Tuesday, 16 June 2026

 Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Leader of the House, Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (12:43): We are pretty enthusiastic to get cracking on the government business program over here. I move:

That, under standing order 94(2), the orders of the day, government business, relating to the following bills be considered and completed by 5 pm on 18 June 2026:

Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2026

Dangerous Goods Transport Bill 2026

Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Bill 2026

Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026

Health Legislation Amendment (Regulatory Reform) Bill 2026.

In particular I do note for those not from the Ivanhoe electorate that there will be a cognate debate, meaning we can talk about at the same time, if you can manage it, the Dangerous Goods Transport Bill and the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Bill. They are particularly important in relation to a range of matters this week.

I thought I would open the batting and make the point for all members that along with the business program there will be the valedictory speech from the member for Pakenham, which will take place tomorrow, on Wednesday, from about 6 pm. I know you will not be needing any encouragement, but I welcome members to attend for the member for Pakenham’s contribution tomorrow. Let us say that her advocacy, as we saw in the great support yesterday here at Parliament, is very significant. I look forward to hearing from her tomorrow and also the member for Nepean, who will make his inaugural speech in this place – the second inaugural speech that we have had in this Parliament from a member for Nepean. I know that that has been a little delayed, and we look forward to hearing from him on Wednesday.

More broadly on the business program, we will hear more in relation to personal electronic devices. I will just touch on some significant work our government has done more broadly in schools where we have been able to ban devices, which has been world leading and which was done by the former member for Monbulk. The leadership that he showed there in relation to those matters has been very significant and has been picked up by other jurisdictions around the world. There will be further discussion on restricting the use of personal electronic devices in schools.

We are making it easier and safer for Victorians to start a family and delivering on our commitment to making workplaces safer, modernising the regulation of dangerous goods and giving WorkSafe the powers they need to enforce compliance with regulations. Those WorkSafe reforms will help businesses to make their workplaces safer. These are some of the most significant changes that have been made around the dangerous goods framework for more than four decades. Many would remember some of those very significant chemical fires in 2018 and 2019, particularly across the north-west of Melbourne, caused by illegal stockpiling. These changes and actions are very significant and will go a long way to keeping those communities safe and holding to account those who do not follow the law.

In debating the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2026, as I touched on, these personal electronic devices – mobile phones and smartwatches – of students in Victorian schools, we will build on the successful implementation of the earlier reforms that have been world leading and picked up by many jurisdictions internationally. I know that independent evaluation of those 2020 reforms found that more students were focused in class and more social during breaks thanks to those reforms. We will be the first state in the country to legislate restrictions on wearable technology in schools, because every child deserves the opportunity for a world-class education. We will deliver the policy settings to best help them focus but also to ensure that teachers are focused on them and engaging directly with them, with not so much a reliance on electronic devices but a focus on instruction and learning that is best provided and can only be provided by the ongoing and dedicated engagement of our world-class teaching profession.

Further to those matters is the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026. I am really keen that we will be picking up work on that, particularly in relation to Greyhound Racing Victoria and Harness Racing Victoria on entity reform and governance matters. These codes, along with thoroughbreds more broadly, that employ some nearly 40,000 Victorians in full-time work, and we are talking some $4 billion in economic activity that is generated by the sport and industry of racing across our state. It is a massive employer that generates over a billion dollars in economic activity in regional Victoria. We are looking forward to the further ongoing work that we can do there, particularly around integrity structures and the amalgamation of the racing integrity commissioner and the Victorian Racing Integrity Board. We have already seen other jurisdictions moving on these matters at a glacial pace, but this is for the further, I suppose, maturation of our entity reform around integrity in racing that was started by my predecessor Mr Pakula and has been followed up. Now is the right time for some further tweaks and reforms, and we will bring those to the Parliament shortly.

I would like to also take this opportunity to acknowledge the member for Ovens Valley on his appointment as the Shadow Minister for Racing. I know that he is a strong supporter of country racing, not only at his local tracks like Wangaratta but others around regional Victoria and you are just as likely to see him at some of our very significant metropolitan events throughout the year. I look forward to working with him in advocating and protecting and advancing both jobs and investment in racing in our state. I commend the government business program to the house.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:48): I rise to speak on the government business program. I will start in a collegiate way. As the Leader of the House noted, we will have on Wednesday evening, after the matter of public importance, the valedictory speech for the member for Pakenham, tentatively scheduled for 6 o’clock, and then the member for Nepean’s first speech at 6:20 pm. We would hope that every member of this place can come into the chamber for both speeches. Both are very important speeches. I am sure that both will be incredibly heartfelt in their own way, and I would hope that the entire Parliament can come together for both of those speeches, both the members of this place and the members of the other place, on Wednesday afternoon.

That is where the collegiality will end on the government business program, because when it comes to this government business program, enough is enough. We will not be supporting the government business program, for many reasons.

The government business program has, frankly, become nothing more than some kind of loose guide. We saw in the last sitting week a government business program that absolutely did not reflect the way that this Parliament operated for the week. We saw a rushed change to the program and a desperate attempt by a government in its end of days to ram through a bill, and that was shameful. You could not only see that did we speak out strongly about those changes in the government business program and what the government was attempting to ram through but see in the days thereafter the effect that it had on the government members. You saw the effect that that had – they could not brief out hard enough.

Anthony Carbines: On a point of order, Speaker, I am keen for relevance on the government business program by the Manager of Opposition Business.

The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business, the member for Brighton, will come back to the government business program.

James NEWBURY: On the government business program, as I was saying, in the last sitting week we saw changes throughout the week to try and suit what the government was doing, so we have no faith that this government has any capacity now to manage a program and do so in an honourable way, in an honest way, and frankly, in a way that this Parliament should use its time: in a transparent way. I spoke about the donation bill before. Of course the government was not interested in transparency there, but we have genuine fears that the government will misuse its numbers over the coming four weeks, and who knows what it might do. I think all Victorians should fear what an end-of-days government tries to sneak through in the middle of the night to ensure that it can ram through terrible changes at law, and that is why we cannot possibly support the government’s program. We cannot support a government that misuses this place, where a government business program can no longer be taken on face value. It absolutely cannot be taken on face value, and so we would not support it.

In addition to that I do note in the government business program there is no opportunity for private members bills, and we saw a private members bill just opposed for introduction, a very important bill that should have urgently received time for debate in this chamber – but it is not the only one. We know that many members in this place have attempted to move private members bills, and these bills have not been afforded time on the government business program. It is one of the few parliaments in Australia where there is little to no – in this case no – capacity for private members to move items. In other chambers there is a little, but in Victoria there is none. It is an absolute shame, because clearly where the government do not get it right, where they do not support their emergency services workers, as in the case that I raised earlier, you would hope that the Parliament could come together and afford time to a proposed law so the Parliament could it debate under the government business program. You would think that that would be a collaborative way to approach an important, pressing policy issue in this state, but no. So while the government is in such chaos, so unable to manage the Parliament, we certainly cannot support the government business program, and I do not feel that we can support future programs with that in mind.

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (12:53): It certainly feels like end of days listening to the contribution from the member for Brighton, but I do love to follow the member for Brighton. I often refer to him as the fall guy. He is the one that has to stand here in this chamber with confected outrage week after week about the heavy legislative agenda that we put forward here on the government business program. Time and time again he goes ahead and votes against it, and today he is talking about private members bills. We have got a lot on here, member for Brighton, and we are going to get on and do it as the government of the day. There is no chaos on this side of the chamber; today is not an episode of High Noon. We are getting on and we are governing for all Victorians. We are going to put through and debate the bills here in this place that we know matter to Victorians, and there are a lot of them this week. It is going to be a busy week, and hopefully we will not have to go through another marathon sitting day-night-morning as we did last sitting week.

I have to admit it took me a couple of days to get over that. I am too old to continue to stay awake and do an all-nighter. It has been many years since I have done that.

There is a total of five bills that are being debated here in this chamber this week, and two of them are going to be debated simultaneously. Those of course are the long-awaited Dangerous Goods Transport Bill 2026 and the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Bill 2026, which will deliver a much-needed overhaul of our legislative framework for handling dangerous goods. I certainly look forward to speaking on these bills later in the week and about what they mean, most importantly for my community in Melbourne’s west, where we have a lot of heavy industries that handle and transport dangerous goods and their by-products. I do want to give a big shout-out to some of our big trucking companies, particularly FBT Transwest, who do transport dangerous goods. I know that they take health and safety extremely seriously, whether it is as they are handling those dangerous goods that go into those trucks or indeed the safety on the roads as they transport them to wherever they may be going. Our truckies certainly keep Victoria moving and Australia moving – a big shout-out to them.

In addition to this we have the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026, which makes a number of really important changes to the governance framework for our racing industry. I am sure that many of my colleagues will be keen to speak on that one and the benefits that the industry has for their local communities. No-one is more passionate about the racing industry than the minister at the table, the Minister for Racing – a big shout-out to him and all his passion in bringing forward another great bill before the house.

We also have the Health Legislation Amendment (Regulatory Reform) Bill 2026, and this makes a number of great reforms that strengthen our health system and how we regulate it. I cannot go past a bill like this one without giving a big shout-out to our nurses and health staff in services in Melbourne’s west. One of the highlights, I think, of the eight years that I have been here in this place has been watching Footscray Hospital – the biggest infrastructure spend in the health sector in Victoria there in the gateway to Melbourne’s west – rise from the ground up to be just so absolutely magnificent in every aspect and every way that a great hospital should be. That is Footscray Hospital, so a big shout-out to all the staff that work there, and I know that the staff are transitioning over from the old Footscray Hospital into the new one. I was there with the previous Minister for Health and the member for Footscray, and the staff were just so excited to work there – best views, best workplace. I have to say it truly is an aspect of what long-term Labor governments certainly invest in and deliver for communities, particularly in Melbourne’s west.

To wrap it up this week we have got the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2026. I believe we kicked off that debate at the end of last sitting week, and I had the opportunity to speak on that one – another really important bill. All five of these bills are important, and just as important is the legislation that we are introducing into this place, which includes at long last our government’s legislation enshrining Victorians’ right to work from home. I know the right to work from home has been a conversation that has been popping up in my community and one I have been having with folks time and time again. This is something that they are super excited about, and I cannot wait to get on with it.

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (12:59): I rise to speak on the government business program. Deputy Speaker, I see you have just come into the chamber. You may be shocked, but we will be opposing the government business program today, as the member for Brighton said before. With the government business program we are talking on the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2026, which we did start last week. The member for Shepparton beside me is very keen to hop up shortly and hit off the batting or take on batting number one for us when it does resume. We have other members on this side who are more than happy to get up and continue to talk on the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill. As we stand, the last time we were in this place I think was about 5:30 in the morning when we were all in here, so it is good to be back and back to business again this week.

We do have the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Bill 2026 as well. We need to make sure, when we are talking about these bills, that we do take care that the transport of dangerous goods across our road networks and through our towns around metropolitan Melbourne and also regional Victoria is being done correctly. I have a lot of trucking firms in the Latrobe Valley and in Gippsland that cover a lot of kilometres over a week, transporting these dangerous goods around, so we need to make sure that we are putting things in place so that that is being done correctly.

One of the other ones that we are doing is the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026. We are a strong supporter of racing down in the Latrobe Valley and in and throughout Gippsland. The one thing that we do have, which has started up recently – and that I know the Minister for Racing at the table would be well and truly versed on – is our Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club, which has sprung back to life after a little bit of a hiatus with track works. I was fortunate enough to be up there on Friday night to see how it is ticking along beautifully, with many dog races, greyhound racing, but also the amount of people that are actually heading back up to the track to watch it live on a Friday afternoon and a Friday night. Our racing fraternity do encapsulate a lot of people in and throughout the Latrobe Valley, whether it be greyhound racing or thoroughbred racing, so when we are talking on bills, we need to make sure that we are doing our due diligence to make their lives a little bit easier while we are protecting the animals as well. I look forward later in the week to being able to get up and actually talk on that.

Another one that we are doing is the Health Legislation Amendment (Regulatory Reform) Bill 2026. I am sure most people in this chamber will be itching to get up and actually talk on health, because health is such a part of our day-to-day life right across Victoria, and we need to make sure that our constituents, especially in the Latrobe Valley, have the very best care and availability to walk into a hospital or to see a doctor. So we need to make sure that any health reforms and amendments that we are doing, no matter how big or how small, at the end of the day make their lives a lot easier and take a bit of the stress away from being able to present at these facilities, because health is so important, along with many other aspects of life, especially for our ageing fraternity throughout regional Victoria too, with their accessibility to access health care. So a huge shout-out to all our health workers right across the board. As we said, the opposition will be opposing the government business program this week.

 Pauline RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (13:03): Well, there is a lot going on, and we have got a lot to get through this week. The member for Brighton might say that this looks loose, but I can say, looking at this government business program, that we have a really important reform agenda right here, ready to go. I am going to have trouble getting very far past the Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2026. I am going to talk about why so many of the other bills are important, but I cannot quite get past the excitement in Cranbourne about greyhound racing. We have got a track that is going in. It is looking sparkling. I have been down a couple of times to inspect, and it is going to be the centre of the universe if it is not already. I am going to take the opportunity now to thank Andrew Fennell and everyone down in Cranbourne, because Greyhound Racing Victoria is a very important part of my community, it is a really important part of what brings people together, and this legislation before us, which is going to be debated this week, is a really important part of that.

We are going to be giving a legal authority to Greyhound Racing Victoria and Harness Racing Victoria to have a new entity structure, which gives me the opportunity to talk about harness racing. The people who go to the trots – the people who run the harness racing down in Cranbourne – are some of the most rock-solid, hardworking people you would find in Cranbourne. David Scott, who the minister at the table has met several times, and his wife Linda, are certainly people who know how to bring the sparkling fun and party to anything that is going on in Cranbourne. But in fact they are not just bringing what is important to Cranbourne but they are really enthusiastic about the community itself. I just spoke to the whip and said I think I need to hurry up and get on to the opportunity to debate this Racing Legislation Amendment (Entity Governance and Other Matters) Bill, but of course there is so much more than that.

I am going to quickly step back and take the opportunity to thank and acknowledge in a bipartisan way the member for Gippsland East for his approach when he had the shadow ministry role with racing, looking after, on behalf of the National Party, greyhound racing, harness racing and of course the extraordinary other elements of the races that come down to Cranbourne. I was always happy to see him when I arrived down at the Cranbourne racetrack. I congratulate the member for Gippsland East on his term in this Parliament and say that we will miss him next year.

We are also looking forward to debating the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Bill 2026 and the Dangerous Goods Transport Bill 2026. These will modernise the regulation of transport of dangerous goods by vessel on inland waterways, by road and by rail in a standalone act. Again, this is another example of this government getting on with the important reform that needs to be done to make sure that people can go about the work that is necessary to keep them safe, secure and well paid.

I am also pleased to see we have some more renting legislation being brought by the Minister for Consumer Affairs, the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, which will strengthen protections for site tenants of part 4A parks and deliver on government commitments to make renting fairer, more affordable and safer. There is no question that our party – our government – are the party who are focused on rental reforms and making sure that people are able to get access to fair renting outcomes. This is a really important piece of legislation that will strengthen protections for Victorian consumers in the property market and will improve the availability of information on property sales, and it will drive compliance by estate agents and conveyancers with trust account audit requirements. That is also going to improve the experience of those living in owners corporation properties.

I cannot finish this debate on the government business program without acknowledging as well the importance of the member for Pakenham and the approach that we will be taking this week in acknowledging her role here in this Parliament and her role in so many other parts of public life. The member for Pakenham will obviously be delivering her valedictory, and we will all be here for that.

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (13:08): I will follow on from that as well, acknowledging the member for Pakenham, who will be, as the previous member said, delivering her valedictory speech. A big shout-out to her for everything that she has done. I have said it before in the chamber and I will say it again: the member for Pakenham is incomparable. She is an inspiration to all of us. I was very glad to take part in the second-ever Freeze Parliament just yesterday. I looked up how much we have raised, and it is over $36,000 that we have collectively raised for FightMND. I think that does go to show that we can be collegiate, that we can be bipartisan and that we can work across and above politics in instances like this, on very important causes. So, yes, we do pay tribute to the member for Pakenham, who will be delivering her valedictory this Wednesday evening, followed then by the member for Nepean, who will be delivering his maiden speech, which we all are very much looking forward to. That will be a great addition to the Parliament – that the member for Nepean will be able to speak post that point in time.

It was, I remember fondly, just this term, just over 2½ years ago, that I delivered my maiden speech in the Parliament. It feels like a long time, much longer than 2½ years I can tell you. But it is an exciting time, and we are glad to have the member for Nepean as part of our team.

Turning to the government business program at hand, as has been stated, the opposition will not be supporting it. As the member for Brighton said, if I can use the term that he used, it has become a loose guide. The government, in their own words, from one of their own members, in the end of days that they are in, are now using the program to loosely indicate maybe, just maybe, what might happen. We can see that it is the case that even when there are matters and legislation that we negotiate in good faith with them, they come to us in bad faith and do not agree to what they have been discussing or negotiating. That speaks to where the government is right now and the government business program. The coalition has lost faith in the government because they are operating in bad faith, but it is not just the coalition, it is the Victorian people. We see it in the polling. We see it in the toing and froing of ‘Will they change their leader or will they not?’

Anthony Carbines: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, I am just keen for the member to return to the government business program, and my point of order is on relevance.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member may have strayed a little bit and will come back to the government business program.

Nicole WERNER: That is why we will be opposing the government business program, particularly when we look at the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2026. While we are not opposing the symbolic reforms, while we support things like being stricter with the use of electronic devices during school hours – we are supportive of that; that is a sensible measure, a sensible change – what we do not support is the way in which this has been delivered. We know that this was delivered post the time that we were meant to have finished up last week. It happened during that marathon sitting until 5:30 am when the government sought to rush in these dodgy donation laws that disproportionately advantage them but no-one else. That is why we are not supporting the government business program, because this very amendment bill, this education and training reform bill that we are debating today, got started last sitting week in the marathon sitting because of the chaos that is happening in the government. It is scandalous, resuming debate on this.

That is why, as the member for Brighton has said, we are opposing government business. What is happening on that side of the house, no-one can follow. It is strange. It is hard to keep up. There is the media, the toing and froing of everything that is going on. What is the government business program? We do not know because they are not honest with the opposition. They are not honest with the Parliament as to what they are seeking as to legislate in this place.

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members will come to order on my right.

Nicole WERNER: That is why we are opposing government business. We oppose it because we oppose this government. We oppose the way that they are legislating. We oppose the way they are not being truthful with Victorians. We oppose the way that they are leading with mistruth after mistruth in this chamber, in this house. Victorians have seen it with their own eyes. They have given up on this government. It is the end of days. That is why we are not supporting government business.

Assembly divided on motion: