Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (11:04): I rise to speak on the 2023–24 budget estimates report from the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC). But firstly I would like to just pay tribute to the committee that I am part of, being the Economic and Infrastructure Committee; the member for Bellarine is the chair and the deputy chair is the member for Shepparton. Just earlier we had the member for Wendouree in here, who is the chair of the Environment and Planning Committee, which I sat on with you, Acting Speaker De Martino. The committees that we are on are actually excellent in getting to know one another and working in a bipartisan way to uncover important things within our communities and to undertake these inquiries together. Whilst we might have differing views on the outcomes and differing views on the findings, at the end of the day it is always good to be able to work in a bipartisan way.

Now to the budget estimates report from PAEC, specifically speaking to the new revenue initiatives in the 2023–24 budget in section 2.5.3. We see here that the Victorian government, the Allan Labor government, has shown time and time again that it will spend big, blow the budget and then invent a new tax to make Victorians pay for it. After years of waste and mismanagement Labor has introduced or increased more than 63 taxes, with more to come this week, making Victorians the highest taxed people in the nation. Now the Auditor-General has revealed the true cost, as revealed here in this report, of Labor’s incompetence: a $50.6 billion hole in the state’s finances over just six years. For those for whom billions of dollars are an abstract concept, because it is so much money to understand, that is $50,000 million of budget blowouts. That is the government spending like there is no tomorrow. The government spend like a nepo baby with an inheritance to burn, except that it is not their inheritance, it is Victorian taxpayers money that they are burning day in, day out, which they have taken from Victorian taxpayers to scramble to plug the gap with yet another tax.

Today we hear again of this big new housing tax from 2027 that the government will impose in 68 ‍activity centres, charging developers over $11,000 per new home, with industry warning that it will only make housing more expensive at the very time affordability is collapsing. This is something that I will continue to fight for as the new Shadow Minister for Home Ownership and Housing Affordability, as the government continue to demonstrate that they have no interest in making housing affordable for Victorians. The government continue to show that they have no interest in unlocking housing supply for Victorians who dream of buying their own home. That is not to mention the congestion levy, where Labor is hiking the congestion levy by 73 per cent, ripping an extra $100 million a year from people who drive into the city. Car parks will be taxed up to $3030 per space, with costs passed on to workers of around $1386 more each year. Business groups have warned against it – they have warned that it will cripple CBD traders and stall Melbourne’s recovery – but Labor has already spent the money, so the tax must go on.

That is not to mention, again, the pet tax. The government is now even doubling taxes on family pets, hitting 1.4 million households to raise another $10 million. Victorians already pay the highest taxes in the nation, and now Labor wants to tax your cat and put a levy on your dog. There is no end to the cash grabs and tax increases under this government. They waste your money with absolutely no accountability, and Victorians will always be paying less tax under a Liberal government. It is time to toss Labor out and give Victoria a fresh start.

Further, on the PAEC report on the 2021‒22 and 2022‒23 financial and performance outcomes, speaking to foster care in section 7.5.2, we know that foster carers have departed in droves. Foster carers are the least funded and have the least allowances in all of Australia here in Victoria, and the Foster Care Association of Victoria has been mounting this public campaign to raise it – (Time expired)