Wednesday, 4 March 2026

 Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (10:42): Today I am rising to speak on the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee report into the security of Victoria’s food supply, the impact that population growth has on our farming industries and the availability and accessibility of arable land. This was an inquiry that examined an issue that is fundamental to every Victorian: food security. It surprised me that the government felt compelled to undertake such a study. Call me cynical, but it is not because the Allan Labor government actually care about farmers or food production; it is probably more to look good and look like they are doing something. But it did not surprise me that much of the focus was on the urban fringes of Melbourne and the large regional cities like Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong, because people in South-West Coast, who contribute an enormous amount to agriculture, often feel very overlooked, and this study probably did not highlight the value of agricultural land and the challenges and stresses that are upon it, causing food security issues into the future that should also be scrutinised and highlighted, with policy developed around them.

South-West Coast punches well above its weight – I say that in this place often when it comes to agriculture in particular – and contributes enormously to the economy and food systems. The committee’s findings confirm things that farmers have been saying for years and years: that Victoria produces a significant proportion of Australia’s food, much of it export oriented, and remains the largest food- and fibre-exporting state by value. Victoria accounts for around a quarter of Australia’s total exports despite occupying only a small proportion of the nation’s landmass. It is not just impressive; it is strategically important.

One finding stood out to me in particular, and that was that the governance and policy approach to agriculture requires a strategic agricultural review if we are going to secure our food supply into the future. As someone who spent decades advocating for agriculture, both as a farmer myself and as a representative on industry boards and committees, this is a recommendation that is not only long overdue but one that we called for consistently for decades.

For more than 10 years, though, in this chamber, I have watched legislation pass with little evidence that this is a government that truly does recognise the value of agriculture. In fact we have seen agriculture disappear, even, from the department title. What was once the Department of Agriculture is now the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Farmers get really frustrated with the fact that they are working so hard and they are not even valued enough to be in the title of a department – a department that really does need to be supportive of farmers and developing policies to recommend to government to actually make sure that we progress in agriculture and not go the other way. We have seen the agriculture department have its resources stripped, the ability to do the research and –

Steve Dimopoulos: That’s not true.

Roma BRITNELL: Yes, absolutely. The amount of staff that have gone from the agriculture department in the last two years is significant, and the member across the chamber disputes that. Well, if you just talk to the staff in there, I am afraid that is absolutely the case. The ability to deliver and support on-farm programs, such as how to grow grass effectively and how to fertilise effectively so you are protecting the environment, has absolutely been changed.

Farmers do not actually ask for special attention, they ask for understanding and partnership. You look at the effect of our bad roads on farmers, and farmers talk to me about this all the time. Why doesn’t the government realise how important the roads are for the government to get its taxes? The food grown in South-West Coast must travel on regional roads, and as we move towards the processes and ports and global markets to which the products must go, the roads are deteriorating. The transport costs rise because trucks are getting damaged, and that costs money to fix, and so production costs increase, and that makes Victorian producers less competitive internationally before the products even leave our shores. It is a missed economic opportunity. Investment in our roads is not a cost; it is an investment that strengthens productivity, exports, tax revenue and regional communities. Governments benefit from agricultural success, and logic suggests that benefits should be reinvested.

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (10:47): I rise to speak on the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s report on the inquiry into capturing data on people who use family violence here in Victoria, and this was tabled last year. We know that when it comes to preventing family violence, the Labor government has done so much and so much heavy lifting over the past almost 12 years, but there is still so much more work to do. This side of the house are constantly looking at what more we need to do to not only prevent family violence but in this case capture the data on people who use family violence here in Victoria.

Cindy McLeish interjected.

Sarah CONNOLLY: I will take that interjection as an appropriate time to say I do commend the minister for going ahead and scrapping good character references. Good character references can be used for many things, including serious assault against men and women, but for our victim-survivors of rape cases, having to sit in court after experiencing what can only be described as the most horrendous crime involving so much trauma – trauma that will stay with that victim-survivor for the rest of her or his life – it is just so good that those good character references are finally scrapped and done and dusted. I know that announcement has been very well received in my community, particularly by women, so I do thank you for that interjection.

Like I said, we know that when it comes to preventing family violence there is so much more work that needs to be done, and because we are on the verge of International Women’s Day and we are looking at celebrating the tremendous contribution of girls and women here to this state and how far we have come and how far we still have to go, I do want to say that it was incredible. I was not here in the house when it took place, but I have certainly been here over the years in which all 227 recommendations have been rolled through this place, and that is the Royal Commission into Family Violence. A previous member of this place, who has now very sadly passed away, brought this to the house and got it through, and a royal commission was undertaken.

I just do want to point out, in light of International Women’s Day coming up, that having women here in a place that is traditionally male dominated, having a voice at the table where important life-changing decisions are made, is the perfect example of why women belong here in the Parliament of Victoria, in the halls of the Parliament, to make these decisions, because life-saving reforms have been made through these 227 recommendations.

But like I said, there is still so much more to do, and thanks to some of these recommendations and reforms, including establishing the Orange Door network, I have two Orange Doors in my region of Melbourne’s west. We have one in Sunshine and one in Wyndham, and they are tremendously important places that women know they can go to to seek help and escape violent partners. It is not just a resource for women, it is women and children who unfortunately all too often experience family violence. It is here at these places we can actually learn a lot about the victim-survivors who experience this.

The same cannot always be said for those who perpetrate violence. If we want to stamp out family violence from our community and our society, we need to know everything we can about the perpetrators of family violence. Like I said, this is something that needs to change, mainly because it makes perfect sense that the more we learn and understand about the factors that may cause someone to perpetrate family violence, the more likely we are to prevent that behaviour in the first place. So this has been a really, really important inquiry.

I do want to acknowledge the tireless work of not only committee members but the committee secretariat, who I know do not often get the shout-out that they deserve. These people perform tremendous work on behalf of the Parliament. I do want to thank all of the staff that were involved in the coordination of this inquiry, the preparation of the reports and the operation of hearings. In my experience they go absolutely smoothly with the committee secretariat. This is a really great report, it makes good recommendations and I commend it to the house.