Wednesday, 13 May 2026

 Chris COUZENS (Geelong) (10:20): I would like to recommence my contribution to this bill and just draw attention to the fact that we are hearing so much from the opposition about debt and how horrible it is. I really want to make a comment about that, because I want to remind the house that we experienced a pandemic, and this government, along with many other governments across this country, saved lives. We put food on people’s tables, we stopped people from losing their jobs or losing income, and that cost a lot of money to do. That pandemic was something that we invested in to save people’s lives. To now say that the debt is there without even mentioning the fact of the pandemic is just totally wrong. I think we need to be reminded that that is why Victoria has the debt. However, we put in strategies to deal with that debt, and they have been working and we are now in surplus. So I think it is important that we all remember why that debt was incurred. The arrogance of the opposition to continue banging on about the debt in Victoria without mentioning that is just wrong. I think they are more concerned and panicked about One Nation than they are about anything else at the moment. But in saying that –

A member interjected.

Chris COUZENS: No, I do not think we have got more to worry about – sorry, through the Chair. I will add too that in 2022, after the pandemic and all the support that we gave Victorians, Labor won the election. It is simple: we won the election after the pandemic. You were all so smug on that side, expecting you were going to win, and Victorians had no faith in you.

I want to go back to talking about the support that has been given to my electorate, and I mentioned a lot of that in my previous contribution. I just want to go back to free TAFE and the importance that free TAFE has, not only in my community but right across Victoria, and the opportunities that it offers to people, ensuring they do not have to pay to be able to get an education through TAFE, which expands their opportunities into good employment, good jobs, giving them a much better opportunity in terms of salary and opportunities within the community. I am a huge fan of free TAFE, and I think it has been an incredible policy strategy of this government.

I also want to mention QHub, which received $2 million in funding. QHub, which is based in Geelong and across to Ballarat, offers such a valuable service to families in my community. The LGBTQI+ community have welcomed this service, because what it is doing is supporting those young people. We know statistically that many of these young people either take their own life or attempt to take their own life. This service is now dealing with the issues they are confronted with. They feel safe in that environment. Marcus and the crew at Geelong QHub are doing an incredible job and deserve every support that they get in providing supportive spaces for young people and their families.

There are many other commitments that have been made in Geelong, but one in particular I want to mention is the Geelong BMX club, who for many, many years have been advocating to get their facilities up to scratch so that they can host national and international BMX competitions. At the moment other areas across the state are able to do that, but Geelong has not been able to do that. And it is a growing club. Many, many families from not just my electorate but across the Geelong region are members of that club and are just delighted that we have been able to commit $200,000 for them to seal their track, which will make an enormous difference to their competitors.

And they actually have international champions in that club, so we want to make sure that those opportunities are there for other young children and young people to be able to get into that elite sport at that elite level and enter competition right across Australia and also internationally.

Funding of the Geelong Authority, again, is another important one for me. They do an enormous amount of work in our community, working with developers, working to make sure that central Geelong is supported with what they need. I think all the other cost-of-living areas, such as free public transport; rebates on regos; affordable school uniforms; outside-of-school-hours care for young people with disabilities; glasses for kids; breakfast clubs; Get Active Kids vouchers; kinder kits; more financial counselling; the energy assistance program; a boost for allowances for kinship, foster and permanent carers; and more to strengthen food security, are things I am really pleased that we are continuing to support. We had the social supermarket open in my electorate a couple of months ago, and it has been a game changer for people in my community. We have more emergency accommodation, support for vulnerable renters, more social housing growth and $100 million to continue our nation-leading efforts to respond to family and sexual violence. There is so much in this budget.

Moving around my electorate after budget day people are saying this is a sensible and a good budget. They are not saying it is wrong, they are not saying anything negative about it. They are saying it is a good, sensible budget, which I agree with. For those opposite canning everything that we do anyway, I think they need to understand that communities like mine are not supporting their position on our budget. They are supporting it a hundred per cent in my community, and it makes such a difference to be able to have those cost-of-living benefits right across the state, not just in my electorate, but also in my community to ensure people get what they deserve.

 Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (10:27): I rise to make my contribution on the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and the Appropriation (Parliament 2026–2027) Bill 2026. I just want to very briefly respond to a couple of comments from the member for Geelong, who mentioned that it would be remiss to talk about the budget situation and our financial situation without mentioning COVID. I will simply make this point: blaming events like COVID, overseas conflicts or international politics at this stage is not the reason we are in the situation that we are in, and it is poor form. The member for Geelong talked about the pandemic. We are four to five years on from the pandemic now, but even in this budget’s futures we are still seeing debt rising in the financial years in two, three and four years time. All other jurisdictions have gone through these challenges, and they have dealt with it a lot better. The finances of every other state in this country are in much better condition, so to blame them is wrong, and I will get on to that in a short moment.

A member interjected.

Tim BULL: I will take up that objection. When I was sitting in my office yesterday listening to some of the contributions on the budget, I could not help but notice much of the commentary from the other side was about us. I have been in this place for a little while, and it is the first time that I have heard government members standing up criticising the opposition with the majority of their speech. Normally we get all of this commentary around how good their own budget is, but that has been seriously lacking in relation to this. What we needed to see here was a pathway out of debt. We needed to see that.

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Iwan Walters): Order! Minister for Regional Development at the table!

Tim BULL: We needed to see a pathway out of debt, and we have not got it. Instead we are handed a set of documents that confirms the state’s finances are indeed going south. What this is is a statement outlining –

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Iwan Walters): Order! The member for Gippsland East to resume his seat. Member for Ovens Valley and Minister for Regional Development, if you could cease interjecting, please.

Tim BULL: This budget we needed to see a plan for the future to reduce net state debt, but the government’s own budget papers are forecasting a continued massive increase. The most alarming element of this is forecasts showing that net debt is climbing to $199.3 billion. Goodness knows what that is really going to be when someone else gets hold of the books – effectively $200 billion now or around, if we break that down, $70,000 per household. Those figures alone should raise serious concerns about the state’s financial trajectory. However, even more troubling is the cost of servicing that debt, and we have interest repayments, which have to be repaid, heading towards $32 million a day – $11.8 billion annually in interest repayments only. Such is the quantum of those figures it is very difficult to even get your head around them. It is money that is not being spent on hospitals, schools, roads and community services, and then on top of that what galls people – it was interesting that the member for Geelong said the budget was lauded by 100 per cent of her community. It is very different in mine. I cannot walk down the street without people saying, ‘Hey, Bully, when do we get the $15 billion back? What about the Commonwealth Games money?’ It just goes on and on and on.

Post budget we heard commentary from various industry sectors – housing, business and industry, agriculture, local government was another one, to name three or four of many – saying they have been grossly underfunded. Why are we hearing that commentary? The simple answer is the level of debt is constraining this government’s ability to invest where it is needed. As a shadow minister – I am sure this applies for ministers, although they probably will not admit it, and even local members on both sides of the chamber – we have got stakeholder groups constantly coming to us, wanting more money for this project or this program, saying, ‘We need this. It’s vital to the community. You need to fund it.’ But when you have got interest repayments of $32 million a week, the hard, cold reality of it is you cannot fund these programs that need to be funded. It just cannot be done.

I will take just one example of many: fire trucks. We have the oldest firefighting fleet in the country, and we are in one of the three most fire-prone areas in the world. Just think about that: we are in one of the three most fire-prone areas of the world, and we have got the oldest firefighting fleet. You would think: why not just renew it? We have had funding announced to the CFA in that regard of $10 million, but it is over 10 years. The CFA itself came out and said, ‘Why don’t we just fix it? Why don’t we just renew the firefighting fleet?’ The reason why we cannot is the level of debt that we have and the level of interest we are paying on that debt.

The biggest disappointment in this whole budget is it does not forecast debt reducing. According to these budget papers, the government’s own budget papers, in comparison to the 2014 financial year budget papers, net debt from $21.8 billion is now going to $199.3 billion, interest repayments are going from $2.1 billion annually to $11.8 billion and total tax revenue on Victorians is going from $17.9 billion to $50.2 billion – three times the amount of tax. What makes this budget even more concerning is that government members have spoken about having a surplus. I will not get into the deal that was done. Other members have mentioned the deal that was done that shows the surplus in the budget papers, but we should not be talking about a small surplus. We need to be talking about the state’s net debt. We know that a surplus simply means that the government is forecasting that it will have more money coming in than is going out in that one financial year.

But if your net debt, according to the budget papers going forward, increases by $20 billion, the small surplus is superfluous. We have got to start focusing on net debt. The government had an opportunity to present a budget that forecasts savings that will equal a reduction in our net debt, and it has not done that. The budget papers continue to forecast debt blowing out, and this is a result of very poor decisions in the past. It is not a result of COVID; it had an impact, for sure. But we stand up time and time again and we talk about the cost overruns, the Commonwealth Games, the CFMEU rorts. There is too much money going out the door that is simply a waste. The surplus does not go anywhere near what is required to reduce our net debt, and that is the figure we should be concentrating on. We just go further and further down the tube as a state.

In defending this budget, the Treasurer described it as ‘disciplined’ – that was her adjective. Let us examine that. Debt is rising and payment on interest is exploding, and as a result of that new investment in the areas we need is lacking. Budgets like agriculture, roads and regional development are significantly less than they were eight years ago – significantly less, not just a little bit. It is very difficult to see where the discipline is when your budget is blowing out to that extent. In relation to net debt, we are the worst performing state in this country. But I would ask what we have to show for this, because an outsider looking in might say, ‘Well, okay, the state has incurred that level of debt. Surely they’ve got some good things to show for it. Surely they’ve got some Rolls-Royce funding agencies.’ But what have we got to show for it? Our roads are crumbling; all of our freight companies say they are the worst they have ever seen them. We have a health crisis. Hospitals have been put on hold. The budget showed a number of announcements that have been kicked down the road and delayed. West Gippsland Hospital is one that has been mentioned, but the list goes on and on and on. And this is all while we are paying more taxes. So not only have we got this massive debt, but we do not have much to show for it.

I caught the member for Mordialloc’s contribution, where he spoke to the importance of a strong business sector. Well, if he believes that, why are we taxing business more than ever before? Why has payroll tax nearly doubled? You cannot stand up here and say you support business and then tax it into oblivion. You just cannot do that. Victorians deserve better.

I want to talk about some local matters before I finish. I have got several health services that need investment, as I outlined in this chamber last week. Bairnsdale hospital, Buchan Bush Nursing Centre – nothing in there. I have three schools in the electorate on the Department of Education’s poor condition report, Omeo, Lindenow South and Lakes Entrance – nothing for them. I have police and fire stations that need rebuilding – nothing for them.

I stand here having heard some contributions over recent weeks from some members – I think it was the members for Tarneit and Werribee – who spoke about the increased capacity on their train lines and how they have got more carriages. Well, on the Bairnsdale line we have got people standing for 4 hours going to Melbourne. We need six-carriage sets on every train, and we are regularly left with three. People are standing for 4 hours – same carriages. We have got increased services on the Tarneit and Werribee lines to carry more people. They do not have to stand for 4 hours from Bairnsdale to Melbourne because everyone was expecting six carriages and three turn up. And it is not a one-off; it is a regular occurrence. It is unsafe to have passengers standing for that long. It is just ridiculous.

Many other MPs have made similar comments about what they have missed out on in their communities, but the bottom line is: how can you fund what really needs to be funded? As a shadow minister I am getting emails every day from groups saying, ‘We haven’t had a funding increase for 10 years, not even CPI.’ In the last little period I have heard from neighbourhood houses, the Men’s Shed Association and different groups involved in the portfolios that I hold, and the reason that they have not had any funding increase is that we are heading towards paying $32 million a day in interest. Can we just get our head around what that would do and what that would fund. It is just incredible.

I heard the Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety saying just six weeks of the interest repayments would double our roads budget. That is how insanely poorly we have managed the state’s finances – that six weeks of interest repayments would double our state roads budget. This budget is not responsible. It has no plan to get us out of the mire that we are in. It only outlines how much further our debt is going to increase. So with the greatest of respect to members opposite, if they want to get up and talk about a small budget surplus, they need to get up and talk about the state debt and where that is heading, because when it is blowing out by $20 billion, a small budget surplus is irrelevant. Victoria cannot keep borrowing from the future to pay for the present. You just cannot keep doing that. It is a one-way path, and you cannot build a strong future with weak financial foundations, and when we present budget papers that show the debt blowing out, that is what we have.

It is a horrible budget, particularly in an election year. An election year budget should be the government’s crowning glory, where it outlines a really strong plan for our financial future. But this budget just forecasts debt increasing in this state, and we have very, very little to show for it. It is an appalling budget, and particularly for an election year budget.

 John LISTER (Werribee) (10:42): Communities in the electorate of Werribee are often the first to register economic pressure, before much of Victoria. For decades it has been Labor governments and our local Labor members of Parliament who have been there to support people in Wyndham Vale, Manor Lakes, Mambourin, Little River and Werribee. During the global financial crisis our local Labor MP Julia Gillard helped to deliver an economic stimulus package and projects across Wyndham to support working people, like the redevelopment of many of our schools. During the pandemic it was the state Labor government that ensured there were packages to support businesses in Werribee to keep employees working and funding to make our hospitals safe. And now, while an unnecessary war wages in the Middle East, it is on Labor again to support working people in communities like mine.

We are delivering a budget focused on making the lives of people in electorates like mine easier, safer and more affordable. I remember doorknocking on houses in Wyndham Vale in the first few weeks of the global oil crisis we are in at the moment. Many acknowledged there was little the state could do about the situation in Iran. But many pointed to getting people off the road and onto our buses and trains, and others brought up having just had to pay their rego bill and that rates notices were also making their way to letterboxes. The labour movement has always been about using the levers of government to make the lives of ordinary people better. In this time of uncertainty it was clear that we had levers we could pull to have a direct impact on the amount of money people had in their household budgets to cope with this crisis. We are running an operating surplus this year, which is projected to grow over a billion dollars in this operating surplus over the coming years – the only state on the east coast to achieve this. So when we are in a financial situation like this, let us use these levers to make it easier for people in communities like mine.

For those people I met who raised the issue of their registration costs, we are giving them a 20 per cent rebate on what they have paid for this financial year. For many families, that cash back can go towards other bills, or for some of the people I spoke to on the doors this last week it can even help them save up for driving lessons for that teenager still stuck at home. For the Werribee and Wyndham Vale line commuters who spoke to me about how free public transport has benefited them or made them make that choice to leave their car at home, we are helping them put that money back in their budget with half-price public transport for the rest of the year, from June.

As many of my constituents know, I love a survey. It probably comes from my time as a teacher, when we would use qualitative and quantitative data to understand the point of need. This year I asked people about their experience on the Wyndham Vale line. Jennifer from Manor Lakes told me that we need more evening trains and we need a better spread of trains throughout peak hour – something I would definitely agree with having taken the train home from Southern Cross during the last few Parliament sitting weeks. So, with the help of my fellow Labor MPs in the Wyndham area, we helped secure $14 million towards more nine-carriage trains, which will boost capacity in those peak periods, allowing Wyndham Vale commuters to get a seat at Southern Cross.

As a former secondary school teacher, I understand all too well the growth in enrolments that we have seen. However, I wanted to hear how increasing the number of high school places would help our growing suburbs. For example, one constituent wrote, ‘Education is a very important part of our lives and I would like my son to go to a school close to home in which he is comfortable to go to.’ We have built seven new schools in the Werribee electorate and upgraded many more, but in this budget I am most proud to see that we are delivering what those survey respondents wanted: a brand new secondary school for their community in Wyndham Vale. To take up on what the previous speaker from the other side said before about robbing the future of what is possible with what we are doing with building these sorts of facilities, this is literally building facilities for the future of those kids in Wyndham Vale. This budget is about the things that matter to working people in places like my electorate.

We are building a safer community. In this electorate, building on our previous $4.5 billion towards recruitment of police, we are also funding more police prosecutors at the Wyndham law courts. We are funding reservists. We have just seen a bill introduced here to bring them on to help relieve those front desk pressures and administrative duties at stations like Werribee. And we are funding the violence reduction unit, which is already out working in places like Manor Lakes P–12 College. We are building a healthier community, and I am especially proud that we have got $95 million in this budget to open the new emergency department at the Werribee hospital. We have got funding to access mental health local services and a huge boost to maternity services, which my partner and I will be utilising in August with our baby on the way.

When times are tough, Labor governments have been there for the people of the Werribee electorate. Meanwhile the Liberal Party continues to neglect the western suburbs. The only policies they have announced so far have been to cut capacity on the Wyndham Vale and Melton lines and to dump more housing in our greenfield areas without infrastructure. They have no vision for our community because they do not care about us. For nine years of a federal Liberal government the member for Kew’s mentor Josh Frydenberg and others invested nothing for infrastructure in our growing suburbs – nothing, zero. In a short time under a federal Labor government we have seen a partnership that is delivering infrastructure for our community, like Ison Road, the Ballan Road upgrade, a new bridge between Wyndham Vale and Tarneit and an upgraded main road interchange, all made possible with a partner in Canberra. I welcomed seeing them in the budget papers last night.

The only economic plan the member for Kew has put forward is a glossy brochure at a Liberal Party fundraiser last week. At the heart of this is a commitment to cutting one in seven public servants’ jobs. The member for Kew may think they are just surplus, but these public servants all play a role in our state. The teachers may be on the front line, but I know firsthand it is the VPS 3 or 4 at the regional office who helps fix an enrolment or a Victorian assessment software system entry for a VCE student. They could lose their job under the member for Kew. The staff member at Unison Housing over the railway line in Werribee may be on the front line, but the VPS 3 or 4 at the Footscray housing office that they call to help someone on a priority waiting list would be gone under the member for Kew. The clinical director at Werribee hospital may be on the front line, but the public servant at Hospitals Victoria that they call to discuss an ordering process for surgical equipment could be gone under the member for Kew. These public servants live in communities like mine in the western suburbs, with the vast majority of the 29,000 or so professionals in the Wyndham area in the last census working in a public sector role.

The member for Kew does not understand the west. She has neglected to put forward any ideas for our community in her budget reply and instead wants to cut services for our growing community, all while her special envoy for the west is busy at the Supreme Court or surveying swans in Williamstown.

I want to return to where I started this speech, talking about the people of the Werribee electorate. Growing up and living in our community, I understand the pressures families face. My family was not that well-off either, living on a single income for a very long time, and it was those Labor members of Parliament and those Labor governments through those years that helped deliver the things for communities like mine. To reflect on a few more of those things, I remember Julia Gillard coming to my school when they did the laptops in schools program to help us get ahead during that global financial crisis. During COVID – and there is a lot of discussion around debt and things like that – the debt incurred from helping support those businesses keep their employees on had a direct impact on the vast majority of workers in the Wyndham area that had to go to work during the pandemic. They had no choice – they were essential workers – and supporting them to be able to do that was so important.

The reality of the budget and what the Treasurer outlined just last week is that we are not borrowing money to pay for these services. The services that we have announced in this budget are being funded through what the state is earning as revenue. Instead, we are borrowing to build for the future. We are borrowing to build things like the new high school for Wyndham Vale. We are borrowing to build things like the West Gate Tunnel, which saves us up to 10 minutes every day on our journey here to Parliament as Wyndham MPs coming in, as well a vast majority of other people driving from the western suburbs. We have used this money to invest in the west. Those opposite bleat about neglecting the west at by-elections, but they have failed to put forward a plan. I note at the recent Nepean by-election they had plenty of plans for Rosebud Hospital, but during the Werribee by-election there was nothing. The Labor government and this budget continue our commitment to use the levers of government to make communities like mine better. I commend these bills to the house and reaffirm my commitment to working every day in a Labor government, fighting for my community in Melbourne’s west.

 Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (10:52): I also rise to address the appropriations bills, the state Labor government’s 12th budget, having been elected now over three terms to govern this state, having had the opportunity to deliver in that time 12 budgets. This year’s budget is titled ‘Easier. Safer. More affordable.’ Victorians I speak to, not just in my community but right around the state – I often ask a pretty simple question: do you feel like you are better off after 12 years of a state Labor government or do you feel like you are worse off? The response that I hear time and time again, certainly in my own community but in communities right around our state, is that ‘We don’t feel like we’re better off, we feel like we’re worse off.’ The government have had a crack. Labor have had a crack, they have given it a go. Good on them. But I think that over those 12 years, if Victorians feel like they are worse off today, then some responsibility should be taken by this Labor government for that sentiment within our community.

This budget, there are a lot of pages in here – Deputy Speaker, you would be familiar with this – there are lots of words, lots of numbers, lots of spreadsheets. But in essence a budget is an opportunity for a government to demonstrate, to the people that they seek to serve, what their priorities are and who they are. I contend at the outset that this is not a budget for Victoria’s future, this is a budget of excuses without solutions. This is a budget that could have addressed the significant challenges that our community is facing at the minute, and it simply did not.

As the member for Kew yesterday in her budget reply mentioned, it is not a budget, it is in fact a credit card statement for the last 11 years of failure by this government. There is no credible plan to pay down debt. There is no credible plan to proportionately spend the tax dollars received by hardworking Victorians. There is no offering of a serious, disciplined plan as the Leader of the Opposition on behalf of the opposition, the alternative government, has offered.

When the member for Malvern was the Treasurer of this state, our state’s debt was some $21.8 billion, around 6 per cent of gross state product. If you are having trouble sleeping, please have a look at my first speech, where I suggested at the time that there should be a cap, a legislated cap, on our debt-to-GSP ratio. It was edging in the direction of 6 per cent. I thought that it was a concern at that time that our debt-to-GDP ratio was heading the direction of 6 per cent, and I thought that it should be capped to set some sort of ceiling, really, on what the government should be enabled or allowed to indebt future generations with. With debt heading in the direction of $200 billion, that is no longer 6 per cent; it is more than 25 per cent.

The difficulty I have with all of this is that these are not just numbers. The impact of these decisions and the impact of these numbers is the thing that deeply concerns me. It deeply concerns me that all policing services, all kinder services and all ambulance services could be paid for in the funding envelope that has been allocated in this budget to pay the interest on the debt that Labor has racked up, and there would still be a billion dollars of change left over. This is the missed opportunity from financial recklessness after 12 years of Labor. These are the real-life consequences of the decisions that this government has taken that are impacting the lives of Victorians every single day. $199 billion of debt is not a good thing, and Labor are ignoring it; in fact they are not just ignoring it, they are blaming others for it. ‘Take responsibility’ is my encouragement to the Allan Labor government after 12 years of Labor in this state – all excuses, no solutions.

There was no funding for West Gippsland Hospital, no funding for Maroondah Hospital, no funding for Wonthaggi Hospital, and the funding line for the Suburban Rail Loop still remains TBC. TBC: is that ‘to be confirmed’, or does that mean ‘too bloody costly’? I think it is a fair question. As Labor’s Suburban Rail Loop starts in my electorate, I have some earned authority to speak on the matter. 2029 was the was the timeframe that Labor had originally put on removing all level crossings on the Frankston line. This was not in a press statement; this was not in a in a media release. I will be up-front and honest with the Victorian people and members of my community now where Labor have not been honest with them: that is no longer the case. That commitment in this budget has been extended out, pushed out to something like 2032.

The financial recklessness of spending in a way that is disproportionate with your revenue, not getting on top of your debt and having an incredible amount of interest to pay – edging in the direction of $1.35 million per hour for just the interest on the debt; that is not the principal, that is just the interest – has real-life consequences for the services that Victorians legitimately expect their state government to provide. In my portfolio area of education that has had real-life consequences for schools. I think it is about time that the state Labor government here in Victoria face up to reality and in fact change the tagline on the numberplate. Labor cannot continue to credibly claim that Victoria is the Education State. We cannot credibly claim that. Victoria has the lowest amount of funding for schools in the country. Victorian teachers are the lowest paid. There was no response to that in this budget. We are not the Education State, and Labor cannot credibly continue to claim that we are the Education State when in fact we are not.

In fact it gets worse. The public education sector found little cause for celebration in the budget. There are a number of infrastructure projects – some of them underway, some of them yet to be started – that have been pushed back and delayed in this budget, at Albert Park College, at Ashwood High School, Beechworth Secondary College, Camp Hill Primary School, Clayton South Primary School, Eildon Primary School, Eastbourne Primary School and Epsom Primary School. Again, there are consequences for financial recklessness. It is Victorians that are paying more through the inclination of this government to tax and tax and tax and tax and tax and tax and tax and tax more, and yet they are getting less for it. If I know Victorians, as I believe I do, Victorians do not want to be ripped off – in fact they do not like being ripped off. But when you pay more and you get less for it, you are being ripped off. I contend that this Labor government is ripping off Victorians, and these are the hard realities and consequences of 12 years of financial recklessness.

I would like to spend the last portion of my time reflecting upon the impact of Labor’s financial recklessness in my own community. I have already mentioned the Suburban Rail Loop and the fact that the costings are marked ‘TBC’, and that is just utterly disgraceful on a number of levels, firstly. Secondly, the level crossing removals at both Highett and Wickham Road have been pushed back. There was a great fear in my community that this would happen. The Labor government promised 2029. They only promised that these things would be gone by 2029 about a month or so after I made the commitment that that is what would be undertaken by a Liberal government, in the final months of the 2022 election campaign. The Labor government came in on the back of that and made their own commitment. Of course there was a fear in my community that it would not be delivered by this government, and it is not being delivered by this government. Again, those residents of Highett have been forgotten. They are looking to the Labor government, who say they govern for all but again have demonstrated to the members of the Highett community that they in fact do not govern for all. In fact the members of the Highett community have again been forgotten by this Labor government, because those level crossings – we should not have had to wait until 2029. They should have been gone earlier. I would invite you and any members who sit on the government benches to visit my community. I will happily take them to the Highett Charcoal Chicken. Nick can give us a quarter-chicken and chips, and we can sit down right there on the corner where that level crossing is and you can understand firsthand why that level crossing needs to go. They did not want to wait until 2029, and because of Labor’s financial recklessness it has been pushed out again.

Sandringham College – the master plan is done; stage 1 has been delivered. The former Labor education minister came out to the school and gave the school an assurance: ‘Once we get these projects underway, stage 2 funding will be delivered, and stage 3 funding – we’ll get this project done.’ That was the sentiment expressed to that school community, and not one dollar has been delivered. Again, another 12 months of uncertainty for that school community. It is not right. They deserve so much more from this Labor government.

Mentone Primary School – on a school condition report list that the member for Kew fought for practically two years in VCAT for this government to release, Mentone Primary School was identified for the infrastructure issues there, and it deserves funding. Beaumaris North Primary School deserves funding. Beaumaris Primary School deserves infrastructure funding. Again, great schools, great teaching, great learning, great principals, great families – but they deserve support from their government. They deserve to be learning in world-class facilities. Again, another year has gone by without a commitment from this Labor government to doing the right thing by those school communities, and frankly, it is just not right.

Sandringham Hospital – yes, I declare an interest; I was born there – deserves ongoing investment and funding from this government. The federal Labor government granted Sandringham Hospital a licence for an MRI machine, and I have been asking, in corridor conversations in this place and formally of the Labor government, for them to provide the infrastructure funding to support the payment for an MRI machine and the infrastructure that goes around it. In this budget, crickets – nothing. It is important for my community and the region that uses the Sandringham Hospital to have the certainty that they need and access to a publicly funded, Medicare-funded MRI machine. But again, this budget did not deliver that at all.

At Bay Road in my community, it is only a matter of time until there is an accident there again, and potentially – and I hope not, I pray not – a fatality. But it is likely. If we are to be honest about these things, it is likely. Time and time again I have sought that a traffic study be undertaken there and that traffic interventions be considered along that road. Again I encourage the Labor government to do the right thing by my community, because there is no funding in this budget for that.

The opportunity of this budget was for Labor to do the right thing by the Victorian community. It was the opportunity for the Labor government to do the right thing by teachers and principals and students and schools. It was the opportunity for the Labor government to do the right thing by my community in Sandringham, in Highett, in Black Rock, in Beaumaris, in Cheltenham, in Mentone and in surrounding suburbs as well, and they have failed to do so. It was a budget of excuses and not solutions, and no plan for Victoria’s future.

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (11:08): Well, I do not know what budget the member for Sandringham was talking about, but it is certainly not the budget that was delivered here in this place quite recently. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise and speak on this year’s appropriation bills and to speak on this year’s budget, which was delivered last week. Like other members in this place, when I look at the budget every year, I am specifically looking for things that are going to be delivered in my electorate, to be able to tell them about the great things that Labor is doing for them. What I will say to folks in my electorate, the electorate of Laverton, and I will say to westies more broadly is: this budget delivers for you. This budget is for you.

There are some great local initiatives that were funded in this year’s budget, and I will talk about them in just a moment. But I want to start my contribution today by talking about Victoria and talking about how and where we are tracking, because we all know right now we are facing some significant challenges. There are challenges with the cost of living. The cost of fuel is on the rise, making it harder for folks to get around. Inflation is on the rise, promoting interest rates to do the same. It feels like everything else is getting more expensive as a result. I know it feels like that. What I am glad that our Premier and our government have done in this budget is name one of the key drivers of this inflation and cost-of-living pressure, and that is President Trump and his war in the Middle East. It is the war in the Middle East, and I think Victorians understand that. That is in direct contrast to what the Leader of the Opposition said yesterday here in this place, that the Treasurer’s speech focused too much on foreign wars and President Trump. But Victorians know that these foreign wars are the biggest reason that costs have gone up, and that Trump’s reckless war in the Middle East is the reason that fuel costs have spiked.

I will remind those opposite – I certainly will be saying this time and time again to my community because I think it is something that has not been said enough in this place – that it is the Leader of the Opposition who has said her party will deal with and preference One Nation and Pauline Hanson. There needs to be a reminder in this place and a reminder more broadly to Victorians that Pauline Hanson supports President Trump and the war in the Middle East. She has openly conveyed that and her support of him. She has been to his home and visited him and is very much supportive of what he is doing. What he has done has led to absolute devastation in families across Victoria. Regardless of what party you are in – we have heard from members of Parliament from the National Party talking about the cost of diesel and the fuel hikes – that has happened because of what Trump has done in the Middle East, yet the coalition and the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition have openly not ruled out secret deals with One Nation. I think that is deeply, deeply concerning. In my community we have been hit really hard by the latest fuel crisis, and that is exactly why our government’s biggest focus in this budget – and it should be our biggest focus – is to address the cost of living; to do our bit to make things easier, to do our bit to make things more affordable and more safe and to give Victorian families just that little bit more stability that they need in this time. We are focused on real help right now, with over $2.5 billion in cost-of-living supports.

When I sat here this week and listened to the Leader of the Opposition’s budget reply, I tried to count the number of times that she mentioned the cost of living, and I only counted it once. She definitely only mentioned it once. That is just incredible because when I am out and about in my community it comes up in every single conversation. Regardless of what we are talking about, the cost of living is at the front of mind and front and centre for all families in Victoria right now, which is why we have delivered the $2.5 billion in cost-of-living supports. But we have also done this whilst delivering another operating surplus and continuing to invest in the projects that will transform our community. That is what Victorians would rightly expect of us and of any government.

Already many Victorians are making the most of our free public transport policy. I think on this side of the house we know, because we are out and about talking to people in our communities, the free public transport policy has been so popular, and that is exactly why we have extended it until the end of this month. From 1 June this will shift to half-price fares for the rest of the year. Folks I talk to down at the train stations in my electorate have been extremely happy about this, and do you know who else has been happy about this? People who commute by car, the drivers, because the roads are less congested. I know that because I happen to do a lot of driving in my electorate of Laverton. The roads are definitely less congested. But what people know is that this will make a real difference not only to their commutes but also in their weekly savings so that money that they save can go towards something else for their family. Whether they are putting away for a holiday or whether they are hoping to go out on the weekend and have a family meal somewhere together, this is good for our local business economy. They know it makes a real difference to weekly savings.

This is also true of what this budget is delivering when we announced the 20 per cent off people’s registration. Two weekends ago I was out in Sunshine at one of our busiest shopping centres in my electorate, the Sunshine Marketplace, for one of my regular Saturday morning street stalls, and when I was talking to people about the 20 per cent off their rego, their eyes were literally lighting up. I was watching a huge line-up at Australia Post, and people standing there, who probably would not normally come up and talk to me or take one of my DLs or take one of my gorgeous red shopping bags that are very popular in Melbourne’s west, came up after they had done whatever they needed to do at Australia Post, took the DL and said, ‘I’m putting this on my fridge,’ because 186 bucks per car for up to two cars is a lot of money. It is real help right now back into the weekly savings of families.

There is a lot more support in this budget across a variety of different initiatives to help with the cost of living. We are looking at $24 million for expanded out-of-hours school care for young Victorians with a disability. This is something that may not make the front page of the Herald Sun, but this is actually really meaningful assistance for families with children with a disability, including in my electorate at Western Autistic School. This will save families struggling with the afternoon pick-up for students with special needs more time and money. There is $28 million for the affordable school uniforms program, supporting families to purchase new uniforms for their kids. There is $15 million for free admissions for under-16s to visit the many zoos and animal parks that we have in Victoria. My children now are not asking me every weekend to go to these zoos – they are a bit older – but when we did go these places were absolutely packed. If families are having to pay for their children on top of their own admissions, that really does add up. In a time when there is a tightening of the family budget and people are struggling to afford those extra activities, this is a really great initiative to let families be together and have fun and for kids to be kids and, most importantly, enjoy and embrace the incredible animals that are at zoos like Melbourne Zoo and, most importantly, one of my favourites, Werribee Open Range Zoo. Get Active Kids vouchers: these are, again, so more kids can play the sport that they love. There is just so much more. I could go on and on with them all, and I know I listed a lot of them in the matter of public importance debate yesterday, when the Leader of the Opposition said that her son would be worse off because of what Labor has spent during its time in government.

On a local level we have funded some really great supports for the Laverton electorate. Perhaps the biggest one – it is one of my favourites, one of my top five that we are funding – is more nine-car VLocity trains on the Wyndham Vale line. I know that for a lot of folks in my electorate who use this line, who catch the train at Tarneit station – or they can go and catch the train at Tarneit West station when she opens later this year – it can be a real pain to get on the train in the morning, and they would be lucky to get a seat. That is why we are making sure that all peak-hour services that start or stop at Wyndham Vale in the morning and end in the afternoon will have a nine-car VLocity train. Why are VLocity trains and the nine-car carriage service so important? That is because it offers 50 per cent extra capacity for locals, and they will not have to wait years for it.

Another local bid I was super happy to see get up was the funding for upgraded signalisation at the Dohertys and Woods roads intersection in Truganina, and I have talked about that intersection previously here in this place. That intersection is incredibly and increasingly busy and dangerous, and we needed pedestrian signalisation so kids can get to school and grandparents and parents can cross the road safely to get over to Truganina Central shopping centre, or maybe they are going to the pool, or maybe they are going to the community centre that we helped co-fund alongside Wyndham City Council. This is such a great initiative. It sounds small, but it is so meaningful to so many families in Truganina. When I shared this with my local community on social media there was actually a bit of confusion. Some people said, ‘Why is this one getting an upgrade?’ and some people said, ‘There are already traffic lights there.’ Yes, there are, people, but what this will do is create additional pedestrian crossings at this intersection on the north and western legs of the intersection so that locals who live nearby, including local school students, can now use a brand new footpath to walk to Truganina Central, to the nearby community centre or even to school in the morning. That is really important because it saves people time and it saves them money. They do not need to use their cars to drop off or pick up their kids at school.

On the other side of my electorate we have got something sensational happening in relation to buses. We are going to improve and give an uplift to the service of the 408 bus, which goes from St Albans through to Sunshine and Braybrook and up into Maribyrnong for a bit of shopping at Highpoint shopping centre.

The uplift in services is not just for weekdays but for weekend services, especially on Sundays. It turns out people love getting out and about, having something to eat for lunch, but also shopping there at Highpoint on a Sunday. This is truly fantastic. I have been down to the pick-up stop, the bus stop there at the Sunshine bus interchange, next to the station. It is incredibly busy. I know when I went down there to do a bit of SCTV filming, there were a bunch of school students who were heading off to Highpoint shopping centre. They were not from Sunshine, they had bussed it into Sunshine. But they were there at the 408 bus stop. They asked what I was doing, and I said, ‘It’s very exciting. I’m advocating for more services.’ They were so excited, because they said they will not have to wait as long to get on a bus to head on over to Highpoint shopping centre to do some shopping. It was great to see local westie kids having a great time together, getting out and about and heading to another fabulous shopping location in the western suburbs.

Another really important funding boost that I was really glad to see was that we are funding $17 million to expand support for homeless Victorians, with nine new outreach teams to operate across Victoria. This is the stuff that never makes the news, but I can tell you I have had so many conversations over the past 12 months about locals concerns in relation to homelessness in the western suburbs but also particularly in Sunshine. Through their advocacy and the advocacy of a bunch of western suburbs MPs, I am so pleased to see that $17 million is in this budget to expand support and outreach services for homeless people that are doing it really tough at the moment. I am really happy to say that two of these new teams will be based in my electorate, with one servicing the Brimbank–Melton region and the other for the western Melbourne region which stretches from Wyndham all the way to Maribyrnong. These teams really are critical to supporting rough sleepers in our community and linking them to services that can actually help them.

This is an incredible budget. It is a responsible budget. It is a surplus budget. It is a budget that delivers for all Victorians. It particularly delivers for working families and busy people that are really struggling at the moment. It offers cost-of-living support to give people a little bit more money back, week to week, whether it is just under 100 bucks or just under 200 bucks. There is so much in this budget for Victorians, and I absolutely commend it to the house.

 Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (11:23): I encourage members of the Labor government to spend a bit of time, if they have not already, looking at Jim Chalmers’s budget speech and his post-budget interview with Sarah Ferguson on 7.30. That was an example of a political leader coming clean with the electorate about the decisions they have taken and the reasons they have taken them. It is very, very different to the approach being taken by this government in relation to the Maroondah Hospital commitment: too mean, too tricky, too evasive, too insincere, simply not coming clean with voters in the eastern suburbs that the project has been shelved. Clearly it has been shelved. You cannot have a $1.1 billion project simply disappear from the budget and then continue to pretend that the thing is still on foot. The Minister for Health in the other place yesterday was asked repeatedly about the status of Maroondah Hospital, and she took the opportunity to speak about every single other hospital project the state government has underway, without mentioning Maroondah at all. And my plea to the government is: do not duck and hide on this – come clean. Come out, as you should have done before the budget, once the decision was taken to can the Maroondah project, and simply say, ‘We’ve come to a different view. Yes, we made a commitment in 2018 to a new children’s emergency department. Yes, we made a commitment in 2022 to a $1.1 billion rebuild that was going to see shovels in the ground by 2025. We did all that. We made those commitments, and do you know what? We’ve formed a different view. Circumstances change.’ I do not adhere to the view that government should blindly be bound by every single election commitment when circumstances change.

If there is a material change in circumstances, I think it is okay for governments to go out and say, just as the federal Treasurer did last night, ‘We’ve formed a different view. We’re taking a different approach, but we’re going to come clean with the Australian people, as Treasurer Chalmers did, and we’re going to explain the reasons why.’ I think that is a reasonable approach. Regrettably the Allan Labor government has not taken that approach in relation to Maroondah. They are simply ducking, weaving, hiding, being mean and tricky, being insincere, not giving the voters of the eastern suburbs the basic respect and recognition to say, ‘Do you know what, we’ve formed a different view. We are now going to sandbag seats in the west. We are now writing off Glen Waverley, we are writing off Bayswater, we are writing off Ringwood and we are writing off Monbulk. We simply don’t care about those eastern suburbs seats anymore. We’ve taken a political decision to sandbag other seats to hang on to our majority, and we’re simply not prioritising them anymore.’ Now, that is a political calculus that is a matter for others, some of them in this room, some of them not. I do not necessarily dispute the political logic. I think it is unethical, but I do not dispute the raw, pragmatic and political logic that sits behind a decision like that if your goal is to retain government at all costs. But at a minimum what I think you need to do is come clean with the voters about the decision you have taken.

The government has not even owned the decision. They are still pretending that there is a project that is on foot, a project that four years after the announcement has had little to no money spent on it, has no provision in the budget papers, has no plan, has no business case and has no study. There is nothing to show for four years of a key election commitment for a $1.1 billion project. This is not a playground in a local park. It is not one classroom at a local primary school. It is an absolutely fundamental commitment in health of a very, very large capital project that has advanced exactly not at all over the course of the last four years. It has not advanced at all in that time. As I say, the political calculus clearly is that Labor can retain its majority in this chamber whilst losing the seats of Ringwood, Bayswater, Glen Waverley, Monbulk and others. It can lose all of those seats and retain its parliamentary majority – that is the political calculus that has clearly been arrived at. As I say, whilst I think it is unethical and is an awful, awful, awful outcome for my community, the political analysis may very well hold. But at a minimum you have got to front up and say it is what you are doing – and clearly it is what the government is doing.

You cannot pretend with a $1.1 billion project that has completely disappeared. If you press search on the budget papers and type in the word ‘Maroondah’, you get zero hits. That is the reality. It is nowhere to be found in the budget papers. There was a dedicated Hospital Infrastructure Delivery Fund that had $115 million-odd that has been soaked up by the delivery of a hospital in Dandenong, and all the other money – the other residual money, which was about $20 million – was spread over three hospitals, Wonthaggi, Maroondah and one other over the preceding three years. That money is gone, and there is zero, nothing, to show for it. And prospectively there is zero, nothing, not a nickel, being allocated to Maroondah. A $1.1 billion commitment is completely gone. What does that do to Rachel Halse, who is out in the field in her scrubs every day talking about the importance of health and now has had completely pulled from underneath her this core commitment that was made in 2022, this commitment from 2018, which she herself featured in the marketing of in her capacity as the spouse of the then member for Ringwood? She was in the marketing for the 2018 commitment. Eight years ago Labor goes out and says, ‘We’re going to have a children’s emergency department.’ It does not exist. There is no planning, nothing, not even a mention.

Now, as I say, governments are within their rights to change their minds when circumstances change. Clearly there has been a massive deterioration in the government’s budget position, and that is self-evident in the fact that peak debt in the state is now beyond the forwards. The forward estimates do not even get you to peak debt. But at a minimum you have got to go out and own it. Come clean, I say to the government. Come clean with the constituents of my electorate and the constituents of the surrounding electorates and say, ‘Hey, sorry. We made a commitment. We can’t honour it. We don’t have the money. We’ve decided to spend the money elsewhere. The budget reflects the priorities of the government, and Maroondah is no longer a priority – whoopsie,’ and then own the political consequences of that, and the political consequences are pretty obvious.

Ringwood is right on the margin for the coalition to be able to form government in Victoria. It might very well be the 45th seat, depending on how One Nation tracks, and you need to be realistic about the possibility of being able to win Ringwood when you are the coalition, despite the 7.5 per cent margin. You have got no incumbent contesting, and you have got a major commitment for that electorate being torn up privately, being torn up in secret – not actually someone walking out the front and saying, ‘Hey, by the way, we’ve decided to tear up the project’; they have just disappeared it off the map.

What are we seeing in this budget? It saddens me that not just has that massive project been disappeared for my community but we are seeing cost overruns, we are seeing delayed infrastructure, we are seeing scaled-back projects and broken promises. Governments can survive isolated mistakes. They can even survive changes of mind if they own them, which this one does not. But when enormous spending is repeatedly accompanied by waste, by delays, by poor planning and by an overwhelming lack of transparency, then public confidence begins to collapse, and it actually collapses not just in the ruling party – in this case the Labor Party – but in the system itself. We ought not to extrapolate too much from what went on in Farrer last weekend but for this: that was a coalition seat that was held on a comfortable two-party preferred majority, the primary vote. Let us just set aside two-party preferred for a moment. The primary vote in Farrer for One Nation went from 6 per cent to 39 per cent in one year. I cannot remember a time when any party in any election went from 6 –

Members interjecting.

Will FOWLES: No, it went from 6, so they had to have contested the previous one. It went from 6 to 39 per cent in 12 months, member for Brighton, from 6 to 39. That is a phenomenal political result, and it is terrifying. It is terrifying for the future of politics in Victoria too, because there are a whole bunch of Nationals seats up there that are clearly going to fall to One Nation and there is a lot of pressure on Labor seats in the north and the west of Melbourne as well.

I have made the point previously in this place that One Nation has not changed in the 25 years since I protested against Pauline Hanson attempting to hold a One Nation party meeting in Hawthorn town hall. I linked arms with thousands of people to help prevent that meeting occurring in 1998 outside Hawthorn town hall. Pauline Hanson’s world view and her politics have not changed. Clearly the electorate has. Clearly there is gross dissatisfaction with the major parties, and it is the sort of dissatisfaction that frankly is fomented by actions like not owning your decisions, not actually coming clean with the people of Ringwood that you have binned a project. It is all you need to do. There are cameras here everywhere. You need only walk out the front and say, ‘Do you know what – we changed our minds,’ and then leave it to the voters to decide. But to pretend that you have not changed your minds is too tricky, too mean, too silly.

What do we have in Victoria? We have an infrastructure pipeline that we cannot afford. It is a shrine to the rampaging ego of Daniel Andrews, and it is basically in the process of giving this government zero flex – no ability to respond to changes in circumstances, no meaningful ability to respond to a war in Iran, and no meaningful ability, apparently, to respond to a bushfire in Longwood. The response to the Longwood fires, which were almost exactly the same in scale economically as the fires of 2019, has been a pittance compared to the response in 2019. In 2019 there was budget capacity, and the government went out – rates deferrals, rates discounts, stamp duty discounts, tourism promotion. None of that has been seen this time around, and that is a very great shame. That is what happens when you allow the rampaging ego of the former Premier to drive the government off a cliff with a massive overcommitment to infrastructure.

I do not think there is a single infrastructure project that on paper does not have merit as a project. But when you lose control of the funding of it, when you lose control of the running of it, when you lose control of the cost outcomes, then you start having very, very real impacts on the ability of the government to respond to unforeseen circumstances and even to meet its core commitments. Interest payments become the third-biggest line items over the forward estimates: health, education, interest – not housing, not roads, not a whole bunch of other very, very worthy activities. You have just got to be really careful when you go down this path, and Daniel Andrews held this government hijacked to his own ego and as a result delivered up an infrastructure program that, regrettably, Victorians can no longer afford.

I have spoken about Maroondah Hospital. I want to speak a little bit, in my remaining 2½ minutes, about cost of living generally. Clearly there are rising housing costs, rising energy costs, rising insurance costs, rising taxes and charges. There is a very simple expectation in public finances, and in private finances, frankly: if you pay more, you should get more. Yes, infrastructure has been delivered. Metro Tunnel – great project, really good project. It has been delivered – fantastic. But the cost overruns on a whole range of other projects are going to make it harder and harder and harder for the government to provide the cost-of-living relief that my constituents and constituencies right across this great state of ours so desperately need. Many communities feel they are moving backwards. And the absurd housing target that this government committed to – 800,000, I think, over 10 years – they are going to fall miles short of, because you cannot live in a permit. Changing permits is only a tiny, tiny part of the problem. There has been no meaningful microeconomic reform in the construction industry. This is an industry that has had 20 years of zero productivity growth. You have got corrupt actors like the CFMEU poisoning the well every day, making it increasingly difficult for the Labor government to get anything done even remotely near the initial price estimates. Without micro-economic reform, the construction industry will continue to fail not just the government but Victorians more generally.

Finally, in my final minute, budget honesty matters, transparency matters and realistic commitments matter, because eventually reality catches up with governments. You cannot just endlessly announce billion-dollar projects, mega infrastructure promises and new spending commitments without having a sustainable financial underpinning. Clearly it is not sustainable. If you have to walk away from a core and obvious and public commitment like the commitment made in relation to Maroondah Hospital, clearly there is a sustainability problem sitting at the very, very heart of your budget. Long-term economic plans must be realistic, they must have proper priorities, they must have disciplined spending and they must reduce waste, or you simply will not be able to do the things that the voters of Victoria expect you to do and the matters upon which you will be most soundly judged come November of this year.

 Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Education, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, Minister for Medical Research) (11:38): This year’s budget is delivering real outcomes for the people of Niddrie and the surrounding community, with practical investments focused on the things local families need and care about: better schools, improved public transport, safer roads, stronger health care and meaningful cost-of-living relief.

When I joined this place back in 2012 I said I wanted my legacy to be building education and fundamentally investing in every school in my community, beginning with Essendon Keilor College, and we have come so far it is incredible. Every time I speak to local parents they want their children learning in modern 21st century facilities, and with the member for Essendon, it was wonderful to go out to Essendon North Primary School last week to see firsthand this school that has been around for more than a hundred years. It was built in 1920, but this $24 million investment is the biggest investment this school has had in a century. The member for Essendon and I met with Kate Barletta, the principal, and you could see that this $24 million investment is going to mean so much for this school, with its upgraded classroom wings and, importantly, new classrooms for the school students.

I also had the great pleasure to phone call and speak with the Keilor Heights principal Victoria Graham. It is a fantastic school. We have invested already in an upgrade of its synthetic oval and its sports facilities, and to be now providing a $10.5 million upgrade to improve the learning environment for local children gives me such heart.

Under the great leadership of Adam Potter, the principal at Essendon Keilor College, students are also getting upgraded facilities and improvements. Adam has brought a real culture of improvement and excellence to Essendon Keilor College, with their core values of ‘Be respectful, be engaged, be aspirational, be a learner’. I congratulate Adam and the great team he has built behind him on continuing to do such great work at EKC. To be out at the year 12 graduation earlier this year was a very proud moment.

I am also proud of our investment in the Niddrie Autistic School. We have invested as a government – every single state specialist school has received upgrades, and Niddrie Autistic School has also been included. But this budget also continues the funding for the outside school hours care initiative. This program has a double dividend of supporting parents, particularly mothers, to get back into the workforce and take up additional training and TAFE while their children are getting that outside support and care in the environment they know well: their local specialist school. It also dovetails so well with our record investment in disability inclusion. We have invested record investment in a program that began in 2021, making sure every child’s needs get met in every classroom in every corner of our state. That began in 2021 and has continued under this budget with more than $2 billion invested. When I meet with families and when I meet with parents, as the Premier herself did on budget day, we know this is something only Labor governments do. This is the transformative impact of real, good, cutting-edge social policy. When the Commonwealth looks at the NDIS reforms announced in the budget last week, I can tell you a place they look at is Victoria, because of the work we are doing in early education, in our primary schools and beyond, making sure every child gets the wraparound services and support they need. That leads me to the record investment we are continuing to make in health care. The new Footscray Hospital, the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the Sunshine Hospital – these are transformative investments for Melbourne’s western suburbs.

Public transport is something I am passionate about delivering for the people of Niddrie. This budget gives a significant uplift to the route 476 bus service. It goes right through my electorate all the way up to Watergardens, and I am very proud of that. As a former public transport minister I was passionate about the fact that only steel wheels I knew out in Niddrie were the tram wheels. To be getting those next-generation trams that are now out to market, out running on route 59 for testing, is critically important. But more than that comes the accessible level stops to make sure people of all abilities get to get on the new G-class trams. There is development funding in this budget for Keilor Road to get the tram stops that the locals will need.

We know how important local sports clubs are to real community strengthening. Out in my electorate of Niddrie everyone is passionate about their sport – their local football, their local soccer, their local basketball. That is why in this budget too there is funding for the pavilion upgrade at Avondale Heights Football Club. There is the Avondale soccer club – more upgrading for them. One of the great initiatives that have been growing in the community of Niddrie is Horseshoe Bend community farm – the century-old farm at Horseshoe Bend in Brimbank Park. That was a disused farm. Thanks to locals and volunteers it now is a thriving place where the community come, grow vegetables and distribute them to night markets. I have been there firsthand with the Minister for Environment on a Friday night and seen the volunteers, and volunteerism is something our communities need more of. To everyone out at Horseshoe Bend, I am so proud to be delivering over $100,000 to support your important work to continue supporting everybody.

Local roads – the Niddrie electorate is bound by major highways from the Tullamarine to the Calder. We are delivering important funding and maintenance upgrades for those important freeways. We also note the significant cost-of-living investments in this budget. Wherever I travel, wherever I move around the community, everyone says to me that has been a game changer – the half-price discount for public transport. It has seen a real uptick in our bus services, our trams and our trains. That is a great thing for bringing people together and getting people on public transport. It is also tackling transport emissions as well as helping people with their hip pocket. We know too the price of car registration is a real big expense that rolls in to people’s letterboxes and online, and that 20 per cent discount is a real cost-of-living measure that makes sure everybody gets that opportunity to access it.

I also want to just address one issue that I think we do need to address.

Sadly, the alternative Premier yesterday only spoke about non-government schools, and I remind the opposition that we run a world-class public school system with 18 of 20 –

Members interjecting.

Ben CARROLL: The member across knows that we have funded many schools across his electorate, across Kew, because under this government – I as the member and the member before me used to have to bring doors in to see Martin Dixon, the former education minister. You could not get him out into the community. This government has put record investment into more than 2300 upgrades. And while the opposition talk about debt, I remind them it was a Liberal Premier by the name of Henry Bolte that ran gross state product at 50 per cent. Under our government it is at 24 per cent, the gross state product to debt ratio. What we know too is – they like talking about debt – $460 billion of assets is what we have built as a government, which is record infrastructure investment. We have gone from a Liberal government that spent all its time looking for a black cat and promised to bring the Red Bull race to Victoria – those were their two big priorities. They spent four years trying to find a black cat and bring the Red Bull race to Victoria. Look at what the Andrews and Allan Labor governments have done. We have transformed this state. We are continuing to invest in it, and we always will continue to make sure that every child, every person gets every opportunity.

I commend Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers for what they did last night, because they are making sure that we back young people, as we are doing for housing as well. We know the naysayer opposite me put his résumé in to be the Shadow Treasurer and it was rejected out of hand, and that is why he is now where he is. And we all know Mr Trustworthy over there. Every time he talks to a member on his own side his numbers go backwards in the party room, and Jess Wilson got him hook, line and sinker. We know he thinks he has still got a future, but we also know he is obviously nervous about the teals. He has been talking about the teals all through my speech, because they are coming. They are coming for him, and they know his party is lining up with One Nation. With the preference deal they have done in Nepean, the preference deal they did in Farrer, we all know that he is lining up with One Nation, and I would love to see what the people of Brighton and the people of Kew think of an alternative government that has already said, ‘We’ll rip up treaty without even giving it a chance.’ We know the people of Kew and the people of Brighton will be dismayed that that is the moral leadership that is coming from those opposite.

James Newbury interjected.

Ben CARROLL: I have got a very good primary, mate. I would compare my primary to yours any day. I know under the Allan Labor government we will continue to make record investments. We know what we have already done. In health – world-class infrastructure. In transport – world-class infrastructure. In education we have gone from being at the halfway mark on NAPLAN results all the way up to 18 out of 20. We are leading on every measure. One in two schools built across the nation is built right here in Victoria, and that is what we will continue to do.

I am very proud to be part of a Labor government that makes sure we leave nobody behind. As I said yesterday in the chamber, to be with the Premier on budget day with families and parents of kids with disabilities spoke to the values of this Premier and this Labor government. Compare that to the alternative Premier on the other side, who spent her budget week talking to a bunch of Liberal Party donors discussing how she is going to cut one in seven public servants. Cutting one in seven public servants – and I noticed the Department of Education is at the top of the list – will have a real impact on NAPLAN results. Every movement in NAPLAN adds about $50 billion to our gross state product. It increases everything, and we are continuing to do what we need to do, while those opposite will cut the public servants. We know the role models, whether it is Jeff Kennett or Josh Frydenberg, are all pulling the strings behind the scenes. We know that, and they are already lining up for their cuts. And it was great to see that more people on the nightly news paid attention to us highlighting the cuts that are going to occur under a Wilson-led government compared to that shocking speech that was delivered yesterday, which had nothing on public education, nothing on public schools. It was all about what they will do for private schools.

I remind the Leader of the Opposition: there is nothing more important for our economy and for our society than investing in education.

It is the fundamental, most important resource we have in the state. We are not a resource-rich state. It is a knowledge-based economy that will always drive Victoria. That is why we are continuing to make sure we do all the investments we need to do. I want to commend the Treasurer for the speech she gave in this chamber, which spoke about the values. It spoke about getting the budget and making sure we made the tough decisions through this process. This budget is actually smaller than what it was last year by around $10 billion, but that is because we are doing more with less. We are also making sure that we do not take the knife to essential frontline services. We have been through that before. Whether it was the government’s sustainable initiative under Premier Baillieu or whether it was Jeff Kennett’s savage cuts. Jeff Kennett said he would not –

James Newbury interjected.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Excuse me, Deputy Premier. You will have the opportunity to make a contribution next. Could you please listen to the Deputy Premier.

Ben CARROLL: In my own electorate of Niddrie at the Niddrie Autistic School that we have invested in, if you go out there now you will find the oval is a housing development thanks to Jeff Kennett. Jeff Kennett sold the oval off of this most vulnerable primary school. Do you know what else he tried to do in Niddrie? He tried to make what this Labor government did – the beautiful Valley Lake estate – a toxic waste site. Jeff Kennett came out to Niddrie and said, ‘I’ll turn Valley Lake into a toxic waste site.’ We went all the way to the Supreme Court to fight Jeff Kennett, and we will go everywhere we need to go to fight Jess Wilson and her cuts too.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): I remind the Deputy Premier to use correct titles, please.

Ben CARROLL: We know under our Labor government that we will invest in every corner of the state, that postcode will not be destination, that education will be destiny. We will back in the federal government too, on making sure young people can get into the housing market. I notice Angus Taylor has not said he will reverse any of those changes already. He has already come out trying to have a bet each way: ‘I’ll oppose them, but I don’t think I’ll change anything when it comes to an election.’ And that is why under our Labor government, we are speaking to that next generation, making sure we make those critical reforms to make sure wealth is spread evenly, that equality of opportunity drives every policy decision. What you saw from our Treasurer’s budget speech to the Chalmers budget speech speaks to Labor governments and why they matter. In a world that is changing so rapidly at the moment, Labor governments matter because Labor people leave nobody behind.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (11:53): I rise to speak on the budget bills, the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and Appropriation (Parliament 2026–2027) Bill 2026. Victoria needs fixing. In November this state will have the opportunity to be fixed. I would say to every Victorian, ‘Here is your chance. In November you have that chance. You have the chance to fix this state. If you elect a Liberal–National coalition, we will fix this state.’ This state really needs fixing. We have seen it both over the time of this term and over the last 12 long years of Labor, but you can put this most recent budget at the top of the list in identifying a government that has both lost its way and fails to have a plan to fix the serious issues that all Victorians are now facing. When it comes to a record of economic mismanagement that is, by contrast across this entire nation, the worst government in Australia, this budget clearly showed why that is the case. But more than that, when it comes to sentiment, when it comes to business, when it comes to cost of living and when it comes to crime and lawlessness on the streets, we have problems in this state, and in November we will have an opportunity to turf out this government as they deserve to be turfed out and elect a Liberal–National Jess Wilson–led coalition government.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Excuse me, member for Brighton, correct titles.

James NEWBURY: This budget was shameful – absolutely shameful. It is a $200 billion debt bomb that this government is gifting not only to every Victorian but to every future Victorian. Paying back this debt bomb, which is now going off because of the baked-in interest that it is costing every Victorian, is unfairly shaping how Victorian taxpayers money can be used not only today but into the future. I mean, there is something so incredibly offensive about a government that would recklessly use Victorian taxpayers money in the way that they have. This government has forgotten that every single dollar that comes into a government coffer was first earned by a taxpayer – I often say the sweat and hard work of a taxpayer. This government treats the private sector and people who earn money with absolute contempt. Over the life of this government what they have done is move the public sector into the centre of the economy and move the private sector out, crowding them out and treating them with contempt. The private sector have now across many sectors fallen to their knees. Is there any surprise? You look at the way the economy is now not operating and you say to yourself, ‘Well, that is an obvious outcome of that decision.’

On the specifics of this budget, we have a $7.7 billion cash deficit and, as I said, a $200 billion debt bomb. $32 million in interest payments per day is what we will soon be paying. That is dead money. So Victorians are working to pay interest on an unsustainable level of debt. They are working to pay taxes to pay that debt, and their money is being flushed down the toilet. It is absolutely offensive. We see billions in tax revenue growth but at the same time cuts in things like public order and safety. At a time when we are in a crime crisis, the government is cutting public order and safety. It is absolutely outrageous. You would think that when more money is coming in and taxpayers are being taxed more, we would have the best services in the nation. It only makes sense that if you are taxing everyone more than every other state, you would have the best services in the country. What a joke. No Victorian thinks that. Most Victorians think we are being taxed the most and getting the worst services; that is how every Victorian feels. I will tell you what, if we are marking people on this government’s service delivery, well, I do not think they are going very, very well. People are angry – they are absolutely angry – and so they should be, because their money is being wasted and the services are not up to standard.

On top of that, they are not safe in their own homes, as we know. Over the life of this government, the reason we have got to this point is because we have seen this government introduce or increase 67 taxes. We have seen a doubling of payroll tax and a quadrupling of land tax, and property taxes of course are now going to be increased following the broken promises of the federal government’s Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers. I will tell you what, you certainly would not trust them to keep their word – their word is worth nothing – but we know with Labor prime ministers that is always the case. We have seen many, many Labor prime ministers committing to never, ever, ever introduce taxes. Keating, Gillard and Albanese are all cut from the same lying cloth.

In terms of the new taxes, there are some big ones: emergency services tax, GP payroll tax, schools tax, short-stay tax, windfall gains tax, vacant residential land tax – all taxes introduced under this shameful government. I want to talk about our alternative, and our leader outlined our 10-year economic vision. It is a vision that Victorians can believe in, rely on and trust. It is a vision that they can see from us, I hope, and feel sure about.

They can see an opposition who will deliver good government, who will fix the books and, in doing so, fix the state. What we have committed to is delivering a cash surplus by 2032, responsibly and in a way where we can make broader decisions to make sure we fix this state – not a fake surplus that has only been written into the books because of a dodgy backroom deal with a Labor donor, and we know that is what Labor has done, but a real surplus.

We have also committed to expanding upon our five strong tax cuts that we have previously announced, with two more. I want to spend a moment talking about those, because they are significant announcements, frankly game-changing announcements, that build to a tax cut narrative that Victorians have been hoping for and that business can rely on. If we can get the private sector to trust this future coalition government to bring money back into this state, this state will absolutely fly. We have committed to an increase in the payroll tax threshold of $1.1 million in year 1, $1.2 million in year 2 and a reduction in metropolitan payroll tax to 4.8 per cent in year 4, which will deliver relief to 23,000 Victorian businesses. For the most part that is 23,000 families, so you are talking about the best part of a hundred-thousand people who will be positively affected by that. It means the cost of hiring someone else is lower, bringing another Victorian into a job, because that is what we should be aiming for – encouraging the private sector to grow so they can hire more Victorians. Everyone wins, except the Labor government and the public sector.

Secondly, our land tax relief package. This is important because there have been immoral decisions taken by this government on land tax – not just wrong, not just financially wrong, but immoral. We will lift the land tax threshold back to $300,000 progressively. That will help 270,000 taxpayers. I have spoken about it in this house. I remember receiving contact, when the government made that change, from a nurse, a single mum of a primary school–aged boy, who bought a one-bedroom apartment for her son. Her hope was that if she did extra shifts, by the time he became 20, in her mind, she would have paid off that one-bedroom apartment and she could give that to her son. The threshold change meant she was forced to sell it. I remember talking to her on the phone and she was crying her eyes out because she was a hardworking nurse who was doing extra shifts to give something to her son, and that is what this government took away. We talk about numbers in this place, but our announcement on land tax means that nurse in my community has hope that they can build for their family’s future. That is what we believe in as a coalition. We want to say to people like that constituent of mine: ‘If you work hard, we’ll back you. If you work hard, we’re not going to tax you.’ That is the difference: Labor taxes you; we will back you. That is why this particular commitment means so much to me, because I know how much it means to residents, not only in my community but more broadly. The average saving from that commitment is $975 a year. That is a big, big saving to mum-and-dad investors, and we know that it is mum-and-dad investors, mostly, almost solely, who will be affected by that.

We have also talked about a hiring freeze in certain sections of the back office of the public service. The government has tried to start a scare campaign on that, but we know that Victorians can see straight through it.

The public service has grown by 60 per cent in 10 years. At the same time population growth has been just under 20 per cent. Victorians know there is a problem. In fact the Premier and Treasurer have admitted there is a problem, and that is why not only have they admitted a problem, but, as the Premier said, she has cut thousands of public service workers.

More than that – this is one of the most immoral parts not only of the budget but of budget management and economic management more broadly – we know, in terms of budget management, the government has also overseen at least $15 billion, but up to $30 billion, of corruption of government money on government projects and a Premier who has refused to look at where the money has gone and find it. How can you admit to corruption and corrupted money under your watch and then refuse to look for it? I think every Victorian knows the answer why. We will hold a royal commission, and I have said this: we will hunt people down and we will find the money, because it is not anyone’s money other than Victorians’. Every corrupted dollar has come from a hardworking Victorian, and we will find it. That will be a big difference when people go to vote at the end of this year: this government does not want to find the corrupted money; we will. We will find the culprits who took that money, and that is a commitment to Victorians.

On top of that, we have committed to acting strongly on the crime crisis with more police. If you break bail, you will face jail; adult crime, adult time – important commitments. But at a local level I would say to the government: again my community has been let down. Brighton Primary School – shocking. We have had a primary school bathroom without a floor for a year – disgraceful. We have got no police station open at night. PSOs have just been ripped off our train stations, and the government is trying to shove 20-storey towers into my community because of how much this government hates my community.

This government has got it wrong, but Victorians have a chance in November to fix this state. A Liberals–Nationals coalition will fix this state. This budget is a shameful disgrace, but in November every Victorian will have the chance to fix Victoria.

 Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (12:08): I rise to support the 2026 Victorian state Labor budget, and I do so following the member for Brighton, who, mind you, was the failed Shadow Treasurer in the previous opposition shadow front bench. He did such a great job of developing alternative finances that they sacked him as the Shadow Treasurer, so he has got absolutely no credibility whatsoever to come in this place and to lecture us about what it means to develop a budget that helps Victorians.

It is a budget that is all about making life easier, safer and more affordable for all Victorians. It focuses on the things that matter – all the things that the Leader of the Opposition did not say anything about in her budget reply speech yesterday: cost of living, frontline and essential services, jobs, education, transport, health and wellbeing, the tourism sector, sports, creative and cultural economies, environmental open space, sustainability and affordable energy, social justice and of course community safety. But it is also a budget that stands in stark contrast to the alternative and the ignorance of the Liberal, National and One Nation coalition that would like to govern Victoria as the alternative. Our budget is a genuine Labor budget that is grounded in the economic challenges and realities of what is occurring internationally, nationally and locally.

Around the world and here at home families are making those hard choices. They are weighing up what they can go without and holding tight to what matters most. The war in the Middle East has been pushing up prices and punishing many Australians and Victorians. We did not decide when this war began and have no control over when it will properly end, but how we respond and how we help the community through this is up to us as a Victorian government. Since late February 2026 the Middle East conflict, whether those opposite want to accept it or not, has led to a surge in those global oil prices, intensifying cost-of-living pressures. Oil production – the Treasurer touched on this in the federal budget last night – fell by 8 million barrels a day in the first month of the war, almost eight times more than any of the other oil shocks since the 1970s.

The global oil price started the year at around $60 and now has been above $100 for the bulk of the past two months. A third of the world’s seaborne fertiliser has been stuck, putting pressure on food production, food security and supermarket prices, all because of Donald Trump’s war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz ongoing consequences. Victorian petrol prices reached an average of $2.50 per litre in late March 2026, an increase of 85 cents per litre. This has continued to compound pre-existing international and national inflationary and interest rate pressures and is affecting every facet of our community. Our Labor budget recognises this and makes the appropriate provisions in helping families and households to combat these price rises. But what did the Liberal opposition leader say to all this yesterday?

A budget is not an exposition on geopolitics, on Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East or the President of America.

Of course they are denying what is happening internationally, just like they denied COVID. They are now denying the war in the Middle East is having an impact on the state’s finances and the state’s budget.

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, the member for Pascoe Vale is quite excited, but he does need to be factual. I ask you to make sure he is.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): It is not up to me to determine what is factual and what is not. The member is being relevant to the debate. The member can continue.

Anthony CIANFLONE: Thank you, Acting Speaker, and I am being factual by quoting literally the words of the opposition leader and what she is implying. We know they want to deny that this is a war that was started by Donald Trump, because they have to pander to that right-wing extremist group of One Nation that they are increasingly threatened by. We saw what happened in Farrer, we saw the major swing that happened in Nepean and we know the Liberals and the Nationals are shaking in their boots. They are shaking in their boots, so they are denying.

This is a budget that recognises those challenges, and contrary to some claims of those opposite, it is built on strong, stable and resilient economic foundations, which allow us to keep helping people. Our budget confirms a surplus of more than $727 million in 2025–26, $1 billion in 2026–27, $1.9 billion in 2028–29 and $2 billion by 2029–30 over the forward estimates. It is a $1.7 billion average surplus over the forward estimates. I draw that as a contrast. We are the first state on the eastern seaboard to arrive at a surplus. That is a fact, whether the Liberals like that or not. Look at what is happening in New South Wales, for example. They are handing down a deficit of $3.4 billion. Their Liberal mates up in Queensland are handing down an $8.6 billion deficit at the same time, and we in Victoria are in surplus. It is also why we are investing, though, building on that economic foundation to keep doing more.

We have created 900,000 jobs since 2014 and added $138 billion to the Victorian economy. More than 646,000 jobs have been created in the last six years alone. Employment growth in Victoria is 21 per cent up, compared to 17 per cent for the rest of Australia over the last six years, and a 67.7 per cent employment participation rate across Victoria – historic highs. That is in contrast to the Libs, who left us in 2014 with an unemployment rate at almost 7 per cent, whereas we have contained unemployment with a ‘4’ in front of it consistently. Business investment is up, at 44 per cent over the last six years, versus 30 per cent across the rest of Australia. 123,000 new businesses have opened up in Victoria over the last six years. Government infrastructure investment has reached the peak of $24.2 billion, and it continues to taper down to more sustainable and comparable historic levels, to $15.3 billion by 2029–30. Net debt to gross state product as well is reducing from 24.7 per cent in 2025–26 down to 24.4 per cent over the end of the forward estimates. This is all consistent – we have been saying this all along – with our fiscal strategy, where step 1 was to create jobs and keep unemployment down, step 2 was to return to an operating cash surplus, step 3 was to return to an operating surplus, step 4 then goes on to look at stabilising the net debt level as a proportion of GST and step 5 is about reducing net debt as a proportion of GSP overall.

What is the Liberals’ position in contrast to these economic foundations? It is $40 billion in cuts across the state budget and the economy. It is sacking one in seven public service workers. I draw the attention to today’s Age –

Members interjecting.

Anthony CIANFLONE: Have a read of today’s Age. I do not know if you read the Age or just the Australian –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Through the Chair. The member for Eildon will come to order.

Anthony CIANFLONE: But I quote:

The Coalition’s promised cash surplus could only be achieved through major infrastructure or service cuts, a leading economist has warned …

…

… the Coalition would need to find savings of $26.4 billion to reach its promised cash surplus by 2032.

…

Economist David Hayward said the opposition’s path to cash surplus did not stack up, and they had not yet shown a credible path to achieving it.

…

“One of the problems is they’re going to depend on pretty significant cuts to infrastructure to achieve it,” he said.

The reality is the Liberals have no solutions, they just have cuts. You cannot make $40 billion worth of cuts without affecting frontline services in health, in education, in schools and in other essentials. The last time they were in office they promised there would be ‘no cuts to public services, full stop.’ They proceeded to then cut $250 million per year from the public service. There were 4128 public service jobs cut or replaced between 2011 and 2013. And of course the Kennett years were all about cuts, closures and sell-offs of every public asset and public job they could get their hands on. In stark contrast, we are investing in those services and cost-of-living relief supports that people need. $2.5 billion is contained in this budget towards cost of living. There is 20 per cent off car registrations, which people are warmly welcoming right across my community and many other communities. On the doors, people love it. They will be able to save about $180 per car and up to $300 for two cars –

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Anthony CIANFLONE: $370, there you go. Thank you, member for Frankston. It is $370 for two cars, and they can apply over June and July. They are welcome to contact my office. We would be happy to assist them. The federal government of course complements this with the fuel excise cuts they have introduced. We have continued to roll out the Servo Saver app, which saves people $333 per year, and we are capping petrol price rises for 24 hours, which participating service stations need to report publicly as well. There is free public transport over April and May and half-price public transport from June to December. We are continuing to support free public transport for youth and seniors on an ongoing basis as well. There is $14 million for school breakfast clubs, and there is the affordable uniforms program, which saves families about $93 on average for each application. We are retaining and expanding free TAFE, free kinder, the free Glasses for Kids in schools program, the free dental in schools Smile Squad program and free admission for under-16s to the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, Kyabram Fauna Park and the Werribee zoo as well. The Victorian default energy offer is saving households an average of $100 per energy bill. We are continuing the hot water, solar panel and battery rebates as well. The Victorian Energy Compare website helps people change electricity providers and save, and of course there is the council rate cap.

But when it comes to jobs, as I said, this budget is about growing the number of jobs in the community – 900,000 since 2014, 600,000 jobs created since 2020. It is all about investing in those frontline services of education and health, more nurses, doctors, police, paramedics, emergency services workers, social workers, child protection workers and much more. We are also looking to protect and solidify the right for people to work from home two days a week, which we will be progressing later this year. The central Coburg activity centre is all about homes, but it is also about jobs, skills and cultural and community outcomes. To that degree, along with the activity centre plan that we finalised, we are investing $153,000 towards revitalising the Victoria Street mall in the heart of Coburg.

But the biggest headline announcement for my local community out of the budget is $6.18 million towards delivering the Merri-bek Primary School concept master plan. It will be going towards realising that plan, which includes building a new covered outdoor learning area and outdoor learning spaces. Commendations to Maria Giordano, the principal; Alan Coates, school council president; Joseph Hess, the assistant principal; Belinda Slomo, business manager; and the whole school community, who campaigned so strongly for that. There were over a thousand signatures on the parliamentary petition that I tabled last sitting week. This budget contains $143,000 over 2027–28 to help kickstart and progress that work and $6.036 million over the remainder of the forward estimates to deliver the project.

We are supporting all of our local high schools as well through the Merri-bek North education plan. There is funding to deliver and complete the Coburg High technology hub, $17.8 million, which we are hoping to complete by the end of this year. We are progressing the Bachar Houli Aspire Sports academy in Coburg. There is $1 million, and commendations to the member for Broadmeadows, for Glenroy secondary college towards detailed design and the essential preparatory work for the new STEAM centre at the Glenroy centre of excellence. At John Fawkner College there is $154,000 for place-based education programs and a new science and visual arts building which we are also looking to finish in the near future.

There is $2 billion towards disability inclusion funding. We are continuing, as I said, free kinder and building that new kinder in Coburg North at the old Coburg special school site. Free TAFE will continue as well. But what is the Liberals alternative to this in education? There was no mention about 100 more new schools in the opposition leader’s speech yesterday. There was nothing about free kinder, nothing about Merri-bek Primary upgrades and nothing about free TAFE. They closed 12 schools in the community of Merri-bek when the Kennett government was last in office. They would do the same across the state again if they got back in.

On transport, Metro Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel, North East Link, Melbourne Airport Rail Link – these are all projects delivered by this Labor government and which this budget continues to make provision for, progressing $675 million to fund 25 new X’Trapolis 2.0 trains, which will be rolling out across the Upfield, Craigieburn and Frankston lines as a matter of urgency and priority in the near future as well. There is $3.6 million towards finalising the northern rail program business case and towards planning that necessary work we need to improve the services, particularly along the Upfield line but also the Craigieburn and Seymour lines through Wallan. Brunswick level crossing removals: we have committed to removing a further eight by 2030, at Albion Street, Hope Street, Victoria Street, Albert Street, Dawson Street, Union Street, Brunswick Road in Brunswick and Park Street in Parkville as well. That work will continue. That is on top of the four we have removed already throughout Coburg.

Upfield services have continued to improve: the 20-minute services on weekends have rolled out, and 20-minute frequencies on weeknights will be rolled out from later this year as well. There is funding towards improving local tram services, the Brunswick tram depot and accessible tram stop planning funding along Sydney Road, which is long overdue, and I look forward to progressing and delivering new G-class trams along route 58 on Melville Road as well. There is $100 million to improve local bus services as well, which was announced in my community. I would like to mention the 526 bus route particularly, from Coburg to Newlands, which will go to a seven-day service with 20-minute frequency, including Sundays and public holidays – thank you, Minister. And there is the petition by almost 700 locals, including Cate Hall, Maggie Cowling, Erin, William, Jo and Li, the school crossing supervisor from Coburg Primary, who so passionately advocated for that outcome. There are also upgrades to the 561 bus route, 542 bus route, 503 bus route and 508 bus route and $1 billion for road repairs and road safety measures as well.

In health, we are investing $32 billion across our entire health system to continue improving services and outcomes. Funding for local sport as well – I want to particularly acknowledge the Brunswick Hockey Club and the $468,000 to build that long-overdue pitch at McDonald Reserve on Bell Street. There are 40 teams and 560 players, with a huge rise in women and girls, and the member at the table will be very interested in this, I know for sure. It is a brand new full-size, environmentally friendly hockey pitch. It is PFAS-free to prevent environmental contamination, and there are 350-lux LED hockey lights, new hockey goals, coaches boxes, spectator shelters and fencing as well. The project will also benefit Coburg High and Brunswick Juventus soccer club, and an additional 150-lux lights will be accompanying the project as well. Commendations to Sheena Watt, member for Northern Metro; Gabe Steger, the Labor candidate for Brunswick; Cr Helen Politis; all of the Merri-bek council; Graeme Kennedy, the president of the club; Dean Paatsch, the club advocate; and all the club families and members. This is a budget also about the environment of course. It is about social justice, community safety and, importantly, cost of living.

 Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (12:23): I am delighted to rise and make a contribution on the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and the Appropriation (Parliament 2026–2027) Bill 2026. Let me talk about the budget that was delivered last week by the Allan Labor government. It demonstrated a few things to me – certainly that the Allan Labor government is still living in fantasy land. They talk about a surplus. It is an operating surplus, it is not a cash surplus, but you would not hear ‘operating surplus’ come out of their mouths. It has been propped up by the lotteries deal, and we all know there must have been a hell of a panic when they realised they were going to be in deficit, so they quickly extended that lotteries deal – for 40 years, no less.

The other thing we worked out is that Labor literally do not care about the size of the debt. Victoria’s debt is headed towards $200 billion, and they simply do not care. They want to talk about a surplus, an operating surplus, but they do not want to talk about the debt. We know that Labor is continuing to fiscally destroy Victoria. The economy of Victoria is going down the gurgler at a massive rate, and our debt is just out of control. We know that is in their DNA. We saw that last night with the federal budget heading towards a trillion dollars in debt. It is in their DNA. They do not know any other way but to continue to borrow money and hope that somebody will pay it back in the future – certainly not them.

There are those of us who remember those long, dark Cain–Kirner years – they were very, very dark. We were in all sorts of trouble with the economy, and we were literally broke. Well, we are headed to that same situation now under the Andrews and Allan Labor governments. I heard the Minister for Education say before, ‘Let’s look at what we’ve done.’ He was very proud of what they have done.

I tell you what, they have put us in $200 billion worth of debt, with no plan to get us out of it but just to continue sending that sending that figure north. That is really quite unbelievable. Victoria has seen the biggest corruption scandal in Australia’s history when you look at the $15 billion that has been siphoned off. The Allan Labor government do not even want to go looking for it; they do not even want to start the search for it, which is frightening.

We have had 12 years of mismanagement. We have had 12 years of corruption. We have had 12 years of deceit, with 67 new or increased taxes. We should be swimming in cash and we should be the envy of other Australian states, because with the taxes that have been applied there should be so much money in Victoria’s coffers. But the actual fact is the Allan Labor government is now the laughing-stock of the other Australian states. You started with a $20 billion –

Belinda Wilson interjected.

Tim McCURDY: You are the laughing-stock. You need to have a bit of –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Through the Chair, member for Ovens Valley. Member for Narre Warren North will come to order.

Tim McCURDY: Look on your own Facebook pages, and you will see what people are saying – or don’t you read the comments?

Belinda Wilson interjected.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Order! Member for North Warren North, could you please stop interjecting across the chamber.

Tim McCURDY: That is right. You started with a $20 billion debt in 2014, and you are now headed towards $200 billion in debt in the forward estimates. That is 10 times the amount of debt that you started with – absolutely disgraceful. Acting Speaker Farnham, what do we have to show for it? It is certainly not in our roads – not in my roads, not in the roads in Narracan or any other regional seat. It is certainly not shown in ambulance response times and we do not have better education outcomes or better paid teachers, because our debt is so high. The teachers are still screaming out because they are not being paid well enough, so our debt has not fixed that crisis. It is certainly not in reduced crime in our streets, certainly not in the reduction of illicit tobacco or firebombings and certainly not in more housing. So with this $200 billion that we are in debt that our children and our grandchildren will be paying as we go forward, they are going to go without services as we try to bring this debt down, because Labor has no intention of bringing this debt down. All we have seen is crime and corruption go up, and this government have their fingerprints all over it. Hospital elective surgery wait times have gone up as well. Victorians are embarrassed about the corruption and the mismanagement, and there is no plan to change this – that is the embarrassing part. It really is frightening that the Allan government has no intention of trying to reduce the debt. They just talk about a surplus and do not worry about the debt, because it is always someone else’s fault.

If you look around and listen to those on the other side, it is always somebody’s fault. Even the member for Pascoe Vale – I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. We have heard them talk about it being Scott Morrison’s fault at one stage and then it was Jeff Kennett’s fault – well, Jeff Kennett gets blamed a lot of the times – but now it is the Ukraine war, it is the Middle East war and it is also the President of the United States of America. That is why Victoria’s debt is as bad as it is! Well, I think our debt has been going up ever since Labor got into government, so it is time for them to get their head out of the sand and start to understand that they are the ones creating the debt. They are spending the money, and they need to at least look in the mirror and start to think it could be their fault, rather than blaming somebody else every time. Victoria will never recover financially under Labor, because they will not even acknowledge there is a problem. If you cannot acknowledge there is a problem, you will never do anything about it. The first step in any situation is acknowledging there is a problem, and if they cannot see the $200 billion, and the $11 billion a year that we are paying in interest only – if that is not a problem, well, you do not deserve to be on the government benches. Denial is not a river in Africa; denial is the Andrews and Allan Labor governments, who repeated the behaviour of corruption, waste and mismanagement.

The Liberals and Nationals have a plan to fix this fiscal mess, reduce crime, fix the roads, reduce the cost of living for families and fix the housing crisis. If you really want to understand the community views, as I say, look on the Facebook pages of some of the backbenchers, some of those trying to suggest that the Leader of the Opposition is going to cut. We know that is not correct at all. We have been very, very clear about a freeze on backroom bureaucrats. And if you look at those on the government benches, at their Facebook post comments, you will see that most of those agree that this is what needs to happen.

It is not a cut at all, and if you are in the Victorian public service, if you have got a job, you will still have a job come 29 November. If you retire, resign or move on, then that position will not be replaced until we get down to the level that there should be. When the Premier was asked last week if she would cut hundreds of jobs, she snapped back and said, ‘Not hundreds, thousands of jobs.’ In the Premier’s own words she said that she is prepared to sack thousands of jobs, and then they have the gall to come along and talk about the so-called cuts that are going to occur under a Liberal–Nationals government, which is simply a mistruth – it is not a lie, it is a mistruth.

Victorians are tired of this corrupt and incompetent government, and they want a change, they want a sound economic plan and they want transparency, because they are certainly not getting it under this government. They are getting deception and corruption, and it has cost Victoria dearly. The Nationals and Liberals plan is not just for next week, and it is not just for next year; it is a 10-year plan to secure Victoria’s economic future. That means fixing the budget, lowering taxes and bringing accountability and transparency back to Victoria, because that is not what we have seen for the last 12 years. Fixing the budget and returning to a genuine surplus – that is where you spend less than you make and do not have to sell something to prop that budget up. That is a cash surplus, not an operating surplus. We know with the forward selling of the lottery for 40 years that billion dollars has certainly propped up the budget. We are running out of things to sell in Victoria, so Labor will have to go because there is not much else left to sell. That is why Labor will have to leave the government benches, because there is nothing left to sell.

We are going to cut the waste and mismanagement. Look at the $13 million we spent on machete bins, which obviously were made by one of Labor’s mates – nobody needed to spend $13 million on those machete bins – and of course the $15 billion in corruption and saving $22 billion on the hiring freeze. In the first hundred days we will repeal the treaty, which will be a billion-dollar saving. Capping executive salaries – I saw another one yesterday. I forget the figures, but it is just eye-watering what they are prepared to pay their mates to do a job – $700,000 or $800,000. It is hard to quantify that any public servant is worth $700,000 or $800,000. Then, when they do pay them that much, they still overspend and the projects still blow out of budget. We will be shifting infrastructure priorities from megadebt-funded wasteful projects to local community-focused infrastructure, and infrastructure that supports all of our communities and not just Labor’s mates.

We do need a fresh start; we have heard that said a lot. Victoria is desperate for a new start, and we have had enough. We have seen in the Nepean and Farrer by-elections that things are changing. People are telling us. I was on the booth at Barooga, just across the river from my hometown in Cobram, and we heard that people have had enough – people have had a gutful. They are sick of Labor’s deception and the corruption that goes on at both the state and the federal level.

Regional Victorians want our fair share. We know we have 25 per cent of Victoria’s population and we get 12 per cent of the capital infrastructure spend. Look at our roads, look at our hospitals, and you will see they are all below par and below a safe standard. Whatever happened to having some sort of vision for regional Victoria? At the moment we have got the federal government doing buybacks in our neck of the woods up in northern Victoria, and that is hurting our communities. The environment cannot even handle the water. The river systems with constraints cannot even handle that water.

You have got a state government who will not even consider looking at dams to secure water into the future and in the long term. I have asked over the last five years about building Big Buffalo, because that land was bought back in the 1960s. I think it was Bolte that bought that land, and that land sits idle. In conjunction with other states and the Murray–Darling Basin plan, we could build Big Buffalo, and it would be a great saving of water and evaporation from some of the other lakes that are out in New South Wales – again, not trying to take their water but doing a deal with them to be more economical with the water, with less evaporation. It is about having a vision for regional Victoria, but I know Labor will not even look at that because their Greens mates, who give them supply in the upper house, will not let them even consider looking at dams.

This is the type of vision that Victoria needs to see regionally, because Victoria does not stop at the tram tracks in Melbourne. We are absolutely tired of tunnels to nowhere, corruption for Labor’s mates and debt that we cannot justify, and we are all paying that price.

I mentioned earlier a 12 per cent investment on 25 per cent of the population. To make matters worse, they have underinvested in my community. I look at Yarrawonga high school. When I first came into this place in 2010, within 3½ years we had an investment in both Wangaratta and Yarrawonga high schools. Yarrawonga is the fastest growing town in regional Victoria. We have been waiting 12 years to get another investment for the final stage of the Yarrawonga hospital; we need stage 3 funded. Three years ago we were told that it was going to be $18 million to complete stage 3. I think it is fair to say, with the way costs are going, it is probably a $20 million spend at the moment, and they handed us $9 million to make improvements to the Yarrawonga school. Whatever happened to doing it once and doing it right? This will be just another prop-up. They will do part of the project when they could have actually finished that project. For a community that is growing as fast as Yarrawonga, it is a shame that they did not really take the bit in their teeth and say, ‘We can actually fix this and solve this problem,’ and then we would not have to revisit it, because Yarrawonga would be finished. So after 12 years of fighting for this school and all the advocacy, I will keep it up, because as far as I am concerned it is only half a job, and we have got to make sure that we do that job properly. As I said, we have waited 12 years for a half-baked announcement.

We look at our CFAs. The government announced $100 million for the CFAs. Well, that is over 10 years, and $10 million a year is not going to go anywhere to help our CFAs, to keep them safe, to give them new equipment, to give them sheds. It really is just a drop in the ocean. Again, it just shows more smoke and mirrors. Ten million dollars a year will not go anywhere. Of course we are going to take it. We have just got to do the best we can and ask our volunteers to do more with less.

Victoria does need a new start, a fresh start, and in the regions we need our fair share, so it is important that we change government in November, because we do desperately need our fair share. Twenty-five per cent of Victorians know that we need that change so that we can start to get investment in the regions, some vision for the regions, and not just tunnels and all sorts of things in Melbourne. Victoria does not stop at Kalkallo, and – (Time expired)

 Mathew HILAKARI (Point Cook) (12:38): It is my pleasure to rise on these bills, and in support of them of course. I follow on from the member for Ovens Valley. He had a terrific day last Saturday at the Farrer by-election. Wasn’t that a real showing for the Liberal and National parties? He mentioned he was at the Barooga polling booth. I had a quick look at it just a moment ago, just to check how those numbers went down up there in Barooga. He spends a little bit of time in New South Wales; a lot of the Liberals and the Nationals talk about the quality of being over the border north of this state. But you would be surprised to hear that the Nationals did not go so crash-hot in this election. It was a very sad day in Barooga – less than one in 10 voters put a 1 in the box for the National Party. Overall, you would be shocked to hear they did not even feature in regional New South Wales on the 2PP count. They did not even bother adding them to it, because the 2PP count was between One Nation and the independent candidate, and One Nation at the Barooga booth actually smashed it in, with 64.69 per cent of the 2PP vote. So I do worry. The member for Ovens Valley started in fantasy land – that was his quote. The Nats existing after this election is fantasy land. The National Party existing as a party in this state is fantasy land. They talk about a 10-year plan; they do not have a 10-month plan. They need to work out what is next. Each and every one of them needs to look at themselves. Some of the best booths for One Nation in this state – all over Gippsland.

Acting Speaker Farnham, I would not reflect of course on your own seat, but there are some real challenges ahead. There are some challenges that the Nats need to meet, and they are not meeting them for punters in regional Australia or regional Victoria. So a 10-year plan – I would be a bit more focused on the here and now.

The member for Ovens Valley has been around for a while, and he talked a little bit about debt. We would of course talk about infrastructure builds, the investment in the future of this state, the new hospitals, the schools – a hundred schools in Victoria – the tunnels, the level crossing removals, the trains. He talks about backroom bureaucrats. Who does he think plans all these things? He talks about the hospitals. Who does he think is going to put together the plans for the hospital that he would love to see in his community? They will not be there – one in seven bureaucrats gone, $40 billion ripped out. Do not even worry about the bureaucrats being there because you are never going to fund the hospital when you take the $40 billion out. You would know all about this because you were part of the last Liberal government in Victoria, which built nothing for the community that I represent.

Members interjecting.

Mathew HILAKARI: She says it is untrue. The average spend – I would just love you to talk about one thing in the west of Melbourne built in that period of 2010 to 14. Nothing – nothing in Melton, nothing in Frankston, nothing in all these places, nothing in the regions. The Nats should be standing up for the regions, demanding that something get built. But do not worry, they will not be there. It will be a One Nation–led coalition on the opposition benches after the next election, because of the abject failure of the Nationals and the Liberal Party.

Of course I would like to talk about some of the wonderful things in the budget for the community that I represent. I will start off with Point Cook Road. As the Acting Speaker knows, Point Cook Road is one of the most important things for the community that I represent, and we have been getting on with the job. Sneydes Road intersection has been built, with traffic lights and duplications either side of the intersection, and we are onto Central Avenue–Point Cook Road right now. I appreciate for my community there are some really challenging roadworks going on from 28 June all the way through to mid-September. There will be roadworks going on and the closure of the bridge over the freeway. I appreciate this is a challenge for people getting around the community, but it is something that should have been done 30 years ago. We are getting on with that job right now. The next part of that project of course is the Central Avenue duplication.

I want to thank the federal government, because the federal government has finally turned up in this state. Those in the opposition: in 2010–14 I never heard a single word about the federal government not turning up, about the federal government ripping off Victorians and not spending on the infrastructure that we needed and that we deserved in this state. There was not a boo from over there on the other side, but now this federal government, a Labor federal government, has turned up and is delivering for communities like mine.

For the next project – and I thank the federal government for this as well – there is $3 million to plan the duplication of Point Cook Road between Jamieson Way and Dunnings Road. Of course this is incredibly important. It is the next part that needs to get done. Our community deserves this infrastructure spend. We need this infrastructure spend.

I want to talk about one of the things that I talk about every day when I am out doorknocking in the community that I represent: the 20 per cent car registration rebate. People appreciate that this is a challenging time and that every little bit can support them. They know that we cannot control what Donald Trump does. We cannot control the Iranian regime – of course we cannot. We cannot control access to the Strait of Hormuz. In those circumstances we are doing everything we can as a government to ease the cost of living just that little bit more, and so people appreciate it. We talk about the $186 rebate that will be available from 1 June to 31 July. For anyone listening from the community of Point Cook: please reach out to the office. I am happy to let you know, as we know, how to access that rebate. It will be for the 12 months of payments prior, so please make sure you get in touch, because that is so important for the community that I represent.

I also want to talk about the Education State. We heard the Minister for Education a few moments ago talking about the hundred new schools that we have built, and some of those schools are in the community that I represent. Yurran school is a P–9 that was built and at the moment is open on the Ngurraga special school site in Point Cook, a specialist school in the community, again something that is so needed in the western suburbs. We are so proud of the school and the opportunity for people to get the best start in life and the best support in their education. That means new schools but also great teachers; I want to shout-out all those great educators across our community. Yurran P–9 and Ngurraga school both opened this year and they are making a real difference. At the start of next year the P–9 Yurran campus will be open in its entirety alongside a kindergarten. This is because the schools are being built better, built together. If you build a kindergarten alongside a school alongside a specialist school, all on the same site, with room to grow to the 10-to-12 part of the campus later on, it means a single drop-off for so many of our parents. It is an important thing that we get those structures right. The other MPs from the south-west of Melbourne and I often talk about getting the planning right, and I am so pleased that we have got a Minister for Planning engaged in that. We want to get that right. That is part of our job and we seek to do it every single day.

We have works underway at Alamanda K–9 College, the largest state school in Victoria. People love it. They have great education there. They have great educational leaders there, and we are building the infrastructure around it. We have done stage 1; we have opened that up. It is probably the most amazing building I have seen in any school ever. It is a fantastic facility there. We have got that up, and stage 2 is on the way. We are building up at that school because it is a constrained site, so we will keep doing that. Down at Saltwater P–9 College we have funding to build two additional facilities, more spaces for another great education site in the electorate that I represent. At Homestead senior college right across the road, a few hundred metres away from there, the senior school for that part of the community, we have committed more than $21 million to build on that site too because we are about making sure that that infrastructure is in place for the community. Yurran and Ngurraga school are in a field which until last year had sheep in it. We are building the infrastructure for our community. That is something so important to those members of Parliament in the south-west of this state, making sure that the infrastructure comes in and meets the needs of the population.

We have got lots of supports for students, and the education minister is rightly proud of the effort there. I particularly note some of those things that support people with the cost-of-living challenges that we have today. We have the affordable school uniforms program that is saving $93 on the average uniform cost per application, $24 million for out-of-school care for young Victorians with disability and $16 million for the Glasses for Kids program. We have had 68,000 vision screenings and 13,700 pairs of glasses. The member for Narre Warren North and I often speak about our own kids and the challenges that they have had. They are truly life-changing, these sorts of programs. We also heard earlier the member for Pascoe Vale mention the zoos program. For my community that is one of those amazing things. Werribee zoo has been well supported by this government. We have just had a couple of baby cubs born, so get out there. I do not think you can have a play with them. You would love that.

Paul Edbrooke: Lions or tigers?

Mathew HILAKARI: They are lions there, member for Frankston. You are welcome to come across the bay anytime and visit and get out there to the elephant.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Through the Chair.

Mathew HILAKARI: Thank you, Acting Speaker. You are also welcome to visit the lion clubs and the new elephant enclosure anytime you want.

Paul Edbrooke: He needs a cuddle.

Mathew HILAKARI: That is right. Do not pat those lion cubs too closely.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): The member for Frankston will come to order.

Mathew HILAKARI: I will move on before you pull me up and sit me down. I want to talk about a couple of other really significant changes that are going on in the community that I represent as a result of this budget. The 496 and 498 bus routes for a long time have not got to the train station as quickly as they could. A very simple change – instead of turning right at an intersection, just going over the bridge and getting to Aircraft station – is a big win for our community, to see those buses more efficiently getting people where they need to go. I can say to those people in our community who live along Central Avenue: do not be concerned; we will make sure those buses continue on that road. We are working with the Department of Transport and Planning at the moment, but there will be access along that road all the time, because it is important that people can get to Central Square, to their medical appointments and to the schools that are along Queen Street and Central Avenue.

They will be remaining in place. This is a big win for commuters, knocking off 10 minutes per commuter per day – that is a really significant thing when you are in the morning rush.

I would like to talk a little bit about the Williams Landing train station lift and Parkiteer. If you are travelling along the freeway alongside Point Cook at the moment, you will see the big pedestrian bridge that leads to Williams Landing station. Williams Landing station is in the top five in the state in terms of peak-hour morning travel, so it is a hugely well-used station, but the station has not had access to elevators on the Point Cook side.

Cindy McLeish: That’s a big failure.

Mathew HILAKARI: Well, we are building it. There has been an elevator in on the other side. I mean, if only the Liberal Party would build an elevator somewhere in the western suburbs. If only they would build something in the western suburbs. If only they would turn up before 5 minutes before the election – if only. They have not even heard of the western suburbs. They have never been there. Whenever the deputy leader of the Liberal Party turns up to the western suburbs, he gets the electorate wrong.

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): The member for Eildon will come to order. Member for Point Cook, through the Chair, not across the table, please.

Mathew HILAKARI: Whenever the Liberal Party turn up in the western suburbs, do you know what they do? They cannot even find the electorate on a map. So I would love it if they built an elevator or if they built a pathway. If they knew where the western suburbs of Melbourne were without a map, without having to be told where they are, that would be incredible. I would love them to turn up at some point, and I would always welcome them with a cup of tea at the office. I am always happy to be there.

The Queen Street cycling and pedestrian bridge is under construction right now. For the Liberal Party: that is over the Laverton Creek. It is on Queen Street. It is near the big basketball stadium. Put it into your GPS and you never know, you might find it. That will provide safe cycling and pedestrian access for all members of our community. That is another thing that we are doing to make sure that we have safer roads across our area.

Finally, in the 30 seconds left, Point Cook community hospital is going up and up. It is an amazing facility: chemo, dialysis, public dental and 160 car parking spaces. It is going to be fantastic when it is done. And finally, there is $95 million for Werribee Mercy emergency department staff. We are funding those staff now because the build is almost complete. I commend this bill to the house.

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (12:53): I rise to speak on the Appropriation (2026–2027) Bill 2026 and will do so probably over the course of my time now, and then I will get to speak after lunch. This budget is not a plan for Victoria’s future, it is a credit card statement for 11 years of Labor failure. It is a budget built on higher debt, higher taxes, higher interest repayments, blowouts and delays and probably some money for corruption on the side we have not even found yet. The Allan Labor government are not serious and have no serious plan to grow the economy – they have cooked the books. They have no plan to fix it, and they have stolen from the future to pay for today.

The numbers tell the real story of this government. When Labor came to office in 2014, Victoria’s net debt sat at $21.8 billion. Labor is now driving Victoria towards nearly $200 billion in debt. Interest repayments have exploded from $2.1 billion a year to $11.8 billion by the end of their budget, and that means $32 million on interest every single day in this state. In fact right now, every single hour we are paying $1 million in interest on the debt that the Allan Labor government and their predecessors have created. In fact 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 $1 billion left over in change. The line items in the budget for paramedics, police and kindergarten teachers are less than Labor’s interest bill.

If you imagine your household budget, when you are going through each item and you have got each line item, imagine that for the Allan Labor government’s state budget. The Victorian government has line item after line item for paramedics, police and kindergarten teachers. For each of these items the amount of money that goes towards funding these services is less than the line item for what has to be paid for their interest repayments. That is absolutely financially reckless. These are the essential services we pay our taxes to receive, and instead those taxes are going to the big banks to pay interest on the debt that Labor has no plan to pay back.

As we all know, the government have also found no money to build the hospitals that they promised four years ago as well as eight years ago and all of these election commitments that they have never actually followed through on. But what they have found is a $10.3 billion pre-election slush fund. That is what the recent state budget has revealed. Victorians will see with their own eyes that there is not enough money to pay down this debt, surging towards $200 billion – a bill that future generations will have to pay back. They will see that we have to pay $29 million in interest repayments every single day, not with the government’s money but with taxpayers money.

Not only do they have that, but what they do have in this budget is a $10.3 billion slush fund, a credit card that the Treasurer can use at her discretion, at her pleasure, to swipe here, swipe there, spend on this, spend on that, spend on her pet project, spend on pork-barrelling, spend on jobs for mates, spend on corruption money – as if $15 billion was not enough – to waste Victorian taxpayers money. It is an unchecked credit card, thanks to the Victorian taxpayer, that they get to spend and to waste money with day in and day out. Victoria deserves better than this. That is why I rise to support the Leader of the Opposition’s amendment to require that any spending from this slush fund from the Treasurer’s advance must be made public within 30 days.

Victorians deserve to know the truth; they do not deserve secrecy. But we know that the Allan Labor government hates accountability. We know that they have no interest in transparency, and that is exactly why we have moved this amendment. You just look to even their federal counterparts, with the federal Minister for Sport charging taxpayers for business-class flights all over the world, charging taxpayers for flights to friends’ birthday parties. Look at the way the Allan Labor government has blocked and voted down our calls for a royal commission into the $15 billion that has gone missing to crime and corruption. That is the question that we get every day in our communities, on every social media post – not just ours but theirs also. Every single Victorian is asking, ‘Where has my $15 billion gone?’ Where is our $15 billion? Where is it? We want to see it. Where is the transparency? Where is the accountability? Victorians deserve better than this.

In 1 more minute, I do not know if I have time to outline our 10-year economic plan, but we certainly have one. A Liberal government will make Victoria the best place in Australia to do business after being ranked the worst two years running. Unlike Labor, who have burdened businesses with taxes and red tape, the Liberals will lift the payroll tax threshold from $1 million to $1.2 million over two years then lower the rate, delivering a tax cut to 23,000 businesses. We are on the side of small businesses, because when it costs less to employ people, businesses create more jobs, the economy grows and paying down Labor’s debt becomes easier. We will start reversing Labor’s 2023 land tax changes, lifting the threshold back to $300,000 over five years and putting nearly $1000 a year back in the pockets of 270,000 small businesses and everyday property owners. That is putting nearly $1000 a year back into the pockets of 270,000 small businesses and everyday property owners. We are on the side of small businesses. We believe that here in Victoria a young person starting their first business does not need to get crushed by taxes before they have even found their feet and that a tradie expanding their team, a young couple buying their first home or a graduate starting their career can get ahead. Where investment flows, jobs are created and hard work is rewarded.

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:02 pm.

Business interrupted under standing orders.