Thursday, 18 June 2026

 Rachel WESTAWAY (Prahran) (09:46): I move, by leave:

That this house condemns the member for Narre Warren North for having confidence in a Premier who enabled $15 billion of corruption on the Big Build and presides over corruption, record crime, unemployment above the national average and almost $200 billion in debt.

I am absolutely astounded that we have this Premier still in Victoria when the people of Prahran are hurting and are telling me constantly that they are sick and tired of the crime, the corruption, the difficulty in actually setting up businesses and the cost of doing business in this state. We see corruption on the Big Build, we see crime with the CFMEU and we see strippers on worksites. Absolutely everybody is over it, and yet the Labor Party sit there and are absolutely happy to ensure that they have a leader that represents that. That is what I find absolutely extraordinary.

Crime is absolutely out of control in my seat. The issues that I see on Chapel Street in regard to firebombings –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order. Member for Tarneit!

Rachel WESTAWAY: There are issues that we see on Chapel Street in regard to firebombings, and there has been very, very little that has been done on it. These are the issues that we are facing time and time again. More recently we have just seen something in South Melbourne, a gym that was firebombed two days in a row. Are you serious? Where are the resources being put into place that actually support the people of Victoria? They are not there. In regard to Chapel Street, the issue that I see is businesses are absolutely falling to their knees. They can barely keep a new business open for 12 months. These are the statistics that we are seeing, so these are the concerns that I have when it comes to the Premier and no confidence. When I talk to local businesses, their trades are going down. They are not seeing the street traffic, the foot traffic on the streets in Chapel Street and on Toorak Road. We are finding that they simply cannot make enough money to make ends meet, they cannot employ people, and it is the small businesses in this state that keep our kids employed. It is the people that are in retail. Look at just retail crime. Retail crime is up significantly.

A member interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Yes, how do they get away with it? We have got a government that supports corruption. We have got a Premier that will not call it out and will not do a royal commission into the corruption of the CFMEU. These are the issues that I am exceptionally concerned about.

I am also concerned about the state of our schools. I look at St Kilda Primary School, a little school on the corner of Nepean Highway, or St Kilda Road, and Chapel Street that has been there –

A member interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Absolutely fantastic teachers and a great sense of community without a community hall – are you serious? They tore the community hall down and then they said they would rebuild one, and they never did. It took a local member, such as me, with a strong voice to actually come out and advocate for the local community. It is yet another example of this government that just does not listen.

But when finally they are faced with somebody that has a voice, what happens? They flip it around. After we made a $12 million commitment they finally came up and said, ‘Oh, okay. We’ll actually build that community hall’ – finally. It takes us to actually lead the way, and that is why I have no confidence in this Premier. I find it absolutely extraordinary that her colleagues are actually sitting there and prepared to support her.

In addition to that is the Big Build, the waste –

Members interjecting.

Rachel WESTAWAY: You want to laugh across the chamber? This is what I am absolutely astounded by.

Anthony Carbines: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it is not clear to the house that the member for Prahran is being relevant to her motion.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point or order.

Members interjecting.

Rachel WESTAWAY: $200,000 on pot plants – really? Victorians find it an absolute joke, and what I find highly extraordinary is I look across the chamber and there are smirks on the faces of my colleagues across the chamber. It is not a joke. Victorians are falling to their knees. $15 billion in corruption and no royal commission, not prepared to call it out – wow. $1 million in interest per hour is what Victorians are facing. Just think about what that could do. After 12 hours, the community hall at my local primary school would be built and funded.

A member interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Yes, potholes. What have we seen? It has turned into a joke. You just need to read the social media and the comments on it, when Victorians –

Members interjecting.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Thank you for laughing. Is this not how Labor treat Victoria when they –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Rowville can leave the chamber for half an hour. The member for Polwarth can leave the chamber for half an hour. When I am on my feet you are not to speak. Members will come to order. The member for Cranbourne is warned.

Members for Rowville and Polwarth withdrew from chamber.

Rachel WESTAWAY: We look at the lotto deal. That just blows me away. A gambling deal – this is how Labor fund the debt that we are currently facing. No open tender process, just a secret deal behind closed doors. Victorians did not hear about it, but this is how they fund their debt and try and hide it. IBAC powers, yet again, are another point to discuss. They are not prepared to increase the powers of IBAC. In essence it is a toothless tiger. They do not want to follow the money.

Lauren Kathage: On a point of order, Speaker, members are required to be factual, and as we know follow-the-money laws are being promoted by this government – compared to those opposite, who do not want to expand the definition of corruption.

James Newbury: Further to the point of order, Speaker, the member has just let the cat out of the bag. It is all about promotion. It is not about fact or doing anything.

The SPEAKER: Members are required to be factual when they are on their feet.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Let us just touch on that point, which clearly Labor are touchy on. IBAC powers, follow the money. What is the problem? Why don’t you want to just have honesty and transparency in the system so that we can have transparency in where the money is, where it has been spent? This is what we are absolutely wanting. Victorians are crying out for it. And the Premier is not even here today. Where is she, by the way? She is clearly not interested in hearing the views of the representatives around this chamber that have no confidence in her. Is that something she is afraid of?

Mathew Hilakari: Only 21 minutes to go.

Rachel WESTAWAY: That is fine. I can talk all about my seat. I have no issues with that. I hope that you are sitting here to listen to it. When I look at the issues in my seat, the increase in crime but the increase in crime across the state – a 26 per cent increase is absolutely extraordinary. And you know what, if we did not have –

Sarah Connolly: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, I am not sure what the member on her feet is talking about, but I would bring her back to the motion she has raised. The point of order goes –

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Laverton, the point of order succinctly, please.

Sarah Connolly: Relevance.

James Newbury: On the point of order, Deputy Speaker, to assist you, as you have just come to the chair, from a member who was just laughing about crime the member’s point of order is entirely vexatious.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order. The member for Prahran to continue, without assistance.

Rachel WESTAWAY: The money is rolling out the door with no fiscal responsibility from this government and from this Premier. When I look at the largest cricket club in Victoria, Toorak Prahran Cricket Club – my kids have played there for years. It is shared with the rugby club, and it has no girls change rooms, no disability access. We need a new clubhouse in that area when girls sport is on the increase, when we all would acknowledge that community sport is really, really important. But there is no money for my local cricket club. When I come out and I start advocating on this, what does Labor do? They bring their ward councillor out – who does not even belong to that ward, who is the Labor candidate for Prahran – to wave around a few hundred thousand dollars and say, ‘Put a kitchenette in there.’ Are you serious, a kitchenette? It has no girls change rooms. It needs more than a kitchenette.

Let us look at the priorities of this government, constantly trying to play catch-up.

Tim Richardson interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Precisely, if it was, at the end of the day, $15 billion. Thank you for that prompt. That is $15 billion, and yet all we need is a few million dollars for a new clubhouse. My local community are crying out for it, and it does not just affect my seat.

Donation laws is yet another horrendous issue that this government has supported where basically the government has put forward donation laws where all other parties are put in a precarious position. It is absolutely disgraceful.

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members for Brighton and Point Cook, you are both warned.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Now let us just look at Chapel Street and tobacco stores, because you know what, I could talk for at least half an hour on that – so sit in your seats. Every 10th shop is a tobacco store – unlawful tobacco, 10 to 15 bucks for a packet of Chinese smokes or a vape. What is this government doing about it? Nothing, absolutely nothing, when they are prepared to do a dodgy deal without any transparency on lotto to try and get money. You know what would be quite reasonable? To actually start regulating tobacco stores. Regulate or shut them down. But at the end of the day, where is the enforcement? And actually, if you tax to a certain degree, bring down the taxes on the regular smokes and actually tax all of them, you can actually monitor what is going on. You can put it back into the community. You can actually put it back into health care. I absolutely do not understand why they turn a blind eye to that. That is what I find extraordinary.

Young people – my seat is one of the youngest seats in Victoria. The average age is 35, but we have got a lot of young kids in high school that are walking down Chapel Street, and what do they see? Tobacco stores, one after the other after the other. And in front of them there are American candy and soft drinks, all to lure young people – absolutely shocking – into them. And they say they care. They have done nothing – no regulation whatsoever. I speak to people on the street, and in fact I was actually speaking to a journo recently in the local area who said that they had gone into one and they thought they would just buy a vape to see what happens – easily purchased. They reported it – this is a journo – and the following week went back: no raid, no nothing. So why is this government turning a blind eye? There is no regulation, no police, no sufficient resources and no sufficient support. At the Prahran police station the men’s urinal was not operating for a whole two weeks. I had a lady on the street who had –

A member interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Yes, they probably were promised a kitchenette; it would not surprise me. These are the issues that we are facing yet again with a Premier who does not care, a Premier who is turning a blind eye to corruption, turning a blind eye to transparency and turning a blind eye to fiscal responsibility. I have no confidence in this Premier. My colleagues have no confidence in this Premier. With $15 billion, how many more homes could actually be built? I will keep going.

So let us talk about homes. I have got the most densely populated area in Victoria, 11 square kilometres, and people are so keen to live in our city. We have got a gorgeous seat. From one end of Chapel Street, where we have basically got the botanical gardens, to the other end, it is absolutely stunning. But it is predominantly high rises. And yet I walk around and I see waste. I see opportunities where we could build, and instead what has this government done? They have gone a blanket minimum six-storey height across the electorate, an electorate that is made up of villages, that is made up of historic homes. This government is more than happy to take the powers away from local government and have the minister support a minimum of six storeys high across the seat. This will totally ruin the heritage nature of our seat and the village feel of our seat.

But Stonnington council have a plan – a plan to build more homes than the current government’s budget or target. What have they done? This government has totally ignored that. But the Stonnington council’s plan is one that is reasonable, and I would absolutely support it, because it would actually give us an opportunity to do it in a measured way and to actually think about what parts of the electorate we would have housing in. But no, this government has totally overridden that and just gone blanket on a minimum of six storeys high across the electorate.

And then activity centres – 60 activity centres – and in my own –

Members interjecting.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Absolutely. When I talk to developers in my local area, they laugh at it and say that this is the Labor government promising but underdelivering, saying that they will actually build houses, but the developers are telling me it is not affordable. I have actually got a housing site on High Street where my constituents have come to me and said that it is about six storeys high and they have got so many apartments in there, but five parking spots. This is the type of planning that Labor are putting in. If I raise these issues, the comeback is, ‘People don’t need cars. They can walk. You live in a small electorate’ or ‘Give them a bike’ or ‘Catch public transport.’ I thought Labor were for people that want choice, people that may not necessarily be able to drive or ride a bike. I mean, why aren’t we thinking about this? There needs to be flexibility. There need to be options. Five car spots for a seven-storey or six-storey housing estate is quite extraordinary.

I look at our public housing in my local area. Public housing residents have actually been told that their buildings or their homes are being knocked down, but they have been given no timeframe in which they are to operate. These are some of the most vulnerable people in Victoria. This government, who claims to represent them, has not even given them the courtesy of a definitive timeframe in which they are to move out or where they are to go, and instead has left them in squalid conditions and in housing estates where they are supposed to be –

Members interjecting.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Thirty-six homes in 10 years, you have built. That is quite extraordinary. But let me get back to my public housing. I have got public housing that is set aside for older people, and yet I have written to the Minister for Housing and Building and raised it in Parliament on numerous occasions and asked why it is that we are allowing younger people into these places. Why is it that you are turning a blind eye to drug dens in public housing? Why is it that there are drug deals going on out the front? Why is it that hoarders are allowed to fill the corridors in public housing with all of the things they collect – a fire hazard? I raise these issues constantly. I have got a lot of public housing in my area, and I am absolutely stunned that I have had very minimal responses in my local area. This is a seat that is a marginal seat. It is often considered a three-cornered contest. You would think that Labor would actually want to demonstrate what they can do for some of the most vulnerable people in the community, and they have done absolutely zero.

A member interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Yes, they are arrogant. Again, let me come back to the point.

A member interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Not listening, backs turned. Want me to speak on this? I am so happy to draw it out and explain why we have no confidence in the Premier, because no-one listens, no-one is doing anything, no-one is fighting for vulnerable people. This is in a city where people are considered affluent – that is what I find absolutely extraordinary, when we have a housing crisis, when young people deserve a choice, when they deserve to live in a city if that is what they choose. But this government says ‘Oh, yes, we’ll build houses’ but actually does not have the ability to do them in a cost-effective way, so therefore they do not happen. They are all promises.

David Southwick interjected.

Rachel WESTAWAY: Yes. I just look at the Alfred Hospital, an absolutely extraordinary hospital that is underfunded. Research in the medical industry again is an area which I talk to some of the leaders at the Baker heart institute about and find that their funding is dropping, not increasing.

Australia used to be considered at the forefront of medical research and technology, but this government, with all of its crime and corruption, has had an inability to actually put money into the right places. They are cutting them. They sit there and they talk about cuts, cuts, cuts by the Liberal Party – what a joke. We all know that they are the party that are in power, and what have they done? They have allowed corruption, corruption, corruption. That is what we are currently facing.

Let us talk about the Commonwealth Games. I forgot about that one. The Commonwealth Games – extraordinary. $589 million for the Commonwealth Games, the games that we actually are not hosting. We never had them. And where is she? Where is the Premier? Did I ask that question before? Did I ask that question before? Where is the Premier today? I have got no idea. Spot the Premier. I think there is an opportunity for a ‘Where is the Premier?’ type of board game.

When we look at housing, the former housing minister said, ‘Yes, I am a social justice warrior and an advocate for public housing because I absolutely believe that my local area needs it.’ But with a 20-month wait for women trying to escape domestic violence and they cannot get housing, where do they go? They sleep in their cars or they stay in an abusive relationship. This is extraordinary.

You did not think I could speak this long? I can keep going. These are the issues that I am absolutely concerned about. What have I addressed? I have addressed young people. I have addressed community housing. I have addressed the most vulnerable in the community – all the issues – and health and research. Potholes, let me bring up potholes. I just need to drive down Toorak Road, Dandenong Road, Princes Freeway or up Punt Road, major arterials – we are $200 million in debt. We cannot fill the potholes. We have our own leader out there trying to fix the potholes because this government cannot do its job properly. Basic infrastructure, basic repairs, and we have seen so much waste. We simply cannot fathom what is going on with this government.

Bring on November, because Victorians are telling me every week when I doorknock. Every Friday I am out there doing a listening post and I am doorknocking, and they are saying it is time for a fresh start. They are using those lines exactly. That is why we have brought this no-confidence motion for the Premier, because they are so angry with the Premier. That is what I hear constantly.

I am excited for November, but I am absolutely stunned that we are coming up with the ideas – 200 more PSOs on the street. You are seeing crime on the increase – in the latest crime stats, crime is on the increase on stations – and yet you are taking PSOs away. We are putting it forward. We are putting forward more police in Victoria, 3000 more police on the streets, because this government has wasted so much money on this state, so much money from the mums and the dads, the single people, the university students, the retail workers. They are all hurting. Small businesses – it goes from one end of the spectrum to the other. For the people that this party, the Labor Party, claim to represent, they have done nothing. They have absolutely turned their back.

That is why, yet again, every Friday when I am out in my electorate doorknocking or every Friday when I am standing on a listening post, whether it be at Prahran Market, whether it be out the front of Coles on Chapel Street or at Vogue Plaza, what do I hear? I hear the same story time and time again. People cannot afford food. They cannot afford petrol. They cannot afford public transport. They cannot afford their bills. They simply cannot afford to live because of this, and they talk about corruption.

As I was growing up, I never thought I would see so many people actively engaged in politics, talking about corruption, talking about a royal commission this far out from an election, and that is what we are hearing. They cannot wait to get rid of this government, and do you know what I am excited about? I am excited about being back in government after November and actually delivering for every sector of our community. They like to talk about the Liberals, the upper echelons – absolutely rubbish. The people of Prahran will tell you that I work day and night to ensure that they are well represented, that every section of my community is represented, that we have police on the streets, that we actually have somebody who advocates for a local state primary school that is falling apart, that will actually advocate for a local sporting centre. These are the things that I am so proud to represent, and it is why I represent the people of Prahran and our community and Victorians – to ensure that somebody speaks out and says, ‘We have no confidence in the dodgy people across the other side of the room – this Premier, who is absolutely not supported.’ Come on board, because I know you want to get rid of your Premier. I know you are over it, because we are all over it. I am having Labor voters in my area and Greens tell me that they are absolutely sick of it. Feel free to come with it. At the end of the day, I call it out. Actually think about your conscience and think about what your communities want. You want to hold your seats just as much as we want to hold ours. Actually stand by – (Time expired)

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! When the house comes to order, I will listen to the member for Sandringham on a point of order.

Brad Rowswell: By leave, I move:

That there be a time extension for the member for Prahran.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not think that is a point of order.

Leave refused.

 Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (10:18): I am privileged and honoured to follow the member for Prahran. I tell you what, it was spine tingling from the member for Prahran. For a motion that had a crack at the member for Narre Warren North, who I will get to as one of the most significant people in this Parliament and one of the most amazing leaders in her community, there was not much about Narre Warren North. Having grown up in Berwick with the member for Berwick, I am going to offer the member for Prahran a tour around Narre Warren North. I am going to put that out. We will go down and we will get a cheeky Maccas drive-through at Fountain Gate, and then I will take you on a tour. I will pick you up, I will come from Chelsea and we will go through.

Because this motion apparently condemns the member for Narre Warren North, I want to tell you a little bit about the member for Narre Warren North. The member for Narre Warren North has delivered two station upgrades at Hallam and Narre Warren. The member for Narre Warren North has removed level crossings in her community, and I am reliably informed that Hallam Secondary College and James Cook Primary are just some of the things that the member for Narre Warren North has fought for, has delivered and has been a huge contributor on since coming into this Parliament. To bring a condemnation of the member for Narre Warren North without talking at all about Narre Warren North, I just say to the opposition tactics team over there at Spring Street in the little second or third floor, who were doing tactics this morning and were running notes in – the member for Warrandyte had a great score assist.

A member interjected.

Tim RICHARDSON: It was the first floor, was it? I went up the shelf a bit. The score assist – we are in World Cup football territory here – from the member for Warrandyte. The member for Warrandyte clearly wanted that spot. The member for Warrandyte was like, ‘I could talk for 30 minutes like that,’ but the score assist was to run notes in and say, ‘At least talk about their corruption. At least talk about the $15 billion.’ There was no mention of it.

When you get into the heart and soul of it, we know this is a nonsense motion, so much so that their heart was not even in it. They did not believe the nonsense that they were saying and putting forward together today. Members of Parliament here serve their communities, and the member for Narre Warren North, in her first term, has made a lightning start, engaging like never before in the south-east. That team – the member for Narre Warren North, the member for Narre Warren South and the member for Cranbourne – is an incredible team, the likes of which we have not seen before. They support each other, they are a wonderful representation of the City of Casey out there and things get done. They put aside partisan politics and work on behalf of their community regardless, because that is what Labor MPs do and that is what people do. I want to just say to the member for Narre Warren North and her team: you are an outstanding outfit and a wonderful representation of the Labor movement. The member for Narre Warren North is genuinely one of the best people I have ever met, so I just say this condemnation is just a bunch of nonsense that we see time and time again.

Let us go to some of the substance of this. Let us get past this ‘no confidence in the Premier’. Remember, they put that out today. I do not know if you, Deputy Speaker, have been playing along and you have read the clips. The member for Kew, the opposition leader, has put out a ‘Oh, I have got no confidence in the Premier’ motion. Guess what, those opposite had no confidence in six of their leaders.

The member for Berwick was on an absolute tear and dominating at that time. Remember that, Deputy Speaker? That is when the Liberals had – I will look up because it was high-flying – a 41 primary. Remember that on Resolve? The member for Berwick was doing the dunking machine, he had the guns out and the Geelong jersey was there. I was getting goosebumps. Berwick has never seen such talent come out. I just thought, ‘Let’s go!’ I had goosebumps. I was getting a bit revved up about this. I thought, ‘Goodness me, I have got the feels. This could be the next state.’ And what happens? Another leadership challenge.

Those opposite can talk and hope for leadership challenges on the Labor side. You see a united, inclusive and supportive team. You see the Premier, the Deputy Premier and the Treasurer in absolute domination. You see those opposite, it is ticketed, the ejector seat over there. We have had former Premier Napthine, we have had the member for Bulleen sit there twice. The former member for Kew had a go there. Remember that time? The former member for Kew was meant to be the grand saviour of the Liberal Party going forward.

Nicole Werner: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker: relevance.

Tim RICHARDSON: On the point of order, Deputy Speaker, what I said talks directly about confidence in the Premier and the discussion around leadership.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member was being relevant to the motion at hand.

Tim RICHARDSON: It is hard hearing when you think you have had that lined up. It happened with the member for Malvern. The member for Malvern, remember, was tracking in the 40 territory during COVID, during the second term. Remember that? It was thunderous.

James Newbury interjected.

Tim RICHARDSON: Member for Brighton, why then did the member for Brighton and others roll the member for Berwick? I know it is a bit awkward here at the front table. The Leader of the Liberal Party so lacks confidence in the member for Sandringham and the member for Brighton that she could not work out who to give the Treasury portfolio to. The member for Kew was so conflicted in who to give the Treasury portfolio to that the member for Kew said, ‘You know what, I will just do it myself.’

If the member for Kew had gone to Canberra, which we thought was the original plan, those opposite would be in absolute ruin. They would have had six or seven leaders. They probably would have gone back to another. Now the member for Malvern has taken off. The member for Kew has taken the primary down to 24 to 26, and One Nation is on a tear. The member for Berwick had him at bay. I will say this, and I will not fanboy too much on the member for Berwick, but when you see the DemosAU poll in the electorate he knows quite well, Berwick and La Trobe, you see a 46–54 One Nation 2PP. They are on a tear in the outer suburbs and they are coming after Liberal-held areas. When you see that, the member for Berwick had them at bay. The member for Berwick had them at 41. Where do we see the primary right now? We see it at 24 to 26 and we see Pauline Hanson on a tear. There is just a correlation.

I know you are very astute, Deputy Speaker. I know you follow empirical evidence. Correlation is not always causation, but I see here the member for Berwick, 41 primary; the member for Kew, 24 to 26 primary. I just see a correlation here that maybe there is a bit of buyer’s remorse now, maybe they regret again rolling another leader. The member for Hawthorn looks glum. The member for Bulleen looks brave sometimes, sometimes glum. The member for Berwick is up and about. The member for Berwick is playing the team game. He is ready to go. If it does not come off and they come up short, he will be back. He might have said ‘C’est la vie,’ but I have heard there are three dots on that – ‘C’est la vie …’ – and maybe a bit of ‘To be continued’. There is a sequel here. As Scott Morrison said to Malcolm Turnbull, ‘I’m optimistic for you,’ Brad Battin. I am optimistic for the member for Berwick. I am optimistic for him because I think there is another story arc to that. The member for Berwick is not done.

When we see this nonsense put forward, the person who said the $15 billion number has walked that back all the way back to New South Wales, and I would have my own reflections on those comments and the gallivanting and that. But let us just think about what Nick McKenzie said the day after on Jacqui Felgate’s program: ‘Well, it’s not that. It could be millions.’ What did the Premier say? Any dollar that is misappropriated in Victoria is a terrible outcome, so we have fronted up to that. What have we done? The Labour Hire Authority has knocked out 151 labour hire firms. We have had 88 charges laid. Right? That is where we are at. That is the state of play. There might be more out of Taskforce Hawk; it is ongoing. That is an important reference from the action that you take, fronting up to the accountability, fronting up to press conferences and then walking out. When we say we are expanding IBAC’s powers and lowering the threshold of criminal conduct, the member for Kew goes, ‘Hang on, that’s a step too far for us. We don’t support that.’ Well, that is where we are. We are open, transparent and lowering the threshold to make sure that corrupt conduct has a lower threshold and can be investigated. That is taking the action and putting through those outcomes going forward. We have got the most far-reaching retrospective follow-the-money powers coming. That is taking the action. That is saying retrospectively, ‘We’ll have a look at that and we’ll see what’s happened here.’ That is opening up the books and saying, ‘We do not want to see one bit of corrupt conduct.’

You know what? This side is for workers and on the side of the labour movement and supporting working people. Any bit of corruption in the labour movement we know impacts on the people that we care about, love and appreciate in those unions, in the construction industry – the more than 125,000 people who are CFMEU members. It impacts on all working people. Because you know what, when conservatives get in they will use any tactic they can to rip away the working conditions and wages of people that we love and cherish in the working movement. It does not take much. They tried to do that with a royal commission federally and tried to get all of the Labor people in the docks and the stands and go after them. What did that show? It just showed that they were trying to erode workers’ conditions and entitlements, like all the time before, except that is on hyperdrive now with the One Nation–Liberal coalition coming through.

It is a really concerning point in the confidence of this Parliament and in this place that rank populists come through and then just absolutely go on a tear. Those opposite have enabled that. I will not name some of the members on that side who have done that. I put out a plea to the member for Sandringham yesterday. I said, ‘Just show some ticker, please. Let’s stand up to these people.’ Do what John Howard is doing now: stop them at the door. There is an opportunity right now. Angus Taylor has taken the Liberal primary to 17. You know when the Tasmanian tiger went extinct? You might remember that, Deputy Speaker – no, you are of a younger vintage. You might remember that back then when the Tasmanian tiger was going extinct they wanted to photograph it. They just wanted to catalogue it just to make sure it was in the archives. The Nationals at the moment are being photographed. They are just saying they are not going to exist anymore. This is the warning to the Liberal Party: the Nats are gone – the Nats are almost as good as gone. I think we all have some admiration for the member for Morwell, but I feel like going and handing out for him, because there is all sorts of trauma coming there – 18 out of the 21 booths are worse, One Nation is on a tear. Hopefully they can find him a parachute somewhere else – just get in the Libs or go One Nation. You do you, member for Morwell, but we are concerned. He is a charming fella; he is a good leader. He is in all sorts. Maybe Morwell and Berwick could do a bit of a combo and just see them off.

John Howard is the only one that stood up and said, ‘We have to stop them at the gate,’ on Karl Stefanovic’s podcast. Maybe the member for Warrandyte or the member for Berwick can go on the Karl Stefanovic podcast and have a chat and a wander around with some softball questions: ‘What’s the day today? What’s happened?’ – all this sort of stuff. But then what are they going to do about this? Because they are going to have to sign a preference deal, otherwise they cannot exist going forward in this.

When we think about this motion, it goes to the heart of their policy intent. When they call out the $200 billion in debt, that is a window into what they would do if they ever got near government, and part of that is not choice. The member for Kew already has put on the table a $40 billion cut agenda – one in seven public servants sacked. This is a real, significant moment in our state when the member for Kew, in her own words, says that business creates jobs, governments do not create jobs. That means that anyone that is supported in government jobs is at risk. It means teachers do not know whether they will have a job at the end of the day under the member for Kew. We do not know whether allied health workers, our nurses or our paramedics will have a job at the end of the day, because when those opposite say that government does not create jobs, that means they cut back. But what does that look like? When you take a cash surplus, when you do that and take it to its nth degree, it means you cannot fund any infrastructure into the next decade. Those opposite will not deny that, because those literally are the figures they put forward. When the member for Prahran was talking about updating female change facilities, which is a really important thing – and I am sure that her advocacy around that is really important – the reality is there will not be a moment to invest in that because the cash surplus will tear through like nothing before. If you do it by gross state product and you grow the economy and shrink the proportion of debt to the state’s economy, that is a sensible and smart way; that is the five-step fiscal management plan that the former Treasurer and the former Premier put forward to step us through. It is what other states and territories will do as well; they have followed that metric through.

The Liberals, in their policy, are far more egregious and far more austerity focused. Those opposite will have the blowtorch put on them as they come close to the election. They cannot walk around the fact that the cash surplus means there will be no movement, no investment, no funding in capital infrastructure and a significant reduction in the public service. Those opposite need to explain: if it is not that $40 billion number, then what is it? Because we have done the numbers on what that would take over the forward estimates, including the $11.1 billion, in taking back revenue. Here is a thought – this is Liberal economics right here: ‘We’re going to drop the revenue base by $11.1 billion. We’re then going to make tens of billions of dollars in cuts through there.’ But then they say that they are going to grow the economy and increase infrastructure. It just does not stack up. You saw this from the former opposition leader Peter Dutton when he rolled over his costings and everyone went, ‘Goodness me, there’s tens of billions of dollars of a hole in that.’ You think, ‘Well, how can this stack up?’

When the Leader of the Opposition is the Shadow Treasurer, the accountability falls right at the member for Kew. At least then when the member for Berwick or the member for Brighton go on their leadership gallivant at the end of November or early December – and I am happy for the member for Brighton and the member for Berwick, because they will not have all that muck and all that baggage of being in control of a massive cuts agenda, the likes of which we have never seen. There are the complications and the huge implications of One Nation and a One Nation–Liberal-formed alliance, which is coming. Some of them on that side are actually advocating for that; they are advocating for a One Nation–Liberal alliance going forward. Cut the Nationals out, because as I said, they will be extinct. So the next phase will be the One Nation–Liberal coalition, whether that is in opposition or whatever that looks like, because the reality on current numbers is One Nation will win more seats than the Liberal Party; that is the reality here. The member for Brighton will be fine. I think he has to walk around a bit to find One Nation types in his area. There may be a few – more teals. I have heard on the grapevine that he is a little worried about some of the teals out there. The member for Brighton has got to thread the needle here. He is very leadership-aspirant, I am just going to say that. He has got a bit of talent. He could have gone fed; he could have gone club fed. He might have a journey out at club fed. He wanted to go club fed, but he has got some aspirations, and he holds his own in here. The member for Brighton does not want to see the rise of One Nation, because what happens then with the teals all the way through the Sandringham train line? They will go on an absolute tear. Those gen Zs and millennials in his seat will look at that and go, ‘Well, that is not anything like a modern Victoria that we stand up for and we want to participate in.’ So he has got to thread the needle. But then you have got the likes of the member for Narracan and member for Polwarth. Wow – we have heard rumours.

I do not think you are a Backroom Baz reader, Deputy Speaker; I am not sure. You are astute in following the papers. The member for Berwick gets a few nods and a few doffs of the cap. But we have heard that there is a bit of flirting with One Nation. Like if the primary was a certain way, we might suddenly fall in love with the colour orange. It looks good on a particular day and a particular suit. I have seen the member for Narracan. I mean, I am colourblind, but I do not think it is a red tie. I have seen a little bit of orange – just trying it on for size. One Nation do not even have a candidate in any of these seats yet and they are polling off the charts. We are seeing numbers that have never been seen in those areas before.

When we see that kind of impact, we see the impact that this will have, we know that they are captured. They have no other option than to form up with One Nation and be the minority partner. We do not even know who that might be. It could be anyone that they put forward or pick. They do not even have a candidate at the moment, but the Liberal Party will be the junior partner in that arrangement because One Nation will win more seats than the Liberals, and the Nationals will be as good as the Tasmanian tiger – they will be extinct. To those in Nationals’ offices: this is the time to join One Nation and photograph all your archives, because at the moment you are looking like a history project.

They have let the populace in. They have never stood up to them, and for a decade they have pandered to them. Sky News after dark was the Liberal’s plaything for a little while, and then Paul Murray and others and Steve Price went, ‘Well, you know what, we actually think they’re a little bit too moderate. Let’s run and charge in.’ The member for Kew can come out today and say, ‘We won’t do a preference deal’ – do it right today – and that they are going to put One Nation last, like John Howard did. Who would have thought that John Howard would be the most courageous voice out there again, in his 80s, getting on the Karl Stefanovic podcast and going ‘Don’t do it’? You have got Angus Taylor up there – it gets worse, member for Brighton. Angus Taylor has driven the Liberal primary into 17 territory. I mean, member for Evelyn, 17 territory – it does get a lot worse. The Liberals under Morrison and Turnbull, where were they? They had a 4. Remember when Scomo was at –

Nicole Werner: Why are you talking about polls?

Tim RICHARDSON: It is important, member for Warrandyte, because I am worried for your future if One Nation comes through. I think the member for Warrandyte has got a bright future going forward. Does the member for Warrandyte support a preference deal? We will see. In the next speech, if the member for Warrandyte is going through, we want to know will the member for Warrandyte push back on One Nation? Tony Abbott has said they will do a preference deal. Jeff Kennett is pleading with them to side with One Nation. I can just see the blood boiling in the member for Brighton and the member for Sandringham, who then go, ‘This is absolute carnage.’ The member for Prahran would not survive in that kind of circumstance if the member for Kew, with a preference deal with One Nation, lets the teals run through Hawthorn and through Kew.

There are decisions to make now, not just in political expedience but in the good of our community and the good of our future. Will those opposite do the right thing for our institutions and our democracy and push back on populists? The Tories have not done it with Reform, so we have seen examples of that. We have seen examples of the Republican movement in the United States and how that has torn through the Tea Party – that is right, member for Glen Waverley – and now we see it has greased the wheel for rank populism. But there are elements in the Liberal Party that we see are addicted to that and emboldening that.

I have said this to those opposite in private conversations. The two-party structure we have here and the Nationals and the Greens as stable forces in our democracy – centre left, centre right – are decent for our institutions and structures. That is genuinely the truth. That has stood us the test of time in federal and state circumstances for decades. Right now it is The Hunger Games, because One Nation are not as extreme as some want them to go. Where does the decision-making on what is the right thing to do and the important thing to do come into the psyche of political discourse? Unfortunately federally that has been vacated.

When we think of the toll and the consequence, the Liberals will have no option but to go more extreme to outflank One Nation. Pauline Hanson said yesterday at the National Press Club that she would tear up government departments, a slew of government departments. How many government departments do we have? We have 11 – a slew of government departments and talk of tearing them to pieces. The Department of Education, the Department of Health, where are we going here? The Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions?

Where do we go here if we are tearing up these institutions and tearing jobs to pieces and shrinking government? It is austerity, it is a lack of confidence and it is a lack of aspiration and hope in Victoria. Show me where a jurisdiction has gone hard on austerity and it has led to a better outcome for the people – and I have said this time and time again: where is it? Where is the example where hacking and slashing and burning the place has given hope and aspiration to working people and families in our communities – where? Because that is the toll right here.

The member for Warrandyte is going to go next, and it will be, you know, Ferraris, it will be this, it will be that and it will be $15 billion. There will not be any account for the substantial cuts that are going to be made. The member for Warrandyte has never talked about the cash surplus and what that will mean for no infrastructure funding. An entree to being the Shadow Treasurer, if you are up for it, is to say, ‘Well, how would you factor in the cash surplus that means tens of billions of dollars need to be ripped out of Victoria?’ How would that happen? How would that happen over a decade? We have done the numbers, and it does not stack up. The best way is to grow the economy, shrink debt as a proportion of the economy – and Victoria has been an engine room of the nation’s economy for the last decade – create jobs and increase the prosperity. Because what will happen to Victorians who see austerity as the measure? Well, we will see cuts to health and education, and jobs will go backwards.

What is happening now? We are the engine room of the nation’s economy. We have got business growth that is outstripping the nation – that is what is happening. If you read past page 4 of the Herald Sun and do a little bit more, you will see the economic stats of where Victoria stands up. Those opposite want to talk down the place, but there is absolutely no hope and aspiration that they offer to Victorians. It is always, over that side, about naming a problem, never a solution, until they read the Herald Sun at 7 am or they see the clips from One Nation and what they might do.

One Nation will go further. We saw that they would tear into early childhood educators. Did you see what they said about early childhood educators yesterday? This is what Pauline Hanson said: ‘You don’t need a qualification to look after children.’ The whole early childhood sector had just been absolutely pulverised. Because if they do not value the people that educate and care and support and nurture our kids in the 1000 days of their development, then what values do any of them hold? So we would see early childhood education torn into. We would see cuts to infrastructure. We would see jobs go backwards. We would see projects paused, and we would see the likes and impact of what we saw in the Abbott and Hockey days and then some of the entree to Baillieu and Napthine. So that is the cuts agenda.

A member interjected.

Tim RICHARDSON: That is right – out the back with the cigars and putting it forward as well. And then on income – this is going to be my last sort of segue in. We have got the member for Bulleen that has just walked in here. Remember the transition to government shadow? That has gone. They have given up that. Remember that one? You might have seen when the portfolio shuffle happened, the member for Berwick was sizing up the curtains and he thought, ‘I can see it here.’ I will just take you back over there, opposition team. You had 41 as a primary, and you have taken it down to the low 20s. And Angus Taylor is not the floor up there at 17 – it keeps going, it keeps going further. But the member for Berwick was sizing things up, and he went to the member for Bulleen, who had had a crack at trying to transition to government twice – and I thought there was a bit of a twisted, nasty irony to that – and said, ‘Member for Bulleen, can you do transition to government for us, because you know so much about that – you know, two times?’ The member for Kew was so aspirational, and he got him all revved up and all excited. The former member for Kew Tim Smith did all the legwork and then got necked. How brutal was that? Remember he was down on the peninsula and the member for Bulleen would not take the call. That was a really quick transition in confidence in your leader, wasn’t it? ‘I’m looking after him. I won’t take his call. Off he goes’. That was brutal.

But on the transition to government, they gave up on that portfolio very quickly, didn’t they? The member for Bulleen was getting out there and trying to get on to department secretaries – no-one was taking the call. Remember that pub aspiration he had with Neil Mitchell? Do you remember that interview? That was a classic: ‘I want to go and start a pub in New South Wales,’ ‘Oh, okay.’ Well, when is it going to happen? The member for Bulleen is still here. I think in this story arc – I am aspirational for the member for Berwick – the member for Bulleen is Lazarus with a triple bypass. Remember when John Howard had the third rise through? He came through. I think the member for Bulleen is actually just sitting there, waiting in the wings. I think they have confidence still. He is good on the grabs. He is still there.

The member for Bulleen is still the best performer, by a mile. When he gets on the tear, look out. I do see the member for Nepean in here, and I wonder what the member for Nepean makes of all this. He has come in, six different leaders, primaries going down, had to fight off One Nation, got a bit of a taste for that. Lucky Nepean is a bit more stable down there with some of the Liberal aspirations, but it must be a journey. You have come into one of the most exciting times, member for Nepean. It was a nice speech, member for Nepean, yesterday. I thought you and Prahran could be frontbench straight up. I thought, ‘Goodness me.’

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Through the Chair, Mordialloc.

Tim RICHARDSON: You were tuning in last night, Deputy Speaker. I think you were listening to that speech. I thought, ‘An engineer, so not a factional hack, has come through.’ There have been staff that have run through. It is a nice little segue through there. He was aspirational for the member for Hastings, gave him a well wish and said he was backing him in. The rumour goes, from those that were backgrounding on him and trying to keep him out of pre-selection, that he was a bit favourable to the colour red. Bit favourable over here, member for Nepean said on the speech –

Anthony Marsh: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, the member needs to be factual.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: All members are understood to be factual. That is why they are honourable.

Tim RICHARDSON: It was not me in the Sentinel-Times saying that the member for Nepean liked the Labor Party. It was not me backgrounding out there. I think it was some branches down that way.

But we see here today a motion put forward without thought – a motion that talks about a number that has been pulverised by the journo that wrote it. The next day Nick McKenzie, on Jacqui Felgate’s program, absolutely rubbished that number by saying it could be millions. The member for Warrandyte will not say that – will take it as gospel, that number – but in a post-truth era it does not matter, does it? It does not matter anymore what you say or do. I caution those opposite that the absolute populism that is running rampant is why people are running out of their branches towards One Nation. This is happening right now, and it impacts on the Labor Party as well. Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, and the Premier have talked about this, but it harms in its most critical phase so much more the Liberal and National parties. It is a moment in time whether they reflect on that and stand up or not.

Then we see the numbers put forward here around the austerity measures that they would take. The cash surplus will rip the heart out of confidence in Victoria. It will harm Victorians. It will mean it will be harder to front up to hospitals because there will be less funding. It will be harder under Liberals because there will be less teachers, and confidence in this state will deteriorate to levels that we have not seen. That is what happens when austerity is the number.

My final shout-out is the member for Prahran had nothing to say about how the member for Narre Warren North has acted. The member for Narre Warren North is an outstanding member of Parliament, delivering in her community. She will be re-elected, and she will dominate for many years to come.

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (10:48): It is fantastic to follow my friend the member for Mordialloc, who destroyed my reputation with his praise of me just a minute ago. There is one thing I will highlight in relation to a point of order from our good member, the member for Nepean. The one thing he did get factually correct was that he won, and that is why he is here, because he went out and represented his community. But I do have one slight issue. I know the government will question the $15 billion, but we know that is out there. That is well and truly in the community.

I know it is our motion, but the only part I question is the bit about this house condemns the member for Narre Warren North for having confidence in the Premier. I thought the member for Narre Warren North had a very good, close relationship with the Deputy Premier. I do not think she quite has the confidence in the Premier here in this place, and I think that could be a really big concern, because we know on that side at the moment they are not united at all. They are all over the shop.

I will say to the member for Mordialloc, because we did say we went down to Narre Warren North and he said he would love to give a tour to the member for Prahran. I would be happy to do it as well. I will join you down there, member for Mordialloc. I will come out. I will wear my tank top. I will get the guns out so you can keep looking at them again, because you spoke about them more than most other things whilst you were doing your presentation.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Berwick.

Brad BATTIN: Through you, Deputy Speaker. I have to say I am pretty proud of them, so I am all right with that. We will get down there to Narre Warren North. You said you wanted to go through Maccas. We want to go through Maccas. I will talk about McDonald’s down there in Narre Warren at Fountain Gate. The McDonald’s there is a great McDonald’s. It is where I started my working career. It is where I met my wife, so I have got a good relationship down at McDonald’s. I remember the days back in the Narre Warren North electorate when I used to leave McDonald’s at 10:30 at night and not feel unsafe walking to my car, because that was what Narre Warren North used to be before this Labor government, when we used to be safe in those communities, when we had police resources that could respond to crimes.

But let me tell you what has happened with our crime statistics today out in Casey. If you want to sit there and talk about what is happening, we have got record crime. You would be surprised to hear of a 9.1 per cent increase in crime in Casey and a 25 per cent increase in theft from motor vehicle. But under this Premier that, let us be honest, no-one could have confidence in, theft from motor vehicle has gone up 138 per cent out in the growth corridor, out in Casey, and there has been a 21 per cent increase in theft of motor vehicles. One of the biggest issues we have out there is we just do not have the police resources. I speak to the coppers out there each and every day, and they are frustrated. They hear the absolute rhetoric from this government that we have got the biggest police force in Australia and we have got more police officers than anywhere else. You have also got record crime. What is worse is –

A member interjected.

Brad BATTIN: ‘Crime is down’ – it is up 9.1 per cent in Casey, and it is up 26 per cent under this Premier. Only this government could pat themselves on the back for a slight decrease in record crime here in this state. We have got more people who are victims of aggravated burglaries than at any time in history, and members of the Labor Party want to pat themselves on the back. 58 per cent of crimes out in Casey still remain unresolved, because they do not have the resources. Again, we have got a government here and a Premier that comes out and says, ‘We’ll give Victoria Police all the resources they need. Sorry, except we won’t give them the resources to do the fingerprinting or DNA tests on stolen vehicles. We’ll stop that because we haven’t got the resources for that. We can’t do DNA testing or fingerprinting on stolen cars anymore unless the car was involved in an aggravated burglary, so we’ve stopped investigating that at all.’

Drink driving and drug driving – the government now will not give the right resources to Victoria Police to do roadside drug tests, and we are seeing example after example and copper after copper coming out and talking about it. They are pulling people over, and they are told that if they go to the cupboard to get one of the tests before 1 July, they are in trouble because they do not have the budget to replace them. So rather than using them, they are going to leave them locked away in the cupboard so they can use them all closer to an election – because we all know how the spin works. The spin machine is starting to build up. It is starting to get all there for the election. All of a sudden, double squads are going through the academy; they were not for the last 12 months, but all of a sudden they are starting to go through every fortnight so they can pat themselves on the back and say, ‘Look at us, we’ve got so many Victoria Police resources coming in.’ Yet Wayne Gatt is running a campaign that 1507 vacancies remain on police rosters across this state.

What does that mean, Deputy Speaker? It means even in your electorate, where I was out at recently, the stations are closed or have reduced hours. It means up in Kilmore, where I was, there was a 24-hour station – it is open one day a week. It means in Clyde North we have got a wonderful new station, we just have no Victoria Police members in it. In Clyde alone we are starting to see crime reach record levels; we have had an 83 per cent increase in crime since this Premier was appointed by the Labor Party. The reward they got – they have had about 35 media releases, 24 front pages, photos of every Casey member from the Labor Party going out there celebrating this wonderful new station, but not one of them goes out and visits the victims of aggravated burglaries. Not one of the members of the Labor Party have come out to Casey and visited those that have had a group of kids run through with machetes and threaten their families. Not one of them has gone out and visited a household, such as I have been to, where the youngest person in the house was 75 years old and the oldest was 92 and a group of kids came through that house with knives and threatened them and stolen their car. Because that is what these crime statistics are: they are people. And the kids know; they laugh at it. The kids think this is the funniest thing in the world because they know that they can drive into someone’s home in a stolen car, run through the house and drive out with their new stolen car on the way out. It is kind of like a little car lot for them – off they go, cruise down, get into a pursuit. They can go all the way along a freeway. They can pull a gun on someone; it does not really matter. They can then go and do a firebombing – 80 Proof is a prime example out there in Keysborough – blow up a whole factory, go into court and say to the court, ‘Oh, sorry. I know the Labor laws. They’ll let me off, won’t they?’ And I think to myself, ‘No, no, no,’ and the judges then go, ‘Yeah, the laws say you can keep going.’ Twelve months without conviction for burning down a $4.6 million factory – this is what is happening out in Casey. These are the crimes that are happening out in my community.

These kids are the ones that are actually going to pay the price. These offenders who continuously get out will continuously commit crime until they end up in the adult system. And guess what? It is over; it is finished. They will have no opportunities. They will have no second chances from then. They will never be able to get out and go out into the community; they will not have the opportunity. There are things that we do not even think about in this place. They might not be able to get a job, because if you go in and apply for a job, you have got to fill in your stat dec and say that you have never had a criminal conviction. They cannot do that because they are going to have criminal convictions coming out their ears by the time they are that age. The worst thing is when you go and ask them, ‘What do you want to do when you get older?’ and most of them say, ‘I’d love to go overseas’ – gone. You cannot go overseas. You are a convicted criminal. Most countries will not accept you. The ones that do – I am probably happy you will go there. But any that genuinely want to go to America cannot. We are giving up on those kids. That is why we need to ensure that we have a Premier of this state that we can have confidence will not only be tough on crime, will not only have the stick, but will ensure we have the carrot to keep these kids away from crime. That can only happen with a change of government.

When we are out in Narre Warren North and going through the areas and the shopping centres down there, I think there is one stat that will stand out. I am sure, again, the member for Mordialloc would have loved to come through Fountain Gate when it used to feel safe, because offences in shopping centres in Casey have gone up 43 per cent – a 43 per cent increase in crimes at shopping centres. I remember as a kid walking through Fountain Gate shopping centre, and every so often we had a small gang here and there that caused a few issues back in the days when the coppers could deal with them properly and effectively and get rid of them. Now if the coppers do anything wrong against these kids, the coppers are the ones that get in trouble. It is about time we reversed that. We want to make sure that we can get rid of the gangs that are down there now, because people genuinely feel unsafe at Fountain Gate. Parents now who are my age – the oldies in their 50s – who have got kids who are 15 to 16 years old will not even let them go to the movies by themselves at Fountain Gate. That is how dangerous Fountain Gate is.

I am not sure how we can stand in here and say that the member for Narre Warren North is doing a good job, because your primary responsibility as a member of Parliament should be to keep your community safe, and in Narre Warren North they are no longer safe. All across Casey they are no longer safe. It is no longer just stats and it is no longer them over there trying to say it is us trying to scare the community, it is reality. The only thing that scares me more than crime out in Casey is spin from the Labor government, who continuously try and put messaging out to my community that nothing is going wrong. Give permission then for the coppers to come out and speak to the media and I guarantee you that every single one of them will come out and tell you the truth of what is happening with crime out in Casey. They will tell you the number of victims that we have got building up each and every day and that people are unsafe walking down their street, unsafe going to the shopping centre and – sad but true – unsafe going to their local McDonald’s.

 Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon) (10:58): I am really pleased to speak on this motion because, a little bit like the member for Mordialloc, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the fantastic work that the member for Narre Warren North is doing in her community. She is just one of the very many hardworking Labor MPs in this chamber that come to work every day focused on what matters most to Victorians, and right now that includes the cost-of-living pressures that families are experiencing as well as of course ensuring that our government continues to invest in the health and education infrastructure that Victorians need and rely on. I want to congratulate the member for Narre Warren North. It certainly was my pleasure, formerly as Minister for Health, to be able to visit with her in her electorate and see some of the incredible investments that our government is making to service the needs of her community, including a massive expansion of the emergency department at Casey Hospital – an expansion that will enable that health service to see 52,000 additional patients every year in the emergency department.

I note also that this motion before the house talks about a $15 billion figure. We know, because Geoffrey Watson himself has said it, that this figure has been misquoted and misused. As we know, it was the former administrator Mark Irving of the CFMEU who said that this was an untested and unfounded figure.

But I will tell you what is not an untested and unfounded figure, and that is the $15 billion pipeline of health infrastructure that is being delivered by this Labor government. That is where we are spending $15 billion worth of funds. And I will say this too, because it is true: Victorians can expect that, should the Liberals be elected, under a Liberal government they can expect to see cuts, closures and privatisations of our health services, because the best predictor of what any political party will do in the future is what they have done in the past, and their history is one of cuts, closures and privatisation. We know this is true for the Latrobe Regional Hospital and the Mildura hospital, and indeed they were preparing the Austin Hospital for sale. $15 billion of investment in health infrastructure in this state means that we have delivered world-class health facilities. The new Footscray Hospital, the absolute best in class, is a health service that stands proudly at the gateway to Melbourne’s western suburbs, to serve the people of Melbourne’s west, to meet the needs of this growing community, and a world-class hospital will only continue to attract world-class talent, to ensure that the people of Melbourne’s west can get the very best health care that they need and deserve.

One thing that we know for sure is that those on the opposite benches have always neglected the people of Melbourne’s west. They have rarely visited the place. Only Labor will ensure that we continue to deliver infrastructure so that people in Melbourne’s west, and indeed people in Melbourne’s north and south-east – these growing communities, where working families live and aspire to own a home – can give their kids a good education and ensure that they can get a good, secure job into the future. We will always, on this side of the house, proudly stand up for those people. A secure job is something that we, on this side of the house, understand the importance of. It is why we continue to invest so much money into infrastructure, productive infrastructure that will help grow our economy, but infrastructure that will also create good jobs along the way. And we will never shy away from the need to ensure that workers have safe working conditions and that people are well paid for the work that they deliver.

I want to take people in this chamber back to 2014, when we were running to get rid of a hopeless one-term Liberal–National government. It had never been done before. But you know what, we were successful, and I will tell you why: because we went to the people of Victoria with a jobs plan, a commitment to create an additional 100,000 jobs. We have done that so many times over since we have been in government. In fact this motion talks about unemployment. Let me remind the house that when we came to power in 2014 unemployment was at 6.7 per cent. We had the highest unemployment on the mainland here in Victoria, and that was under a Liberal–National government. What we do on this side of the house is make no apologies for investing in the productive infrastructure that will create good, secure jobs but also set our economy up for success into the future.

Of course we have borrowed money to invest in this life-changing infrastructure, be it the Footscray Hospital, be it the Frankston Hospital, be it Melbourne Metro or indeed be it the Suburban Rail Loop. You cannot stand still when it comes to delivering the infrastructure that our state needs to meet the needs of our growing population. Of course as a proud regional Victorian I am also very, very pleased with the investments that our government has continued to make in rural and regional Victoria. That means significant investments.

Members interjecting.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: Here she is, the member for Narre Warren North. The absolute star of the show has walked into the chamber, ladies and gentlemen.

It has been such a pleasure, member for Narre Warren North, to be able to sing your praises in this place, because I know that, like me, you understand the importance of investing in productive infrastructure. But I was just talking, if I may, about the importance of ensuring that we make those investments in rural and regional Victoria. Again, as Minister for Health – or former health minister, sorry; let us be clear – I am very proud of the more than $790 million that was invested in the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund. The hospital infrastructure that we have delivered in Bendigo, in Ballarat, in Warrnambool and in Traralgon and the investments that we are making in Albury Wodonga Health, indeed Wangaratta – none of this would be possible if it were not for a Labor government that believes in building for the future.

My time in this place is nearly up, but I do need to make a couple of observations. What we have seen from those on the other side of the chamber today is yet another cheap political stunt which is designed to take attention away from the fact that their –

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Members, including the member for Narre Warren North, there is a lot of noise in the chamber.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: vote, as the member for Mordialloc has already succinctly outlined, has absolutely collapsed and they are hard on the ground chasing the One Nation vote. Anything that comes out of Pauline Hanson’s mouth, you can be assured, will be Liberal policy, because they are so desperate to win at whatever cost.

I note the member for Nepean is in the chamber. He made his inaugural speech last night. He neglected to mention that One Nation secured 40 per cent of the vote in Rosebud. If I were the member for Nepean, I would be spending less time in the Macedon electorate – which is what he did only a couple of weekends ago – and more time in my own electorate, understanding that he has to win again in November of this year. Some of what we have heard come out of the mouth of Pauline Hanson is deeply offensive, but you can be assured that those on the other side will be out on the hustings and they will be seeking to implement a Pauline Hanson agenda here.

Pauline Hanson has been quite clear: apparently, according to One Nation, workers have too many rights. Can we just be clear about that: workers have too many rights. The neoliberal economic rationalists on the other side have never said the quiet bit out loud before; they have kind of kept it a little bit to themselves. But this is central to their political beliefs: workers have too many rights, we are spending too much money on infrastructure, we are spending too much money on services like public health and public education. As I said, the best predictor of what any political party will do once they get power is what they did previously – cuts, closures, privatisation. This is what we can expect from a Liberal–National–One Nation coalition.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (11:08): I am delighted, if not shocked, to rise to speak on this motion. Just for those who do not understand what is happening this morning, the Leader of the Opposition, on behalf of the opposition, gave notice of a no-confidence motion in the Premier and her government. What did the Leader of the House do? He allowed a debate – this is a Labor Leader of the House – on whether this house has confidence in the Premier. I understand he is from the right, and I will tell you what, I reckon he is been behind some of the shenanigans. But anyway, I will leave that on the side. He allowed a debate in this house on whether this house has confidence in the Premier. We have got two free debates on whether we have confidence in the Premier. We do not, and neither do Victorians. I say thank you to the Leader of the House, because what he has done is he has allowed Victorians’ views to be expressed through the opposition in this house today.

Let me talk about some home truths, because a number of speakers on that side of the house have been talking about what has been happening in Victoria. I will start with where the Premier is at, because that is what a lot of this motion goes to. The Premier is about to be wiped out of her seat. She is currently polling third – third, as Premier – as the member for Bendigo East. She is polling third.

Can you imagine being a leader of the state and polling third in your own seat? She is polling 60–40, by the way, for anyone who is tracking, 60–40 in Bendigo. She is being wiped out. She can walk up and down knocking on doors – and when she is knocking on doors, she is not getting much chop, you can see that. I would say to the Premier: stop doorknocking, because I do not think the knocking on doors is doing her any favours. I think when she is turning up, they are saying no. When you are on 60–40, I do not think any pork-barrelling in your seat is going to save you – and my God, is she pork-barrelling.

I mean, she is pork-barrelling as hard as anyone has ever done before, and it is not doing her any good. And the Labor polling – I do not know if anyone knows this yet – is showing them down to 25 seats. Legitimate Labor polling is showing them down to 25 seats. That is 30 seats down. So all these cocky backbenchers – I would not even know their names. I do not mean to be rude, but I would not even know who they are. But neither do their electorates. They would not even know who they are. Who are these people? Who are these people?

Natalie Hutchins: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, could you direct the opposition to the fact that there are microphones in here and we do not need that level of yelling.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): There is no point of order, but I will ask the member for Brighton to continue.

James NEWBURY: As I was saying, I understand why the member – I do not know her name –is touchy about what is happening with Labor polling.

Members interjecting.

James NEWBURY: I get it, I get it, I get it. When you see the briefing that came out from their own head office – it came out from their home head office – it showed that 22 of them are triple zeros. ‘Triple zeros’ – what does that mean? Triple zeros – no doors knocked, no calls, but no conversations. I do not understand how a member of Parliament can leave their house and not talk to someone. I have never left my house and not talked to someone in my community, whether you are buying a coffee, you are waiting in the line and you have talked to 20 people. Whether you go to the shops, people –

David Southwick interjected.

James NEWBURY: As the member for Caulfield just said to me, it is not possible for you to leave your house and not talk to someone unless your community does not know you. How can you not have a conversation when you are out in the community? I mean, there are only two answers to this. They either are not leaving their houses – that is possible – or no-one knows who they are, which I think is also true.

It is astonishing what is happening under this government, the chaos that has allowed a debate of no confidence in the Premier. Victorians have no confidence in this Premier, and we cannot wait to vote. We cannot wait to vote in November. Every Victorian cannot wait to vote, and Labor can get as cocky as they want. They can laugh about it. The Premier can continue to put out weird videos. I mean, last night’s video, that was Captain Weird. Last night’s video was so weird. It was so weird. I mean, in my mind, I start to think to myself, ‘Could the Premier do anything more weird?’ Do you know what it showed? Terror, terror – absolute terror. Well, the only thing I can tell you about politics after watching it for decades is when leaders become desperate and full of terror, the result gets worse, because voters smell terror.

The reason why Victorians are going to vote hard against Labor and they are going to come out with their baseball bats, as the political expression goes, and they are going to come out in a way we have not seen before, is because corruption is now core business in this state. The Premier, of all the things she has done wrong – and she has done a lot of things wrong – she has allowed, enabled and covered it up. It is a disgrace. So not only are they going to vote against this government, but they are going to vote in, hopefully, a government that cleans it up, because we are going to have a royal commission.

I make a commitment: we are going to make sure we not only chase down every dollar but we chase down every crook. We are going to go after these criminals. We are going to go after them. This will not stand. Victoria and Australia will have confidence in the integrity of this state again.

When the youth crime crisis started in Brighton, as Victoria Police have confirmed, people on that side of the chamber laughed. Many senior ministers said it was not happening. They just talked against crime existing. It was an absolute disgrace, to the point that we now see open danger in our streets. There are few streets that have not had a burglary or an aggravated home invasion. In my community every street has. Car theft is the norm. You do not feel safe in the city, you do not feel safe in your suburb.

What is this government’s solution to that? Closing police stations, reducing police numbers and taking PSOs off train stations, partly because this government is broke but also because this government believes in putting criminals before victims. You look at what happened yesterday with the Anzac memorial and the two offenders in that. What an absolute disgrace. Two scumbags have been able to protect their names because they are embarrassed. What happened straight after those scumbags got that protection? They held up the same vile sentences immediately after that magistrate made that decision. It is wrong. There is something wrong in the courts and a system that allows that decision to be made. Those scumbags should have no safe harbour. They should have no capacity to cover up. I am deeply, with my portfolio hat on now, concerned about a system that allows that to happen.

This government is in chaos. We have no confidence in this Premier and we have no confidence in this government, but neither do Victorians. They are going to tell every single Labor member about that in November, and I cannot wait to join them so that we can clean up this state again. We want a Jess Wilson government. We want a clean state. We want a safe state. We want a safe place for our children. We want a safe place for our community. That is what you will get after a change of government in November.

 Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston – Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Cost of Living, Minister for Renters, Minister for Men and Boys) (11:18): It is obvious that common sense is not a flower that blooms in every garden. It might be amazing for the member for Brighton’s mum to sit back at home and tune in and watch that. I think I counted six times the member for Brighton’s voice broke. He is theatrical, and I must admit it is very entertaining at times. But I find myself a little bit sensitive sitting at this table; I do not know how ministers sit here at times and listen. It is almost the volume that I think gets to people. We are here at the moment talking about a motion that is born of –

A member interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: Sorry, I will take that interjection. We are here talking about a motion born not of Liberal principles but of desperation. It is the kind of motion that you bring up when you have no plan, and I am absolutely happy to speak on it. The Liberal Party today have been talking about discipline. They have been talking about money and who can be trusted. I will remind them – some of their members might not remember this, or it might be that they have just decided not to remember this – that this is the party that was robbed blind by its own state director, and they did not even bloody realise it for four years. Your party was robbed by your hand-picked state director Damien Mantach, who from memory took about $1.55 million of party and campaign money – fake invoices, shell companies – and you could not even figure it out for four years. He went to jail, he did. It took four years to notice. It ran undetected for four years. Here we are taking lectures from you lot with the economic credentials of a bloody toaster. You have the economic credentials of a toaster, honestly.

You are so consumed by your own internal civil war that you take each other to court. This is –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Excuse me, Minister for Cost of Living. When you say ‘you’, you are reflecting on the Chair. You need to stop reflecting on me, with all respect, Minister for Cost of Living.

Paul EDBROOKE: Thank you, Acting Speaker – those members opposite. I remember in 2017, I think it was, they dragged the Cormack Foundation, their largest single donor, into the Federal Court over trying to get some money. That donor understandably froze its donations to the Liberal Party and I think donated to some other parties at the same time. You sued the hand that fed you. You left one of your own members, the leader at the time, who I hand on heart actually sympathise with. The court found he defamed one of his own MPs, and it left him faced with a $2.3 million debt and a real prospect of bankruptcy. What are you doing to each other? What are the members on that side of the house doing to each other? If they have that kind of respect for each other, what kind of respect do they have for Victorians? I guess that is what we are talking about today. They do not have an alternative government for Victorians. They live in an alternative reality.

We hear about six leaders in seven years; we have heard that a little bit. But let us just give the rundown on that too. They could not keep a leader for the full term, and I am sure they will be asking Victorians for a new one pretty soon. I was actually surprised when the Leader of the Opposition put her hand up. We had the member for Hawthorn, who won the job by a single vote and then was summarily knifed. We had the member for Berwick, who rolled him and then was rolled himself.

Tim Richardson interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: Yes, I was aspirational for the member for Berwick too, member for Mordialloc. I like him a lot.

Lily D’Ambrosio interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: I would burn for him, yes. I am aspirational for that leader. I certainly did. I think he is a good bloke. He is well connected to his community. He talks to people at their level. I like him. I think he is a good bloke. But then he was rolled for the member for Kew, number 3. And I believe, from what I am hearing, that the knives are already out – spill after spill; leaked messages; state councils calling their own people the most toxic in memory; MPs expelled, readmitted, defamed by their own leader. It is amazing.

A member interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: Well, is it random or is it the Liberal Party? It is the modern day Victorian Liberal Party. It is quite something to be standing here and hearing those opposite talk about responsibility, talk about economy, talk about policies. It might have been missed by some people, but in a One Nation–Liberal coalition we are going to see a nuclear power plant on the east coast of Australia.

Members interjecting.

Paul EDBROOKE: You might laugh, but that was Liberal policy. What was it, seven nuclear reactors? The member for Nepean will be very concerned about this, as I am. During that coalition, when that coalition is formed, when Pauline Hanson is leading them, where are they going to put that one massive nuclear reactor? I have not heard anyone talk about that, anyone say that is not going to happen, anyone say that they do not support that. We have here an opposition that is an absolute rabble.

Emma Kealy interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: Well, no, I am not making stuff up. You have said –sorry, I did not say ‘you’, did I? Those opposite have said continually that they will provide a cash surplus, without cuts and with reducing taxes. It does not take much to go across the forward estimates and see that is $40 billion in cuts and one in seven – or 7000 –public servants who will lose their job. And when we hear from those opposite that that does not include frontline services, I do not think they themselves understand how frontline services work. I think I do, as a firefighter for 14 years. I saw when frontline services were not cut but the background services were. For about two years there all our training courses were cut, as firefighters.

A war with ambos, a war with nurses – it is coming, because when you talk about 7000 jobs, or one in seven people losing their jobs in the public sector, it means that those frontline services do not have the people behind them who do all the rostering and all the bureaucratic jobs that do not include jumping on a fire truck, jumping on a police car or responding to emergencies. Those are the people that we rely on, in consumer affairs, to make sure renters are protected, to make sure people are not underquoting and to make sure people are not being ripped off. They are people that serve our community, and they deserve our respect.

We will not be lectured by those opposite about community safety either. I do remember a time when they were in government and they slashed $130 million from the Victoria Police budget. They even slashed the police band. Does anyone remember Code One? Great band, electric guitarist, beautiful vocals, saxophone – they slashed the police band, and they are all sitting there now, going, ‘It wasn’t us.’ I, for one, miss Code One.

As I have said, those opposite do not have an alternative government, they have an alternative reality. To the Liberal Party every service is a spending problem waiting to be cut. As I mentioned, we will hear more about the nuclear plants soon. When Pauline Hanson and One Nation are at the table with the Liberal coalition, sorting out how they are going to run their election campaigns together – we have seen it – we will hear more about that. I cannot wait to hear the new member for Nepean and what he is going to say about that one. I digress, but the old member of Nepean, ‘Grothy’ – I would say we are friends. I actually feel really sorry for him. He is a guy that could not stand the way he was treated by those opposite to the point where he had to walk out, and he did not even get the chance to do his valedictory. He was that dissatisfied.

A member interjected.

Paul EDBROOKE: No, no lies there. This is a rabble that that will go through their next leader soon; they will appoint their next leader. They cannot run themselves, they cannot run the state, they could not unite behind a single leader, and now they want Victorians to unite behind them. Well, I do not think they will. As far as an alternative government goes, I do not think anyone sees them as an alternative government at all. The issue here for them is to stop fighting each other. Will they stop fighting each other? Can they pull enough knives out of their own backs to concentrate on the community? From what I have heard today, they are no closer to that than they have ever been.

 David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (11:28): Today is a come-to-Jesus moment for every single member of the government to go out to their constituents and to ask them what they think about the confidence they have in the Premier. This government need to spend the next five weeks going out and doorknocking and making the phone calls and asking each of their constituents if they have the confidence in Premier Allan to continue to lead the state. We know the answer to that: the answer is a big no. That is why we have brought a motion of no confidence and intend to debate that in this chamber. In five weeks time we will have the motion of no confidence, and this will be the opportunity for every single member of this government to cross the floor to vote in a motion of no confidence against this Premier. Let me say, today we have 163 days left before we go to the election. In 163 days $4 billion will be paid just to service the interest on our debt. Four billion dollars equates to the police budget. That is why we cannot wait 163 days. That is why we need to get rid of this Premier and this government immediately. That is why the Leader of the Opposition has brought on the motion of no confidence. The Leader of the Opposition has done that in the interest of Victoria and Victorians, because Victorians are telling us that they have had a gutful of this Premier.

Victorians are telling us they have had a gutful of this government. Victorians are telling us that they have had a gutful of the debt, of the corruption. There is $15 billion of corruption, and who is the captain of the corruption? The Premier is the captain of the corruption. This Premier has allowed the corruption, the $15 billion, to happen under her watch. Who was the minister responsible for the Big Build before they became the Premier? That was Jacinta Allan. Who was the minister responsible for the Big Build – the dirty, rotten Big Build, as we have heard reported by many that have done those investigations? And again, what has the Premier said about this? The Premier was questioned on the ABC yesterday, and what did the Premier say? She could not talk about the $15 billion. Everyone else is talking about the $15 billion.

We know that there are a number of those opposite that have not knocked on a door – zero doors, zero calls – and have not spoken to any of their constituents. But if those opposite did talk to their constituents, do you know what they would say? They would say that they want their $15 billion back – that is what they would say. They want their money back, because we have got a cost-of-living crisis, Victorians are struggling to put food on the table, yet this government says, ‘We’re happy for the $15 billion to be wasted by our CFMEU mates.’ And we know the pattern here. We know the pattern, because we did an all-nighter debating the donation laws. And why did we debate the donation laws? Because it left the door open for union donations to come back to the government. That is rivers of gold to come back to the government, as the very CFMEU mates actually continue to give their affiliation fees and donations to the government. And that is why this government needs to be replaced – because every day of delay is taxpayers money literally being thrown up against the wall.

We know about the corruption. We know about the waste. We know about police. We know about the crime stats today. And this particular motion deals with Narre Warren North, the very heart of crime that is happening under the member for Narre Warren North’s own watch, and that is why we need to tackle that. We know that in Fountain Gate, a particular area that is at the heart of crime, you see lots of voters, lots of constituents, saying, ‘Please keep us safe.’ We know that Endeavour Hills police station is on reduced hours. One of the highest crime stats areas in the state is Narre Warren North, yet we have a police station on reduced hours in Narre Warren North. I know the member for Narre Warren North claims to be a big advocate for her electorate, but the member also needs to ensure that that police station is open and not on reduced hours. And do you know why? That is because we have about 2000 police short in this state. Why do we have 2000 police short in this state? Because the government have run out of money and they do not prioritise crime as a key element for Victorians in terms of keeping them safe. We have over 40 police stations operating on reduced hours, 2000 police that have not been replaced or are on extended sick leave, and that is why we will fix that by having 3000 additional police.

In the crime stats today we see one of the highest crime rates, with about a 40 per cent increase on our train stations. And what does this government do? This government chops PSOs from train stations – what a joke. They are the very thing keeping people safe, but this government is chopping PSOs off train stations.

Belinda Wilson: On a point of order, Acting Speaker: relevance.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): I will rule on the point of order. It is a very broad-ranging debate, and I ask the speaker to continue.

David SOUTHWICK: It is clear that the member for Narre Warren North has a glass jaw. But let me come back on specific relevance, because the member for Narre Warren North in her own electorate has Marcos IGA. Marcos IGA has been hit by crime so many times, and the member for Narre Warren North claims that they are one of her very, very good friends. Well, let me talk about Marcos in Narre Warren North. They are no longer selling cigarettes in Narre Warren North because of the amount of times that they have been threatened, raided, had machete attacks. They now cannot sell legal tobacco, and they have succumbed to having illegal tobacco down the road, because the government has failed to keep them safe. So the member for Narre Warren North cannot just be friends with people; the member for Narre Warren North needs to ensure they have got police to keep these stores safe. And that is what this government is not doing – keeping people safe. And in the heart of an area like Narre Warren North, and that is what this motion specifically is about, this government has failed and the member has failed to keep them safe.

I will say this about the member for Narre Warren North: the member for Narre Warren North is very, very good friends with the Deputy Premier, and I think that is very fair to say. We know also the Leader of the House is a very good friend of the Deputy Premier – the Leader of the House that allowed this debate today.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Excuse me, member for Caulfield, it is a very broad-ranging debate, but reflecting upon friendships of the member for Narre Warren North is probably a little bit of a stretch.

David SOUTHWICK: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, in terms of relevance, what I am raising here is that the reason why the member for Narre Warren North needs to get on board with this motion is because it allows the member for Narre Warren North’s best friend the Deputy Premier to become the Premier. We expect the member for Narre Warren North to cross the floor –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Your point of order is?

David SOUTHWICK: and vote with us so that the Deputy Premier, her very good friend, could become the Premier. So on relevance.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Could you please get to the point of order so I can rule on your point of order so we can get back to your contribution.

David SOUTHWICK: On relevance, because it is very important, the point that I was making about the Deputy Premier needing the votes to become the Premier, and the member for Narre Warren North could give those votes.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): I am going to rule on the point of order. It has been a very broad ranging debate, but if we could continue to talk about matters of the house and the motion rather than people’s personal friendships.

David SOUTHWICK: As I began in this very important motion, it is crucial because it deals with the heart of what Victorians are saying each and every day: they have had a gutful of this Premier, they have had a gutful of this government, they have had a gutful of corruption, they have had a gutful of waste, they have had a gutful of crime and they have had a gutful of debt. They want to see this state back to where it once was – back to the top. They want confidence. They want to ensure they can walk the streets without having somebody coming after them with a machete. They want to ensure they have a government doing their job and talking to them rather than not making any phone calls and not caring about their constituents. That has been clear in the last week. It has been clear that this government is a lazy government that is not standing up for Victorians, and that is why we need the change. We cannot wait 163 days – we need it now. The way to do it is to vote on the motion of no confidence. In the five weeks between now and when we vote on the motion of no confidence, I would ask each and every member of the Labor government to cross the floor, to come with us, to ensure we get this vote across. This will help Victorians, this will help Victoria and this will get Victoria back to where it once was. This government and the members opposite – every single one of them – if they do what is right, Victoria will finally be able to be back to where it once was. This is absolutely a come-to-Jesus moment. It is absolutely – from a Jew – a come-to-Jesus moment. I will say that because I believe it. I believe we need change. We need it now. The government needs to get on board.

 Mathew HILAKARI (Point Cook) (11:38): I am always lucky to follow in this place the geographically challenged member for Caulfield. When we were last in this house he gave a challenge to me to talk about –

David Southwick: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I take offence to that and ask the member to withdraw.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Will the member for Point Cook withdraw?

Mathew HILAKARI: I withdraw. Well, glass jaws, hey – that is a moment in time. He talked about the geography –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, a withdrawal is not immediately followed by someone repeating what they withdrew.

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): I will go to the member for Point Cook, and then I will come to the member for Caulfield.

Mathew HILAKARI: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, I did not repeat my first original comment, which I withdrew.

David Southwick: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, it is clear that the member was absolutely not serious about that withdrawal, and I again ask him to withdraw the comment.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): I ask the member for Point Cook to withdraw.

Mathew HILAKARI: I withdraw.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): I call on the member for Point Cook to continue with his contribution.

Mathew HILAKARI: Wow, that glass jaw over on the other side – extraordinary.

David Southwick: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I think the member is defying your ruling. Can I once again ask for a sincere withdrawal, not for the member to withdraw and then come back and repeat the comment that he just made.

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Juliana Addison): Member for Caulfield, I will rule on the point of order. A comment was made regarding you being geographically challenged. That was then asked to be withdrawn. That withdrawal was made. The member for South-West Coast believed that it was repeated again. The member for Point Cook said that he did not say ‘geographically challenged’, he said ‘glass jaw’. Then I said it was defying the order, so he has withdrawn. The member for Narre Warren was told that she had a glass jaw by the member for Caulfield, so can we just be clear that you would now like a withdrawal for a glass jaw comment when you said the member for Narre Warren had a glass jaw?

James Newbury: On the point of order, Acting Speaker, the standing orders specifically say a withdrawal is without qualification. When you make fun of your withdrawal immediately after giving it, that is by definition qualification – by definition a breach of the standing orders. It is a breach, and I would respectfully suggest seeking advice from the clerks, because I am right.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask members to come to order. Member for South-West Coast. On the point of order, member for Brighton, you are welcome to come and speak to me in my office.

Roma Britnell: On the point of order, Speaker, there still has not been a withdrawal for the third insult, which was the glass jaw, which was asked for.

The SPEAKER: Order! I am going to take a step back from this. The original point of order requested a withdrawal. The member for Point Cook, you have withdrawn?

Mathew HILAKARI: I have withdrawn twice and I withdraw a third time.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Further issues?

Belinda Wilson: On a further point of order, Speaker, I request the member for Caulfield withdraw his comment about me having a glass jaw.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Narre Warren North! Member for Caulfield, I seek a withdrawal.

David Southwick: I withdraw.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Members will continue with the debate. I will remove members from the chamber.

Mathew HILAKARI: I was getting on to my point around Narre Warren North and in particular the debate in this chamber last sitting week, during which the member for Caulfield indicated, when he was talking about the western suburbs, all the sorts of places in Melbourne’s west. I might quote so he is quite clear on it. He said:

The member for Tarneit, the member for Werribee, the member for Narre Warren –

when talking about Melbourne’s west –

let us keep going – the members for Footscray, Laverton, Niddrie, Williamstown, St Albans, Sunbury, Sydenham …

and Tarneit again. That is why I might say that the member has trouble with maps. That is why I am always pleased to follow him. That is why I am pleased when he can sometimes find the electorate that I represent, when he is across the road, when he is in another suburb or another part of the state. I have sent you the map before. I have personally sent you the map. I have sent the member for Caulfield a map of Point Cook so he can find this place, but I do not want to digress too far from the motion.

The member for Narre Warren North has delivered in an extraordinary way. I want to get to the substance of this motion. Two level crossings, and she was so proud to deliver those works at Hallam Secondary College, James Cook Primary, Hallam North Road and Narre Warren North Road and new stations at Narre Warren and also at Hallam – an extraordinary record of delivery. What I can say about every colleague on this side of the chamber is we have an extraordinary record of delivery, because each of us is working hard every single day to deliver for our communities. I did feel incredibly sorry for the member for Prahran, because I think it is probably an opportunity that the member for Nepean might pay heed to.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Member for South-West Coast, I remind you that you are not in your place.

Mathew HILAKARI: I welcomed his inaugural speech last night, and it was great that so many of us could be here to hear it. But when the tactics team come to members, to the member for Nepean in particular, the member should think very carefully whether he says yes when they put the piece of paper in front of him, knowing that he has got half an hour to make the points. The poor old member for Prahran covered off all sorts of things, none of them particularly related to the member for Narre Warren North. She did not even attempt to have a crack at that. She talked about kids sporting clubs, she talked about men’s urinals – it was pretty dismal, some of the stuff. The member for Narre Warren North has delivered six toilets in her community, and I just say that in passing.

The member for Prahran said she could talk for half an hour on Chapel Street, and then that sort of melted away. There was a bit of a melting away of her ambitions as well, I felt. I felt her opportunities to be a shadow minister just melted away alongside her. She talked about Chinese tobacco products. She had various gripes and disputes with local councillors. She talked about her opposition to housing locally, about better housing and no housing, and she liked some of the old houses. She had a lot of conversations with her developer mates. I would have liked to hear a little bit more of that actually over the half an hour that she had. She had a lot of worries about people learning to ride their bikes, not knowing how to do it, and concerns around fire hazards. I hope she has dealt with that and done something about it.

Then she talked about her wonderful listening post each Friday. Get out there, people – you will see the member for Prahran, but not for long, because at this election I think she will be joining many of those opposite in finding new careers. I think the Greens will be picking up the seat in Prahran. That could be a little bit of trouble. It is unfortunate that the member for Caulfield has left, because I do not think his ambitions to be Deputy Premier are ever going to be met. I think those on the front bench are looking at themselves, and there is something they have not quite clued in about One Nation: if One Nation have the honour of getting into this chamber and representing their communities, they will be here in greater numbers than you and the spoils of opposition are not going to fall your way. The spoils of opposition will not fall the way of those opposite. They will say, ‘We’ll have it for ourselves, just the crossbenchers.’ And if you were ever given the opportunity, the privilege, the honour –

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Point Cook.

Mathew HILAKARI: If One Nation was ever given the honour of forming government, I do not think there will be a Deputy Premier from the Liberal Party. They will be there for supply only. That is the only purpose they will serve – again, out of their communities, unable to represent them, unable to deliver for them. Well, the member for Narre Warren North has been delivering all these years, and she will keep doing so under a re-elected Labor government, because that is what we are doing every day in our communities. We are delivering the hospitals, the roads, the schools and the level crossing removals. This is a government of ambition for our future, with hopes for this state. I reject this terrible motion.

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (11:48): I welcome this opportunity to speak to this motion. From the outset I think it was a poor choice by the minister at the table, who decided to underestimate my colleagues and me today, particularly underestimating the member for Prahran, who did an excellent job, despite the member for Point Cook spending the better part of his contribution attacking the member for Prahran, who is only here to serve and to fight for her community and who spoke exactly to the motion at hand here today. This is what I rise to support. I rise to support this motion, which says:

That this house condemns the member for Narre Warren North for having confidence in a Premier who enabled $15 billion of corruption on the Big Build and presides over corruption, record crime, unemployment above the national average and almost $200 billion of net debt.

For the purposes of the member for Narre Warren North, I want her to know that it was not just directed at her, but in context there is actually a long list of members about whom we have motions by leave that we are speaking to today. It was not just her alone. That is why we have given notice today. We have got the member for Niddrie, the member for Ivanhoe, the member for Dandenong – a long list of members that we have raised here in this place. We question their confidence in the Premier, who indeed did enable $15 billion of corruption.

That is why today we have given notice that we will move this vote of no confidence against the most corrupt Premier in history, and certainly the most disliked, if the polls are anything to be believed – by negative 39 –

Lauren Kathage: On a point of order, Speaker, I believe that the member is not debating the motion that we are actually here to debate, which is regarding the member for Narre Warren North and not other motions that those opposite may have put.

The SPEAKER: I think that there has been some wideranging debate with this motion. I do not uphold the point of order, but I do remind members that this motion is a very specific one.

Nicole WERNER: This is the motion at hand that we speak to. The motion at hand is about the confidence in the Premier that we are questioning the member for Narre Warren North for having. How can that side of the house have any confidence in this Premier, because Victorians certainly do not. The polling is reflecting it. Victorians are reflecting it. Every day we are in our communities and every day that those opposite are in their communities, we know – because they say, and I have said so publicly – that Victorians are asking day in, day out, ‘Where is our $15 billion? Where is it? Why has it gone into the hands of criminals? Why has it gone into the hands of people who spend it on strippers on worksites? Why has it gone into employing criminals and domestic violence abusers?’

That is the motion at hand: how can the member for Narre Warren North and all of those opposite have any confidence in this Premier when we know that their team has spent the better part of months briefing out that they do not – briefing out, Labor MPs themselves, talking about the end-of-days government that they are in. It is the end of days, and time is up. Time is up for the Premier. Time is up for the Allan Labor government – this complicit, corrupt Allan Labor government.

In this motion at hand we are talking about this $15 billion of corruption on the Big Build – where it has been spent. When the Premier was asked about it on national TV, on 7.30 on Tuesday night, she talked in circles, she went to water and she was publicly shamed on national TV for never answering a question – not once, not twice, not three but four times over she could give an answer. She cannot be accountable for and she cannot be transparent about $15 billion of corruption – the worst corruption scandal in Australia’s history. This is where it is, and this is what it speaks to. She then voted no to a royal commission. She also voted no to strengthening the powers of IBAC to investigate. This speaks to the corruption in this government – and not just the corruption but the record crime, the unemployment and the $200 billion of debt. This is the issue here: the $200 billion of debt in this motion that we speak to. When it comes to be that amount by the year 2029–30, it will be $32 million in interest that they spend on repayments every single day.

Already now, before we have come to that $200 billion figure, it is $1 million an hour that is spent just on paying the interest on this debt. In fact just this year alone the interest bill is $8.9 billion. That is a huge number to even compute for Victorians. So what does that look like on paper? On paper the line item for that debt of $8.9 billion is more than this government has spent on police, it is more than this government has spent on ambulance services and it is more than this government has spent on kindergarten services, combined – with $1 billion to spare. That is how much $8.9 billion is, just on paying the interest bill for the debt that is explosive in this state under the Allan Labor government. Instead of paying for essential services, instead of paying for infrastructure, instead of looking to actually fix the crime crisis that has surged under Labor, where 26 per cent – that is how much crime has gone up under the Allan Labor government since Labor came to government. Instead of spending on essential things like this, essential things that Victorians care about – essential services that Victorians write into our offices and talk about – they have spent it on fake freebies, they have spent it on pet projects and they have spent it on jobs for mates.

Instead, they have spent $15 billion worth of money on corruption – unbelievable. In this cost-of-living crisis where we are looking at this level of debt that the government is responsible for, this is what the waste, the corruption and the financial recklessness from this government looks like. It looks like $200,000 spent on pot plants for offices. It looks like $70,000 spent on plaques – to install and uninstall and reinstall plaques because they do not say ‘the Honourable’ correctly enough for the Premier. That is what it looks like. That is what waste looks like under this government. It looks like $600 million, nearly, spent on cancelling the Commonwealth Games, an election commitment that they took to try and win votes in the regions that they then spent $600 million worth of taxpayers money on to cancel and run somewhere else. That is absurd. What about the $10 billion slush fund?

Lily D’Ambrosio: On a point of order, Speaker, no-one is a shrinking violet in this place, and I am not expecting anyone to be a shrinking violet, but honestly, this is an assault on my aural senses. I am sorry. I just ask people to tone it down a little bit. I am not being smart about it.

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order. I remind members that we have microphones for a reason.

Nicole WERNER: I apologise for getting enthusiastic and passionate fighting for Victorians. I really do offer an apology for being passionate about Victorians and fighting for Victorians in this place. I will try to use my inside voice from now on. Thanks so much, Speaker and Minister for Climate Action at the table.

When we are talking about this cost-of-living crisis and the waste that we see juxtaposed by the spending of this government, when we are talking about this $200 billion of debt, let alone the $15 billion of corruption money, we have seen the $10 billion slush fund from the Treasurer, who just gets to swipe and wipe and spend money on whatever she wants to for pet projects and boosts here and pork barrelling there. This is how this government spends taxpayers money. Enough is enough under this government. We have seen it. Again, going back to that interest bill, that $8.9 billion, let me tell you what else it could be spent on. In context, the entire police budget for a year is about $4.7 billion. So instead of spending it on policing, nearly double that policing budget is actually spent on debt – debt and mismanagement. That money could also pay for 42 years of worth of policing. It could pay for 2.1 million nurses or 1.7 million teachers. That is why I commend this motion to the house. This government, their time has run out. The question at hand is how they could possibly have any confidence in the Premier who has enabled this corruption, who has enabled this complicity and who has enabled this reckless spend again and again of taxpayers money like it is her money to spend. That is why I commend this motion to the house.

 Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (11:58): I am pleased to rise and oppose this motion. In doing so I am also pleased to change the radio station away from the hyperventilating and the hysteria of 3AW to the dulcet tones, I think, of Smooth FM. Let us just change the tone.

A member interjected.

Anthony CIANFLONE: Or Gold FM it could be as well, because I will be bringing back some of the greatest hits as part of this as well, which I am sure you can appreciate. I want to begin by just acknowledging the incredible hard work and advocacy of the member for Narre Warren North. Let us not forget that this absolutely absurd motion by the member for Prahran is about condemning the member for Narre Warren North. You would not be able to find a harder working member than the member for Narre Warren North, dare I say, in this place. I mean, we are all hardworking of course, but she has been working very, very, very hard for her community. I just point to all the various achievements that others have pointed to that she has secured for her community in that regard as well.

But it is also a motion that is supposedly about leadership, confidence and integrity. I just think the hide of this Liberal–National–One Nation coalition – whatever they are called these days – to come in here and to want to talk about leadership, integrity and confidence in the party room is just absolutely astounding. This is the same Liberal Party that has had no less than six leaders in seven years. Let us not forget that as well.

We started off with the member for Malvern, who as the member for Mordialloc earlier pointed out correctly, while he was the opposition leader and Liberal leader had their primary vote polling in the low 40s per cent. What did they do? They did not get behind him; they knifed him. Then we had the member for Bulleen over two separate occasions, notwithstanding his failed election attempts of 2018 and 2022, where he ran on a narrative to divide our community and Victorians saw otherwise. But he was also, do not forget, at one stage or other the Shadow Minister for Transition to Government, as I think they called the portfolio. The whole point of transitioning to government, I would have thought, is the job of the actual opposition leader, but nonetheless the new opposition leader came in and abolished that portfolio as well. Then we had the poor old member for Hawthorn, who was actually one of the hardest working, I think, opposition leaders from the other side, who worked very hard, particularly given his multicultural, multifaith Italian heritage that I should say I share with him. They decided to go and shaft one of the very few multicultural Liberal members and leaders in this place and almost sent him bankrupt, which was absolutely shameful and disgraceful, by taking him to court. Then we had the member for Berwick, whom we heard from early on as well. We know all the things about the member for Berwick and his failed leadership time, but we just saw the op-ed in the Herald Sun over the weekend by Steve Price. It was basically saying this is the guy that should go and join One Nation and lead the charge in Victoria, so who knows where his head is at at the moment. Now we have got the member for Kew, who by the way trusts no-one to be the Shadow Treasurer other than herself, and the member for Brighton we know is still mortally wounded over that, because that was his dream job that he was chasing – the Frank Underwood of the Liberal Party, conniving and always seeking to get that shadow Treasury position. He finally got it, and what did the new opposition leader do? She turfed him out of it?

When the Liberals want to talk about integrity, confidence and leadership, they have got to go and look in the mirror. They should not be looking too far away, because if you cannot run your party room, you cannot run the state. You cannot govern Victorians if you cannot govern yourselves as well. Do not just take my word for it. This is what the Liberal members themselves are saying about their own party room. I acknowledge the new member for Nepean, and I commend him on his first speech, which was acknowledged warmly last night. But for his predecessor Sam Groth we had a by-election because of integrity and misconduct in the Liberal party room. The former member Sam Groth said this perfectly. He said the behaviour in the Liberal party room had, in his words, fallen below the standard he came into public life to accept. So poor were the standards of the Liberal Party room that the former deputy leader, no less, decided to resign, leave the party room and cause a by-election. Of course let us not forget the National Party in all this too, who are the ones that are directly under threat, very much so, and will be wiped out like the Tasmanian devil, as the member for Mordialloc continues to point out.

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I think the member for Pascoe Vale is a long way off the motion.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): This has been a fairly wideranging debate, but I will remind the member about the motion and to come back to the substance of the motion.

Anthony CIANFLONE: I believe, as best I can, in talking to the very substance of the motion, which goes to literally condemning one of the members on our side and highlighting the issues around confidence, integrity and supposed corruption, that I am seeking to contrast here what is happening with those seeking to move this motion. In that respect the National Party should not get off scot-free. I mean, the National Party have proven to be one of the most corrupt political parties in the history of this country. Look no further than what happened with Joh Bjelke-Petersen up in Queensland and the Fitzgerald royal commission. Half the cabinet ended up in jail.

Martin Cameron: Acting Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

Quorum formed.

Anthony CIANFLONE: I obviously struck a nerve there in bringing up Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the National Party and the Fitzgerald inquiry. It is obviously still very close to home – it is still too soon to talk about that inquiry. Then you have got the member for Caulfield, the deputy leader again, no less – the new deputy leader who replaced the old deputy leader, who resigned because of mistreatment and caused a by-election. Again, do not just take my word for it. This is not me making these things up; these things are on the public record and on the court record in fact. We have the member for Caulfield, who was wearing a wire and recording his colleagues. I mean, imagine going into a party room where you have got to pat down everyone to see, ‘Is this guy wearing a wire? Is he snitching to the cops?’ It is just unbelievable. And he also, do not forget, claimed to be an adjunct professor no less and waved that CV around, which of course he is not.

The fact is that we as the Victorian Labor government have continued to focus on the things that matter to all Victorians, in very stark contrast to this motion. Jobs, education, transport, health, environment, social justice, community safety and cost of living – we are continuing to deliver and invest in the things that matter. In stark contrast to all these things that we are delivering – new schools, hospitals, transport – what would the Liberals and Nationals have done? They have opposed every single one of these investments, every step of the way, that we have sought to put up. Again, you do not need to take my word for it, because it is all in, and not in, the document that the Liberal–Nationals coalition released recently, which is their 10-year plan to secure Victoria’s economic future.

I have gone through this document comprehensively, A Fresh Start for Victoria, and it mentions nothing about free kinder, free public transport for young people, free dental and glasses in schools and nothing about 20 per cent rego rebates. It is a plan for cuts. There is absolutely nothing there. But we have seen this all before of course. It is not new; we have seen it before. I will take us all back. Remember this one here: Fightback! That was 1991, John Hewson. The time capsule –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Member for Pascoe Vale, there will be no props in the chamber.

Anthony CIANFLONE: Thank you, Acting Speaker. Just like Fightback! this is a plan for cuts. It is suspicion on public investment. It is asking Victorians to do more with less, whether it is fresh vision today or Fightback! from yesterday, Victorians will be left on their own and with less support from the government if the Liberal–One Nation–Nationals get in.

Members interjecting.

 Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (12:08): I love to hear that I am getting ‘Hear, hear’ from government members. I absolutely support this motion moved by the member for Prahran. I have to say that it goes to the heart of what we are seeing with the Allan Labor government at the moment. Across Victoria, in every electorate you go to, every person you have a conversation with has no confidence, and increasingly so, in Premier Jacinta Allan and the Allan Labor government – no confidence whatsoever – and we are listening.

We are listening to Victorians, and that is why we are raising these matters in the Parliament today. That is why opposition leader Jess Wilson gave notice a motion of no confidence in Premier Jacinta Allan and the Labor government today, because, quite frankly, Victorians are sick of this Labor government. I note that this motion is about the member for Narre Warren North having confidence in the Premier.

Ten speakers in, and yet the member for Narre Warren North has been too gutless to be able to speak to this motion, and I think it is probably because she does not support it. She actually has no confidence in the Premier either, and that –

Belinda Wilson: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, while I understand the member for Evelyn likes hearing the sound of her own voice, I ask her to withdraw the comment about me being gutless.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): I ask the member for Evelyn to withdraw.

Bridget VALLENCE: Withdraw.

Belinda Wilson: On a further point of order, Acting Speaker, I do not believe that she meant her apology, and I ask her to say it with more sincerity, as the member for Caulfield said earlier.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Under standing orders, if a member is asked to withdraw, and they withdraw, we can continue on from that. The sincerity is not up to me to judge. The member has withdrawn, and now the member for Evelyn will continue.

Bridget VALLENCE: So, given we are 10 speakers in, the member for Narre Warren North has so far failed to stand up and speak to this motion, which only speaks to the fact that perhaps she actually has no confidence in the Premier, because if she did have confidence in the Premier she would have stood up straightaway to talk to that, but she has not, because the motion quite clearly says that she has confidence in the Premier but she has failed to get up and talk to that. The motion also goes on to talk about the fact that we have no confidence in this Premier who has seen and enabled $15 billion of corruption on the Big Build. She has presided over corruption, record crime, unemployment above the national average and almost $200 billion of state debt. I think that the Leader of the House standing up and allowing this motion to go through was quite sneaky. I would be interested to know if, quite secretly, he would love to have a secret ballot, because wouldn’t it be interesting if we had a secret ballot in this place? We have the Leader of the House, who is the numbers man for the Deputy Premier who is really waiting in the wings to try and take over the premiership from Premier Jacinta Allan, allowing this motion to go through, because they all know on that side that Victorians are tiring of this Labor government, that they have no confidence in this Labor government. As I said, if we had a secret ballot in this place, the vote would be something different, that is for sure.

We go to the heart of this motion: it is about corruption – it is about corruption in the CFMEU-run Big Build, the Labor government’s Big Build, that is absolutely embroiled in corruption on the watch of the Premier. The Premier, before being the Premier, was the minister for infrastructure and has seen this for years, has known about this for a decade and has known about it but publicly turned a blind eye, because she knows there is corruption. She has enabled it, because of her mates, the big bosses in the CFMEU – unlawful conduct, abuse, intimidation, thuggery, sexual exploitation on Labor government Big Build sites. It is shameful. They should be absolutely ashamed. This is precisely why there is no confidence in this Labor government. After 12 years of Labor, a gangster culture of bullying, standover tactics and corruption on Labor’s Big Build projects has been allowed to flourish, and the Premier has enabled it every step of the way. For over a decade this Premier has known about it. Infrastructure projects have been absolutely dominated by that thuggery, dominated by criminal links, and she has known about it since 2015, when there was a federal royal commission. Even in 2016, when the Premier was the then employment minister, she actually commented on corruption and taxpayer funds going to organised crime and bikie gangs, outlaw motorcycle bikie gangs, on Victorian state Labor government projects. Back in 2016 she was the employment minister, and back then she commented on it. She has known about it for well over a decade, and only just this week there was an interview that she was on, and she is so desperate to cling on to power that she absolutely refused to talk to how much of Victorians’ hard-earned taxpayer money is going to corruption, criminal links and bikie gangs on her major infrastructure projects.

Well, we know it is at least $15 billion, but it is probably a vast sight higher than that, with the kickbacks, the misuse of public money and criminal associations, with only CFMEU-approved suppliers winning contracts on Labor’s Big Build. She is so desperate to cling to power. The North East Link, Melbourne Metro and West Gate Tunnel projects have all been disrupted, they have been delayed and they have been held to ransom by the corrupt CFMEU officials, drastically forcing up the cost –

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Wayne Farnham): Member for Tarneit, you have just walked into the chamber. I would suggest you sit down and be quiet so I can hear the member for Evelyn. The member for Evelyn to continue.

Bridget VALLENCE: The North East Link, Melbourne Metro and West Gate Tunnel projects have all been disrupted. They have all been delayed and held to ransom by the corrupt CFMEU officials, drastically forcing up the cost of these projects. We know that these major construction projects under Labor are at least $50 billion over budget. And who pays for that? The Victorian people, and we are seeing it in the state of the finances.

Under the Labor government, debt is soaring to near $200 billion. That debt, $200 billion, is a record, and it is a bad legacy of this Labor government. And what do we see with $200 billion of debt – what comes with that? An interest bill on debt. That interest bill is going to reach $1.35 million an hour, $32 million a day – just think what that could fund. But that cannot get us more police. That cannot pay for more nurses. It cannot pay for more teachers. It cannot fix the desperately crumbling roads across our state. It is fiscally reckless of this government. Debt equates to around $71,000 per household, and the interest on that debt means that we cannot afford the essential services that Victorians need and rely on.

Essential services under this Labor government are at risk – the promised hospitals they have not funded. Maroondah Hospital, the hospital that people in my electorate rely on, was promised, eight years ago, a new emergency department for children. They promised four years ago to rebuild the Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood. There is still not a single cent of capital funding for that project, and that is what happens when you cannot manage the state’s finances. On nurse graduates, 2000 nurse graduates could not find a job because the Labor government could not afford to employ them. We have the lowest funded schools in the country. TAFEs are financially distressed. Crime is at a record high – a crime is committed every 50 seconds. Over 40 police stations are closed or have reduced hours, including Mooroolbark police station in my community. And on the cost of living, well, under this Labor government, there have been 67 new or increased taxes. Victorians on average are paying nearly $7,000 each in tax. It is $50 billion that they want to tax from Victorians. This is why we have no confidence in the Premier. This is why we have no confidence in the Labor government. This is why Victorians have no confidence in this Labor government. They should go in November, and they will.

 Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (12:19): I rise in support of the motion raised by the member for Prahran. I am happy that the Leader of the House actually enabled us to talk about the discontent with the Premier and the lack of confidence of Victorians in the way the Premier is running the state, and I think it goes to the heart of this motion that the member for Prahran has put forward that it is nearly every single Victorian. Unfortunately, there are not enough members on this side to actually bring this motion, by the look of it, to fruition.

But we need to make sure we do listen to our constituents right around Victoria on the discontent with the Allan Labor government, whether it be through crime, whether it be through jobs or whether it be through the cost of living and the stress that is putting on families in the Narre Warren North area but also pushing out into the regional areas and in my area down in the Latrobe Valley.

The crime rate right across Victoria has had a devastating effect on families. Families, especially in my area, have gone through and paid the ultimate sacrifice, with family members, unfortunately, losing their lives because of the spiralling out-of-control crime which has happened in Victoria over the journey of not only the Allan Labor government but the Andrews Labor government as well. We have a government that enables criminals to go about their daily routines with no consequences. I feel that the no-confidence motion that has been put forward here is front and centre to how the majority of Victorians are feeling at the moment, including about crime, as I said. The Gordon family in my area down in Latrobe Valley in Morwell lost their son Dr Ash Gordon, who was tragically killed on the streets in Box Hill. This is the reason why people right across Victoria do not have confidence at all in and do not trust the Premier or the Allan Labor government.

Also regional Victorians and especially workers in the Latrobe Valley have lost their jobs, including through the closing of the timber industry, right through Gippsland and regional Victoria, and the impact that has had on not only owners of businesses and workers but also the actual townships that were supported by the timber industry. We need to make sure that their voices are heard, and what we are hearing is they have no confidence at all in this Allan Labor government.

We get to have a vote in about five months time, on 28 November, and we hear from the other side of the chamber about how the impact is going to be on the coalition. Mark my words, the impact is going to be laid front and centre by the people of Victoria, and it is going to come down to the number of seats that Labor are going to lose in this chamber. People are sick and tired of the cover-ups, the actual mistruths that are spoken. We have a Premier that will look down the lens of a camera and not answer a question. We have got ministers that will do the same, that are complicit, standing behind where we have proven corruption in Victoria, and the government is telling us there is nothing to see here. Down in the Latrobe Valley the government are also putting their hands up to close the energy sector, with no pathway forward for the workers. We have a plan that the government keeps telling us about, but we do not see the jobs on the ground coming to fruition. This is why they have no confidence in and no support for the government.

We also had the Commonwealth Games that were scheduled to be held, and we had one of the athletes villages in Morwell and we had sporting fraternities putting their hands up with glee because they thought, ‘Here comes this Commonwealth Games that is going to be here in the Latrobe Valley.’ Yet again, a waste of money. The government said, ‘No, we’re not going to do the Commonwealth Games now. Furthermore, to that point, we’re also going to pay and allow for an overseas country to continue on with the Commonwealth Games.’

Regional Victorians are paying the price with this Allan Labor government. Our roads are an absolute disgrace, costing lives with the potholes that continually appear and are not fixed. But it is about the misuse of money and the money that is misused. The government stand up there and talk and actually believe that it is their money, but it is not their money; it is the hard-earned money of local, regional and metropolitan mums and dads, tradies and people that just want to go to work and go about their daily activities. The government has its hand in their hip pocket, ripping money out of them to actually prop up the books.

Enough is enough. People in my area down in the Latrobe Valley talk about how hard it is at the moment to have any confidence in this Allan Labor government at all because they can see their money disappearing and going to criminal entities that have been on the Big Build. We had ghost shifts that were down there where the Big Build allegedly had these contractors in doing night works and they just did not show up. If the government is enabling criminal activity throughout Victoria, how are we meant to have confidence at all in the government? It is a tired government. It is a government that has actually been called out not only by the media but also by everyday Victorians for not telling the truth to Victorians. They are not telling the truth. They would rather try and tell us that there is something else going over here so that we do not need to worry about what is actually taking place in Victoria. To my point, when the Commonwealth Games did get disbanded and they said that we are not having it, the very next day the government came out and said, ‘We do not like gas anymore. We will actually shut down the gas industry.’ Here are the smoke and mirrors. They are closing one thing with the Commonwealth Games, but they say, ‘We do not want to talk about that, so let’s actually put up over here that we’re going to close gas.’ It is diversionary tactics.

Dylan Wight interjected.

Martin CAMERON: Member for Tarneit, it was the Minister for the State Electricity Commission that stood and said gas was bad a few days after the Commonwealth Games was shut. It is always the way. There is something going on that is not quite right with this government. People of Victoria finally are getting their heads around the fact that everything that is coming out of the head office of the Labor Party, out of the government which is meant to work, support and most of all protect them in their homes, in their cars, on the streets – we need to make sure that this government is held to account. I think the people of Victoria have had enough, and they are standing united at the moment. The silent majority of people, who are the ones that will show up to vote at the ballot box on 28 November, have had enough. They have had enough of the mistruths being spoken to them, because it is their lives that they are impacting. It is their lives that are being made harder and harder in Victoria under this Allan Labor government, and they are going to draw a line in the sand.

I take great comfort in the fact that finally they have woken up. It is not one question anymore that is being asked of the Premier, it is continual questions, because we just do not believe what is coming out of the Premier’s mouth when she stands in front of the camera in Victoria and tries to tell Victorians that everything is okay and there is nothing to see here. There is nothing further from the truth than that. The member for Prahran, with her motion that condemns the member for Narre Warren North for having confidence in the Premier, I think that is where it lies at the moment. There are no Victorians or hardly any Victorians that have confidence in the Premier, and it is time for this government to go.

 Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Leader of the House, Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (12:29): I move:

That the question be now put.

Assembly divided on Anthony Carbines’s motion: