want to know from those opposite, and we appreciate the intellect and inspiration of the member for Bulleen. He is getting in readiness to govern. He did a trade mission with the shadow parliamentary secretary to the opposition leader recently. They went off to Argentina to do some trade relations. On the Thursday at the end of the sitting week, such is how well it is all going over there, but I wonder, is the member for Bulleen getting himself ready for government? Is it the member for Kew? Is the member for Brighton an outside chance? The member for Bayswater and I sometimes do some laps around the garden. I was out there, I was doing some stretches and I thought there were some other characters doing some laps, going around the gardens. And there I saw the member for Brighton, and – drum roll – the member for Nepean. Two laps, you can get a factional hit going; three laps, you have got a spill. They were doing three laps, and I thought, here we go. Here we go, the drum roll is beating. We know when it is coming. I just think if I was doing Sportsbet odds and I was looking at how the opposition was tracking, I am a true believer in the original backgrounding that happened here, that undermined the member for Berwick. I am a believer in the member for Bulleen like no-one is. That part of the Shannon Deery article around Jeff Kennett, three times in waiting – I am a believer. I think, member for Bulleen, it is time to back yourself in again.

Lauren Kathage: A Bulleener.

Tim RICHARDSON: The member for Yan Yean has just got the puns – a Bulleener. I like that. A Bulleener, believe in yourself, come forward, stand up for the Liberals. Like, be something, because at the moment your party is undermining the democracy of this system. Where do we have a reference point? It is Senator James Paterson. What did he say this week? What did he say – we are at risk of a populist running through the middle of us like Nigel Farage, and then I went, okay, that is interesting. So they are not talking about the intellectual ideological basis of their movement and their party. They are worried about another populist – because they are, in their heart, populist in their origins – popping up and taking away their political ground. It is not about the merits of the issue or the policy at the time. It is about the power, their position and their status. And that is what it has always been about for the Liberals. You know, it has been about the battle. It has been about the politics, and we have the twisted irony now where the leader of the opposition, who fronts up to murder crime scenes, is now depicted as the Weekend at Bernie’s figure. I mean, it has done an absolute full circle, and it is open ridicule and mocking.

I think this is the first time the opposition is making an assessment and judgement based on talent. The last few times it has been factional. They have knocked off the member for Malvern. Remember that? He was polling in the 40s, see you later. They knocked off the member for Hawthorn. Polling in the 40s, see you later. Well, where did those two go? Well, we saw the polling drop then, leading into 2022, and then we have seen the member for Berwick take them down to a double digit primary drop right now, and the member for Berwick has just one wood. This is a golfing term, for those tuning in, the millions at home watching this grievance. The golfing term for this is he has only got one wood, the member for Berwick: it is crime, it is crime, it is fear, crime, a bit more fear, and that is all that gets circled on over and over and over. It is never about how we actually divert people away from crime, how we support young people into the future or how we bring accountability and drive crime down. I do that in supporting the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence as the Parliamentary Secretary for Men’s Behaviour Change. When you have 95 per cent of violence perpetrated in Victoria by men and boys, that is the question to ask. Not, ‘This is another populist thing: I am going to go to a murder scene that I have no context for’ – the disrespect and disregard – but the Liberals in their heart and soul know this.

They know this to be true. They know they cannot go on with the member for Berwick anymore into the future because they are absolutely dysfunctional. They are backgrounding on it. Next sitting week the numbers will be done and we will see the member for Berwick being moved through. But it goes to why I said there is grieving for this movement now and the Westminster system and how that is undermined. It goes to two particular policy areas; one is treaty. It is an absolute disgrace that the member for Hawthorn, back when he was opposition leader and candidate-in-waiting coming in, supported this. And the member for Kew no less, who said that she would support the referendum, came into this place, in one of the most twisted speeches – I mean, I could not believe the amount of different positions that were taken in that speech, without talking to anyone from our First Nations community, without even having a chat, in a progressive electorate like Kew – and said, ‘I voted for the referendum,’ and stood up there, did the piece in the media, got the hit in the media that said, ‘Look at me, I’m a progressive Liberal,’ and she came in here as the Shadow Treasurer now and opposed treaty. That will be a mark on the member for Kew for a generation. You cannot take that away right at this moment. Well, that is now an aspiring leader who does not stand up when leadership matters.

And then you have got the Suburban Rail Loop. Oh, my goodness. I tell you what, remember Tom Elliott’s pieces on 3AW? ‘Oh, this is the greatest travesty. We should lock up people because of this Suburban Rail Loop.’ You remember Daniel Andrews was going to get arrested for the Suburban Rail Loop? Jacinta Allan, the Premier, was doing just outrageous things. And then they saw the Newspoll, and they went, ‘Oh, hang on. Hang on. Our internals!’ Are they still getting Freshwater doing their polling? I am not sure. Remember Peter Dutton was winning by about 15 per cent in the seat until he wasn’t – that was Freshwater for you. But then they saw the Newspoll, and then the true leadership was showing, the member for Bulleen up on the panel, and I thought, ‘This is the moment again,’ and my heart started to flutter. The member for Bulleen said, ‘Look, if it’s far down the pathway, we’ve just got to get it done.’ I thought, ‘Finally!’ Finally he saw that moment. 2018 rolled through, then 2022, and I thought, ‘This is the bipartisan frame,’ and then the member for Berwick fumbled the pass again. And again I see in media that the member for Kew is the new Shadow Treasurer. This is what the member for Bulleen said:

If the project’s commencing, the project goes ahead – it’s as simple as that.

I think that is pretty absolute. I think that is pretty sound. I would agree with that. There we go. And what he said on east–west link would be consistent with that position. That sounds pretty sound. No, because the member for Kew said:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

We’re being very clear that we will pause and review the contracts, construction arrangements and financial arrangements related to the Suburban Rail Loop.

And I am thinking, this has been backgrounded out as the champion team – who is deputy, who is going to be leader? We all know that there is a bit of a ticket being formed. And I thought, ‘Will the member for Bulleen be the deputy leader contestant and the member for Kew the top seed, or will it be vice versa, and what is the Trojan horse running through the pack? And we know what that is.

Michaela Settle interjected.

Tim RICHARDSON: It is not Sam Groth, no. It is not the member for Nepean. All serve, no volley, member for Eureka, unfortunately. All serve, no volley. It is the one and only, the real numbers person in here, the member for Brighton. I mean, he had a $5 billion black hole in his treasury figures – you know, that old chestnut of conservatives: ‘Oh, we’re going to cut taxes. We’re not going to tell you which services we’re going to cut. It’s all going to be fine.’ That is that little chestnut that has been rolled out. Well, that is what has been offered up, and he has been demoted. And as a bit of a surprise, the member for Evelyn took a hit in the roll and got moved around and then missed out on being Manager of Opposition Business. I thought the member for Evelyn had us on the ropes on some occasions. The member for Evelyn would get up there and I thought, ‘That’s it, that’s it. That’s a strike-out.’ It must hurt to see the member for Brighton back there now. Obviously it is a bit of a sideshow for the member for Brighton, but that is what we see right now. We see those are the leadership contenders coming forward and the dysfunction that we face. And it is undermining of democracy to see, 55 weeks from caretaker – that is right, get your calendar ready – the member for Bulleen still does not know, as the Shadow Minister for Transition to Government, who the aspiring premier might be on that side.

I have got some contenders for him. If he is looking through, I have got him at the top of the list, the member for Bulleen. Do not forget Sandringham – did you see that before in his grievance? He said, ‘Back when I was doing a bit of this stuff’ – the bit of that stuff was being Shadow Treasurer, until he got knocked sideways to digital innovation. I do not know what he has been doing in that, maybe he could have gone on the Argentina trip with the member for Narracan and the member for Bulleen. Do not give up on the member for Brighton. And then, the greatest travesty, the member for Hawthorn. He came in on the Mental Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 and did just brilliant, no notes, and I thought, ‘Amazing’. I was sitting there going, ‘There we are’. They could have found a spot on the shadow somewhere for the member for Hawthorn, but they did not find a spot for him. Look, he is up and about. He has seen off the challengers. He has seen them all off, he has got the loan scheme going. He has got the 30-year mortgage ready to go, and here he is – he is back and he is not going anywhere. They could not find him a spot; that is how dysfunctional this crew is.

The plea to the opposition is: get your house in order. Let us have a challenge – give the date, time and place, we will be there with the journos, we will be cheering. We have all got in our caucus the Sportsbet odds going right now. Mine is $1.30 that the member for Bulleen comes back because it is the third year.

Question agreed to.