Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Steve McGHIE (Melton) (14:47): I will resume from where I left off just before our lunch adjournment. Over the last 7½ years, since I have been the member for Melton, both the Andrews and Allan Labor governments have delivered in excess of $9 billion of infrastructure and services into the Melton electorate, and I will refer to it later. We have seen a massive change in the skyline of Melton in regard to that infrastructure bill. I see a complete contrast from those opposite, because while this government is investing in Melton’s future, those opposite seem to continue to show people in Melton’s west exactly what they think of them, and I will come to some comments made by the member for Bulleen very shortly.

One of the clearest examples of that is on our public transport. People in Melton know the pressures on our train line. They live it every single day with our packed platforms, overcrowded trains, long commutes, families trying to get into the city for work, students travelling to universities and off to school and of course many workers spending hours each week commuting because housing affordability has pushed them further away from the city centre and the closer-in suburbs to areas like Melton and Wyndham. When people in Melton hear that this government is investing in our rail corridor they understand how important that is and how important public transport is. The budget just recently announced includes a $76 million injection for the next steps towards electrification of the Melton line, and that investment does not exist in isolation. People can already see the preparation work that has been happening out in that corridor – the level crossing removals. We are seeing four level crossings being removed, with one of those completed and opened as of next Monday on Hopkins Road, which is actually in the electorate of Kororoit.

I know my neighbour the Honourable Ms Grigorovich will be out there opening up that road overpass over the level crossing on Hopkins Road on Monday. We are seeing the rebuilding of the Melton railway station with extra platforms, which will allow for greater capacity. And again in preparation for electrified trains and the planning works that are necessary before electrification, there is the building of the stabling yard at Cobblebank. I am going out there on Friday, where we have just acquired some land for a stabling yard for V/Line and electrified trains out at Cobblebank. These are not promises just floating around in a media release. These are projects that we can actually physically see happening out there in that growth corridor. As I said earlier, the skyline in Melton has completely changed in the last 7½ years. Our government understands that population growth in Melton means we need more capacity, not less, and that matters enormously right across Melbourne’s west. I know that both through Wyndham and Melton and the population growth – our population in Melton over the next 20 years is going to double, and I believe that the population between Wyndham and Melton will be 1 million people by 2046, which will be about one-10th of the Victorian population. So we can see the pressures on that western corridor of the state.

Commuters in Melton do not need lectures about transport planning from people who rarely use the network. They understand it backwards and they understand where the investment needs to go. This budget recognises that public transport in Melton is not just about the trains into the CBD. It is also about local bus connections, and that matters greatly to our local commuters trying to get to and from each suburb in the Melton electorate, where their families want to go to the schools and the shopping centres, the sports grounds and work, if they work locally. That is why our budget delivers a major boost for public transport in Melton South, including two new local bus services and bus routes connecting Weir Views, which is a newish suburb in Melton, to Melton station and then Strathtulloh to Cobblebank station. The budget also upgrades the existing route 454 service with increased frequency and an extension through to the Woodgrove shopping centre, which is the biggest shopping centre within the Melton township. Again, it connects people to their work, to their schools, to the shopping, to essential services, to their sports clubs. It is really important that those local transport services are provided for our commuters.

When we combine that with free public transport for kids under 18, it also gives young people greater independence and flexibility to move around. We have seen the take-up of that free public transport to be enormous across our electorate. It also takes pressure off families in regard to spending and time for parents driving kids around from one side of Melton to the other, because it is an expanding area. Whereas again, I think those opposite do not understand that the free public transport for under-18s and for others during April and May releases some of the pressures on families. While this government is investing in more buses and trains with more capacity, those opposite announced that they would cut train services out in the west, in particular in Melton and Wyndham, and those carriages would go elsewhere. My understanding is that the member for Bulleen, who publicly stated on radio that he thinks people in Melton have excessive carriages on our trains, wants to ship them off to the Warrnambool line, which is interesting. Of course he told the Melton commuters on radio that it would stretch the capacity out in the west, but he has probably not been on a train in Melton. I invite him to come out to Melton and to jump on a train and see how they are utilised by our communities out there. He wants them to accept overcrowding, and he also wants them to accept reduced capacity. He wants them to accept being treated as less important. Let me tell you, the people of Melton have heard loud and clear that the opposition will cut train services in Melton. That is what he stated on radio. They are not my words, they are his words. Effectively, they have become the great train-robbers of the west, if that is what their policy is going to do, which is reduce and take away train carriages from Melton to give to Warrnambool, when again, as I say, our population is going to double over the next 20 years. We need extra capacity, not less capacity, but clearly they do not understand. While Warrnambool might want more train carriages, that is fine, but so does Melton – a lot more than what Warrnambool will ever need, probably.

I was speaking to one of the commuters, a young woman by the name of Claudia, at Melton station, and she was not impressed about that statement, and of course neither were many other commuters that we spoke to after the member for Bulleen made that statement about taking carriages away. She said what every person who catches the train to or from Melton already knows is there is not spare capacity sitting around unused:

The trains are already crowded. People rely on them every day for work, school, medical appointments and social connection.

She knows commuters already struggle with finding room on services, particularly during peak periods, so, importantly, she was pleased to hear that this government – our government, the Allan Labor government – is investing in longer trains and additional capacity, not ripping services away from growing communities and sending them elsewhere.

Our plan is to deliver nine-carriage trains for Melton as of next year, and we are currently expanding the length of some of the platforms at both Cobblebank station and Rockbank station. Deer Park has been completed, and I believe Caroline Springs has been completed. Those nine-carriage trains will run on the service in Melton next year. Whatever Warrnambool might need, go right ahead, but as far as I am concerned we do not need a reduction in carriages, as our commuters have already told us.

Transport policy is not abstract in Melton. It is not theoretical. It directly shapes people’s daily lives. It shapes how much time parents spend away from their children. It shapes whether somebody can reliably get to work. It shapes household budgets through petrol costs and commuting expenses, and that is why this budget’s broader cost-of-living measures matter so much as well, because families are under pressure right now – we all know that. Interest rates have hurt households. Groceries are expensive. Insurance costs are rising. Fuel prices continue to fluctuate, as we have seen, in particular with what is going on with the war overseas. Of course our outer suburban communities, like Melton, often feel those pressures hardest, because people travel further to work and they rely heavily on transport. That is why the government is delivering free public transport during April and May, and that is why this budget includes $278 million to halve the cost of public transport until 1 January 2027. That has been taken up by people. It is a great move by the government, and people are really appreciative of that cost-of-living measure. That is why under-18s can now travel free on public transport across Victoria, and that is a great policy that came in at the start of the year for our kids under 18. Again, the take-up rate has been enormous, not only on the trains but on the buses and trams where required – certainly the trams in the city.

We are also delivering 20 per cent registration rebates for Victorian motorists. Some people might dismiss this and these measures individually as small things, but collectively they are not small to families. Families do not experience cost-of-living pressure as one giant bill arriving all at once; they experience it through hundreds of smaller pressures and a build-up of those pressures, such as fuel costs, school costs, transport, food, uniforms, registration, electricity and child care every single week. So when government can reduce some of those pressures, it really matters, and the feedback back to me and I am sure to all my colleagues has been enormous in regard to some of those cost-of-living measures. Of course our government will continue to support Victorians, not have a $40 billion cut like the opposition have proposed, which is frightening for some of our people going forward if they feel that those cuts are going to be coming into place: what does that mean for their cost of living?

My electorate office has already assisted many local families dealing with the cost of living through the provision of school uniforms. People would be surprised how often this issue comes through our electorate office doors, with parents trying to do the right thing, working really hard, really struggling at times to pay the bills and wanting their kids to feel included at their schools. Of course uniforms can become incredibly expensive – we know that – especially when there are multiple children in a household and parents are paying for all of their uniforms. That is why we have the affordable school uniforms program, and that is why it is so important – it helps directly to assist families at all of the schools across Melton. Importantly, this government has also acted to reduce unnecessary costs by banning unnecessary uniform logos, which is one that has been taken up. We had a few issues in Melton at one of our schools, but we have managed to sort that out. But it is a really important thing for families in regard to the logo situation and the provision of uniforms.

These bills are really important, obviously, to keep the state moving, to keep investing, to keep providing infrastructure and to deliver to communities like mine out at Melton and right across Victoria. I am pleased with the budget outcome in particular for my electorate and for the broader statewide policies, and I commend these bills to the house.

 Emma KEALY (Lowan) (15:00): I rise today to speak on the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 or the Victorian budget, and if you listened to the contributions by Labor members today, then you would think that all Victorians are satisfied and very happy with what is allocated within the pages of the budget. If you had a look at any social media page which links to any announcement by Labor, you would see a different story. If you read the comments on any media article, you would see a different story. If you got out of the bubble of what happens here in the Parliament, you would actually hear from people how white-hot angry they are with a Labor government that has completely forgotten about the people who elected them to govern for them.

When you hear their rhetoric about cost-of-living pressures, it is just not matching with what we are hearing in the community. There are families who are struggling more and more each and every week when it comes to the weekly grocery shop. It is becoming the most stressful thing that families have to deal with week on week. They are doing away with meals for themselves. We know that parents are doing it so hard at the moment to keep up appearances so that their kids can have food in their lunch box and can go to the school camps and so that they can make sure that they can support them in their tuition where they can. Yet the Labor budget does not deliver for these families. You might say there is a little sugar hit here or there. But at the end of the day we are seeing little sugar hits but a massive spend outside of how much money is available. When that occurs, all it does is drive up inflation. It drives up the cost of living. It drives up the cost of your groceries every week. Labor is driving up the cost of our fuel every week. It is driving up the cost of our energy bills. Every single time we hear from the Labor government that they know about these issues, we do not see a response that makes any difference, and all we see in this budget is more spending, more debt, more Victorian taxpayer money spent on interest repayments rather than on the frontline services that we desperately need to see in Victoria. Our people are white-hot angry. They are so angry because they are sick to death of Labor not listening and just supporting their own.

They are frustrated when they look at the budget and they see that funding has been cut for the Western Highway duplication, a project that should have been completed back in 2016, but 10 years later we have still got trees growing up through culvert pipes. We have got a donga there, a workstation there, that has had the same white ute parked out the front for about the last five – before COVID anyway. I think it has recently changed to a silver ute. We have still got the fences and the security guards at the birthing tree, yet we have got no plan going forward and no money from the Victorian government when it comes to making this road safe. It is unfair for the people who have to turn up to the accidents. It is unfair for the local community, who know that this has got to be fixed, yet Labor will not put the money there. For those that say we need to make all these electorates marginal to make sure we get anything, there is no seat more marginal than the Ripon electorate, and they still do not prioritise that region. It is a Labor government that is out of touch and simply does not care.

The Nationals will always stand up for regional Victoria. We live it, we know it and we will fight for our community’s fair share every single day. That is why we know, when we speak to people in our communities, that people are frustrated. They know that their highways are falling apart. They are so angry because they have got transmission lines being planned to go through their properties and they have not even had the opportunity to have their say. Labor talks a lot about consultation, but what it should really be is notification. Farmers are just being told what Labor plans to do on their land without listening to their concerns. They have never, ever bothered to turn out and listen to farmers. They are frustrated because they just want their local member to turn up and listen to them and take their views back to this place, back to Parliament. Yet they do not hear from the member for Ripon, and they are very, very angry about that. They simply do not believe what they say when what they do is a completely different story.

It is exactly the same when it comes to renewables. We are getting this industrialisation of agricultural land where there is no explanation of what we get back in return or even how on earth it will deliver affordable and reliable energy – the affordable and reliable energy that every Victorian needs. Whether you are a householder or whether you are a business, the cost of energy is going through the roof, and more and more often we are hearing from people, ‘How on earth can we ensure that we are going to have the lights on in even a year’s time?’ There are people within the energy sector who think it is astonishing we have not had blackouts yet. There simply is not enough energy planned for the state of Victoria for Victoria to get ahead. This is a government that has been completely asleep at the wheel when it comes to securing Victoria’s energy future, and it will be generations that have to deal with that, because you cannot bring new energy on board quickly and easily. When we hear a government that condemns gas as ‘fossil gas’ and turns away all investment to unlock new gas reserves in Victoria, we know it is a government that has got its priorities all wrong. When they are simply looking at all of regional Victoria as a massive block of undeveloped land and an opportunity to roll out wind farms and solar farms and not considering what the impact will be on our agricultural productivity – the agricultural sector that now delivers more than $200 billion in economic value to our state – you have to wonder how on earth we have got to this point, and that is because we have had Labor for three terms now.

We have had a Labor government for 12 years; in fact we have had a Labor government for all but four years since 1999. That is a long time for one government to be at the wheel, and it is no wonder that backbenchers and Labor stalwarts right across the state are saying they need a break. It has been too long and we have gone too far, and this budget just proves that, because what we see are the same old lines coming out. We see more and more coming into the state coffers through taxes, and people are getting less and less. This is the story of the Allan Labor government: you pay more and you get less. In fact we are spending now over a million dollars each and every hour on interest repayments – interest to the big banks. That is a million dollars every hour that could be spent on fixing our roads, on fixing our health services, on upgrading our schools and on expanding our public transport network so people actually can catch a bus in our region.

What I would love is to have a train returning to our region and for them to actually treat Horsham and Hamilton like the regional cities that they are. Bring back the train services. It is unfathomable that we have got one of the key things that Labor are trying to wave the flag on, that they are going to halve the cost of public transport across Victoria. That is of no help whatsoever if you have no access to public transport. It is inequitable investment, and it is not fair on those rural and regional people who rely on others to be able to get them to health appointments, to get them to school, to get them to work.

We rely on our roads, and our roads are falling apart, and you can see in the budget papers that less will be done by Labor – there will be less repair and maintenance of our roads. People are paying more in taxes, and fewer roads are being fixed. This is Labor, and that is the one thing that I will agree with the Treasurer on. She has said quite explicitly it is a Labor budget. Well, I agree wholeheartedly. It is a budget paper that outlines more and more taxes and increasing revenue from taxes and is leaning on people – Victorians and Victorian businesses – who are doing it so hard at the moment to spend more, to put their hands in their pockets and give more money to Labor, and yet they see that their opportunities are diminishing under a Labor government that simply do not know how to balance the books.

CFA volunteers are equally frustrated. The emergency services tax revenue line is twice as much as the previous fire services property levy revenue line was, so every Victorian is paying twice as much in emergency services tax as they were before, and yet we are seeing a lower investment in our fire trucks, in our stations and in our SES sheds. The volunteers are not getting the supports that they need and that they deserve and that they are paying for – and not just a little bit; they are paying a huge amount for it.

We have got simple things that would be easy for the government to fix, like unlocking the gas monopoly to western Victoria so we could actually get a pay-on-time deduction on our energy bills, get a reduction on our energy bills for being able to actually shop around and get some competition, but for 12 years Labor have refused to deal with that. We have got issues around policing shortages right across the electorate. In far western Victoria there were only seven police on duty for a number of weeks over Easter between Dimboola and the border. There should be a dozen cops covering that roster, but there simply has not been the investment in police that ensures that we get people in rural and regional areas. It is no wonder that farm crime is surging at the moment. It is little wonder that we have got an increase in theft of cars in our townships, that people are now locking their houses for the first time ever. This might sound astonishing to those from Melbourne, but people generally have not been locking their back doors in country Victoria. Everybody does now. Everybody locks their door. They have got security systems. They are making sure that they are the frontline defence when it comes to somebody coming into their home, because everybody knows somebody who has been violated through crime. That is not the Victoria we used to have, but this is Victoria under Labor.

We know that the Nationals will always fight for a fair deal. We fight tooth and nail for it, and we do manage to get some funding for our communities. We stand by them. I am proud to have stood by the Stawell Primary School and Dunkeld Consolidated School in securing funding in this budget. We have fought so hard for the Dadswells Bridge upgrade in Dadswells Bridge and also an extra turning lane, which we will be getting in this year’s budget. We have also been fighting along the Murtoa-Glenorchy and Horsham-Lubeck roads intersection, which has been the subject of a number of horrific fatalities. It is so pleasing that after so many years of fighting, with that community – with Darren Schultz and the other CFA volunteers who turn up to the accidents at that intersection – that we have been able to secure funding for that.

But there is much, much more to be had, and we can only deliver that from government. That is why the Victorian Nationals and Liberals have already released our 10-year plan to secure Victoria’s economic future. It is a plan which is fair. It is not about cuts, as Labor would say – they are all about spin and are forgetting, I think, what they are actually elected to do, which is to make sure that they deliver for all Victorians. It actually will make sure that our children and our children’s children will have access to the same opportunities that my generation had access to. That is what is fair, that is what is equitable and that is what everybody should be fighting for. I am enormously proud to be part of the Nationals team that will always fight for our fair share in rural and regional Victoria. We are out there in our communities – we live it and we know it. We stand with our volunteers. We stand with our workers. We stand with our businesses. We stand with the people who cannot get the support they need or the help they need. We stand by the people who cannot access health services. We stand by the people who cannot access small amounts of funding – like a CFA volunteer I spoke to last week who cannot get funding for chocks to hold their wheels up so they can safely fill up their truck in a dam. We stand up for people who have got broken rims and broken wheels and cannot afford to get them repaired, because they have damaged their rims on their roads.

We know exactly what the issues are, and we will fight for that. But there is only one way we can deliver, and that is to be in government. I have now stood in this place for three terms. This is the 12th budget that I have responded to. Each and every year we get the budget papers and we look excitedly for something. This is the thinnest budget I have ever seen. It is the thinnest budget when it comes to deliverables, but it is the fattest budget when it comes to taxes. It is the fattest budget when it comes to debt and deficit and interest repayments. It is a disappointment for every single Victorian. So I urge those on the Labor side of this chamber to have a look at the comments, to speak to the community and understand that they are unhappy – in fact they are very, very, very angry. I have never seen Victorians as angry and frustrated with government as during the COVID lockdowns. We have got exactly the same situation going on, where Victorians feel like they have got a government which is making decisions about them, for them, without them, and it is having a massive impact on their lives – on how they run their business, on how they raise their children and on how they go about their day-to-day opportunities in life. They are worried about what happens in the future. That is why the Nationals will always stand up for our fair share for regional Victoria. While we can deliver well in opposition, I look forward to the day we can deliver our own budget – (Time expired)

 Danny PEARSON (Essendon) (15:15): I do not think I have ever seen the member for Lowan so rattled. You are a bit worried about what happened in Farrer, clearly, and clearly worried about what is going to happen in November in Lowan, no doubt. This is a really important budget, and I am going to unpack for the benefit of members just in relation to the –

Emma Kealy: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, the member for Essendon is projecting his emotions about being rattled, and I ask him to perhaps reflect on himself rather than on others in the chamber.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Kim O’Keeffe): The member to continue.

Danny PEARSON: You really should know the standing orders by now, Emma, you really should. This is a really important budget. I am going to explain why this is important. We achieved an operating surplus as a result of the budget. For the benefit of those opposite, I know the Leader of the National Party, who is probably the only person on that side of the house who has got an interest in accounting standards, would know that an operating surplus deals with the fact that money comes in, money goes out, but that you also allow for depreciation. This is all part of our five-step fiscal strategy, which we released in November 2020, and that was about growing the economy. What the budget papers clearly show is the economy is continuing to grow and expand across the forward estimates. What it also means is that – and we achieved this in 2022–23 – you get more money coming in than going out the door. That is on the operating side of the budget.

I know the Liberal candidate for Malvern has made some comments recently, but she is clearly confused in relation to the operating side of the budget and the capital side of the budget. What the budget papers show, in budget paper 2, page 47, is we will have an operating result this year of $700 million, we will have an operating result of $1 billion in the next financial year, $1.9 billion in 2027–28, $1.9 billion in 2028–29 and $2 billion in 2029–30. Why is this important? Well, it means that we can continue to provide the services that Victorians rely upon, and we are not borrowing money to do that. That is important, because compare and contrast that to New South Wales. Bear in mind we are the first movers – we go first; they are yet to hand down their budgets. But in the last budget that New South Wales handed down they were going to have a deficit this financial year of, guess what, $3.4 billion. We are in surplus, which those opposite seem to discount and disregard; New South Wales has a deficit of $3.4 billion. We hear this narrative from time to time about the superiority of those on the opposite side at being economic managers. Want to have a guess what Queensland is going to be this financial year, member for Polwarth? $8.6 billion.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Kim O’Keeffe): Through the Chair, please, member for Essendon.

Danny PEARSON: I am talking about the operating side of the budget, member for Polwarth, and you should know this. They are profligate in relation to their expenditure. The other point to make is that as you read the budget papers – and again, in budget paper 2, page 47, if you look at net debt as a proportion of the gross state product of the economy, what is happening in the size of the state of the economy?

Richard Riordan interjected.

Danny PEARSON: No, you cannot count, mate. It does not hit 25 per cent. It is 23.7 per cent. But the point is –

Richard Riordan interjected.

Danny PEARSON: The point is, when you are dealing with the size of the Victorian economy, member for Polwarth, you will have an appreciation of the magnitude and the size of the economy. The economy in the next financial year is projected to be $669 billion, growing to $705 billion, then $739 billion, then $770 billion at the end of the forward estimates. Why – because gross state product is increasing at 1.5 per cent next financial year, then 2 per cent, then 2.5 per cent, then 2.5 per cent. The economy is expanding. If you have got an expanding economy, then you have got the ability to manage your debt levels, and if you are in the serious game of wanting to materially increase living standards in this state, it comes down to the three Ps. It comes down to population growth, and we have got one of the fastest population growths in the country. It comes down to participation. Invariably this relates to primary care givers having the ability to go back to work. Again, Victoria is above the national average, and we are at historic highs. The third relates to private sector investment or productivity. If you are looking at the national accounts, which were released for the December quarter, and gross fixed capital formation – that is, private sector investment in the state – Victoria increased 1.9 per cent for the quarter. Compare that to New South Wales: 0.5 per cent. Compared to Queensland, they contracted – they went backwards by 1.3 per cent; South Australia, 1.4 per cent; Western Australia, 1.8 per cent; Tasmania, 2.8 per cent. The national average was 0.7 per cent. When it came to getting private sector investment in this state, in the December quarter we went to 1.9 per cent.

Why do you think that might be? It might have something to do with the fact that the hyperscalers like Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, Amazon and Alphabet are all proposing to invest A$1.1 trillion globally when it comes to AI infrastructure – $1.1 trillion. When I talked to the hyperscalers what they were saying to me was that Australia is a key focus for them. They focus on America, one, because that is where they are from, but then they focus overwhelmingly on Australia. Why? It is for the reasons I outlined in an earlier contribution today. Victoria has got all the key components and the ingredients to build the digital spine to create prosperity for future generations here in Victoria. From my perspective, we are on the right trajectory to be able to make sure that we can continue to do that. The other point I would make is that when you are seeing that level of private sector investment, you are starting to see the fact that it is underpinning this level of growth and economic investment. It is borne out by the figures and the projections that are identified in the budget papers.

I note that in her contribution the Leader of the Opposition talked about there being a cash surplus in 2032. So like the Liberal candidate for Malvern, she is confusing the operating side of the budget with the capital budget. But I think what the Leader of the Opposition was saying is that come 2032, there will be no cash deficits – that is, you will either have a zero amount or you will have a positive amount. Delivering major transport infrastructure projects is not like going down to JB Hi-Fi on Saturday and buying a telly. These things cost a heap of money. They take a long period of time and a lot of planning. So what is the Leader of the Opposition actually saying? Is she basically saying, ‘Well, if you’ve got holes in the ground, if you’ve got transport infrastructure being built, and it is not done by 2032, we’re calling time’? So are we going to have a hole where the Suburban Rail Loop is? Is that your grand vision for the state – a hole? It is like in The Castle. It is like Dale saying, ‘I dug a hole.’ Well, fantastic. That is what the Leader of the Opposition is going to do. What a bunch of low-altitude flyers. I mean, honestly, the laziness, the absolute lethargy from those opposite – for goodness sake, you have been in opposition since 2014. Come into this place with a bit of vision, with vim and vigour and a sense of where you want to take the state. This is just a charade. The notion that you are going to turn around and basically just shut down the Big Build in 2032 is absolutely laughable. While those opposite are playing their games, we are getting on with making sure we continue to have these investments.

From my perspective, again, in my former portfolio, I was really pleased that we have got the Victorian AI investment package of $13.7 million across the forwards. It is not a huge amount of money, but the point here is we want to make sure that we use the power of the state. We want to make sure that we have got efficient processes in place to create this level of investment. If you have got $1.1 trillion of free-flowing capital that is eligible to come to this state, why on earth wouldn’t you be trying to land that here? Why wouldn’t you be trying to build the future? Because again, so much of Victoria’s historic prosperity has been as a result of manufacturing, and AI will present that opportunity to create that investment for the future. It is something I am incredibly proud of.

Now, I note that we are debating two bills concurrently here, two appropriation bills. Back in the day we used to treat them separately. I remember the former member for Prahran was quite aggrieved, I think, by some comments I made in relation to parliamentary appropriation. But for the next financial year Parliament will be appropriated $419 million. For a population that is 7.27 million, that is about $57.63 per capita. Now, I checked on Dan Murphy’s site this morning and a slab of Carlton Dry is $55.95. So you can have a Western liberal democracy for slightly more than a slab of beer for the year. Now, which would you rather? I ask the question. I think all of us know the answer to this question.

I will be serious for a moment: the importance of this institution should never be underestimated. We are operating in a time when Western liberal democracies are under siege through what is happening on social media, and I think there is an opportunity for us to try to reframe this discussion and find ways in which we can connect this great, august institution to the community, because Western liberal democracy is not perfect. I am not going to be arrogant enough to say it is a perfect form of government for every nation in the world – it is not. But what we have to try and do is recognise that at the moment there are those who will be seeking to undermine this institution. I think there are enough of us on both sides of this house in particular who do not want that to occur. Some of the disgraceful behaviour we saw at the last election – look, pre-poll at Essendon last time was like an English garden party. It was like, ‘Oh, hello. How are you? Nice to see you out today.’ It was all very polite and civil. That was not clearly the case in other pre-polls. If you are an ethnic minority, if you are a woman or if you have a disability, the idea of being out at pre-poll and being aggressively targeted is really, I would imagine, quite confronting. A lot of people turn around and say, ‘Maybe this whole democracy thing ain’t for me,’ and that is a problem. That is an absolute problem, so we need to really think about what we can try and do about that.

I note that if you compare and contrast the diversity of members of this place and the importance of that to the Roman Senate – in the Imperial period of the Republican period – you were required to have 1 million sesterces in order to be a Roman senator. We do not have those property qualifications. Indeed the property qualifications were abolished by I think the first Cain government in about 1947 for the Legislative Council. But if you compare and contrast that to purchasing power, if the silver in sesterces was extricated now and used on the common market, it would be about $13.8 million to $14.7 million Australian. That is a significant property qualification. Alternatively, rather than using silver as an asset, if you used labour as an asset, a Roman legionnaire would have earned about 1200 sesterces a year. So in order to have enough funds to be elected to the Roman Senate, you would have needed around about 800 years of service as a legionnaire.

Richard Riordan: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I just would like the member to clarify: what did the Romans ever do for us? I think it is in light of where the debate is today. I think it would be useful for him to come back to the topic of the budget.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Kim O’Keeffe): The member for Essendon to continue.

Danny PEARSON: Where do we start, member for Polwarth, about the Romans? If you think about the height of the Roman Empire and all the things it underpinned for us, we are so fortunate and grateful to have had that as a predecessor. If you think about it in terms of Western liberal democracy, the money that we invest here is really important, but I do think we have got to think about how we can try to continue to engage with – I do not think so much kids in primary school – particularly teenage boys and young men. How do you try to make the Parliament relevant to younger people in those really formative years? I do not have the answers, but I am worried. I have seen enough over the journey. I think those of us in the class of 2014 would say that things have gotten worse since we arrived. I think as a general proposition most of us would say it is just a lot harder, it is nastier, it is more vicious. And I do not think we want to see that. I think the majority of members of this place and the other place would acknowledge that that is not something we want to see. So there is a role for this great institution to try and find ways where we can engage with people. Of course there will always be the argy-bargy of the opposition holding the executive to account. There will always be the theatre of this place, and I am not saying we have to do away with that, but there are times in this place where we have had really good, constructive, thoughtful debates and a number of times where we have said, ‘This is the Parliament at its best.’ We all see it, but I am betting people out there do not see it. People out there just think we are some sort of glorified Punch andJudy show that get paid by the taxpayer – like the World Wrestling Foundation. So there has got to be a better way of going forward. Hopefully with the investment provided to the Parliament we are able to do that. But again, we have got a surplus because of sheer hard work determination, and we are doing it off the back of the fact that we have got a growing and expanding economy.

Emma Kealy interjected.

Danny PEARSON: Well, if you want to go to New South Wales and you want to go to Queensland and deal with their depths of despair – because again, if you look at Queensland, they have got budget deficits, member for Lowan, as far as the eye can see. They will not be producing a surplus until after the Olympics. I am really pleased and delighted that we are in this position now. This is my last budget contribution. I am not sure it is my best, but I have enjoyed myself.

 Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (15:30): I rise today to offer the Polwarth slant on this year’s very, very sad and depressing Victorian budget. Much was revealed in the previous contribution from the member for Essendon, who as Minister for Finance called this great act of fiction ‘sheer hard work.’ I think we will let the historians decide and those writing about the budget into the future determine whether it was sheer hard work. Most of us – the business community and certainly the people of Polwarth – look at this budget and do not see sheer hard work but just see sheer neglect. Why do they see sheer neglect? Because this budget continues unashamedly in a full-throttle direction of out-of-control debt, out-of-control spending and a government who refuses to listen to the people of Victoria, refuses to listen to the people in its own electorates and, worst of all, refuses to listen to the experts who have said now for quite some time that the Victorian government must start to lead, it must start to have a plan and it must start to show the path forward about how it can control its out-of-control spending and its skyrocketing debt. What this budget told us is that we now have a situation in Victoria where future generations are having all their taxes spent, all their income spent, and we will be robbing future generations of the ability of a good Victorian government to provide the health care that we need and the schools that we need.

Certainly right across Victoria now our public transport and our roads are just a disaster. It does not matter whether you are in the outer suburbs or in Geelong or out on the Warrnambool line or wherever you are in Victoria, it is taking you so much longer to get where you want to go to do business. People in my electorate of Polwarth – elderly people, vulnerable people, people that really rely on public transport – are living in fear about what it means to try and get to the doctor in Melbourne, try and get to their grandchildren or family members in Geelong or Melbourne and rely on the train to do it. People have contacted my office. They are worried that they will be trapped on the train and not able to get to the toilet. They are not comfortable that they will be able to get a seat and travel safely if they are disabled or have had hip or knee operations. They just simply cannot stand for that length of time. This budget delivers no relief whatsoever to the people right across Polwarth who rely on that one simple public service; that basic piece of infrastructure and service that a good, sensible and reliable government with an honest budget ought to be able to provide. In fact many of my constituents are saying, ‘For the best part of 150 years we have had a regular, safe, reliable train service where you could book a seat, receive some refreshments along the way and, most importantly, it would be there when you want it.’ We have an endless situation where people from one day to the next cannot be sure that they will have a train that they can get on – it is cancelled for one reason or another.

We have got the situation where this budget fails to properly fund and support law and order in our state. We have had the ludicrous situation where in the electorate of Polwarth we only have one 24-hour police station, based in Colac. That one 24-hour police station for nearly all of February and into March had its front door closed. Why? Because this government could not even afford to fix the front door on a police station. What does it mean when we do not have those services? What does it mean when little townships around my electorate, such as Beeac, have had for two years now a vacancy to try and find a policeman that will look after that community and look after that police station, and they just cannot replace them. Why can’t they replace them? Because they just do not have the spare resources within the police network. What does that lead to? That leads to communities that are waiting longer for police call-outs. It is certainly leading in rural communities to an increase in crime: cattle duffing, theft and robberies from farm sheds and farm homes are at all-time highs right across the region because there is just not the police presence. The Allan government has failed again in this budget to provide the credible plan that people want to see.

What else has it meant? It has also meant in our healthcare services increasingly there are longer waiting times, people are experiencing being turned away from health and people are having to travel further to the bigger cities and metro areas because the reliability of the local services just is not there. For example, at Colac Area Health now three times the number of presentations go through the urgent care service than went through there 10 years ago. That is because the cost of living has forced more people to seek lower cost public care, but the lower cost public care just is not being funded properly. It needs greater support, and this budget has again failed to deliver on that.

Why is the government failing to deliver on that – because, unlike in the contribution from the former finance minister, what we know is that this government is increasingly having to spend more and more on its burgeoning debt problem. When Labor came to power back in 2014 – and a lot has been talked about what this government has achieved in those 12 years – it had a $21.8 billion deficit. Keeping in mind that up until –

Members interjecting.

Richard RIORDAN: Debt, sorry – quite correct. The net state debt was $21.8 billion. This government in that time has now ballooned that out to a projection, by 2030, of around $200 billion. The interest payment alone could pay for all our police services; it could pay for a variety of services that the state and the people of this state expect and want from their government. It could certainly do much. Just the interest payments alone would see all our roads, our country roads in our country communities, in much better condition and much safer. Of course, when we have safer roads, not only are our communities safer, but our product that we are producing in rural and regional Victoria – our great-quality milk, our grain, our timber and the range of products that we are producing in rural and regional Victoria – will get to the markets quicker and more affordably. There are great benefits in a well-run budget that can deliver on the basic services that a responsible government should be able to deliver on.

This budget is also damning for many in Victoria because of the increased tax burden. This budget, again, is receipting record revenue streams from the people of Victoria. Victorians are definitely paying so much more and getting so much less. The much talked about fire services levy is just one example of a tax that this government has found as a new method to punish and penalise people particularly in rural and regional Victoria, where there is a massive disproportionate effect on farms and small businesses out in the rural and regional areas. They are paying more and more for services that they essentially provide to their own communities as volunteers. On any level, on any reasonable assessment of that, that is an unfair tax. This budget, like the future budgets that this government will bring down if it has an opportunity to, will continue to increase up to a figure of two and three times the levy that once was put in place and was designed to be a fair spread of the cost of providing emergency services to all Victorians, not the massive new tax grab that Victorians find themselves having to put up with.

Labor – and it was brought to our attention by others contributing from the Labor side – have talked about the surplus that this budget presents. If ever there was trickery in budgets, then the surplus is that. We know, not by disclosures from this government but from the fact that the opposition is ever on the ball and aware of keeping an eye on the way this government operates, that it came through the early sale of a lottery licence for over a billion dollars. The surplus in this year’s budget has not come around through sheer hard work, as the Labor Party like to coin their work, but actually through sheer skulduggery and sheer sneakiness. That is what brought about a budget surplus in this budget. The worst part about that action alone is that it is another asset sold off by this government and we will never know whether it was at a price that was the best deal for the state, but it was brought in for short-term benefit so this government could limp across the line at the upcoming election in order to present its case as a responsible government.

Unfortunately – or fortunately, for the people of Victoria – not only are the opposition awake to them but so are others in the community who want and expect greater of their government when it comes to running a good and reliable budget into the future.

What does the plan look like for the state? The plan for this government does not exist. There is not a plan about how it is going to start addressing debt and deficit. There is not a plan about how it is going to continue to maintain and fund its ongoing and ever increasing interest payments. But the opposition do have a plan. We have a very clear plan that we have put forward to Victorians. We talk about bringing government costs and operating costs back in line with population growth to a relative number that is justifiable and will provide the level of service that Victorians expect. Most Victorians realise and have certainly felt in recent times that that $15 billion blowout that was recorded and reported on in the last 12 months from the overblow and crime and corruption in the Big Build process. Victorians are aware of that. They have sensed for a long time that the Victorian government pays way too much for too little and does not return value for money for Victorian taxpayers. Part of the Liberal promise, the Liberal plan for the future, is that we will deliver a responsible government that looks to what the community needs and provides those necessary adjustments to the way we run the state to not only be prudent with the money we get but to manage the budget and the economy not just for today for short-term political gain but for the future so Victoria can truly thrive.

This budget did not deliver for the seat of Polwarth. The key items where my community was really looking forward to some support in this budget included Winchelsea Primary School, which sits on the Princes Highway. The condition of the fencing around the school is such that it is not safe for the young pupils to play in nearly half the playground. That leads to all sorts of playground problems for the school to manage, but on top of that it is a very antiquated structure for the school. It has not received the promised planning and futureproofing that that school community has been desperate for for a very long time. That school has been forgotten, and that is the type of school that a responsible government would be working with. It is a growing community, it is a commuter community through to Geelong and it is actually a community, at times, of great social disadvantage. It is a community that absolutely needs a world-class state primary school. There are no other options in that community for education, and while this government continues to neglect it, those students at Winchelsea Primary School are missing out and missing out on future opportunities.

In one of my other communities we have the situation in the Corangamite shire of the Cobden swimming pool, which was actually built and is operated and run by the local community. It is a huge effort by the Cobden and surrounding community to build and provide their own indoor heated pool, which provides not only great therapy for older people but also somewhere that people can do lap swimming and so on all year round. That pool desperately needs around $250,000 just to fix up the equipment and bring it back online, otherwise the entire Shire of Corangamite has no 365-day-a-year swimming opportunities for that community. They would have to drive an hour or so to Colac or an hour or so through to Warrnambool. It is simply not fair. That is a simple, low-cost option to provide a piece of infrastructure where many other communities would want many millions, if not tens of millions, to provide a similar service. This community has shown its initiative and enterprise. It built itself a pool and now needs some support to maintain it.

In another area, along the Surf Coast there is Torquay Bowls Club. The Surf Coast shire council has put to the government for quite some time its cycling plan. It has got bike paths and opportunities there for the great outdoors and for the community to have the passive recreation and transport networks that they need. Likewise Torquay Bowls Club, sitting on Crown land, requires some assistance to make sure it is still a premium community activity centre for a growing community, and it is the only bowls club in the area. Both those projects have been long known to this state government, yet this budget has failed to in any way provide that. It is a bit like this government’s two election promises, 2018 and 2022, for a Torquay community hospital. There was confusion in the lead-up to budget week, with the Minister for Health saying that the project was going ahead but later not confirming that, so this government has been playing politics with really important community services.

 Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (15:45): This is a budget that really, I have to say, has delivered some real help to people who need it most. It is a budget that focuses on what matters. I thoroughly enjoyed the contribution of the member for Essendon – many, many great points made. I did like the delving into a bit of Roman history. Way back when, my ancestors would have definitely been Roman. It is always enlightening listening to the member for Essendon, but on so many levels too, because there was such a good explanation there of this budget and the work that we are doing to make it as responsible as possible but spend in the right areas as well. When I say the right areas, it is about taking care of those who need it most. There is cost-of-living relief baked into this budget, and that speaks to our values as a Labor government. It is really important. I have been having so many conversations across the electorate with people who are eternally grateful for the two months of free public transport and understand too that the six months following to the end of the year of half-price public transport is really helping them when they need it most. The cost of fuel soaring overnight back in February, I think it was, was a shock to everyone. It was a shock around the world, and the reverberation continues. It will have a long tail. It is not over yet – we know this. We made quick, decisive actions as a government to help people out, and so too did the federal government, with a cut to the excise on petrol, which has definitely assisted.

But one of the great things that we did – it was just an accident of timing, in a way, although there was great foresight – was develop Servo Saver. It kicked in just at the right time, and I cannot tell you enough times how many people have said to me that that app, Servo Saver, has made such a difference to them in being able to budget and forecast what it will cost for them to fill up their tank and where they will do it. Better yet, it is not just about where they live – it covers the whole state of Victoria. I have spoken to drivers who actually drive for a living. As part of their work they have got to get out on the road and cross all around the state, and they said it is incredibly helpful for them. Even going on a holiday and working out where you can fill up with fuel – because we have brought in legislation as well to ensure that they have got to tell you by 4 o’clock in the afternoon what they are going to charge you as a cap for the next day. That has been so well received. Again, it was an accident of timing that it came into effect just as petrol prices around the world went crazy, but it could not have been better timed if we tried. It is an amazing initiative, and that has been funded in this budget.

More locally, though, there have been some excellent, excellent projects – really worthy projects – that we have funded in this budget. There are so many. There are quite a few I want to speak about, but I have to say I am so incredibly excited about Sherbrooke Community School. This beautiful P–12 school in Sassafras is so well loved, and it has been in such need of beautiful upgrading and modernisation of its learning facilities, and this budget actually provides for that. As the local member, I cannot tell you how excited I was to see that it had come through, and then to be able to share the news with principal Sue Holmes and then share the news with some of the student leaders there was an amazing moment. When I spoke with them, one of the SRC members there said to me, ‘I can’t tell you how important this is for our school and for all of us who go here. Thank you so much.’ We all actually got a little bit emotional and a bit teary, because it meant a lot to those kids. I am absolutely delighted that money will be provided for this wonderful, wonderful school in the hills, which takes such great, extraordinary care of amazing, amazing students by a staff – I tell you what, I would have been happy to be on staff with any of them there; they are just an incredible cohort of teachers, as are all of our teachers across the state. So that was a fantastic announcement in this budget. I cannot wait to see it bear fruit at the end.

[NAME AWAITING VERIFICATION]

Another wonderful announcement in our budget was $44.79 million to operationalise the Angliss Hospital. The new wing, which was promised at the last election – we said we were going to do it – will be opening very soon. Like my dear friend the member for Bayswater, I cannot wait to find out what date that will be. It is going to be extraordinary. The Angliss has been around for nearly 90 years. It is 87 years old, and there are so many people who were born there – I think I just heard that the member for Footscray was born there. When I doorknock around our electorate, a number of people say, ‘I was born there’ or ‘I’ve had my children there’. Actually yesterday in Cockatoo, doorknocking, I met a lovely young woman, who told me that her little bub – she said, ‘Little dude’s going to be born at the Angliss in a few weeks.’ So congratulations to Alicia on the upcoming baby. It is a marvellous hospital, and this new wing has completely changed it – 32 new beds, four operating theatres, and it has even got a sterilisation unit. At the beginning when I heard about that, I did not even know what that was, but it means that they can actually sterilise all their own equipment there and then. It is really important that a hospital can do that, and it makes a lot of sense to be able to do that in-house. There will even be additional car parking at that hospital. It is going to be an absolute game changer for our area. And for those who live in the southern part and the eastern part of the electorate, Pakenham Community Hospital has also received $18.79 million to operationalise that hospital. I know the member for Pakenham has been an incredible advocate for that hospital and I know there are constituents of mine who will benefit from that, so to see that funding come through has been brilliant.

Another wonderful local win I am delighted about is the school zone lights – the ‘40’ signs are going to be lit up in Cockatoo. It is such a busy road, Belgrave-Gembrook Road, running past Cockatoo Primary School, and when the fog comes in it is like a pea souper. So to be able to light up those signs to just let motorists know, ‘Slow down. You’re in a school zone,’ is really important. We have trucks that go through there, a lot of heavy haulage cars that just fly through, and when you cannot see terribly well because of the fog – this is critical to get that in. I was able to get that in the first budget when I was elected as member for Monbulk, out in Gembrook, and now to be able to say to Cockatoo residents and those whose children go to Cockatoo that this will happen for them too was absolutely wonderful in this budget.

Another fantastic announcement from this budget is the fact we are going to uplift weekday evening services on the Belgrave line. Forever, people have lamented the fact that the service is every 30 minutes to be able to catch a train out to Belgrave. Well, we are going to make it every 20 minutes, so instead of two services on the hour, there will be three. That is a huge uplift, and it is the fastest we can do on that single track. It is going to make a significant difference for commuters here in the city, because when they need to get home, if they just miss that train, they will not have to wait another 29 minutes – it is going to be there in about 19. That difference means a lot to people, that difference in time. We are all about ensuring people can get around faster and easier, and of course, as I said before, we have made public transport free for the two months ending this month and then half-price to the end of the year. To be able to make these announcements is incredible, because it does help people in their daily lives, because people sometimes do not just feel the pinch economically; a lot of us feel the pinch when it comes to time. Many, many of us are time poor, so where we can save people time, it is a win for everyone. That is why I am really proud of this Labor budget, because the way you spend your money speaks to your values, and for those who are doing it tough, those who are time poor, those who are feeling economic constraints, we are trying to make their lives easier through this budget, and that is exactly what we are doing.

Another wonderful local win was that we have got an incredible tennis club up in Emerald. It is the tiniest little pavilion you have ever seen, but there are hundreds of people who go there. It is a regional tennis centre, and competitions are played all the time. We were able to get new lighting for them a few years back, and that has been wonderful to be able to assist with night matches. But this tennis club is not run for profit. Do you know, Acting Speaker O’Keeffe, you can send your child there for 2 hours on a weekday evening – your kid can go and hit that ball with their racket and play tennis for 2 hours – for $5. That is less than the cost of a cup of coffee nowadays. That is extraordinary; it is such a great club. We have funded in this budget a master plan – up to $100,000 to make sure that they can get a great master plan which looks at the future of this club and looks at setting up the facilities for them so they can continue to thrive but also to provide that wonderful service to families, and it makes it affordable. To make sport affordable for kids is incredibly important. We have got our Get Active Kids vouchers as well, which we have continued, and they are fabulous. But for this little club – well, not a little club; it is a good, strong club in a tiny pavilion – that master plan is going to help them with their future, and I am really, really delighted about that.

There are so many great initiatives in our budget that I have been really pleased to talk about with people, and I know it is resonating with them. I mentioned before the Servo Saver app, but that 20 per cent rebate on rego is already being well received by people, because it will help give them immediate relief. For those who could not use the free public transport to their advantage, because maybe public transport is not as accessible for them or where they need to commute to – it is just not possible; they need to use a car – this helps give them some relief too, because the times have been a bit challenging these past few months with the oil crisis going on and another interest rate rise from the RBA. It is a tough time for a lot of people – not everyone, but there are a lot of people who are really feeling that – and this is a great budget, as I said before, that speaks to our values and makes sure that we are actually investing in our communities and supporting people where and when they need it most.

I was just explaining how this budget really speaks to our values as a government. I was highlighting too that we have really given assistance to people when it comes to public transport and with registration to be able to apply for the rebate. I want to give a shout-out: if there is anyone watching, please be aware you need to apply between 1 June and 31 July. Do not miss out. Put it in your calendar, put something up on the fridge, whatever works for you, but make sure that you are not missing out on 1 August.

The other thing I really want to speak to as well is the investment of $2.2 billion when it comes to disability inclusion. I think there is nothing more important than ensuring we support children in particular to learn to be at their best, and if they need extra supports, being able to invest in those is absolutely critical, crucial and important to do. It is just absolutely fundamental that we ensure children who have special needs in learning or who have a physical disability get the assistance and the supports that they need. $2.2 billion is a significant amount of money that we are investing, and it is worth every single penny without a shadow of a doubt.

When it comes to other supports for families, we cannot go past the affordable school uniforms program, which saves families about $93 a year on uniform costs, the $24 million that we spend on outside-of-school-hours care for young Victorians with a disability and the $16 million to continue and expand Glasses for Kids. I have spoken at length about that, but Glasses for Kids is critical because if you cannot read the board it makes it very hard to learn. I know that the member for Bayswater was talking about his experiences with his young George when going to Werribee zoo, but continuing free access for under-16s to the zoos – to Healesville, which is closer out my way, to Melbourne Zoo, to Kyabram Fauna Park and to Werribee Open Range Zoo – is important too. Parents are at the moment able to take their children there for free on public transport, and the kids are free for the whole day. Pack a lunch. It is free for everyone to get there, and it is free for the children to go there. That is a great day out for young people without breaking the budget for families, and it is really important to be able to support those things as well.

The school breakfast clubs: I have spoken about them so many times in here, but I will always come back to the fact that this is one of the best initiatives we have made in this state to ensure that kids do not have empty stomachs, so they can learn well and they are fed. And it is not even just about the food – that is important because you do not want children with empty stomachs. But the socialisation that happens when kids are sitting there talking with each other – there is something about breaking bread with others that –

The SPEAKER: The time has come for me to interrupt business for the matter of public importance. The member will have the call when the matter is next before the Chair.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.