Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (10:58): It is a great privilege to be here today to deliver the coalition’s response to the 2026–27 budget. Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but I believe the budget should lay out the framework through which a government intends to manage the state’s finances in order to make life better for people, to make their lives easier and to help them get ahead. A budget is not an exposition on geopolitics, on Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East or the President of America. It is not an opportunity for platitudes, excuses or misdirection. It is an opportunity to reflect on the state of the state, to be accountable for when your actions have made things worse for people and to lay out a clear plan to make things better. Speaker, I regret to inform you that the budget delivered last week did none of these things. But to be honest, it is hard to call it a budget: it is a credit card statement for 11 years of Labor’s failure. So I rise today on behalf of the Liberal and Nationals team to be honest with the Victorian people, to be up-front with them about the state of our economy and our finances, to explain why that is having an impact on their hip pocket and to lay out our 10-year economic plan to give Victorians hope for the future once again.

By almost every measure Victoria is the worst performing state in the Commonwealth. Our debt, which those opposite seem intent on leaving to our children and grandchildren, is growing to unprecedented levels.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will show respect.

Jess WILSON: Our services are crumbling. Our teachers are marching on the streets. Our roads are falling apart. When the coalition left office in 2014–15, our finances were streets ahead of other states. Net debt was just $21.8 billion, less than 6 per cent of GSP. Net government debt is now a quarter of the economy. The interest bill was just $2.1 billion a year. It is now four times as much and heading to six times as much by the end of the decade. And when Labor run out of money, they come after yours. They have quadrupled land tax bills, payroll tax has more than doubled and that is just the beginning. Since taking office Labor have introduced or increased 67 taxes. You have to give them points for creativity. There is the new emergency services tax, there is the payroll tax on GPs and schools, there is a tax on short-stay accommodation providers, there is a windfall gains tax, there is the vacant residential land tax and there are a dazzling array of COVID debt levies and service charges, and what have we got to show for all this?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! If I could just interrupt the Leader of the Opposition for a moment. Members, this is Westminster tradition. Some of you may not be familiar with it. The budget speech and the budget reply speech are to be heard in silence. I would ask you to respect that tradition.

Jess WILSON: For all the tax Labor is collecting you would think Victoria would be the envy of the nation, Victorians would be relaxed and comfortable and their daily lives supported by well-funded services and infrastructure. I am sorry to say that is far from the truth. Victorians are neither relaxed nor comfortable. They do not feel safe in their own homes, on their own streets or in their own communities. They are under serious cost-of-living pressure. Criminal offending is at an all-time high. It takes longer to get an ambulance today than it did 10 years ago. Teachers are striking on our streets, and graduate nurses cannot get jobs, because there is no funding for new roles in our hospitals. Construction of new homes is at a decade low. Elective surgery waitlists have blown out. Roads are littered with potholes and at least $15 billion has been lost to corruption on major projects.

Given this dire situation you would think those opposite would jump at the opportunity the budget affords them to get started on the fix. But I am sorry to tell you this is simply not the case. All this budget achieves is sealing the Premier’s and Labor’s legacy as the most fiscally reckless government in Victoria’s history and in our country’s history. It is a budget of higher debt, higher taxes, higher interest repayments, blowouts and delays. It lacks any plan to grow our economy or provide meaningful support to Victorians. It is full of excuses and no solutions. The budget contradicts Labor’s spurious claims of a surplus. It actually confirms a cash deficit of $7.7 billion. I regret to tell you that this budget is based on highly dubious economic assumptions. For example, every figure in the budget is predicated on the assumption that spending growth will only be 2.5 per cent per annum after the first year. But over the past two years spending growth has averaged 7 per cent per annum. Does anybody seriously believe that this spendthrift government is capable of containing spending growth at 2.5 per cent?

This budget is simply not worth the paper it is written on.

And what else is in this budget, apart from the dodgy estimates and a $7.7 billion deficit – $199 billion in debt, $32 million in interest payments per day, a $720 million cut in spending on public order and safety, $150 million in cost overruns on capital projects and a backroom $1.1 billion lotto deal to inflate the fake surplus? This is a budget full of broken promises. The promise to fund a West Gippsland Hospital rebuild – broken. The promise for a Maroondah Hospital rebuild – broken. The promise for a Wonthaggi Hospital rebuild – broken. The rollout of funded three-year-old kinder – delayed, for the second time. Level crossing removals – they have kicked that can down the road, along with upgrades to Ambulance Victoria stations and capital upgrades to the CFA. And perhaps the most significant omission from these budget papers is any meaningful measures to actually pay back Labor’s ballooning debt.

If Victoria has any hope of ever paying down our debt, then things must change. Debt matters, and it goes to why I am running for Premier. Labor is borrowing from our future to pay for today, and it is our children, like my son Patrick, who will be left to pick up the bill through higher taxes and poorer services. If we continue on Labor’s trajectory, the only thing we can be certain of is that future generations of Victorians will have a worse quality of life than we do today. Last year Victorians experienced a 0.8 per cent fall in GSP per capita. That means they are poorer. They will have to work harder to pay more taxes to pay more interest and more debt. They will receive so much less in return. Their education system will be underfunded, their health services will be diminished, police numbers will be down, so they will be less safe, and you can forget about investing for future infrastructure needs – and all this because Labor are incapable of doing the work needed to balance the budget and to pay back their debt. This is a fundamental breach of the social contract, the contract that we all sign up to when we come to this place: that we would do our best for Victorians now and for Victorians to come. We are leaving our children to pay back our spending today, and to me that is unforgivable.

But it is not just our children who will suffer because of Labor’s debt and deficits. Victorians today are already being short-changed. Next year Victoria will spend more money paying its interest bill than it will on Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and all kindergarten services combined and still have a billion dollars left over in change. Just think about that for a minute. The line items in the budget for paramedics, police and kindergarten teachers are dwarfed by Labor’s interest bill. These are the essential services we pay our taxes to receive, and instead those taxes are being diverted to pay interest on the debt Labor has no plans to pay back.

The spectacle of Labor’s misdirection around the true state of Victoria’s finances last week will be taught in future political classes as their case study in governments underestimating the intelligence of their voters. It is a case study of a government that thought it could take voters for mugs by spruiking a so-called surplus while its debt climbs towards $200 billion and while interest payments eclipse spending on essential services and a government that thought it could quietly extend a 40-year monopoly to an ASX-listed company without putting it out to tender, just to prop up its books. For too long Victorians have been told half-truths about the state of our finances. Every year the numbers change, the excuses change and the promises get bigger while the delivery gets worse.

I want to make a commitment today: you will not get this from a government I lead. A coalition government will be an honest government. We will be honest about our finances, about what things really cost. We will be honest about what is achievable. We will not put ‘TBC’ in multiple line items in our budget, especially not on the biggest infrastructure project this state has ever seen. We will not sugar-coat the state’s financial position, because Victorians deserve honesty. They deserve to know that Labor’s interest bill is now dwarfing spending on the essential services Victorians need. They deserve to know that Labor is lumping our children and grandchildren with higher taxes and poorer services and that unless we change the state’s trajectory we will be leaving the next generation to pay our tab well after we have all gone from this place.

I say to Victorians: it does not have to be this way. At the heart of the Liberal and Nationals strategy is respect for taxpayers, because when governments lose respect for money, they lose respect for the people who earn it. When debt is controlled, interest costs are lower and more money can go to hospitals, schools, roads and frontline services instead of repayments, and when business has confidence to grow, jobs are created and opportunity expands. That is why we believe in disciplined budgets and lower taxes, not because they are ends in themselves but because they create the conditions for prosperity. A strong economy is not the destination; it is the foundation that allows every Victorian to get ahead.

That brings me to the coalition’s 10-year economic plan – a plan to restore confidence, reduce debt and build a stronger economy. Our plan will start the process of turning this state around. It will take time. It will take hard work and commitment, but our plan will reduce debt and interest. Our plan will get our economy moving again, because without growing our economy we cannot make the lives of ordinary Victorians better. Victoria’s per capita economic growth is the worst in the country. Without economic growth, we will not get out of this mess we are in. We need more business investment in Victoria and more jobs to grow our economy so we can start paying back the debt and investing in the things that matter. That is why a government I lead will deliver payroll tax relief to help business create jobs and grow our economy. In our first year of government we will increase the payroll tax threshold to $1.1 million and again to $1.2 million the following year. This change will bring us into line with New South Wales and deliver payroll tax relief to 23,000 businesses across our state. And in year 4 of a government I lead we will reduce the metropolitan payroll tax rate to 4.8 per cent, meaning every single Melbourne business paying payroll tax will pay less. This tax reform will make it cheaper for businesses to create jobs. It will increase economic growth, which will make debt reduction easier.

I appreciate these are modest changes, but this commitment is important. It sends a powerful message that if Victorians do me the honour of electing me Premier on 28 November, Victoria will be back open for business. We will not devalue or take for granted the businesses that generate the revenue and pay the tax that allows us to invest in the things that matter to Victorians. We will once again celebrate the impact and the input of businesses of all sizes in our state. We will recognise the key role they make in making our state vibrant and livable once again.

We will also take some moderate and targeted action on land tax to curb the excessive impact of the government’s recent hikes. We will start to reverse Labor’s 2023 land tax changes by lifting the land tax threshold back to $300,000 – not in one go but calmly and methodically, by $50,000 every year for five years.

This will mean more than 270,000 land tax payers will have lower land tax bills by up to $975 per year under a Liberal and Nationals government. The land tax burden hits many businesses hard, many of which are small businesses struggling with cost increases across the board. While I accept again this is a modest measure, it is also an important productivity measure which, like our payroll tax reductions, will help get our economy moving again. My team and I would love to do more and to do it sooner, but I have to be honest with Victorians: none of this will be easy. It will take time, but it is a clear signal about the priorities of a government I will lead: to reduce taxes, invest in and prioritise essential services and end the waste.

It is also time for an honest and frank conversation about the size of Victoria’s public service. Under Labor, growth in the VPS has far exceeded population growth, and Victoria’s total employee expenses are greater than Victoria’s total taxation revenue. There needs to be a better way. Labor’s answer is to sack workers, thousands of them, as the Premier so kindly reminded us over the weekend.

Members interjecting.

Jess WILSON: That is right, not hundreds – thousands – and of course the previous Treasurer set out to fire 4000 public servants. Our approach is different. We will implement a hiring freeze on back-office public servants so we can guarantee the essential services Victorians rely on. That means hiring more police, more teachers and more nurses. As I said earlier, Labor have underestimated the intelligence of Victorian voters with their tired and desperate scare campaign. Victorians know we are not proposing to reduce frontline staff. In fact we have already committed to employing 3000 new police officers. But what we are proposing to do is rein in the growth in the public service to a sustainable level. This is not a measure we have landed on lightly. It will mean a lot of hard work to reform the way we do government and bring it into line for the 21st century, but it is a necessary step. The Victorian public service has grown by 60 per cent in 10 years, adding over 20,000 back-office bureaucrats. Given our population over the same period has only increased by 19 per cent, this is quite simply unsustainable, and that massive increase has not delivered better outcomes for the Victorian people. These savings will be achieved through natural attrition, not lay-offs. To put it in perspective, we are talking about a reduction in the size of the total public sector by 2 per cent. Despite those opposite’s desperate and deluded scare campaign, no-one is getting sacked. Existing staff have job security under a Liberal and Nationals government. I say to Victorians: anyone who tells you that a coalition government will lay off public servants is lying to you. The only person in this chamber who is laying off staff is the Premier, who by her own admission has laid off thousands of public servants – not hundreds, thousands. I say to those opposite: if you are looking for someone to blame for public sector job losses, go look in the mirror.

These are just a few measures that form part of our economic plan. They complement our other commitments to manage government spending more responsibly: our commitment to introduce a real-time budget expenditure tracker and a charter of budget honesty, because unlike Labor, we actually want voters to understand the true state of Victoria’s books and to know how their money is being spent; our commitment to eliminate the $15 billion and counting of corruption payments that are baked into spending on the government’s capital spend program; our commitments to reduce stamp duty for first home buyers on homes less than $1 million to put home ownership back in reach for young people and to scrap the payroll tax on GPs and all schools; our commitment to remove the emergency services tax, a tax on every single family home, business and farm in the state; our commitment to remove the gas ban and reopen Victoria for gas exploration to ensure affordable energy supply for homes and businesses; our commitment to reform planning so that our builders can get back to work building the houses that people want to live in; our commitment to scrap Labor’s divisive treaty, saving $1 billion; and of course our commitments on crime, which in addition to the human cost continues to leave a serious economic mark on Victoria.

Every day it seems we wake to news of yet another firebombing, an arson attack or an attack on a retail worker or, heaven forbid, an emergency services worker. Insurance premiums are skyrocketing, and staff are too scared to show up to work. Our hospitality sector is at breaking point, and retail businesses are closing due to theft and workplace violence.

A coalition government will recruit 3000 more police and reopen the more than 40 police stations closed or operating under reduced hours. If you break bail, you will face jail, and if you do adult crime, you will do adult time. You cannot have a strong economy if Victorians are not safe. There will be no investment if the lawlessness is left unchecked, and tourists will stay away if we become the Detroit of the Asia-Pacific. We will end the crime crisis, full stop.

There will be more policies we will announce over the coming months, but I believe this 10-year economic plan sets out the detail of how we will begin to get Victoria back in shape. And I can provide one further commitment now on what Victoria’s finances will look like under a Liberal–Nationals government: we will progressively reduce Labor’s deficit once elected, with a view to returning to a cash surplus – a real surplus – by 2032. We will not pretend, like the government, we are in surplus now. We are not. Everyone knows Labor’s legacy of debt and deficit will not be fixed quickly. It will take time. It will require disciplined and responsible decision-making. But my team and I have the energy and the ideas for the task ahead.

Before I conclude I want to say this to Victorians: I know you are frustrated. I know you are hurting. I know you are being asked to do more with less every single day. I know bills are going up and your pay packet is being stretched thinner every month. I will not insult you with one-off sweeteners that offer little more than temporary reprieve. What I will do is fix the structural economic problems that Labor have caused so we can bring down your cost of living permanently and meaningfully.

Our 10-year economic plan will deliver real lasting cost-of-living relief. Our cost-of-living measures will save Victorian families $534 per year. Families who send their children to a non-government school will save up to $1500 per child. Young Victorians buying their first home could save up to $55,000 in stamp duty. Under our plan every Victorian household will save an average of $84 a year when we abolish the emergency services tax. For families who cannot get into a bulk-billed or urgent care clinic, our commitment to scrapping the GP tax will save a family with two kids who goes to the GP six times a year up to $360. Our land tax relief policy will deliver between $500 and $975 per year for people paying land tax on properties valued up to $300,000, many of whom will be small businesses or mum-and-dad property investors. Before those opposite roll their eyes, they should know that according to the ATO over 70 per cent of private rental providers only own a single investment property. These are not the property magnates of Labor caricatures. Our land tax relief will also put downward pressure on rents and ease the rental availability crisis. Payroll tax reductions will bring down the cost of doing business, saving a business with a payroll of $1.5 million over $30,000. That is $30,000 they can use toward growing their business, putting on new staff and making investments for the future.

Let me say this: these measures are just the beginning of how we are going to fix the budget to deliver lasting, meaningful cost-of-living relief to Victorians. Victoria needs this plan. Our budget needs to be repaired because we are spending more money than we earn. It is really that simple. Debt is now so large that it is crowding out everything else, from funding our roads, schools and hospitals, paying our teachers, nurses and police and providing cost-of-living relief. You cannot build a strong future on a weak set of books. Repairing the budget is how we build the strong foundation for Victoria to have a brighter future. We cannot pretend the challenges will fix themselves. We cannot keep borrowing from the future to pay for the present. We cannot keep asking Victorians to carry the burden of Labor’s debt. So let us take a different path. Our 10-year economic plan will restore confidence, reduce debt and build a stronger Victorian economy. This is a plan to give Victorians hope, to rebuild confidence and to secure Victoria’s future. It is a plan for a fresh start.

 Jackson TAYLOR (Bayswater) (11:27): It is a great pleasure to be able to rise in this place and speak in support of the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and the Appropriation (Parliament 2026–2027) Bill 2026. From the very outset can I just say a huge thankyou to the Treasurer and to all of the ministers, who spent countless hours putting together this year’s budget, which is another solid Labor budget which makes sure we continue to deliver the services that Victorians need and deliver on the real priorities that Victorian families and all Victorians right across our state need right now. So a huge thankyou to the ministers and to all of the team. Of course we know these bills also fund our Parliament – the necessary appropriations are made for Parliament. Before I go through my usual process with my contribution on the budget, I just want to say a huge thankyou – I am not offended at all that everyone is leaving up top; I clearly do not have the same cachet, but that is fine – to all the parliamentary staff and to everyone who makes the lives of the members in here possible in terms of outcomes professionally and supporting us in the work that we do, so a huge thankyou to the team, from the clerks all the way through. I am very grateful for all the support you provide me each day. If I do not get the opportunity before I wrap up in a few months, hopefully this one counts.

Can I just say it is a proud moment for me to be able to stand in this place as an elected representative and for the last time to be able to speak on a budget bill before I obviously wrap up my service at the end of the year. I am very proud that this is a budget which goes to backing in Victorians. In particular, we know at the moment we have got huge global conflicts – we have inflation rearing its head again – and these present challenges for governments right across our country, federal, state and local. I am really proud of the decisions that this government has made in this state budget. Obviously there is that range of $2.5 billion in supports, so there is the immediate relief in making public transport free.

We know that obviously those fuel prices have gone up substantially. Some months ago we saw unleaded petrol at about $1.50 a litre, and for a while there, before the federal Labor government made those excise decisions and decisions that other levels of government made, we were seeing prices of up to $2.30, $2.40, and diesel over $3 a litre. That was having severe impacts right through the supply chain, right to the end customer on so many fronts. The decisions made will not make all of the difference, but they will make a difference and they will go to easing some of that pressure on Victorians, easing some of that pressure on the end price and on inflation.

I am really proud that we have helped more people to get on a train, to get them off the roads, if that is what they choose to do, in making public transport free for April and May and half price right until the end of the year, because we know this is going to have a significant tail with the conflict in Iran in terms of those fuel prices. I note the work the federal Labor government has done in securing fuel supplies and recent announcements the Allan Labor government has made to that end. But we know that this will have a long tail, so we are making sure we continue to support Victorians with half-price public transport to the end of the year. I know from the conversations I have had not just within my family, who live right across this state – and I am sure others have had similar experiences – but with, importantly, people who live in my local area that this has made a huge deal of difference. Whether it is hearing from them directly or whether it is hearing from them on social media, it has been without a doubt one of the more popular policies of recent times that this government has rolled out and could not have rolled out at a better time, and it is always a good signal that you have got something right. Again, I always acknowledge that nothing is perfect, but this was a good call and it is already flowing through, making differences to families’ back pockets.

As well, importantly, we are providing rego rebates for tons of eligible Victorians. It is a 20 per cent rebate on their rego from last year, so it is not about next year’s rego but giving that immediate relief from 1 June, being able to make that application to get that cost-of-living relief. That is $186 for people with one car and $372 for people with two. Another thing this budget continues to invest in and continues to fund from a fuel perspective is the Servo Saver feature. I used that recently when I went to fill up, and it is making a big difference. Again, it is a really popular measure. It will not fix everything but, to be fair, it is another smaller cost-of-living relief measure, by keeping the retailers honest, keeping the big multinationals honest and making sure people can get out there and find the best deal for themselves.

This budget is one that continues to invest in our children, the future of our state. That is through initiatives like $120 million which includes $28 million for the affordable school uniform program, $24 million for outside-of-school-hours care for young Victorians with disability and $16 million to continue and expand the Glasses for Kids program. Another great thing that I am proud this budget is doing is that under-16s can continue to go to the zoo for free, which is a really important outing for families. As zoo members ourselves, I know my two sons will greatly appreciate it. George is a member, and I will have to get Thomas signed up in the very near future. We love Melbourne Zoo. We love Healesville – it is a lot closer. Werribee was a bit harder. George was not really keen on the hour safari trip.

Mathew Hilakari interjected.

Jackson TAYLOR: It was an hour safari ride, member for Point Cook. George did not have the patience.

Mathew Hilakari interjected.

Jackson TAYLOR: I agree with you; it is an amazing place, and the new elephant enclosure – I saw that first – is absolutely next level. It is world leading. When we talk about kids, we continue to invest in school breakfast programs. That is a point of difference with some of the decisions made by those opposite when they were in last government, albeit a fair while ago, and I hope some of those views have changed – I am in no doubt that for many they have. But in the work that we have done in expanding the school breakfast program – as a government we help to fund those things – we have a great level of support from not-for-profits, schools, all the wonderful mums, dads, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and family members who help out and make it all possible and of course the teachers. I know many teachers get involved in the program, and I want to thank them.

We are rolling out more Get Active Kids vouchers. The Kinder Kits, which are absolutely awesome, are a great way for people to get that early learning with some awesome books and bits and pieces of natural play and play elements that are age appropriate and something that I am really proud that this government continues to fund. We continue to roll out three- and four-year-old kindergarten. We were the first jurisdiction to roll out three- and four-year-old kindergarten, and we have seen this copied everywhere. Imitation is the best form of flattery, and we have seen this picked up by numerous state governments. It is something that is making a huge difference in the education of children, in talking to educators where my son goes to child care, and he will go into three-year-old kindergarten soon, which is really cool. He is going to start orientation soon. I have had it confirmed he is the most energetic in the class, which was of no surprise.

It is making a huge difference in the education of young people. We have seen the numbers overseas and how they stack up in terms of the understanding around the development of a child under four and their brain, and how it makes a huge difference. The fact this government has gone big and has invested in three- and four-year-old kindergarten, aside from the investment in primary and secondary and free TAFE, means a great start in life for our littlest Victorians.

I was really glad to see as well $15 million to boost allowances for kinship, foster and permanent carers. They are absolutely some of the best of us. This is some more funding to support the incredible work that they do, particularly at an important time to strengthen food security. At this point I just want to give a quick shout-out to a couple of organisations – I am going to miss a few, but just a couple, given the time constraints. Knox Infolink, out my way – I know the member for Monbulk, in the chair at the moment, has had a lot of dealings with them – do great work in helping people in times of need and times of crisis. They sit under that CISVic, Community Information & Support Victoria, banner. They provide referral pathways, they provide food when needed and they also run the state’s best breakfast program, in my view – they have run it now for near on five years. The manager out there Penny Robinson and the chair of their board Denise Budge are two great humans. They care so deeply. They have got more empathy than I could ever imagine having myself. To be fair, it is perfect that you are in the chair, Acting Speaker De Martino, because you are also someone who I look to when it comes to levels of empathy. But you have got to have that in those types of roles. So to the wonderful people at Infolink and to Outer East Foodshare, thank you for everything that you do.

Of course we are continuing to invest in social housing – $860 million over five years into the Social Housing Growth Fund – and we have seen local examples delivered in the electorate of Bayswater. In Wantirna South there are brand new apartment buildings right opposite services, located where they need to be, opposite Westfield Knox, near a significant bus interchange, so people can get access to employment and amenity, and that is critical when we are delivering housing. This budget continues to invest in making sure we get more people into homes, which is something that we have done over the time that we have been in, whether it be the Andrews or Allan Labor government.

We continue to invest in renewable energy, working towards net zero emissions. Importantly as well, there is a really decent program that often does not get the shout-out it probably deserves – and I encourage anyone, for the seven people listening to this on Hansard, to get on and have a look at the Victorian energy upgrades program. It is an absolute banger. There are so many great things that are going to help people get off their reliance on some of the old tech, some of the stuff that is going to cost you an arm and a leg, and get you onto electricity, whether it be through your air conditioners, whether it be a whole range of monitoring systems – it is absolutely fantastic, and you would be surprised just how much of a rebate you will get and how much money will be able to go back into your pocket. To that end as well, make sure you get onto the Energy Compare website, another great initiative this government started and continues to obviously deliver on.

I am also really delighted to see that we have got some funding here to deliver more specialist paediatric appointments. Everyone is passionate about that – kids or not. But something that you are really passionate about when you have got young children is knowing how important those types of services are. I am really, really pleased to see that level of investment. We know that there is the operationalisation funding for the Angliss Hospital. That opens very soon. I would love to know an exact date. We are going to get it soon. I know, member for Monbulk, the Angliss is in your electorate. They have been a huge part of our community for well over 80 years now. The staff there are so well respected. It is a place that is a metro hospital but really still has that community regional hospital vibe. I am really proud of the investment we have made. After we obviously did some great work with the ICU beds, we are now rolling out more beds, more operating surgery suites, new central sterilisation services departments and more parking and great facilities. It is not just patients in the outer east who deserve that, but staff deserve it as well. This budget delivers on that and makes sure we can get going from day dot.

I want to also just acknowledge that this budget continues to wrap up the work on Bayswater South Primary School – some local investments. I am really proud that Labor budgets have delivered upgrades at Wantirna College and of course at Wattle View Primary School, where we have just upgraded their toilets as well. We have delivered major upgrades at Templeton Primary School. I touched on free kinder saving families up to $2600 per child per year. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund, which is huge for families who are doing it tough, is a really great program. Speaking to so many locals who have accessed it, it has made the world of difference for them, and in particular the children who have then been able to access those things that their friends and their cohorts do, so nobody misses out.

Of course I touched on TAFE courses. There are still over 80 free TAFE courses. Again to the now probably five people listening – it drops off over time, I have learned: if you are looking for a trade, if you are looking for the jobs of tomorrow, go have a look at the free TAFE courses.

Members interjecting.

Jackson TAYLOR: Thank you very much, member for Pascoe Vale; I really appreciate that, sir. And of course there is the Solar Homes program. I mentioned Victorian Energy Compare. We have got our seniors discount card. We have introduced the Victorian veterans card. And there might be one person in this chamber who is going, ‘When’s Boronia station coming up?’ Well, now is that time. This budget finishes the rollout and delivery of the biggest investment into Boronia by any level of government in a generation. I have chosen that wording because I am not quite sure. A generation is about 30, 40 years. Maybe before that there was something bigger; I am not sure. I reckon there was not, but I am running with it because I am more confident. This is not just about the station, it is about the precinct, but it is also about backing in the aspirational, hardworking community that is Boronia. That is right at the heart of my electorate. I love these people. It is a great place to live. It is a great place to raise a family. There is a lot of work happening now. After the government have put in their funding we have now seen a lot of private funding, obviously taking that leap of faith, believing in that community and making a huge difference. It is bringing jobs, it is bringing more aspiration and it is making people feel safer in the community they live in as well. So I am really grateful that the Allan Labor government has delivered the brand new Boronia station, which we will open, I will say, very soon – in coming months.

There are things like the airport rail. We have delivered the Alchester Village intersection, the McMahons Road intersection and the signal optimisation at Burwood Highway and Ferntree Gully Road, which is a really important project that the member for Monbulk and I are keen on. On the North East Link, every time I drive in to work – I drive most places in the east and north-east, and I try to get to the city or across to the western suburbs – you cannot miss it. It is on for young and old out there. Thank you to everyone working on that project. It is going to save you up to 35 minutes getting across to the city in the western suburbs. It is going to save you up to 11 minutes getting into the city. More lanes, an express bus service – it is incredible.

This is really a great privilege. It has been a pleasure to be in government to talk about budgets that deliver for Victorians. It has been a pleasure in my nearly eight years to deliver for the constituents who live in my community. They are the best of us; they are great people. I thank the house for the opportunity to contribute, and I support the passage of these bills.

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (11:42): Twelve long years we have had of this budget mismanagement, and it has accelerated in the last three or four, particularly under the leadership of the current Premier. We have seen 12 years now, though, of broken fiscal promises. The Leader of the Opposition just highlighted exactly one of the sand beds that this budget is built on: it makes heroic assumptions about the management of expenses and says it will keep the costs to 2.5 per cent when in the last two years costs have grown by 7.5 per cent. This is the sort of spin and publicity that we are getting from this government on the budget, a budget that is all about how we deliver services and infrastructure to the people of Victoria. That is what the budget is meant to be, and it seems to be lost on those opposite that if you are spending so much on interest and on debt, you cannot spend as much as you would like on those services. You cannot pay teachers, police, nurses and PSOs, you cannot fix our roads, you cannot build new hospitals – all of those things – if you have lost control of the finances.

There are those opposite who seem to think, as the previous speaker indicated, that it is all just coming together beautifully and we are just doing so much and nobody ever has to worry about how to pay for it all. That is the problem that we have had with Labor all along, and particularly this Labor government, which has seen the share of debt rise as a percentage of gross state product from around 6 per cent in 2014 to now 24, 25 per cent. People of a certain vintage will remember the Cain–Kirner governments. People sometimes say to me, ‘Is it as bad as it was then?’ and I have to say it is worse. At the peak of the Cain–Kirner governments’ financial mismanagement debt as a percentage of gross state product got to about 16 per cent, and now we are at 24, 25 per cent. That highlights just how bad it has got under this government – $200 billion of debt.

Debt in itself is not a problem. Debt is important. We use debt all the time to help build, to help invest, but it is when you lose control of it that the problem comes. With $200 billion of debt we are now heading for more than $1 million an hour in interest repayments. Just think how many teachers, nurses, police and PSOs that could employ, for example, or the work it could do in fixing our roads, which the government seems to think are still not really an issue. With the $1 million in interest an hour, the government has allocated this year allegedly $1.04 billion to road maintenance. We could double that in six weeks of interest payments – double the spending on roads in just six weeks – at $1 million an hour. That is the waste that we see from this government and the missed opportunity that occurs because the government has lost control of the finances.

We are spending more on interest – $8.9 billion this year, rising to $11.8 billion in the out years – than on the police budget, the Ambulance Victoria budget and all kindergarten spending combined, and we still have $1 billion left over. That is the problem that we have in this state. We are heading for $11.8 billion of interest spending out of a budget of about $100 billion, so more than 10 per cent of our budget is going on interest expenses. The government and the Treasurer stand up there and have the temerity to say, ‘We’re in surplus, and we’ve delivered a fiscally responsible budget.’ That is simply not the case, and anyone with an inkling of fiscal knowledge would be able to tell the government that.

What does this mean for regional Victoria? It means a continuation of the neglect of and the avoidance of spending in regional Victoria that has come to characterise this government. We have asked the Parliamentary Budget Officer to go back to 2021–22 and to calculate the percentage of infrastructure spending in regional Victoria versus our population percentage. In the first years it was 13 per cent. In the last couple of years it has been 12 per cent of infrastructure spending going to regional Victoria against our population share of 25 per cent. That means regional Victoria is being ripped off. Regional Victoria is being dudded by this government. We are getting 12 per cent of spending on infrastructure versus our population share of 25 per cent. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is doing that work again, and I am sure based on what we have seen in this budget so far that that figure is not going to change. In fact it might even go down given the amount of spending. The only thing that might save the government is that on certain things, as the Leader of the Opposition pointed out, the government is still saying ‘to be confirmed’. When I say certain things, I mean only the biggest infrastructure spend project in the history of the country, the Suburban Rail Loop. The government are still saying, ‘We’re not actually sure how much it’s going to cost.’ That might actually make the government’s figures look a bit better if that is not factored in, but we know that regional Victoria is not getting its fair share.

I want to particularly pick up some of the spin that has been raised ahead of this budget by this government. Every single regional Victorian, when you talk to them, the first thing that they complain about is the state of the roads. We hear it time in and time out. We hear it not only in regional Victoria; we hear it in the suburbs, and we even hear it in the inner city. We have had the government come out with the latest of a series of media releases talking about a big road maintenance spending blitz and record investment, yet when you look at what the government are actually doing, they are doing less. For example, if you go to the performance measures in the budget papers, ‘road area major patched’ in outer metropolitan Melbourne two years ago was 35,000 square metres. This year it is 14,000 square metres. The ‘road area major patched’ in regional Victoria two years ago was 566,000 square metres. We are spending more. What do you think we are getting this year? 74,000 square metres of roads patched. The government are saying they are going to fill 200,000 potholes. How many potholes must there be if we are going to do less –

Jade Benham interjected.

Danny O’BRIEN: There must be too many, member for Mildura. Even the minister herself said there are too many. That is one thing. The government like to say, ‘We’re doing less road area major patch because we are focusing more on road rehabilitation.’ Let us have a look at that figure then.

Road rehabilitation and resurfacing in outer suburban Melbourne fell from 802,000 square metres to 496,000 square metres. And the road area resurfaced or rehabilitated in regional Victoria – the government says, ‘We are spending 70 per cent of the road maintenance money in regional Victoria.’ Actually, 76 per cent of the roads are in regional Victoria, but let us leave that aside for a moment. In 2022–23 the government was resurfacing 12 million square metres of road; this year, less than 3 million – a 75 per cent reduction. In that year the government’s budget said $441 million on road maintenance. This year they are supposedly spending over a billion, and we are getting less.

Martin Cameron interjected.

Danny O’BRIEN: That is a good question, member for Morwell: where is the money going? We have got a government that is allegedly spending more, and yet we are actually getting less when it comes to roads. That is the concern that we have on this side. I know when I talk to road builders they are not sure where the money is going, because it is simply not coming to them. Every single Victorian knows the truth: when you look at the roads, they are in an appalling state.

When I look at another area of my responsibility, the emergency services portfolio, this year’s budget shows that Victorians will be slugged $6.8 billion over the forward estimates on the emergency services tax. If you continue the line of what was being levied under the former fire services property levy, that is double what Victorians previously were paying on the fire services levy. And as the Leader of the Opposition said, scrapping that tax on average will save Victorians $84 per year. We know that our fire services in particular and our emergency services need more investment. Are they getting it, though, under this $6.8 billion – no, they are not. We had the minister come out before the budget and say, ‘We are spending $100 million on new fire trucks for the CFA.’ One little thing they forgot to mention, member for Ovens Valley – they forgot to mention that is over 10 years. So we are seeing the spin. We are seeing double the amount levied on Victorians, but that money is not going to our emergency services workers and volunteers on the front line. That is why we will scrap the tax, go back to the fire services property levy, save Victorians money and ensure that the CFA, and Fire Rescue Victoria in particular, get the resources and the equipment that they need.

I want to turn briefly to my electorate of Gippsland South and express my disappointment again at the lack of funding for particularly Sale College. It is the number one issue in my electorate. To my great surprise, back in 2021 the then member for Monbulk, the Minister for Education, actually provided funding for a master plan, and that master plan has been completed. Land has been purchased for a new single-site Sale College campus, but now four years in a row since that was finalised we have got no money for it. It is not completed. That is the dividend of the bad economic management. We could fund that in a couple of days with the interest repayments that this government has signed us up to. So we missed out on that. We missed out on Foster fire station, which we have been campaigning for for years, and on Korumburra fire station. We did have some wins: at long last Mirboo North fire station, which I have been campaigning for since 2017, which the Premier visited in 2024 and which the Treasurer visited at the time, has finally been funded, although we still do not have an actual site for it, so when it will happen is anyone’s guess. We did finally get a new boat for the Port Welshpool coastguard, and kamikaze corner in Leongatha has got some funding four years after the Nationals actually committed funding for design and planning for that corner, which is the intersection of the Bass Highway and Strzelecki Highway – everyone’s worst intersection in South Gippsland. Finally we have got some money just for design and planning, and, like Sale College, we are still waiting on actual funding to get it fixed.

I also want to talk about broken promises. We have seen a number either in or impacting my electorate. The 2022–23 budget, the budget before the last election, provided $7 million for Yinnar Primary School, which at the time was in the electorate of Morwell but came into Gippsland South at that election.

Four years later there has still been nothing spent; nothing has actually happened. Likewise, $11 million was committed to upgrades at the Leongatha Secondary College; four years later still nothing has been spent. Last election the then Premier promised to build a new West Gippsland Hospital and promised to redevelop Bass Coast hospital. In this budget, four years down the track, after no funding from previous budgets, we still have no funding. West Gippsland Hospital particularly impacts the south-west of my electorate. It is part of that catchment area. Instead we have got the government spending money on upgrading the existing hospital, throwing good money after bad when we know that we need to rebuild West Gippsland Hospital on a new site. It is all ready to go. The land is there. There are cows grazing on it at the moment, because once again in this year’s budget it has been left alone by this government.

I turn, as I come to the end, to what the alternative is, and we have just heard in great detail the alternative from the Leader of the Opposition and the Shadow Treasurer. We have a plan to get the budget back in control, to get it back in the black, and to also send a signal to the business community that Victoria is ready to invest again when it comes to a Liberals and Nationals government. We have announced that we will progressively reincrease the thresholds for land tax. It is currently at $50,000. We will go up to $100,000 in our first budget. People raise this with me all the time. We will increase the payroll tax thresholds so that more small businesses are not penalised for trying to put staff on, for actually trying to employ Victorians. To pay for this and many others we will institute a hiring freeze, which the Parliamentary Budget Office estimates will save us $22 billion over 10 years. It is a hiring freeze. Anyone who has a job in the public service now will continue to have a job under us, unlike under Labor, who have sacked not hundreds but thousands of public servants. It is all right when they do it, but when we say there will be a freeze, they have something against that. There is so much waste. There is so much mismanagement. The Nationals and Liberals will get it back under control and make sure regional Victoria gets our fair share.

 Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (11:57): What an extraordinary performance by the Leader of the Nationals, who is absolutely scared still about the One Nation surge in Farrer. You see that writ large in that speech, a waffle fest that nearly put the Leader of the Opposition’s speech to shame. There was not much coherence in that speech, in what is a deplorable budget reply and response from the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Nationals. It is extraordinary to think that you could step into this place, having cut $11.1 billion out of your revenue bottom line, and say that you are going to sack one in seven of the Victorians that underpin how our state runs and functions. That is one in seven workers that will no longer have a job under a Liberal-National coalition government. That is the reality. That is austerity. You wonder where the values of such a proposition might come from. Well, it only goes to the heart and soul of the member for Kew herself and the Leader of the Opposition’s speech. She said in her first speech:

I have spent the majority of my career in the private sector. From consulting on tax policy at KPMG to leading the policy team at the Business Council of Australia …

Well, there we go. That is why there is an absence of any support whatsoever for working people in that budget reply, because it is about the big end of town, it is about multinationals and it is about cutting the jobs of ordinary Victorians who help to build and create the prosperity of our state.

I really do wonder, with the opposition leader’s political hero being the former Treasurer of Australia Josh Frydenberg, how the member for Kew says, ‘Victorians won’t be silly enough to listen to things of the government,’ but then makes a big point around debt and makes a big point around interest. But it was her political hero, her mentor, who has probably led to the austerity mindset that we see here today. Josh Frydenberg said more debt and deficit was the price of saving livelihoods. There was a health crisis at the time that was put forward. He went on to say that there was a great deal of uncertainty and you cannot overlook the fact that in a health crisis you need to respond to the economic impact.

We saw that wonderful leader the former Treasurer of Australia Josh Frydenberg take debt up to a trillion dollars. We are talking here of gross state product of 24.9 per cent. We see it at 30 per cent federally, and we see Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese bringing down it billions. When it comes to the realities of her political hero, debt was not a problem then. Debt was not a problem, because it was Liberals that were creating the debt, it was Liberals that were outsourcing services and it was Liberals being governed by consultants.

We saw here today a second-gear speech from the Shadow Treasurer and Leader of the Opposition. No-one behind her was revved up. The Nationals had a bit of a pulse, but no-one on that side looked inspired. I was looking; I was just trying to see a ‘Hear, hear’ and a ‘Yeah, yeah’ – there was nothing. This is the problem. The speechwriters can put out the key lines, but the feel and the energy just is not there; the purpose is not there. I think we know that they have overreached too early, the Liberal–Nationals, in this budget reply by hitting one in seven government workers in Victoria. The back office workers that they talk about as commodities to just send off, the people who support the police to get out on the beat, the nurses who are supported by the allied health workers and shiftworkers who make sure that they are not bogged down in administrative tasks and that they can do the jobs required, the education support staff, the business managers, the people each and every day who front up and support our schools to operate and run and the TAFE sector and the systems that go together – those people are supported in their frontline duty. When you say you will just not have any back office staff, you are saying to those Victorians, ‘You don’t matter,’ and that the people in frontline services’ jobs do not matter, because they will be drawn in and impacted substantially during that time.

This is a shadow reply speech – and the chats to business mates at the multinationals the other day – that would make Tony Abbott blush. It would make the former Prime Minister and the former Treasurer Joe Hockey blush given how brutal and impactful this budget will be. Those opposite had so many whingefests on their social media and media releases going out about what they might have missed in their budgets. The cash surplus that they talk about means they get nothing ever again – nothing for the next decade. Those that have put out media releases saying ‘Woe is us’ and ‘The government hasn’t done this in Liberal–National areas’ – the whole of the state grinds to a halt under Jess Wilson, the Leader of the Opposition and member for Kew, because tell me a jurisdiction that has had heavy austerity cuts and thrived the next day. How can you ever lift the confidence of our sector and our communities when you send tens of thousands of people over the edge, when you cancel Big Build projects, when you cancel the infrastructure agenda, when you stop building hospitals, when you stop building roads and our public transport system and when you make it harder for Victorians to get around in their communities? How on earth can you think that you can lift confidence when everyone will be in utter despair and trauma from the impacts of those cuts?

We saw that under Kennett, we saw that under Abbott and we are going to see it, because under Jess you will get less each and every day. You will have less in your bank balance. You will have less infrastructure in your community. You will have less workers in your community. You will have less essential services each and every day. Victorians, as the member for Kew eloquently said, know. They are not silly enough to not work out where the truth is. We know when Liberals and Nationals are given a go they cut, and they cut deep and they cut hard. We saw that in record funding taken out of health at the federal and state levels. What did the member for Kew say? This is really important: it is business that creates jobs, not government. To the tens of thousands of people who have a job in government – our teachers, our nurses, our police, our firies – government does not create your job; it is not taxpayers. Effectively your job is not valued by the coalition.

I thought the member for Kew was saying that we are spinning a bit of a yarn here and, ‘I’m sick of spin here.’ I went to her tried and true network, where Liberal aspiring leaders and those of yesteryear go and have a chat, the Sky News after dark crew. You know that Peta Credlin show. You sit down, and you get a bit of ‘How bad’s the Labor government?’ and the member for Kew goes, ‘Pretty bad’ – that is the show, isn’t it, backwards and forwards. Now they are a bit awkward because they get a few One Nation types on, and that is stirring the pot a little bit. Paul Murray gets Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell in the other place on there or Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce. We see a bit of a change in tone.

I remember that famous quote, a very honest account by the shadow finance minister – and the member for Kew cannot walk away from this, because this was a rare moment of political honesty that was put forward. The member for Kew, when talking about the budget position, as shadow finance minister, said to Steve Price:

That means 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.

Now, I believe the member for Kew. I believe the Leader of the Opposition that our health services are going to face cuts. I believe the member for Kew that schools are not going to be built or even fixed. You see, the member for Kew is trying to spin a yarn at the moment that it is only phantom, anonymous back-office people – that is how we talk about Victorians these days: people that do not exist – that are going to lose their jobs. Yet only a year and a half ago the member for Kew had a moment of political clarity. Remember, the member for Kew does not trust one person on that front bench to be anywhere near the Treasury portfolio. The member for Brighton – no. The member for Sandringham – no. The member for Hawthorn could have done it – no. The economic narrative and everything in its decision-making is at the heart and soul of the values of the Leader of the Opposition. I reiterate: this was on 16 August 2024. If those opposition staff are wondering where the clips will be when we put them on off-page ads, it was 16 August 2024. Those opposite can say it was misquoted. It was a rare moment of political honesty. It means that we are going to make cuts to our health services, full stop, and schools are not going to be built or even fixed. That was always the heart and soul of the member for Kew, who thinks jobs are done by multinationals, not by government.

It shows, then, that when the times get tough, the Liberals and Nationals will be nowhere on the side of Victorians. This is why there is such a big choice, and this is why this budget reply and the Treasurer’s speech stands in strong contrast to what we have right here. We have thousands of workers who, in 27 weeks time, on the edge of the caretaker period, know that they face an uncertain future. We have police, we have paramedics, we have teachers and we have nurses who are going to be pushed to the nth degree in pressures from cuts and not funding the support staff that put them out on the roads and in our communities, like never before. That is the question for the member for Kew today: what did the member for Kew mean when she said that she would cut health on 16 August 2024? What did the member for Kew mean when she said schools would not be built or even fixed? What did the member for Kew mean when she said governments are not responsible for jobs? Yet I look level crossing removal construction workers in the eye and I look tradies in the eye who rely on government confidence and investment for their job tomorrow. What does the member for Kew mean that governments do not create jobs? This is, right now, in the heart of it, the nastiest conservative approach to budgets of what would be a coalition One Nation–Liberal–Nationals government.

This is of great terror and concern for Victorians, because I say again there has not been a moment where heavy austerity has led to better outcomes. When you tear down the confidence by having thousands of people no longer in work, when you tear down revenue sources – which means funding vital services like our health and our schools and our police services. Remember, the majority of the budget goes to health and education – the overwhelming majority of the budget. When you cut that deep, when you pull that hard, then the heart and soul of the state, which we have built over the last 12 years, starts to dissipate. We saw the early hallmarks of that in 2014: education department regions were brought into big four regions. There was despair. TAFEs were closing. That is what they did in four years, and they did not have a motivated crew then to do it. The Treasurer at the time, the member for Rowville, could not talk about jobs in speeches. It was not even a frame or mention. They were so deep in focus of outsourcing government to consultants.

That is what we face here today, a real choice here, where $40 billion in cuts will burn a hole through the soul of Victorians that are built to be one of the more progressive, inclusive, loving and harmonious communities that we face. Every bit of our fabric and what we are as Victorians – leading confidently on the national stage and international stage, being the engine room of the nation’s economy, being proud of who we are as Victorians and not tearing down what it means to be a Victorian. Those opposite pile on each and every time something goes bad in Victoria, like cheerleaders like we have never seen before. You saw it in the pandemic. You saw it time and time again when there were more health crises – there was more mustard from those opposite piling onto us like never before. When something goes bad in Victoria, it will be a Liberal–National opposition that are the ambulance chasers, hoping it goes worse. Here in government, we are about prosperity. We are about hope. We are about lifting up people, not tearing down the fabric of who we are. This is what this shadow reply opens up, and this is what the opposition leader and Shadow Treasurer will do.

This will be harsh, it will be dangerous and it will be callous. That is the response that we see from those opposite. You can do all kinds of walking-out-of-the-chamber reaction pieces. You can do all kinds of kitsch social media, but I say to the member for Kew, the Leader of the Opposition: Victorians know your values. They know that when debt was up to a trillion under Josh Frydenberg, there was not a murmur of thought, because every bit of her first speech talks about him being the hero of all – the hero of all as the Treasurer who took debt up to $1 trillion. But Labor debt is bad, apparently, getting to the point of a cash surplus that means nothing will be built and nothing will be delivered for our communities going forward.

But worse than just staying still, like the Baillieu–Napthine disaster that was four years from 2010 to 2014, we have an ethos that is not liberal whatsoever but truly conservative and almost libertarian in some of this. This is an extraordinarily harsh economic reality. I do give the member for Kew credit that she has led with her values forward on austerity early on. At least Victorians can see it truly, rather than when Tony Abbott did it and stood up and said there would be no cuts to a range of different areas. At least the member for Kew has been honest that under Jess you get less, it gets harder and harder each day to be a Victorian and you have got a Liberal–National coalition more fearful of One Nation and their impacts on their primary vote than interested in doing the good things for Victorians going forward.

So this budget reply, this budget impact, will be substantial. Our team, the Labor team, have put forward a positive plan of how we will lower gross-state-product-to-debt over time. It is responsible, it is cautious and it is what other jurisdictions around the nation would do. We do not see the Crisafulli government going in with $40 billion in cuts. This is extreme level, on a per capita basis, that strips out where Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey found themselves. Under Jess, you get less. It will get harder in Victoria. No-one has ever grown a state through heavy austerity and cuts to the tune of $40 billion; no-one can front up with a straight face and say they can do it and still cut revenue to the tune of $11.1 billion.

 David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (12:12): We had the budget delivered only a few days ago, and we were all ready, poised for what the headline of this budget was going to be. We kind of tried to workshop it: how would the government actually be framing up this budget? How would they try and save the train wreck of spending, waste and mismanagement that we have seen over a decade of this wasteful government? And what we got was no surprise. It was another headline of spin – ‘easier, safer and more affordable’. Does anyone believe this government is delivering an easier, safer and more affordable Victoria?

We have heard the saying ‘Life wasn’t meant to be easy.’ Well, it is certainly not easy under this government. We knew what to expect because the chief salesperson of this government, the Premier, went out in April to forward deliver what were going to be some of the sugar hits in this budget. See, the big sugar hit was going to be the extension of free public transport. So of course the Premier got out on Sunrise with Nat Barr. We all remember this interview. The Premier said, ‘You know what, we’re doing a wonderful job – we’re going to extend free public transport.’ And Nat Barr on Sunrise said, ‘Well, how are you going to pay that, with $200 billion worth of debt?’ The Premier just went on to say, ‘Well, we’re in surplus, an operating surplus.’ Of course Nat Barr did not believe her, Victorians did not believe her and what we ended up with was a train wreck of an interview talking about free public transport – an absolute train wreck. So is there any wonder why we have got a hopeless budget which has a fake surplus? What this government has tried to do to validate the spin that we have heard is back it up by selling off a lotto deal, which is normally a deal done as a 10-year deal, for 40 years.

This government is all about ‘Come in spinner’. They talk about the private sector and the Liberals. Well, you only have to look at big business and the Labor Party and how they operate – big business and the ASX-listed companies, like lotto, which did a deal for over $1 billion for a 40-year lotto licence, just to get a budget surplus. And let us go further: who was one of the donors to the Labor Party? It was lotto, with over $100,000. It is a bit suss, but again, what do we have with this government – nothing but a government that just wastes and mismanages and again is absolutely caught up in all of this stuff and delivering nothing. There is no fair deal when it comes to Victorians, who are absolutely bleeding at the moment with this government. But there are no surprises. It is a government that cannot manage money. We know Victorians are hearing many in industry say, ‘Anywhere but Victoria,’ because it is not conducive to invest. It is the highest taxing state in the nation.

We expected that this budget might line up some kind of tax relief, but there is none of that – no tax relief. Instead this government just takes the lemon and squeezes it further. It takes more money out of the property industry and at the same time wants to say it is delivering more homes. They have no idea about the economics of delivering more homes when they are the highest taxing state in the nation. Forty-three per cent of building a home is tax related, yet this government wants to continue to tax its way out of building more homes. We have seen that. There are no surprises in this budget: nothing for the building industry and nothing for construction. A target of 80,000 homes is down to about 60,000 homes now. Homes are not being built because there is no confidence in this state, and the numbers simply do not stack up, because this government has no idea about managing those numbers. The list goes on.

Why is it like that? It is very, very simple. We have got no confidence in Victoria, we have got no consequences for people that do the wrong thing and also we have a government that actually do not care about money. It is OPM, completely other people’s money, and we see that in the way they have wasted money on not fixing the basics like potholes, not fixing the graffiti and also just not fixing the state the way it needs to be fixing things. It is a government that continually is tied up in corruption – $15 billion worth of CFMEU corruption. This government cannot be putting on hard hats and cutting ribbons anymore when they are absolutely caught up in the corruption through the CFMEU. And what does the government do – nothing, absolutely nothing. It provides more in the way of the Suburban Rail Loop and more infrastructure that are going to have more union corruption on those builds and projects, and we saw that. Here is a government that does not care about the little things. You can see it spending millions of dollars on machete bins, spending $600 million to lose the Commonwealth Games, and $200 million is going to Glasgow to host the Commonwealth Games.

This is what this government does. It spends $13 million on machete bins and of course spends money on pot plants – thousands of dollars on pot plants, not to buy them but to hire them for the Suburban Rail Loop Authority. Forget the fact that we have got a big hole in the Suburban Rail Loop with billions of dollars uncosted, billions of dollars unfunded and a rail to nowhere, but also we need to pretty it up by hiring pot plants to ensure people can feel good at work. This is a government that does not care about other people’s money. That is why we are struggling in Victoria, because they do not care about being able to deliver a budget and ensuring that Victorians get the basics that they need. Approaching $200 billion worth of debt means very simply that we cannot ensure that we have the police to keep our community safe, we do not have the nurses that we need, we do not have the teachers, we do not have the healthcare workers, all of which are vital to actually fix things and the state.

Again, this government are so focused on us, the opposition, because they have run out of ideas themselves. They have run out of ideas, and now it is all about focusing on us because we have got a vision for a fresh start to fix the state: a fresh start to reduce the taxes, to reduce payroll tax, to reduce land tax and to reduce stamp duty – important taxation to send a signal that Victoria is open for business. Reducing payroll tax creates jobs, and creating jobs builds the opportunity to ensure that we get more business and more investment in this state and people coming to Victoria and that the red carpet is rolled out again to investment.

We have seen that in all areas. We have seen that when it comes to tourism. We have seen that when it comes to major events. We once were the major events capital, and what have we seen in recent weeks? What we have seen is the MotoGP gone, the Aus Open golf gone, superbikes going – where does it stop for all these major events? South Australia is up and about and saying, ‘Come here. We’ll look after you.’ Victoria is MIA, missing in action – that is what they are. You have got two premiers, both Labor premiers – Malinauskas is up and about, tackling and fighting for his state and kidnapping our events for South Australia, at the expense of us losing them. That is not going to ensure that we have confidence. We need to ensure we have got the kinds of major events that we had. We do not have it in Victoria, because we do not have a vision, we do not have a plan and we do not have investment; all we have got is sugar hits, and things need to change. But again, we have a government that is focused on other things. They are not focused on doing their job. They are not focused on a plan. They are focused on us.

We see, again, a ridiculous amount of money, over $700,000, for a bureaucrat to be paid well above the odds, and this is a government that says, ‘That’s okay. We’re just going to keep funding the back office. We’re going to keep funding these bureaucrats at the expense of the front line.’ The Liberal–Nationals will invest in the front line by freezing the back office, and that is what Victorians expect: freeze the back office and fund the front line. That is what we must do because we need the services. We need our hospitals. We need our paramedics. We need our police. Our plan is to recruit 3000 additional police to tackle the crime crisis and open the 40 police stations that are closed. What is the government doing? Nothing, and that is why we have a crime crisis. We have a housing crisis. We have a cost-of-living crisis. We have a healthcare crisis. This is a government that pats itself on the back. The government need to wake up to themselves, because this is not a good budget. It has not been a good budget for years. This is a budget that is meant to be, going into an election, telling Victorians, ‘This is what we’re going to do for your future.’ The only thing this government is going to do for Victorians’ future is sell them into record debt each and every minute.

I ask each Victorian to go and visit our debt clock, and you will see, every second of every minute of every day, debt being racked up by the wasteful Allan Labor government. They will not freeze this, because they are addicted to debt. They are addicted to waste. They are addicted to mismanagement. Every single major project in Victoria has blown out – every single one of them. We are up to about $50 billion of blowouts. The only thing that has not been costed as a blowout yet is the Suburban Rail Loop, because we are still in sales mode, because we are trying to encourage someone to throw some money in. This is an absolute joke of a budget because it does not get us out of the debt. It does not sell a vision. It does not sell investment. It does not grow the budget. It does not ensure confidence in this great state. We have got to return Victoria to where it once was, but we are not going to do it with a government that has got its head firmly buried in the sand and does not know how to manage money. We see it time and time again. It is the little things. It is spending thousands of dollars on pot plants. It is not fixing the potholes. It is not tackling the crime crisis. It is spending $13 million on machete bins. It is a government that does not care about money. It is an open cheque to nowhere. Yes, you have got to spend money to make money but not the way this Allan Labor government spends its money.

I did have a bit of a look, hoping that there would be something for Caulfield; unfortunately, there is nothing for my electorate of Caulfield. I do remember the days back in 2010–14, when we did deliver a whole range of things for Caulfield when we were in government. I look at the wonderful Ormond station. I look at Balaclava station. I look at certainly some of the stuff that we did around Caulfield Racecourse. I look at Elsternwick and some of the developments and changes around Elsternwick and Elsternwick Park.

I look at that short period of time and say there were things that we could do with a budget that had nowhere near the waste and had nowhere near the taxation. It was a budget that certainly delivered confidence for people to invest. It did not have the crime. It did not have people hiding in their homes because of fear, which is what we have had with this government. When you look at our night-time economy at the moment, which was meant to be the last bastion of anything that was doing well in this state, it is now being firebombed. We have seen firebombings go from tobacco stores into restaurants and bars. We are the only state in Australia that has transferred its firebombing from tobacco stores into bars. The only businesses that are doing well in Victoria are illegal businesses, corrupt businesses and crime. If you are in the business of crime, you do well in Victoria, and that is because this government has taken its eye off the ball when it comes to crime. We do not have the consequences. We do not have ‘Adult crime, adult time’, and that is what we need to do.

The government only needs to look at other states to see what they have done and how they have tackled some of these issues and set a vision. Whether it be in New South Wales or whether it be in South Australia, you have got two Labor premiers that are fighting for their state. This Premier is completely focused on other things and is distracted. The Premier has been worried about her own job since she got the job, and this is a government that has no vision, no plan and no way to get us out of this debt, and that is why we desperately need that fresh start. We have got to lower the taxes. We have got to be real to Victorians in terms of the debt that is being incurred, and we have got to set out the plan for growth. We have got to ensure we have housing right across the state, we encourage investment and we encourage people to come here and build here. We have got to build back the tourism industry right across the state, including regional Victoria, we have got to deliver more homes right across the state, not just in the developed areas, and we have got to ensure that everybody, no matter where they live and no matter where they come from, gets a fair share, because this government is all about rewarding its mates. Ironically, many of the Labor-held seats have got nothing for many years and got nothing out of this budget, and I think it is a wake-up call to many of the Labor-held seats that it is time for a change in those seats as well. We have got to change this state, we have got to change the government and we have got to deliver for all, and that is what a fresh start will do.

 Josh BULL (Sunbury) (12:27): I am pleased to have the opportunity to make a contribution on the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and the Appropriation (Parliament 2026–2027) Bill 2026 and to make some reflections on what we have seen today and to pick up on some of the comments that both the member for Bayswater and the member for Mordialloc made in their very impressive contributions. What we saw just a couple of hours ago in this place was what we have seen time and time again when those opposite come into the Parliament – that is of course them talking the great state of Victoria down. It is the same old playbook – those savage cuts, one in seven public service jobs axed, fear and division and a promise to strip $40 billion from the people of Victoria. What we know and understand, and what we have heard from the previous members on this side of the house, is of course that this is a responsible budget that goes to supporting people within local communities that need support, particularly at a time when they are significantly challenged by those global circumstances.

I think what was extraordinary to listen to in what was outlined this morning was the complete disregard of those circumstances – the notion that this state and indeed our country are immune to so many of those global pressures that have been spoken about at length in this chamber and that have been spoken about at length by the Premier and by members of the Commonwealth government. To completely disregard that in the last 2½ decades we have experienced a global financial crisis, a global pandemic, war in Ukraine and war in the Middle East and to somehow make the assumption that those circumstances have had no bearing and no impact on the people of this state is extraordinary.

What we see time and time again is a plan for cuts and a plan for fear and division, not in any circumstance taking into account the significant and important circumstances that we have found ourselves in. Making those contributions and making the efforts that we need to make as a government to support the people of Victoria is something that is indeed maintained and very important. Had it not been for the significant and sustained investments that we have made for the past decade, there would have been no delivery of the Metro Tunnel last year, there would be no West Gate Tunnel, no Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital, no Footscray Hospital, hardly any – maybe a couple – level crossing removals, no free TAFE, no upgraded TAFEs and no upgrades to schools. Of course there are the announcements that have been made within the past month that go to free public transport through May and half-price for the rest of the year, and I can see the Minister for the Cost of Living at the table, who had the opportunity to join me for the announcement, with the Premier and other ministers as well. Of course the opportunity to provide a 20 per cent discount on car registration, saving up to $180 per car, is a significant, important, tangible and practical cost-of-living relief measure we have been able to deliver, which stands in stark contrast to a backend hiring freeze of the public service, which is effectively what we have got from those opposite.

I think, particularly in the past month, we have shown the values that drive this government and the values that drive those opposite in a really sharp and clear focus. We have set out a comprehensive and robust five-step fiscal strategy that goes to providing for those opportunities to invest in schools, to invest in roads, to invest in health. What we have seen just this morning is that sharp contrast that I think has been really clear for a significant period of time now. Now that all the cards are on the table, the choice for Victorians in November could not be more clear: do you want a government that invests in the people of this state and is responsive to the needs and challenges that are presented by both global circumstances that arise and domestic pressures, or do you want an outfit that is simply focused on backend hiring freezes with no vision and no investment in the infrastructure that we need to grow our state and to grow our economy? It really cannot be any clearer than that. Where I think those opposite continue to fail time and time again is in knowing and understanding local communities that need that support, that want the opportunity to live in their local communities, to be able to drive down pressures on housing affordability, to be able to drive down pressures on energy prices, to be able to invest in the infrastructure that I mentioned earlier – Metro, West Gate, the delivery of our level crossing removal program.

What we have been able to do for more than a decade now – and the member for Mordialloc touched on this in his contribution, as did the member for Bayswater – has been to provide for those opportunities. It stands in stark contrast to what we see from those opposite. Where I think we should be extremely concerned, and where I think the people of Victoria are very fearful and very concerned, is around those savage cuts that those opposite are now promising. This government have maintained our strong focus on service delivery. And let us not forget, for the best part of a decade there was an absolute vacuum from the coalition in Canberra when it came to supporting the people of this state – more than 25 per cent of the nation’s population and less than 9 per cent of infrastructure spend. We now have a very different outfit. We now have the support of a government in Canberra that is responsive to the needs of Victorians, and we saw that just a couple of days ago. But we remain focused on making sure we are providing for those opportunities right across the board and on getting a sense and understanding of how local communities feel. When it comes to that 20 per cent discount on car regos, when it comes to half-price public transport for the rest of the year and free through the month of May, it is about knowing and understanding that people are experiencing significant pressure on the household budget.

The announcements that have been made by the Premier and respective ministers in those policy areas have been incredibly important. That builds upon all of that work that goes to providing for infrastructure, services and support for growing communities. There is an incredibly long list of those significant and important announcements that have been made through the budgetary process, whether that be those two announcements that I have well covered on PT and rego; the more than $1 billion investment in road maintenance; the significant uplift in food relief, supporting those who desperately need it; the more than $2.2 billion to support students with a disability, improving accessibility and additional specialist staff; more PSOs for more hours at our train stations; recruiting 200 police reservists; the additional nurse and midwifery positions; more free vision tests and Glasses for Kids; affordable school uniforms; free TAFE, which I touched on; expanding free kinder; 55,000 Active Kids vouchers; an additional 4000 planned surgeries for children; or 45,000 children’s specialist clinical appointments – and the list goes on in health, in education and in transport and roads investments as well.

It is a really comprehensive piece of work. I want to acknowledge all of those respective ministers and in particular the Treasurer, who has provided a strong and stable hand through the budgetary process to be able to provide for the delivery of all those programs and so much more and has been able to do that at a time when we know and understand that the pressures that I touched on earlier are pressures that this state is somehow not immune to. We are part of a global supply chain, part of what is a fast-moving and rapid economy in a globalised world and part of a community that experiences those challenges each and every day, and I am not sure when those opposite decided we would not be a part of that; we would not have any of those pressures placed upon us, and we would not therefore be responsive to the challenges but also the opportunities that we have through the budget process to be able to provide more support for Victorians.

I just want to take the final 4½ minutes to acknowledge and thank the amazing team at Kismet Park Primary School in my electorate, who received more than $11 million to upgrade and modernise that amazing school. I have worked with Kismet for many years now. They are some of the best people you will find, and to be able to give Sam Carlton, the principal, the call to say that we are investing more than $11 million to upgrade and modernise Kismet was an amazing thing. I want to take the opportunity to thank and acknowledge them, and I am really excited for the building project that will come as a result of that investment. Also, while I am on local shout-outs, I want to thank the amazing team at Sunbury Neighbourhood House – again, an outstanding team. They have a terrific board led by Hope, the house manager. More than $50,000 has been provided to support the neighbourhood house – a really important contribution. And to take that into the broader commitments, we have $25 million for the TAFE, which was provided in a previous budget, and significant upgrades both at Diggers Rest and Gladstone Park. That of course builds upon that record of more than $100 million of capital investment in our local schools.

All of those contributions and the contributions that have been made right across the state stand in stark contrast to the measly sort of contribution that we saw this morning, which goes to a back-end hiring freeze at a time when the population is increasing and pressures on services remain. We just heard – I will go back to it again – a fairly measly contribution that I think lacked any sort of hope, any sort of vision or any sort of recognition of those challenges that we face as a state and as a country.

I do not think the choice now could be any clearer in terms of the people of Victoria in November having an opportunity to make an important decision that goes to the future of our state. Do you want an outfit that is focused on the challenges that we face today and the opportunity for future investment when it comes to education, health and transport, and a team that is invested in you? Or do you want a side that is keen to stoke fear and continue to inflict some of those really damaging cuts that we have seen from previous coalition governments, both in this state and across the country? The choice could not be any clearer. We are focused on making sure we are providing opportunities for the people of our great state, through both the budgetary process and a whole range of other programs and initiatives that have been outlined. We continue to focus on the five-step fiscal strategy, which I have spoken about in this house before.

I want to take the final minute to thank every single person, particularly from the Treasurer’s office and the Department of Treasury and Finance, who has played a significant and important role in making for a budget that supports the challenges that I have mentioned in the last 15 minutes but also looks towards the future as we continue to invest in health, jobs and education and continue to support the people of Victoria in being their best. In the end what we are judged by is our support of people who need that support, our providing of opportunities and our providing for a strong and robust Victoria. Again, that stands in extremely stark contrast to the paltry opposition that we have got over on that side – a team that are not focused on Victorians and that are focused on themselves. With those comments, I commend these bills to the house.

 Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (12:42): I rise to make my contribution to the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 – a very bad budget for Victorians. To begin, I think it is useful to compare and contrast the budget position to that of four years ago. Months before the 2022 state election former Treasurer Tim Pallas said in his budget speech:

Speaker, let’s jump ahead to the end of the forward estimates period.

The year is 2026.

The Commonwealth Games is on, with excited tourists on our streets and a buzz throughout the state.

That was four years ago, and those words have not aged well at all, because the Commonwealth Games are not on in Victoria, there are no excited tourists on our streets and there is no buzz throughout our state because Labor scrapped the Commonwealth Games after their hollow election promise. Instead Victorian taxpayers were forced to spend nearly $600 million on a Commonwealth Games that never eventuated and were forced to pay another $380 million in compensation to the Commonwealth Games Federation, used to directly fund the games in Glasgow this year. In total Victorians spent – or wasted – almost a billion dollars to be the major games sponsor for Glasgow.

The Commonwealth Games fiasco is emblematic of how this government treats Victorian taxpayers hard-earned money. Labor does not care about how much money it wastes or the debt it keeps racking up. Worst of all, this government no longer cares about being honest with Victorians. This tired, 12-year-old Labor government regime will do or say anything to cling to power while allowing corruption to fester, looking the other way. When Daniel Andrews cancelled the Commonwealth Games he justified his decision by saying they:

… will not take money out of hospitals and schools to host an event that is three times the cost estimated …

If that were true, where is the money promised by Labor to rebuild the Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood? Labor pledged that to my community. Where is the money for the West Gippsland Hospital or the Wonthaggi Hospital redevelopments? In this budget not a single dollar has been allocated to rebuilding any of these neglected hospitals under Labor.

At the 2018 election Labor promised a new emergency department for children at Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood, and then at the 2022 election Labor promised $1 billion to rebuild Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood. Two election promises and eight years later, not a single cent of capital funding has been allocated, not a single brick has been laid at Maroondah Hospital. Patients, nurses and our hardworking healthcare workers are forced to endure conditions well beyond their use-by date. That is the sad story of Labor. It promises big but fails to deliver every time, and Victorians are the ones left paying the price.

The reason why there is no money left to upgrade hospitals, to keep police stations open or to fix dangerous, pot-holed roads is because of the disastrous debt bomb that Labor has created. Before the last election, in 2022–23 net debt was $115 billion. Four years later it is now $165.3 billion. Net debt has increased by a staggering $50.3 billion in just four years. What is worse, over the forward estimates debt is skyrocketing by another $34 billion, to $199.3 billion. Not only does Victoria have the highest debt in the country, but Victoria’s debt is bigger than Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland combined. According to Labor’s spin, this is a good result because the rate at which debt is growing has slowed. I mean, you cannot believe this stuff. Only Labor have the contempt and the audacity to spin a budget drowning in an additional $34 billion of debt over the forwards as a positive. Debt is increasing to 24.9 per cent of gross state product in the next financial year under this budget. A quarter of Victoria’s economy is debt under Labor. To put this into perspective, net debt represents roughly $71,000 for every Victorian household, and what these numbers demonstrate is that Labor’s so-called fiscal strategy is nothing but a complete failure, another broken promise. Under Labor’s budget, debt is soaring to $200 billion, and this budget shows no plan to pay down this debt, leaving it for our children and our grandchildren to pay. It is a disgraceful legacy of Premier Jacinta Allan and Labor.

The higher the debt, the higher the interest bill becomes. As a result of this Labor government losing Victoria’s triple-A credit rating, our interest rates are higher and interest only keeps going up. Under this budget, the interest bill on Labor’s debt will jump to $11.8 billion in 2030. That would fund about half of Victoria’s education budget. It would fund better pay for teachers, given that, under Labor, Victorian teachers are the lowest paid in the country. The interest bill just to repay Labor’s debt will cost taxpayers $32 million a day. Just think how many dangerous Yarra Ranges roads we could fix with $32 million a day or how many times we could rebuild the Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood. These interest repayments represent a huge opportunity cost for Victorians. Billions and billions of dollars is wasted just paying interest on debt, not even paying down the principal, rather than funding essential services and workers like more nurses, more teachers or more police to overcome the frightening rise in organised crime and violence on Victorian streets under Labor.

At the end of the day, who gets to pick up this bill for debt? It is Victorian families. Under this budget Labor’s tax revenue will increase to a staggering $50 billion, with the tax take increasing 5.1 per cent every year under Labor. Labor’s financial mismanagement means they tax Victorians more – taxing Victorians $50 billion more in a cost-of-living crisis. To put that into perspective, this equates to around $6600 in tax per Victorian. Labor is addicted to tax – 67 new or increased taxes under this Labor government.

Taxation revenue is barely enough to cover the single biggest budget expense, Labor’s wages bill. Despite the Labor government’s pledge to cut the public service, they still have managed to blow out public sector wages to $45 billion by the end of the forward estimates. In December last year the Premier and Treasurer said that cutting a thousand public service jobs would save their budget $4 billion over the forward estimates, yet the Treasurer has now been forced to concede there is no decrease to employee expenses despite implementing recommendations of the Silver review, because Labor is completely incapable of saving Victorians money and protecting frontline services and frontline workers. And that is after Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed to news reporters just last week that Labor has cut thousands of public sector workers. Only Labor is cutting public sector jobs. Labor is cutting public service jobs and is failing to deliver its own fiscal strategy.

While Labor MPs over there will try and say that our economy is growing, the budget papers show that our economic growth is set to decline. In 2024–25 economic growth basically flatlined at 1.1 per cent, and the government says that growth will increase marginally to 1.75 per cent this year but then decrease again to 1.5 per cent next year. Economic growth in Victoria under Labor has come almost to a complete standstill, and it is why we absolutely must restore confidence in the Victorian economy once again. After November this year we have the chance to do just that.

We know that Victorian families are doing it tough and desperately need cost-of-living relief. Victorians do not want to be taxed more then offered handouts that do not last. As Liberals we fundamentally believe that Victorians should be given more choice and freedom over how they spend their own money, and for too long under Labor’s big government agenda Victorians have had more of their money taken away and wasted. Victorians have suffered, with $15 billion of their hard-earned money funnelled to bikie gangs and corrupt CFMEU officials on Labor’s rotten Big Build and wasted. Victorians are desperate for change and deserve a financially responsible government that will secure Victoria’s economic future. As the alternative government, we will respect and value Victorian taxpayers.

Our Liberals and Nationals comprehensive 10-year economic plan will secure Victoria’s economic future. Our plan will make structural reforms to the budget to get spending under control, guarantee essential frontline services and put more of Victorians’ hard-earned money back into their pockets for them to invest and spend on their own families and futures. Labor has created serious economic challenges, so it will not be easy. But with a fresh start and our comprehensive 10-year economic plan we will repair the budget to deliver a cash surplus by 2032, to guarantee the essential services and frontline workers Victoria needs and to lower taxes to help ease the cost of living.

Liberals believe you should keep more of your own money, so we will lower taxes. We will lower land tax and payroll tax and we will scrap the emergency services and volunteers tax. Under this budget Victorians will be forced to pay $7.7 billion in land taxes. This is a tax on families, owners and renters forced to pay Labor’s hikes in land tax. We will reverse Labor’s 2023 land tax hikes by raising the land tax threshold from $50,000, gradually increasing the threshold to $300,000 over the next five years, making housing more affordable and saving up to $975 in tax per year for thousands of Victorians. We will also reduce payroll tax, which is a tax on jobs. The higher the payroll tax, the less people businesses can afford to hire. That is why we will back business and increase the payroll tax threshold to $1.2 million, consistent with New South Wales, making Victoria far more competitive. This measure will provide real tax relief to around 23,000 Victorian businesses, making it more affordable for businesses to create new jobs and help our economy grow. We will also scrap Labor’s new emergency services and volunteers tax on every Victorian household, including for renters, on every business, including manufacturers, and on every farm. Labor plans to rake in $1.6 billion next year with the ESV tax, yet we have not seen any money quarantined for our SES units or our CFA brigades, with emergency services still having to attend fires in 30-year-old trucks.

Under our 10-year economic plan we will prioritise essential services and frontline workers, with a hiring freeze on the back office. This hiring freeze is simple: no-one will be sacked, and there will be no redundancies – that is a fact. Those Labor MPs will seek to engage in the politics of deception, but our essential services guarantee is crystal clear. Our plan will secure the critical frontline workforce for health, education, police and law enforcement. In fact we will grow our emergency services, to help keep communities safe, by recruiting 3000 more police. That will allow us to reopen the police stations shut by Labor, including Mooroolbark police station, which is shut for more than four days a week under Labor.

The Auditor-General and the Silver review both identified significant concerns about public sector bureaucracy cost blowouts that have put the sustainability of Victoria’s economy at risk. Our plan will reduce the back-office costs so that we can protect frontline services at risk under Labor. If people retire or choose to work elsewhere, we will wish them well, but we will not replace that role for a period, instead putting money back into essential services and frontline workers, like more police, nurses, paramedics, teachers, firefighters, correctional officers and so on. It is a real point of difference to Premier Allan and Labor, who have admitted over the last year they have cut thousands of public service jobs, and we know that critical frontline services, like nurses, police and teachers, are under pressure because of workforce shortages that must be fixed, and that is what we will do.

In terms of my community in the Evelyn electorate, whether Mooroolbark, Lilydale, Montrose, Mount Evelyn, Coldstream or the Yarra Valley, there is absolutely nothing in this budget but more taxes. Labor has abandoned us. Taxes are up, and yet the Mooroolbark and Croydon police stations are closed more than half the week. Police numbers are stretched, and our teachers are still the lowest paid in the country. Labor has spent big on schools in Labor electorates, but again, there is not a cent for schools in the Evelyn electorate, with Birmingham Primary School in Mount Evelyn, Wandin North Primary and Seville Primary all in desperate need of new buildings and adequate shelters in place but all ignored again. And the Allan Labor government still refuses to fix the dangerous Maroondah Highway and Killara Road intersection in Coldstream and has not allocated any money to Warburton Highway in Seville East or to fix the dangerous and congested single-lane bottleneck of Mooroolbark and Hull roads in Mooroolbark. Labor will claim to have made a record investment to fix our roads, but the evidence is in the potholes. And there is still no money for more buses in Mooroolbark and Lilydale for school students to get to school on time. Victoria needs a fresh start with responsible and disciplined economic management that will restore confidence, lower taxes and protect the essential services that Victorians expect and deserve.

 Steve McGHIE (Melton) (12:57): I rise to speak on the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and the Appropriation (Parliament 2026–2027) Bill 2026, and I think I have only got 2 minutes. These bills are fundamentally about delivering the services that Victorians rely upon every single day, and they provide the authority of government to invest in our hospitals, schools, roads, transport, cost-of-living support and of course frontline services across our state. While there is always political debate around budgets – there will always be differences around the priorities and around the way money is allocated in the budget – at the end of the day, these bills come down to the fairly simple question of what kind of state we want Victoria to be. And we have seen the complete contrast here today in the Leader of the Opposition’s reply to the budget. Do we want a budget that continues investing in growing communities, like mine out at Melton, and building the infrastructure and supporting our families through difficult economic times? Or do we want a Victoria that goes backwards through cuts, delays and neglect? That is what those opposite will deliver, and they have clearly spelt that out today in regard to their $40 billion in cuts and also cutting many, many jobs out of the public sector.

When I look at this budget and when I look specifically at what it means to my electorate in Melton, I see a government recognising the reality facing the fast-growing outer suburban areas and outer suburban communities, like mine in Melton and right across the western suburbs. I see the government understands that places like Melton are not an afterthought. It is really about working with those growth corridors and providing for them, and they are not an optional extra. They are communities full of working people who deserve the same access to opportunities as others but also the infrastructure and services that everyone else in this state would expect.

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:01 pm.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.