Tuesday, 17 March 2026

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (19:14): (1585) My adjournment matter is for the Premier, and the action I seek is for the Premier to stop wasting Victorians’ money. Nearly $600 million was spent on a Commonwealth Games they cancelled, and instead Victorians are paying for Scotland to host the games on the other side of the world while we get nothing. We had the worst corruption scandal in Victoria’s history under the Premier’s watch on their government worksites, yet the Premier still refuses a royal commission to chase down where the $15 billion of taxpayers money went. $125 million of taxpayers money was spent on settling a class action over the COVID failures that gave Melbourne the longest lockdowns in the world. Rather than face the courtroom, Labor chose to cover it up and sent Victorians the bill. And how could we forget the $13 million spent on machete bins as their solution to the crime crisis, yet we see machete attacks almost every single week still, including the tragic death of 22-year-old hero Aidan Becker. Then, in even more waste, while teachers march in the streets for better pay, Labor spends half a million dollars on marketing treaty in a single year, not to mention spending $200,000 on rented pot plants for government offices. When will it end?

This is all while state debt is spiralling towards $200 billion by 2028, and they have added $10 billion to state debt in just the last six months. Victorians are pleading with the Premier to stop wasting their money. In fact the opening ceremony of Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games was meant to be held this week at the MCG. Instead Victorians have paid nearly $600 million to cancel the games and have picked up the bill for them to be held in Scotland, on the other side of the world. The Labor government begged for this event so that they could sell it at the election, using taxpayers money to wine and dine Commonwealth Games officials with trips across Victoria, complete with chartered flights and private grand prix access. Just to win the election the Labor government campaigned on promises of infrastructure and housing right across Victoria, all while knowing it was a big fat scam. Once the election was over they cancelled the games and Victorians got nothing except a big fat bill of nearly $600 million. One town was promised an Olympic-grade aquatic centre – cancelled. Other towns were promised ovals and stadiums – they are still empty fields. Ballarat was promised an athletes village that would become social and affordable housing for 1800 locals. That is still an empty field. There are a ton of examples from all over the state. The truth is these games were another Labor scam, and Victorians will not be falling for it next time.