Thursday, 27 August 2026

 Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Premier) (14:26): Our government believes in a very simple idea: if you work hard, you should be able to build a good life. You should have the things that a good life provides, like good health care, a great education, secure work and a home of your own, like free dental – providing public dental clinics so no Victorian lives in pain and no Victorian raids their superannuation – and like free TAFE. It was wonderful to be able to see the member for Sunbury at the new TAFE campus opened this week, the new classrooms that have been opened in Geelong this week and the new suburb being built in Melton with seven new schools, new parks and the infrastructure that families need. These are the things Victorians and families rely on from a Labor government. Your bank balance or your postcode should never define your future. Whether it is home ownership or going to the dentist, these are the things that Labor values.

It is a very different Victoria to that presented by those opposite. We know Labor will always build; they see the public service as a cost. They see education as a nice-to-have; we see it as the most fundamental building block for a great life. Labor will always build. Labor will always fight for working people, and we will never stop fighting for them. What is not leadership is saying you support action on climate change in Kew and then coming in here and telling everyone you support coal. We stand with Victorians. We do not say one thing in Kew and another thing in Spring Street.