Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (17:37): Leadership matters. It mattered last weekend on Sunday at Pride, standing with communities and showing that every person in this state deserves dignity and respect when the extreme right are attacking queer communities. It mattered in January when we saw bushfires tear through our state, devastating lives and livelihoods, and when Victorians relied on their leaders for trusted information – information that was keeping people safe and supporting the efforts of our emergency services. It matters too in mosques, in synagogues and in temples, where communities carrying grief and fear look to their leaders for compassion, love and support in times of division. Leadership is not just about what you say, it is about what you do and who you listen to, and it is about who you choose to stand with. Standing with One Nation at a right-wing misinformation convention and pretending you did not know Barnaby Joyce was going to turn up and join you as a headline speaker is not standing with Victorians. I make available to the house the flyer that has been circulating for weeks.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mordialloc can leave the chamber for an hour and a half.

Member for Mordialloc withdrew from chamber.

The SPEAKER: I would like a written apology from every single member on the government benches for what just happened, in my office after question time.

Jacinta ALLAN: Leadership is about trust. Victorians can trust that my government will always stand with multicultural communities against division, will stand with queer communities against hate and will always fight against misinformation that harms. Victorians know that it is only our Labor government that is focused on them, focused on delivering Victorians with new solutions and backing them with good public services, not the cuts that we know the Liberals always offer.