Wednesday, 13 May 2026

 Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (16:22): I rise today to speak on the appropriation bills with regard to the Victorian state budget. This budget, as we know and as has been said many times today, delivers on the things that matter most to people in the state of Victoria, but it especially matters to people in my community of Narre Warren South towards making their lives easier, safer and more affordable. This year’s budget delivers cost-of-living measures that give people money back in their pockets and provide that little bit of relief, which takes the pressure off where it is needed most. We are able to invest in the things that matter to communities across Victoria and, importantly, not cut those vital services, which those opposite have pledged that they will cut. They have promised, we know, to cut billions from the services that we all rely upon – cuts to schools, cuts to police and cuts to hospitals. We know who will be impacted most by those cuts, and it is Victorians – it is people in my electorate of Narre Warren South. They are nowhere on the side of Victorians.

While they propose, if they ever get the gift of governing, to cut crucial services and cause by-elections because of their own infighting, we are concentrating on delivering a budget that is responsive and responsible to meet Victorians needs. The Allan Labor government is helping locals in my electorate of Narre Warren South, and that 20 per cent off the rego is really going down a treat. I was out doorknocking on the weekend and spruiking that, and people were very, very happy to know that they would be getting back $186 per car from 1 June. Many of the households in my electorate actually have two cars, and I know they will be taking up the offer of saving on the regos of two light vehicles, saving up to $372. By delivering free public transport as well throughout April and May and then half-price fares from 1 June until the end of the year, we are making it easier for those who can travel by public transport to do so, and leaving the car at home saves on their fuel costs. This will save average commuters more than $1300.

Those who do commute to work tell me the free and reduced fares have made public transport even more accessible to them. And families of course are already saving through the state Labor government’s free public transport for under-18s and for seniors on weekends too, and these great initiatives will continue. With the level crossing that has been removed at Webb Street, the upgraded Narre Warren station and the Metro Tunnel opening up, there are dozens of new services every week on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, and it has never been easier to use public transport in our area.

The budget also invests $2.3 million to expand the incredible Bring Your Bills program statewide, putting financial experts and businesses in the same room as families who need it most. Last year I was really privileged to join the Premier at a Bring Your Bills event in Hampton Park. That particular day families walked away with $3 million in debt that was waived, and all of those savings were found. It is investment in programs like this that is very, very important in my community. To give you a sense of what a Bring Your Bills day actually looks like, think of a recreational space like a basketball court, and think of that basketball court filled with representatives from our major banks, from our major telcos, from our major utilities companies, that are all there with the ability to strike, there and then, money that you may be in deficit for paying. They are able to say, ‘You’re in arrears in paying these bills; we’re able to strike that today. You can’t afford to pay that bill and you’re able to show us this – these bills are cut off.’ So Bring Your Bills day matters to my community.

To know that it has been as successful as it has been in Hampton Park and regional Victoria, and to know that it will now expand throughout Victoria so that people can have that kind of debt wiped off their bills, is real cost-of-living relief. As I said, it was a privilege to have the Premier come and see exactly how that event works. It is really terrific as well when you have the regulators that attend these events too – the financial ombudsman was there as well – and it just kind of keeps the whole show ticking along nicely. The very idea for this was the brainchild of Peter McNamara, who is the CEO of South East Community Links. Peter McNamara is known to many of us, and he and his team have done fantastic work with this brilliant initiative. This investment from the government of $2.3 million will help ensure that it reaches even more people across the state.

The budget takes pressure off families, and with school-aged kids in my community, we have done that by investing $59.4 million to continue the programs that families rely upon. That includes those Get Active Kids vouchers, the free school breakfast clubs, the affordable school uniforms program and the expansion of the Glasses for Kids program to reach 330 more schools. These are long-running programs that have made a real difference in our communities and reduced school and sporting costs.

When it comes to education, our government continues to invest in education in the state budget because we know the importance of education in setting up students for the rest of their lives. A good education leads to opportunities, good jobs and citizens who can continue to contribute to our society. So we are continuing free kinder, saving families up to $2700 per child every year and helping more kids access quality early childhood education while supporting parents to return back to work.

The budget backs free TAFE as part of a $459.4 million investment in skills and training, supporting 15,000 additional students. I am very proud to see that $525,000 will go towards expanding the Academy Movement program to new schools to continue their fantastic work, improving school engagement and academic outcomes through sport. It is so terrific for kids at those schools to keep engaged with their academic learning but also to get fit – doing something that they love but keeping themselves and their minds busy as well. It is a really excellent program. One example of Academy Movement is that they run a very popular rugby program over at Narre Warren South P–12 College in my electorate, and they run a cricket academy at Alkira Secondary College, helping many young people to stay engaged at school. Depending on the facilities of the school or the area, they are now branching out into other sports as well, including adding golf, I believe, to the program this year.

This adds to other significant investments in education in my electorate that I have advocated for over the years, including the opening of the brand new Kala Primary School in Cranbourne North in term 1 this year, and that school is supporting our growing community with its state-of-the-art facilities, with capacity for up to 500 students and an onsite kinder. It is just one of the schools that was opened across the state this year, with a total of 121 schools opened since 2017. Lyndhurst Secondary College received $13.6 million in the previous budget, which will see that being upgraded. I do know that those works are beginning soon.

In terms of our local roads network, this year’s budget is delivering $600,000 to resurface Pound Road in Hampton Park. It is a really busy thoroughfare, and this work will help improve safety and ease congestion through that area. I know how important that investment is in my community, as I have spoken to many of the locals around that stretch of Pound Road. The conditions can be quite dangerous around there. We know that there is still more to do, but having this resurfacing occurring is a very important step towards better road conditions for Pound Road.

In 2026–27 the Allan Labor government will spend over a billion on fixing potholes and resurfacing roads, and that is the highest in the state’s history. We are also cleaning up the busiest freeways, including the South Gippsland Freeway and the Monash Freeway, making them safer and cleaner for motorists. It buildson other work we have done to improve local roads in the area, like work which is currently taking place to remove the roundabout at the intersection of Berwick-Cranbourne and Thompsons roads to make journeys safer.

The government continues to back our local community sport as well. The wellbeing that it brings to our areas is very important, and the ability to invest in facilities via the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund is something that is a fantastic part of the budget. It is an exciting win for Berwick Springs Recreation Reserve, because that budget invests $250,000 for new female-friendly change rooms at the ground. I know that local council, the City of Casey, which is delivering that project, was very excited to hear about the funding allocation there to allow that to occur. Whilst the Berwick Springs Recreation Reserve is home to the Berwick Springs Cricket Club, it has also expanded now to include the Berwick Churches Soccer Club, and that upgrade will help remove the barriers and improve participation for women and girls to play the sports that they love at that fantastic reserve. I started to hear from many other clubs that wish to use those facilities as soon as that upgrade was announced. These local clubs are growing at a rapid pace, and with more women and girls participating than ever before, it is really crucial that our facilities keep up with that. Local sports clubs in my electorate have continued to be bolstered under the Labor government, with new pavilions at Robert Booth Reserve and Hampton Park Bowls Club and the recently completed pavilion at Grices Road Recreation Reserve, as well as the upcoming completion of the Hampton Park Tennis Club. I guess you could say it is all happening over in Narre Warren South.

This government also continues to invest in our healthcare system, a core Labor value. I was delighted again to see that in this year’s budget an urgent care centre will be opened over at the brand new Cranbourne Community Hospital, which services my local area too.

We know how great these clinics are in helping people get the care that they need when they need it and also in taking pressure off our emergency departments. Having a new centre in addition to the one in Narre Warren will mean more people can access care that is closer to their home. We have also committed to other health programs, like the successful Chemist Care Now program, the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department and the Virtual Women’s Health Clinic. These initiatives support a responsive and really holistic healthcare system while we continue to upgrade our hospitals. We also delivered a $135 million expansion to Casey Hospital in 2020, and the upgrade to improve the emergency department at Casey Hospital is currently underway. Like many in my community, I am also looking forward to this starting to take shape. I know investments in health care are as crucial as anything as our area does continue to grow.

This is a good budget, and I commend the government appropriation bills, but the budget does not have any black holes to fill. It is timely and it is responsible as we face international challenges beyond our control. But together we can get through these times while still preserving our incredible schools, our incredible health system, the jobs and the services, all while delivering a budget surplus. We know what others would do. If they get in, they will slash and burn – cuts for all and a return to a stagnant economy and a state that will be stale, not fresh. I commend this bill to the house.

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (16:37): I think the title of this budget is a bit of a joke actually. I think the government is having a lend of regular Victorians: ‘Easier. Safer. More affordable.’ I think if you talk to just about everybody, life is certainly not easier, and with the increase in crime rates, life is certainly not safer. In fact when you are out talking to the regular person on the street, not just in my electorate but all over the place, people are worried about the huge increases in crime, and they are not feeling safer at all. ‘More affordable’ is quite laughable when we have seen the absolute waste, whether it is painting the front of a tunnel-boring machine, whether it is pot plants for the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, whether it is strippers on Big Build sites. People see all of these wasteful products, and they know that this government are having a lend of them when they are telling us that the budget is easier, safer and more affordable. Those comments certainly do not gel with me.

There is a message for Victorians here, and that message is about debt. The debt levels are absolutely extraordinary. For the last two years, when we have had the budgets handed down, I have thought, ‘Surely it can’t get worse than this.’ And then the government continue to spend, and they continue to spend with borrowed money. Last year I thought, ‘Surely – we’re at $196 billion in debt in the forwards – it can’t get worse.’ But now we are a smidgen, just a smidgen, under $200 billion in debt. It is something that is very difficult to get your head around, how much money that actually is. But I guess when you take it down a little bit and look at that being $32 million a day – for a lot of people $32 million is an amount of money that is never achievable for them in their lifetimes. Have a think about $32 million – $96 million over three days in interest. There are 88 seats in this house, so every three days I would be pretty keen to have $1 million invested in my local electorate, because at the minute I think it looks like there is just about $440,000 in the entire year that is going to be invested, which is pretty scary.

I think everyone would agree that $32 million a day is an extraordinary amount to be paying in interest payments. If this was your credit card at home, if the levels of debt were like this, you would be absolutely concerned. You would be worried that the receivers were coming in. You would be worried about every interest rate rise. I remember the former Treasurer saying to this house one day, ‘It’s cheap to borrow money.’ Of course it is cheap to borrow money when the interest rates are really low, but that changes and it has changed. We have got Moody’s and S&P waiting, watching Victoria, because they could change our credit rating at any minute. Last year in the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee it came out that the government had not done any modelling on how much extra they would have to pay if our credit rating was downgraded, and I think that is a failure of due diligence. I expect very much that the Department of Treasury and Finance have done some of this but the government is not interested, because I think that that would be an important component of the work that they needed to do.

Victoria is the worst performing state economically in the country. We have heard the government members with their talking points, talking about the surplus and how wonderful it is to have this surplus. That is a bit of a fake surplus, and I will go to that a little bit later. But Labor now is borrowing from future generations to pay for today’s spending, today’s spending just gets worse and worse and the credit card has to be maxed out. I do not know how they managed to get the debt forecast to stay under $200 billion, but for all intents and purposes I think we are safe to say that it is $200 billion. Compare that to when the coalition was in government: when we left the debt was $21.8 billion with a downward trajectory. Now we have got this debt and we have got record sell-offs. The government have flogged off just about everything that they could think to sell off, whether that is parts of VicRoads or the ports – different areas – or Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria. They claim that the coalition are the ones who sell off everything, and the record that Labor has shows that it is them. We have just seen the lotto licences. We have seen previously in that space as well they had a fire sale of some of the gaming machines way back when they first were elected.

The Transport Accident Commission has been interesting, because that has been propping up the budget, and the surplus you can very much attribute to raiding of the TAC. If you have a look at what has been paid in dividends, the actual amounts that have been paid in the last two years according to the TAC’s annual report – the most recent annual report 2024–25, on page 89, where the dividends paid are outlined – are $1.135 billion and the year before it was $1.082 billion. For the last two years $1 billion has been taken out of the Transport Accident Commission. The forecast in the budget for the coming financial year is to take $1.108 billion out. The following year – they have really been fiddling with the books here, fudging the books, looking at the different amounts – it is $1.108 billion, compared to $8 million the next year, $708 million and then $608 million. For some reason this year it is all coming out to prop up the budget to make it look like it is a surplus, and as I said, for the last two years that has been the case.

If we have a look at the Transport Accident Commission, the insurance funding ratio, which around about means how easily they can pay their bills, the revenues that are coming in and what they have got to pay, it is pretty high. It has been 152.5 per cent and 151.6 per cent the last couple of years. TAC is travelling well compared to WorkSafe Victoria, which had been at the very low scary end of about 105–106 per cent, which meant that they were struggling to pay their bills. The only reason they could pay their bills was because the government propped up I think it was about $1.2 billion or $1.3 billion over three years to keep them afloat. But at the other end we have the TAC, which is doing well.

Where is the TAC funded from? Well, that is from road users. At the same time, while they have got this very strong insurance funding ratio, the client satisfaction has dipped. That tells me maybe the TAC should be doing a little bit more to help those that are victims of motor vehicle accidents, whether they were in a car travelling, whether they were a pedestrian or a motorbike rider, for instance. There are a number of things I think the TAC could be doing, but I think their hands are tied, because it is the Treasurer who determines how much is going to be paid from the TAC to prop up the coffers. I was interested, actually, in the annual report – one of the notes mentions that of the $1.135 billion that was taken out last year, $748 million was recognised as a dividend and $387 million was a tax payment. So we are propping up the state’s bottom line with the TAC. At the same time, I have mentioned that client satisfaction is down, we are paying very high registration fees and I see problems with the roads. I see many dangerous intersections, and I see opportunities all the time for the TAC to help out to make our roads safer. I think that they are hamstrung, because the government says, ‘You can do a little bit, but you can’t do perhaps what you would like to because we want to use you as our cash cow.’ That has been happening year on year, and I find that quite offensive to those that have been victims of road accidents.

There are a couple of other big omissions here in the budget in the health area, and this comes back to my area a little bit. Maroondah Hospital seems to have disappeared off the radar. That was going to have some significant investment, but that is not going to happen. Eastern Health, which Maroondah is part of, in Box Hill – Alexandra hospital is now merging with them. I think the people of Alexandra thought that things were going to be good, being part of Eastern Health, but did not realise the debt that these health services are carrying because the government does not have the money to help out the hospitals. Of that $32 million a day that is going into interest payments, I could think of multiple health services that would like an injection every few days of a million dollars to help them get over the line. We have community hospitals, and one of the community hospitals that I want to talk about is the Eltham community hospital, which has been scrapped. The member for Eltham, on her Facebook page, has said:

Where will the Eltham community hospital be located?

The Eltham community hospital will be a new development at 405 Ryans Road, Diamond Creek.

I think that is fake news now, and I am sure that the member for Eltham is bitterly disappointed that the government have shortchanged her and her electorate – also, community hospitals in Torquay and South Melbourne.

In other areas my electorate has missed out completely, other than $440,000 to Mansfield Primary School for a toilet block, because they have got 1970s-era toilet block that is going to be redeveloped. I am constantly surprised at the cost of toilet blocks – how they go up so quickly from what would have been $80,000 a number of years ago when they did the toilet block at Healesville to what they are now. I have many sporting clubs that need pavilions or need surfacing, and they have missed out. CFA stations have missed out. In particular, it disappoints me that again the Yarck CFA station has missed out. It was a decade ago that land was purchased around the corner, off the main road in Yarck. The CFA station is a little tin shed in amongst a whole lot of quaint little buildings and next to Bucks bakehouse, which I can highly recommend, and just up from the pub in Yarck, which I can also highly recommend. The land has been purchased. The government, by building the Yarck fire brigade a new station, could sell the one that is in the main street. They might even be able to make a little bit of money out of this. This year, Yarck was decimated in the bushfires, and I thought it would have been a wonderful opportunity for the government to show the community that they care and that they will invest in a new station, rather than just tarting up the toilets and maybe the shower area.

Also on the bushfire response, it is a little bit disappointing about what is not here, because councils in my area have missed out considerably, Murrindindi in particular – 70 per cent of the Longwood fires burned in Murrindindi. Of the entire state footprint of all of the fires over January, 50 per cent was in the Murrindindi shire. They got the same level of funding as other councils that were not decimated even anywhere close to them, and the council are really concerned about this and their ongoing viability. Now, great – tip fees have been reduced. Well, it is the councils that actually get the money from that. The government have said, ‘Oh, you know, free tip fees.’ It was part of the revenue for the council. They now do not have that because the government have not said, ‘We’re going to top you up because you miss out on that.’ Rate revenue – they have to re-rate all of the properties because paying rates on a property with a dwelling or shed is different than when it is all gone, so now they have to revalue all of the rates. So again, for the Murrindindi shire, they are going to miss out significantly on rate revenue. The government are not putting their hand up to say, ‘We will help you. We care about what has happened here.’ The clean-up – there are so many concerns about the clean-up process, the government’s contribution and what they are going to do. When are they stopping? There is talk that it is going to stop very soon. If you have not had your property cleaned up, well, bad luck: you are going to miss out.

The fencing – fencing is the biggest issue at the moment. Some people were insured, some people were not insured. Sometimes they have a border fence with Crown land. The rail trail on the Tallarook to Mansfield rail trail runs through lots of properties where it has been fenced off. Those fences have been destroyed and the bridges on the rail trail have been destroyed – multiple millions of dollars. The council cannot afford to fix this up themselves. They need a big helping hand from the government. The people still need a helping hand from the government, and I think they have failed them on this point.

The roads in my community are always in an appalling state. Again, I could talk for 20 minutes about the issues facing just about every major highway in my electorate. The government here has failed Victorians.

 Alison MARCHANT (Bellarine) (16:52): It is a pleasure to rise to speak on the 2026–27 Victorian budget which really is a budget that at its heart is helping people and families through those pressures that they are feeling right now. We are going to continue to invest in the services and the infrastructure and those opportunities that our communities really rely on.

I want to talk a little bit more about what that means for the Bellarine. I know that Bellarine families and working people all across the Bellarine are working extremely hard at the moment, but they are still having to balance their own family budgets. It might be mortgages and rent. They feel it when grocery shopping. Maybe it is with health care or fuel prices. People that are struggling or people that are doing it tough want to know that their government cares, that they understand those pressures and that they are willing to act. That is exactly what this budget does.

I was recently at the Point Lonsdale school market, and I was providing lots of information. I had a stall there, and I was able to have conversations with the community around the things that this budget was delivering. What was particularly really positive, and the feedback that I got, was that 20 per cent rebate on car rego that we have announced. Most people who took the little flyer are going to put it on their fridge so they remember to apply. They always took it, and they said, ‘Every little bit helps, so thank you very much.’ There is the free public transport as well and the youth Myki. We are giving young people under 18 free transport and making public transport then half price from June – that is until the end of the year. That is around making sure that we are giving families a little bit of extra money back in their pockets.

Speaking of public transport, I was really pleased to see in this year’s budget – and really pleased to advocate on behalf of the Bellarine community who had identified and had been advocating for – a cross-Bellarine bus service, which now we will have from Drysdale to Ocean Grove and back. This is something that has been on my radar for a little while now. We conducted a review into the Bellarine bus services, and I also did a student survey with a student from Bellarine Secondary College. Indy was able to help me create a student survey, and students and young people were certainly telling me that they wanted to get across the Bellarine, not only just for social activities but also to go to maybe work after school or go to sports training on the weekends and to get around. This will alleviate the need now to go into Geelong and then back out to get across the Bellarine. Now we will be able to have a direct service, and I am really pleased that we have been able to secure that in this year’s budget.

Also, around public transport, we have continued to fund and support the Portarlington ferry service, which is a really important service for my community, especially for those locals who like to travel to and from Melbourne on the ferry from Portarlington to Docklands, but also it is about our tourism economy. We have so many that travel on that service that come from Melbourne and come and experience our wineries, our shopping and all the things that the Bellarine offers, and that is a great economic boost for our community. I thank the Portarlington ferries also for their commitment to our region as well.

Education is certainly a big central part of our budget, and that is why we are continuing the breakfast clubs and the Glasses for Kids program and ensuring that we have early childhood free kinder, all the way to free TAFE. But there were a really exciting couple of announcements in this budget for us and for the Bellarine. I am sure you could probably nearly hear the screams from Surfside Primary School students when they learned at their assembly that they were going to receive over $11 million to build a new gymnasium. When they were told by their principal, there were big screams and big cheers, and I am really excited for them. They are a growing school and they are feeling those growth pressures, but they have to gather outside to do their assemblies – they cannot do them inside – so this new gym will be able to give them a really fantastic learning space. We also recently announced a new kindergarten for Ocean Grove, and work is underway for the new St Leonard’s early learning centre as well. Drysdale Primary School have also received funding to upgrade and improve their toilet facilities, and that is going to make a huge difference to that school.

Investments in budgets are not just about buildings or capital works; they are also about investing into the future of our young people. I really want to mention the investment around the disability inclusion fund, because this is very dear to my heart as a former teacher and someone who has also worked in a specialist sense. Students will have the funding and schools will have the funding to support the kids who need it the most. Those who need some extra support are going to be able to have that support, and I am really pleased that we have seen that in this year’s budget as well.

Health care is also a really strong part of this budget, and just locally I want to touch on a few of the things in the budget. We are going to continue to invest in the dedicated children’s emergency department that is at the Geelong hospital. That has transformed the way we have emergency care at the hospital, and so we are going to improve specialist emergency care for those local children and families. This is fantastic. And we are going to continue the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, our Chemist Care Now, Nurse-on-Call and the Virtual Women’s Health Clinic. These initiatives are about giving people access to health care and health advice in their own homes or close to home, and that makes such a difference for Bellarine families.

We are obviously very much a coastline community, and we have several surf lifesaving clubs that absolutely do an incredible job of keeping our beaches safe. I just want to mention that there is extra support in the budget for Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club, and that is really about supporting those volunteers. There is a project that will see a redevelopment of the patrol base that is up in the dunes, and this is going to make sure that it is going to be delivered. It is a really complex site, so a little bit of extra funding will make sure that we keep that project on track, and I am really looking forward to seeing how that develops. I really thank the Point Lonsdale community and surf lifesaving community for keeping our beaches safe over summer.

There is so much to talk about in this budget. I am really pleased to be able to advocate for the Bellarine communities on the things that are going to matter and the things that are going to make a huge difference to Bellarine communities. I thank the Treasurer and the Premier for all their work. This is an incredible budget at a time when families are doing it tough, and we have been able to show our values through this budget in supporting families when they need it the most, and especially our Bellarine families.

The SPEAKER: The time set down for consideration of items on the government business program has arrived, and I am required to interrupt business.

Motions agreed to.

Read second time.

The SPEAKER: The bills will now be sent to the Legislative Council and their agreement requested.

Business interrupted under resolution of house of 1 April.