Tuesday, 16 June 2026

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (19:09): (1703) My question is to the Premier. The action I seek is for her to match the Liberals’ plan to cut taxes for Victorians to help ease the cost of living. Recently the Premier stood in Parliament and declared that she is determined to do everything that she can to ease cost-of-living pressures, not that one can really believe what she has to say when she reckons she does not know anything about the $15 billion that has gone missing to corruption in Victoria. But anyway, there is a news flash for you and for every Victorian, because from 1 July the government is set to hit Victorians with a wave of increases across government charges, all of them landing all at once. Car registration is going up, drivers licence fees are going up, the emergency services levy – it is brand new, and it is already going up.

Working with children checks; birth, death and marriage certificates; business registration fees; liquor licences; national park camping fees; and builder registrations – every single one of them is going up and up and up, and that is the hallmark of the Allan Labor government: tax after tax after tax, increased fees, increased charges and increased and new taxes. Sixty-seven I think we are up to now – 67 increased and new taxes, when they promised there would not be one increased or new tax in their government. Well, here we are. Is that what the Premier calls helping with cost of living?

I think of young families already choosing between filling the petrol tank and filling the fridge, and now their rego is going up too. I think of small business owners across our state who fought through the pandemic, who fought through rising interest rates and who are only just finding their feet again, and now their registration costs are climbing once more. I think of the local tradie who is about to renew their builders rego, only to find out that the government has decided now is the time to take a little bit more out of his pocket. These are the basic, unavoidable costs of living and working in this state, and the Allan Labor government is raising every single one of them simultaneously, while the Premier pats herself on the back for helping ease the cost of living, she reckons, in Victoria.

I mean, there are even weekend camping trips that are going to cost more soon. There is only one party who is serious about cutting costs, Victorians, and that is the Liberal Party. We will cut land tax and payroll tax. We will cut the emergency services levy on farmers, families and businesses. We will cut the schools tax and GP tax. We will cut stamp duty for first home buyers up to $1 million. We will cut Labor’s waste and we will cut Labor’s corruption, and we certainly will not be spending $15 billion on corruption here in Victoria. We will fix the budget, prioritise essential services and make life easier for Victorians, and we will let Victorians keep more of their money – because you earned it, so you deserve to keep it. It is time for a fresh start.