Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (10:54): I rise to address the 2025–26 budget estimates Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report of October 2025. In a similar vein to the government member who was just on her feet, I also acknowledge the contribution to the formulation of this report of a number of members, including the former deputy chair Mr McGowan and Mr Welch from the other place as well, and the member for Mildura Ms Benham. There were outstanding contributions from those three members in particular, and not a bad job from the member for Laverton in her capacity as chair as well. I am sure it would have been smooth sailing trying to navigate the path of ministers who are better prepared than others to respond to government members when those dixers are presented to them.

I do rise specifically to address a section of this report, and that is section 7.3, the ‘Carers and Volunteers portfolio: key issue’ output, specifically finding 52 and recommendations 22 and 23. Finding 52 states:

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing does not have performance measures related to its food relief activities in the 2025–26 Budget.

It therefore made a recommendation, recommendation 22, being:

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing include performance measures related to its food relief activities in the next budget.

Recommendation 23 suggested that:

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing report through an appropriate mechanism on the changing demand for food relief in Victoria over time and by how much its activities meet this demand.

I agree with those recommendations of the committee, and I have no reason to disbelieve the finding that the committee has made. I will say this, though, times are getting tougher. Times are getting tougher for Victorians, and I think that we should also perhaps use this opportunity to acknowledge the work of many community members across the state who do so much to provide the basics that Victorians rely upon, especially this close to Christmas. In my own community the local Vinnies conference at the Stella Maris and St Joseph’s Catholic parishes, and the Nazareth parish in Beaumaris and Black Rock, have undertaken for many decades a drive for food and essential goods, and I want to pay tribute to them. My office for the last three years has been a collection point, and I invite members of my community to drop off those essential items for that Vinnies drive to my office by Thursday 11 December so they can be included within that drive to provide those essential food items and personal items to people who need them. I do acknowledge the importance that the government has placed on this particular matter, as noted in this report, but I also want to acknowledge that it is not just the government’s responsibility to contribute to these circumstances. It is also an opportunity for us to acknowledge the contribution of many, many locals within our community who do the same.

In that same vein there is another local charity which I would like to draw attention to. TeamSports4All is a magnificent local charity. They do not just provide the opportunity for young people in our community from a disadvantaged background, often with a family violence history, to participate in local community sport by paying for their uniform, paying for their boots and paying for their membership but they also provide an important mentor to step not only the child through the process but the parent as well – to walk with them, to journey with them. That is how they and this organisation are so different to other organisations which just simply put a sports uniform on the back of a kid in need. That is why on 31 December this year, when I move from Melbourne to Tanzania in an attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest freestanding mountain in the world, it is my aim to make a charitable contribution to this incredible local organisation in my community, and I would encourage anyone who can to make a contribution to that cause.