Wednesday, 18 March 2026

 Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (19:11): (1593) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Regional Development. The action I seek is for the minister to meet with the Committee for Frankston and Mornington Peninsula, Frankston City Council, Mornington Peninsula shire and me to discuss the recent benchmarking report released by the Committee for Frankston and Mornington Peninsula. In short, this report released by them shows that Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula are not getting a fair go. We are not getting our fair share. It compares the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region with Greater Geelong and Queenscliff. It shows that we pay more in taxes overall – more in property taxes and more in payroll taxes. We pay $290 million versus $65 million in Geelong, despite the fact the two regions have similar populations, similar numbers of businesses and similar economic output and are similar distances from the city. We are taxed more, but in the past three Victorian state budgets Greater Geelong received much more than the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region. In fact they received $14,400 per resident in Greater Geelong, compared with just $5600 for us per resident. A lot of this is linked to the classification of the Mornington Peninsula as metropolitan as opposed to regional like Geelong. I am not begrudging Geelong one dollar of investment, but I am asking why Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula are treated as metropolitan when the state wants to tax us yet we are overlooked when it comes to the kinds of development, infrastructure and services investment and support that help grow communities, strengthen infrastructure, build economic resilience and grow local jobs.

The report makes it clear: across major state taxes and levies – payroll tax, land tax, stamp duty and the short-stay levy – Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula contribute substantially more while missing out on the breadth of funding support elsewhere. This has real consequences. The report found that nearly one in two residents commute out of the region for work. We have 82 per cent of the Mornington Peninsula with no public transport. Young people aged 18 to 35 are more likely to leave due to housing unaffordability, fewer educational opportunities and poor public transport. We now have the highest rate of rough sleeping in the state. Despite the fact that Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula record around 7.9 million visitors on average – around 2 million more visitors than Greater Geelong – our region has had an absence of tourism investment funding. Our region contributes enormously to this state. It deserves a fairer return. It deserves a fair share. We pay more taxes but get less investment from the state government. This state government needs to take the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston City area seriously and give us our fair share of investment.