Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Michaela SETTLE (Eureka) (17:16): I rise to contribute to this grievance debate. Like many on this side, I grieve for Victorians should the omnishambles of the Liberal Party ever have the reins in this state, though I do not believe even they imagine they will get there. Many of my colleagues – the members for Laverton and Mordialloc – have already painted an incredibly stark picture of those opposite and their extreme views, a divided party, which makes them unfit to lead. But even within the last hour of this very grievance debate I have noticed that what is most frightening is that there is no policy, no direction from those on the other side. The current Leader of the Liberal Party made it very, very clear, when she –

Brad Rowswell: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, I request that you encourage the member on her feet making a contribution to this debate to use correct parliamentary titles, unembellished.

Michaela SETTLE: On the point of order, Deputy Speaker, the word ‘current’ is not a title. I said the ‘current Leader of the Opposition’. It is not a title.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. I do not uphold the point of order.

Michaela SETTLE: I will repeat that what frightens me most about those on the other side is that they have no policy and no direction. The current Leader of the Opposition made it very, very clear, when she walked out of that divided party room with the new title, that this would be a change of strategy – that under her leadership they would change strategy and they would not focus on crime. Yet in this debate the previous Leader of the Opposition made his grievance all about crime. The member for Prahran has talked all about crime. What worries me is that either they are not listening to their leader – their current leader – or their current leader is flip-flopping and suddenly crime is back to the most important issue. But really, basically, where we are is that nobody, not them on the other side or anyone in Victoria, has any idea what they stand for or what they are focusing on. We get contradictory lines every day.

I had to have a little smile today. There was a particular moment when I am sure in the party room they said, ‘We’re going to show unity. We’re going to show unity,’ and in they came to question time like a little conga line. I thought, ‘Unity is not a conga line, guys. Unity is about being on message.’

Brad Rowswell: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, in relation to the current member for Eureka’s contribution –

Michaela SETTLE: And future.

Brad Rowswell: Well, there is an election in November, and she may not be the member for Eureka after that point is my point. The point of order I wish to raise for your attention is the use of unparliamentary language. I mean, ‘conga line’ surely is an unparliamentary term, and when the member referenced that term she included me in that term. I find that offensive. I just think that it is something that is unparliamentary that should be brought to your attention in the context, because I would like to think that we could all do better.

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Frankston, if you would like me to rule on this point of order, I can do it with you here or without you here.

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It was not a question that was needing an answer, member for Frankston. I do not uphold the point of order. It is a matter for debate.

Michaela SETTLE: I do have some sympathy for the member at the table. I can understand that he does not want to be part of the conga line that is the Liberal Party, and he is making it very clear in Hansard that he is not a part of that conga line, because of course it is a pretty fractured and divisive conga line. But back to my original point – we were talking about the fact that there is no strategy and there is no direction. We were told that crime would not be the focus of the current leader, and of course we have listened to nothing else but contributions on crime coming from those on the other side. So either they are not listening to their leader or indeed she is changing her focus.

I think that the members for Laverton and Mordialloc very clearly talked about the disunity that goes on on the other side, and of course, as many of us have cited, there was the shock resignation today of the member for Nepean. I am told that he is renowned for his serve, yet he seemed unable to even serve one term. I am not sure that he is great at serving, because he certainly did not serve for four years. Of course he made it very clear that he was leaving the Liberal Party because they had fallen below the standard that he came to public life to accept. When you are even below the standards of the member for Nepean, you are definitely in trouble.

But look, I want to take this back, because unlike those on the other side, I spend most of my time thinking about the people in my electorate – not thinking about what is happening in my party room but thinking about the people that I am there to represent. So more than anything I grieve at the notion that the conga line of the Liberal Party would somehow represent regional Victoria. It bothers me because we have seen nothing but disregard for the people of regional Victoria. While we are going through some of the most trying times – through fires across our beautiful regional areas – we are left with them infighting and making up spurious lines about our fantastic emergency services, and I find that really disappointing.

But I will go even further to talk about the things that really matter to the people in my electorate. What really, really matters in my electorate is free TAFE. I bring that up specifically because the latest Leader of the Opposition, before she won the bar-room brawl that is the Liberal Party room, was the Shadow Minister for Education. I just want to let everybody know I read Hansard diligently. There was only once that the current Leader of the Opposition mentioned free TAFE, and do you know what she said when she mentioned free TAFE? She said:

… it is the Victorian taxpayers money that is being spent, that is being wasted … We hear about programs like free kinder and free TAFE … but these programs are not free.

She was saying that the money that we spend on free TAFE and free kinder is wasted money. What we believe in on this side of the house is investing in Victoria. We spend money to make life better, easier and cheaper for the people of Victoria. They will cut so that they can crow in their party room that their budget looks a certain way. But those cuts have a real impact on working people and families in Victoria, and we have got to remember that. While the Shadow Minister for Education at the time thought it was wasting money to offer programs like free TAFE and free kinder, I want her to know what they mean to us in the regions.

Free TAFE has benefited more than 250,000 students in Victoria, but what is most important is that it has saved $674 million in tuition fees. That is an average of $3000 per course. It is interesting. They are not interested anymore. Why is no-one on the other side interested anymore? They are turning their backs on regional Victoria.

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Michaela SETTLE: That’s right – the toenails of Victoria. But bringing it back home to my turf, it has made such a difference, Federation University’s offering of free TAFE. We saw some extraordinary outcomes in terms of the people that could utilise that. Really importantly, 60 per cent of the new enrollees in free TAFE were women. This is about offering women a way back into the workforce. It is not just the thousands of dollars that they save per course, but it is also the time. It gives them the time to go and study, to re-enter the workforce.

I read something today that said we need to talk about how we increase productivity. Free TAFE and getting women back in the workforce has got to be one of the best ways that we can shift productivity, and yet the current Leader of the Opposition thinks that it is a waste of money. The vice-chancellor of Federation University talked about the impacts that free TAFE has made in my region. The campuses across Central Highlands, including in Horsham, have really changed people’s outcomes in the regions. In 2024 there were 600 free TAFE supported commencements, and that was a growth of 30 ‍per cent. While most of us on this side were pretty horrified at the notion that the Leader of the Opposition would be appearing at a misinformation rally in Horsham, I for one am glad that she is not attending. And you know why? Because we have a beautiful new TAFE hub right there in Horsham providing engineering skills, and I do not want her to get her beady eyes on it because that will be the first thing that she cuts. I am glad she is not going. I am glad she will not see what is out there, because she has made it very, very clear that the first thing she is going to do when she gets in is she is going to start cuts.

On 16 August she said on Sky News, that great friend of those on the other side, that current spending is ‘simply not sustainable’. She said:

That means that we’re going to have to make cuts when it comes to our health services. Schools aren’t going to be built or even fixed.

How can the Leader of the Opposition tell people across Victoria that she is not even going to fix our schools? I just want to compare that with my own electorate. Since I have been there it has been extraordinary to watch the investment that this government has put into schools. The wonderful Darley Primary School has had a $10 million upgrade. In Ballarat Woodmans Hill college has had a $10 million year 7 centre. In the last budget we committed money to Bacchus Marsh College for planning, and I am going to be fighting tooth and nail to make sure that it gets that money to build, while those on the other side have made it absolutely clear that they will not be doing that. They will not be investing in schools. They will not be fixing or increasing our schools. I just want to read it once more, because it is a pretty extraordinary quote:

Schools aren’t going to be built or even fixed.

That is under a Liberal government. That is what the Leader of the Opposition told Sky News. It is pretty clear that they are going to get in and they are going to cut, and what scares me – why I grieve for people in my electorate should they ever get in power – is that they will lose those wonderful schools. And what about the half-a-billion-dollar investment into our health system? I know that my great friend and colleague the member for Wendouree is so proud of that build. We are so proud of bringing world-class services to people in the regions, and at the same time the Leader of the Opposition is telling us that there will be no more investment into health. We have put in the urgent care clinics in Ballarat. What a wonderful, wonderful asset in terms of, again, I will say it is not just the money, it is about the time. You do not have to go and visit the ED. You can go to the urgent care centre and get cheap and great support straightaway.

I grieve for regional Victoria if we ever had the current Leader of the Opposition in charge of the budget. She has made it very clear that she is going to cut. She said to Sky News, their very own audience, that they are not going to fix schools, they are not going to invest in health. When people go to the polls, I want them to look at our record. We are there. We are on the side of the people in Victoria. We are not squabbling in backrooms about who is the leader this week, who is going to be the deputy leader and who is recording this meeting, because that is what they are doing in their divided party room.