Wednesday, 12 August 2026

 Chris COUZENS (Geelong) (16:16): I grieve for the Victorian community if we ever see a One Nation–Liberal–Nationals coalition in control of our state budget. This is about cuts. They have got no solutions. Their aim is to just cut $40 billion out of the budget, which would have a profound effect on the state of Victoria. What I do want to start with is their commitment to tear up treaty in the first 100 days – an absolutely shameful announcement. It was one of the first announcements they made under the new leader, and they did that via the media. They did not even have the courtesy to talk to the First Peoples’ Assembly to say, ‘We are no longer going to support you. We’re going to tear up treaty in the first 100 days.’ The First Peoples’ Assembly read that in the media. That is an absolute disgrace.

What we have seen over the last 10 years is the building of trust with First Peoples. We have gone through a series of legislative changes and the commitment to treaty that those opposite pulled out of without any explanation at the time, after the outcome of the Voice referendum. Again, they did not speak to First Peoples; they just announced it in the media. For the entirety of the time that we were talking about treaty and changing legislation, they were pretending to support that. For them to then turn around and pull the pin after probably six years of bipartisan agreement on treaty – it was so difficult for the First Peoples’ Assembly to actually understand why that happened and to not have a conversation with them about why that was pulled as a bipartisan agreement. The hard work that happened over those 10 years built up that trust with First Peoples. It built up an understanding to change things for their community, to close the gap and to have self-determination at the forefront of treaty, and they could not understand why those opposite pulled that agreement in the first place.

I think that shines a light on the commitment, or the non-commitment, that those opposite have had to treaty in this state. I have to say, every other state in this country is looking at us – particularly First Nations people – and saying, ‘We want what you’ve got in Victoria, because we know it’s going to work.’ We now have Gellung Warl, who have been elected by First Nations people in this state. They are working on treaty right now as we speak, with the expectation that it will continue. But with those opposite saying that they will tear it up in the first 100 days, what does that say to our First Nations community here in Victoria? How do you think they are feeling about the uncertainty of all those years of work that may be ripped out from them.

It is absolutely shameful the way the opposition have treated First People in this state, and they should be held accountable for that. I know that when I move around this state as the Parliamentary Secretary for First Peoples, in my own community people are really concerned about what they have announced: that they will tear up treaty. Even people on their own side of politics think it is a bad idea. But they have promised to go ahead with it, and I think Victorians will look at that and make decisions around who they vote for later this year. I feel very sad for First Peoples in this state right now because they are facing such uncertainty around what is happening. But I will say as well that they are such a strong community that for over 200 years have put up with this sort of behaviour, so they will continue on. They will continue to fight for treaty and continue to fight for the best for their people, but I do think it is going to be quite devastating if that treaty does not continue into next year.

When those were opposite were last in government what we saw was the decimation of education, health and so many different things in our communities. I know in my community of Geelong what we saw was TAFE on its knees; our Gordon TAFE was about to close. We know, unfortunately, there were TAFEs across this state that did not survive a Liberal–National government. What can we imagine from a One Nation–Liberal–National coalition? What do you think they are going to do? It is probably going to be far worse. We have had to rebuild TAFE over the almost 12 years that we have been in government. It has taken years to rebuild what they destroyed in four years. Our schools were shut down. Our schools were sold off to private developers. In Geelong there were two schools that were sold off in our community that we really need right now as our population grows. We now have to look at where we build new schools, which we would not have to do if they had not been sold off. Our health system was decimated. Our hospital was hanging. There was a promise by those opposite that they would build a new hospital in Geelong, and they reneged on that commitment. They gave it to the private hospital and gave them the beds there. The public system was available at Geelong Hospital, but it was not available at the private hospital that they gave all the funding to. That was really devastating to many in our community, because they wanted that hospital in that community, and those opposite reneged on that.

These are the sorts of things that our community faced during a Liberal–National government, and if they happen to get the privilege of winning an election later this year as a One Nation–Liberal–National coalition, it is going to be far worse. What do we think is going to happen with multiculturalism in our state? Victoria has a beautiful multicultural community. In my community of Geelong it is fantastic, and we know what a great community that is. One Nation’s policies are shocking when it comes to multicultural communities. They are shocking when it comes to Aboriginal communities. They are not deserving as far as they are concerned. What does that lot opposite joining forces with One Nation actually mean for our communities? When I talk to my community in Geelong, they are really concerned about what that might bring. They are saying to me, ‘We don’t want the likes of a One Nation–Liberal–National government controlling these sorts of things. It’s going to be so damaging to our community.’ That is what people are telling me. They are not saying they support what the opposition are planning to do. These are detrimental policies that they are putting out. The $40 billion that they will cut from our budget will have such a significant impact on our communities.

What have we done as a government? Coming out of COVID, we set the COVID budget plan, and that has been working. We are now in surplus, there is no doubt of that. What would have happened if we had said, ‘We’re not supporting our communities; we’re not investing any more money into infrastructure or health or education,’ just like those opposite are saying they are going to do, and we had not propped up small business during COVID? There were some terrible things that could have happened. But we did not. We balanced that budget to make sure that our communities still had their jobs, still had their housing and still had food on the table. They were so grateful for that, because COVID was a time that none of us had ever experienced, and we were putting funding in to make sure that people were looked after.

If those opposite took that funding out, what would happen to those families and communities? They would be decimated. Our homelessness situation would be far worse than what it is now.

Members interjecting.

Chris COUZENS: Yes, it would be the end of free TAFE. There are all sorts of things that we are now looking down the barrel of losing if we have a One Nation–Liberal–National coalition here in this state. We cannot afford to do that.

Members interjecting.

Chris COUZENS: You are right; it is horrible to think about. As I said, when I am moving around my community, they actually love free TAFE, because what it is doing is giving people opportunities they have never had before to be able to get an education and to have a pathway into a well-paid job. That is a big thing for my community in Geelong. What happens to that? If they are going to rip out $40 billion in the budget, that is going to impact on hospitals. It is going to impact on education, on TAFE and on our schools.

Just four years in government, back from 2010 to 2014, really decimated our education in Geelong and our health services. People need to remember what happened in that time. A lot of people do, and a lot of people are talking about their fears of what might happen at the next election. It is really important that people understand what we are facing if there is $40 billion cut out of the budget: it would make a significant difference in how people would be able to live their lives in the way they are now.

We have put funding into cost of living to ensure that people have the supports that they need, whether it is the 20 per cent rego rebate, whether it is the kids glasses, the school camps or the uniforms. All of those things that we have put in place over quite a long period of time now – what happens to them when that $40 billion gets taken out of our budget? How are those things going to happen? Well, they will not. They will be lost to everyone in Victoria, there is no doubt of that.

I think the other area of concern for me is the cuts to our public service. These are teachers, health professionals and people that we need working in our communities. They are child protection workers. These are critical roles that we have in our communities that we cannot afford to lose. In Geelong, for example, the proposal is going to take out about 1500 workers. That is huge for a community like Geelong. Other regions are facing similar impacts. What does that mean in terms of services? Those frontline workers that we rely on, our teachers, our health professionals – what happens then if we do not have them there? Back in 2010 to 2014, I know what happened then: public servants were being sacked left, right and centre, and they were coming to me saying there was virtually no-one left in their department, including in education. There was hardly anyone left in the Department of Education. People remember these things. They are really concerned about what the One Nation–Liberal–National coalition will do to the state of Victoria. So I grieve for our community. I think it is going to be a really difficult and challenging time as we move into the election period. But I have every faith in the Victorian people. I have every faith that they will not buy into hate and division, which we constantly see in our community. They want a harmonious community. They want their kids brought up in a community that cares, not a community that continues to attack multicultural communities, the Aboriginal community and the LGBTQIA+ community.