Tuesday, 18 November 2025

 Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (12:15): I am delighted today to rise on the government business program, and I move:

That, under standing order 94(2), the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5 pm on 20 November 2025:

Crimes Amendment (Retail, Fast Food, Hospitality and Transport Worker Harm) Bill 2025

Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2025

Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025

Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Stability) Bill 2025.

What an important program that our government is bringing to the house in this, the second last week of the sitting of this year’s Parliament. What a busy year it has been. We were reflecting earlier on what a hardworking government we are here, led by our Premier, the member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan. This is a government that has averaged the delivery of a bill every single day that Parliament has sat. We have been addressing the issues that matter to the people of Victoria.

When I think about the impact of the Crimes Amendment (Retail, Fast Food, Hospitality and Transport Worker Harm) Bill 2025, it speaks directly to the values of the Allan Labor government and the people that we stand up for every single day. I was reflecting on the fact that, like many in this place, my first job was at Coles; I was on the checkout at Wodonga Coles. I also had an opportunity at KFC, also in Wodonga. I might point out that in both of those roles I was a proud union member, despite only being around 16 at the time, because I grew up in a family that always valued the rights of working people and the importance of collectivism and coming together to improve the conditions of workers, and that is just what this bill does.

The SPEAKER: Leader of the House, could I ask you not to hit the desk.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: Yes, you may, Speaker. My apologies. This bill that we will be debating today goes to the heart of what it is to be a member of the Labor Party and a proud member of this Allan Labor government. I was also reflecting on the fact that one of those in particular on the other side, the former Leader of the Opposition, only recently was on social media talking about all the jobs he had had in the real world. But apparently –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker – relevance.

The SPEAKER: Leader of the House, come back to the motion before the house and the business program.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: It is related, because amongst the many, many, many jobs that the former Leader of the Opposition claims to have had, being a retail worker was one of those. However, I will keep –

Will Fowles: On a point of order, Speaker, you have just asked the Leader of the House to come back to the bill. She is defying your ruling, and I ask you to ask her to bring it back to the motion.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the House advised me that it is relevant. I am waiting for her to show the relevance.

Will Fowles interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Ringwood!

Mary-Anne THOMAS: The point is that this is a bill that is before this place, and it is a bill that would only ever be introduced by a Labor government, because we stick up for working people. That is why our great party came into existence, and it is what we seek to do every single day. That is exactly what this bill does.

Not only do we stick up for people in the retail, fast food, hospo and transport sectors – working people – we also stick up and stand in absolute solidarity with the victims of family violence, and that is why our Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025 is so important. Family violence remains the number one law and order issue in this state, and we can never take our eyes off this fact. That is why our government remains absolutely committed to continuing to put in place the legislative framework that will ensure justice for victim-survivors.

The Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Stability) Bill 2025, another important Labor bill, is about reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care, and it acquits recommendation 25 of the Yoorrook for Justice report.

Finally, there is the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2025. We know that community safety is a key priority for our community. It is a key priority for our government. All Victorians have a right to be safe and to feel safe at all times in their communities. We know that too many young people are carrying knives and that this has life-changing consequences. That is why we are strengthening our laws again, to protect more young people from harm, and that is what this legislation will do. I commend the government business program.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:21): The coalition will be opposing the government business program. What we have seen over weeks is a government mismanaging this chamber, mismanaging its legislative process and mismanaging the bills it brings to this chamber and, as a direct result, not ensuring that promises are lived up to by way of new laws and that the concerns of Victorians are being dealt with when they need to be through legislation. It is not being done. As I heard the Leader of the House moving the government business program, what I noted was the items that were not included in the government business program and the commitments made over recent weeks by the Premier that have not been introduced by way of legislation into this chamber – because I am sure, as we would all understand, that a press release does not change the law. When it comes to the government business program, the government business program must include important issues that the community wants solved. I mean, we are here as legislators to ensure that our laws are modern, they are up to date and they deal with the priorities and concerns of Victorians. That is what is missing from the government business program.

By way of the bills, there are four bills being considered this week. There are a number of bills that are being considered this week whereby the government has made commitments aligned to those bills, and we will obviously speak about that in more substance throughout the debate. Now is not the time to deal with the substance of those bills, other than to say those bills do not fully form the commitments the government have made when they made them. The bills do not acquit those promises. ‘There are things missing’ is probably a simpler way to say it, because as I said earlier, press releases do not change the law.

When you look at the government business program, you can see that for week after week the government has not fully understood how to manage a chamber. We were here for an extra sitting last week, and as I said last week, I would sit more, not less, at all times. Next year is obviously a very light sitting, but I would sit more, not less, as a creature of this chamber. But the reason we had extra sittings is because the government had mismanaged the legislative program of the year. You can see it with the government business program, and important bills are being introduced without a timeline to complete them. We have just seen a bill introduced now which cannot be passed by the Parliament this year. It is not possible for it to be passed by the Parliament this year, which says a lot about the mismanagement of the chamber. We would say, when it comes to the government business program, it is so important with a government business program to not simply pick it up on a Thursday before it is publicly announced and just chuck something in there, but to think through how the year will look, how the legislative process will work throughout the year, and put forward a government business program that deals with the promises you make to the community, but also their concerns.

When it comes to this government business program, of course we know that not only are the items contained therein not fully acquitting those promises and not dealing with the concerns that Victorians face, but the proposed legislation does not actually cover off on the substance of the issues or on the promises that have been made. We have got another ‘We promise to do more at some point’ with some unknown timeline, some unknown date, by way of press release.

I think Victorians are very well aware now that press releases do not change laws. We now have a government that is effectively governing by press release rather than managing a chamber and proposing legislation that acquits those commitments and deals with the concerns of Victorians, which is why we will oppose the government business program. We will continue to make the point around the mismanagement of the chamber, as we have for recent weeks.

 Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (12:26): ’Tis the season, at least for those opposite. It gives me great pleasure to rise and to make a contribution in favour of this government business program, and it is always a great pleasure to follow the contribution of the creature of this chamber, the member for Brighton, dutifully serving his third leader in 11 months.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker: relevance.

The SPEAKER: Member for Tarneit, I would ask you to speak to the government business program.

Dylan WIGHT: It was but a short preamble on my way to the substantive contribution on this fantastic government business program. As I was about to say, whilst those opposite have been talking about themselves the government have been carefully curating this government business program which delivers for all Victorians, because that is our responsibility as a government, to keep in mind the needs of all Victorians and to deliver for them. Indeed, with close to 100 pieces of legislation in the past two years, it is an incredibly jam-packed legislative agenda to do, as I said, what matters for all Victorians and to make sure they can live the best possible life. It is incredibly disappointing to come into this place this morning and to hear that the opposition are opposing this government business program. Shame on them, given its contents – incredibly important pieces of legislation that ordinary Victorian workers and families need to be able to live a fruitful life.

The Leader of the House, the member for Macedon, touched on, quite eloquently, our Crimes Amendment (Retail, Fast Food, Hospitality and Transport Worker Harm) Bill 2025. She spoke of her experience working in the hospitality sector, and I have similar experiences – a lot of people in this house do, whether that be working in hospitality through university, through high school or indeed into their adult life. Some of the things that I have seen in this industry whilst working or whilst being a consumer have been absolutely deplorable. Nobody deserves to go to work and be bullied, harassed or abused. Pieces of legislation like this are incredibly important. I have heard some of the commentary from some of those opposite in recent weeks, saying that this bill has not come to the –

James Newbury: On a point of order, this is a procedural motion, Speaker.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. The Manager of Opposition Business on his feet was quite wideranging, and I cannot see what the member for Tarneit has said that the Manager of Opposition Business could possibly be offended by.

The SPEAKER: I remind members that this is a narrow procedural debate.

Dylan WIGHT: I did not think that I was going to the contents of the bill at all. I thought that I was bang on the government business program. As I was saying, some of those opposite have been critical that this bill has not been included in the government business program sooner. Let us be really clear: if the Liberals were in government, this bill would not exist.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a procedural debate, not a sledge debate.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Tarneit, back to the government business program.

Dylan WIGHT: Those on this side of the house put Victorian workers front and centre in everything that we do. This piece of legislation is just another example of that, whilst those opposite have never shown an ounce of care for Victorian workers in their entire working lives.

I cannot get through all of the legislation, but another incredibly important piece of legislation on this government business program is the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025. It is important to everybody but particularly important to my community out there in Wyndham, a place where almost 30 per cent of Victoria’s domestic violence happens – in that LGA. Think about that: almost 30 per cent of Victoria’s family violence happens in Wyndham, and that is only the family violence that is reported.

It is, like I said, a real shame that the opposition walked into this place this morning and decided to oppose this government business program, given the important pieces of legislation that are on it. It is a fantastic government business program, and I commend it to the house.

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (12:31): I rise to talk on the government business program this week, and I concur with the member for Brighton in saying that we are opposing the government business program this week. I would like to also say that I do care for workers here in Victoria as over my journey my businesses and businesses like mine have employed many, many, many workers. So I would like it put forward that we actually do care for people that are working.

I know one of the bills coming through is the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025. I would just like to pick up on the member for Tarneit: in the Latrobe Valley we are number two on the hit list for family violence, which is very disturbing and something that I do not want it to be in my time as a member here. So I do agree with this particular part of the government business program coming through.

One of the other things that we do see on this government business program revolves around crime and youth crime and how we try and strengthen against that, and this is where the government has failed. They have been dragged kicking and screaming to bring this lot of amendments in to debate in the house this week. These are crimes which the Premier herself and also the Attorney-General will stand on their feet here in the chamber and try and explain to us are new crimes that Victoria is witnessing at the moment. Well, it would not and could not be further from the truth that these are actually new crimes. The crimes that are coming through are crimes that have been ramping up – I will give them that – from 10 years ago to five years ago –

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, you have already ruled that this is a narrow procedural debate, and the member on his feet is being rather expansive in his commentary. I ask that you ask him to come back to the narrow procedural motion that is before us.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morwell will come back to the government business program.

Martin CAMERON: I will. I am talking on the justice legislation amendment bill, because we do need firmer laws around so we can get our crime under control. I am talking on behalf of the family of Kaiden Morga-Johnston, who have experienced the worst of these crimes, on a bill that we are trying to bring in to protect other families. They have lost their son in a crime that has happened – not new crimes, but more and worse crimes as they go through. The family of Harry Wright have also lost their father. We need to make sure that we are debating and doing stuff in this chamber which is going to make a difference.

I can only stand and listen in this chamber to the Premier telling us constantly that she is listening to the people of Victoria and the victims of crime in this state – and it is wonderful that she can do that. But I call on the Premier, who has never sat down with the Gordon family, who have paid the ultimate sacrifice –

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, while I am loath to interrupt the member on his feet, who is discussing a very serious issue, there are other appropriate forums in this house for him to raise the matters that he is raising. This is a narrow procedural debate, and I ask that you ask him to come back to the matter at hand.

The SPEAKER: Member for Morwell, I would ask you to speak to the government business program.

Martin CAMERON: We need to make sure that if we are in this place, we are putting everything on the table and that we are looking after all of Victoria, not just certain sections of our population in Victoria, and I think that is what goes to the opposition opposing the government business program. The Labor government have the opportunity to include everybody and listen to everybody so we can make decisions moving forward to protect our community. As the opposition manager said, we will be opposing the bill this week.

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (12:36): Well, it is no surprise that I am standing here supporting this government business program. I have to say, I am in the best mood, and it is not just the yellow jacket. We have had a huge weekend in Melbourne’s west, and if that was not proof enough that this government is getting on and delivering for Victorians, this government business program before the house today sure is another example of that.

I am not surprised that those opposite are not going to support the government business program, because I dare to say there will be few speakers on these four important bills, because no-one has read them. They have been too busy focused on themselves, slicing and dicing and backstabbing each other in their party room – but I digress. Like I said, I am in a pretty great mood because these four bills are really important. The community has told us that they need this legislative reform before the house, which is exactly why we are bringing these four bills here before the Assembly today.

We have got the Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Stability) Bill 2025, and we have got the Crimes Amendment (Retail, Fast Food, Hospitality and Transport Worker Harm) Bill 2025. Because ‘tis the season – just over the last couple of weekends I will admit I even put up my Christmas tree, and the Christmas lights are well and truly up and happening in the Connolly household – I want to give a big shout-out to our transport workers, who are going to work so hard through this Christmas season and in January across all public holidays to get folks here in Victoria where they need to go as they are feeling very merry and jolly, and I will be one of those people joining them.

This is such an important bill before the house. I must say, many moons ago I was a barista. I was making coffee before coffee was cool to drink. It was never surprising having people complain about coffee being not hot enough, not strong enough. A cappuccino, a latte, a flat white – piccolos and things like that did not exist then – there was a big difference between a customer complaining about their coffee and throwing it in your face, right? Now, this bill is all about that kind of behaviour. We are cracking down on it, and we are saying: no way, not happening in this state; people deserve better.

We have also got the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025. As the member for Tarneit quite clearly conveyed in his contribution here, Wyndham has a 30 per cent rate of family violence – it is incredibly high. Let me tell you what else is really scary about that municipality – when I speak on this bill, I will speak about this – it is also one of the fastest growing municipalities, LGAs and suburbs in Victoria and in this country, and the rates of family violence are just so high. It is completely unacceptable, and we must do everything we can here in this place – whether we are in opposition or in government – to fight family violence, because we know how it ends for women in particular and for children, which I know the Premier is going to be talking about this week.

We also have the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2025. And because, like I said, ‘tis the season, I think it is really important to give a big shout-out to Victoria Police and the amazing police officers, who will be working tirelessly across the Christmas and New Year season to keep our community safe. It is a thankless and tireless job, but their commitment and their dedication do not go unnoticed here in this place and indeed out in the community, and we cannot thank those men and women of Victoria enough for their support.

These four bills matter to the community. They are things that this side of the house has been deep in conversation, deep in discussions and deep in engagement on to bring forward legislation and bills like these just before the house. This is the kind of thing that Victorians expect from people in government. These are the kinds of things that people in Victoria expect from their politicians, whether they are in government or they are in opposition. At all times when we are here in this place we must remember who we are representing, and that is the people of Victoria. It is not ourselves. When parties are too focused on what is happening in their own party room and not focused on Victorians and delivering for them, that is when they know they have failed. This government is getting on with these four bills before the house, because we will always stand up for what Victorians need and what they deserve. I commend the program.

 Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (12:41): I rise to oppose the government business program. I must say, if ever there was a week where the government handed us a mixed bag, it is this one. In fact calling it a mixed bag might be generous. I do note there are a number of school students here today, who I welcome. In mentioning a mixed bag, it is much like a lucky dip at a school fete, except if you close your eyes and put your hand in, you get something like a mouse trap instead.

We have before us four major bills, each deserving proper scrutiny, each with significant flaws and each being rammed through yet again. First, the Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Stability) Bill 2025. The word ‘stability’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting in the title, because the bill itself does the opposite, removing the 24-hour limit on reunification, reversing our successful 2014 permanency reforms and risking children being left in limbo for years. The government says this will create certainty, but removing time limits is the legislative equivalent of telling your teenager, ‘Take as long as you want to clean your room.’ – we all know what happens next. Vulnerable children deserve better, and that requires consultation with carers and families, who are largely left out.

Then we have the Crimes Amendment (Retail, Fast Food, Hospitality and Transport Worker Harm) Bill 2025 – a very long title. Protecting workers is vital, so we will not oppose this bill, but honestly, these penalties are so weak they might as well come with a complimentary apology letter from the offender. New South Wales has real penalties – four years, six years, 11 years. Here – six months for an assault. The government says this is real and strong reform. It is not strong. It is something like tofu, which looks like meat but tastes like nothing – and apologies to all those tofu lovers on that side.

James Newbury: And this side.

Chris CREWTHER: And this side as well, with the member for Brighton of course.

The Justice legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2025 we have before us as well. This is an omnibus bill that tries to do everything, from drug testing reforms to firearms, protest laws, terrorism symbol bans to religious assembly protections and more. If the government added one more thing, we might get something like frequent flyer points for reading it. But here is the problem: the protest provisions are so narrow and riddled with exceptions that even the Police Association Victoria has called it ‘the pretty please bill.’ When frontline police say that your protest laws will not work, they will not work. Terrorism symbols are important protections, but again, there are loopholes big enough to drive a tram through. Religious assembly protections are necessary, but inconsistent language undermines them.

Finally, we have the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025. There are some important reforms here, including on stalking and family violence orders, but again, the government business program forces us to rush scrutiny of dense, technical, multi-act reforms that impact thousands of victims and families.

These bills instead deserve careful, thorough debate, not being rushed through Parliament. But that is the problem with this government: they do not run a proper business program, they run a production line. Bills go in one end, rubber-stamped votes come out the other, and the public hopes that this was not translated from Swedish or Chinese by Google Translate. This Parliament is at its best when we debate major reforms properly – that is what we should be doing – but this week’s bills all raise significant concerns. Really, amendments are needed on several of these, yet the government’s program does not allow adequate time. As usual, the government will just ram through this program, yet again without sufficient consideration of the concerns and consequences, intended or otherwise.

We will have the amendments through on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Amendment Bill 2025 from the Legislative Council very soon today, on which there will of course be a free debate and a free vote if and as needed. Personally I am glad that the amendments have gone through the upper house. They were pretty much the same as a number of amendments that happened in the lower house a few weeks ago, so I look forward to speaking further on them.

Lastly, on this government business program, the Victorian opposition does oppose this program. We urge the government to concentrate on what is needed. What do Victorians want? They want action on roads, on crime, on health care, on cost-of-living pressures and on the housing crisis. These are the things that Victorians are worried about.

Assembly divided on motion: