Wednesday, 23 September 2026

 Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Premier) (12:04): I move:

That this house:

(a)   commends the Carroll Labor government for committing to free dental care for all Victorians;

(b)   recognises this investment will ease cost-of-living pressures and improve access to essential health care; and

(c)   condemns Liberals’ and One Nation’s $40 billion in cuts, which threaten essential services relied upon by Victorian families.

Right across Victoria families are putting off going to the dentist for the simple fact that they cannot afford it. They know something is wrong; they know they need to get something looked at. But the rent or mortgage is due, the groceries have to be bought and there is very little left at the end of the week, so they put themselves last. Parents make sure their children are looked after first then put their own health later. People go to work in pain because they cannot afford the bill and they cannot afford to do something about it. Putting it off can mean a bigger problem, more pain and a bigger bill. That should trouble every member of this house, because behind every appointment put off is someone who needs care and a family trying to make ends meet. A government ought to understand that pressure, and a government ought to do something to ease it. That is why a re-elected Labor government will deliver free dental care for all Victorians.

We believe being able to get health care should not depend on where you live, the size of your wallet or whether you can afford it. This is a Labor value. This is a Labor belief, the belief that gave us Medicare, and it is why we cannot accept that so many Victorians are going without the dental care they need. Almost 10,000 Victorians a year are raiding their superannuation to pay for dental work. The average withdrawal is $25,000. Think about that: money a person has worked for, put aside for their retirement and spent because they cannot afford otherwise to get their teeth fixed. We have a responsibility to do something about it.

Our commitment starts with 10 free public dental clinics right across Victoria. They will be open to everyone: adults and children. They will operate every day, with every Victorian resident able to attend a free check-up each year. Once up and running, these clinics will treat more than 100,000 Victorians a year. Ten clinics is just the start. This is a new statewide service that will put families first and a statewide service that families can rely on. A parent will be able to book that check-up instead of putting it off again. A worker will be able to get their teeth looked at before a small problem becomes a painful, expensive bigger one. Families will have one less bill to worry about. That matters. It means more money left for groceries, the rent or something the kids need. It means people getting in earlier and spending less because they are getting the care they need at a time when they are in grave pain. It means a government taking some of the pressure off working people who work hard every single day doing the right thing but still struggle to make ends meet. Nothing could be more Labor than that.

I know this investment has a cost, and I believe it is worth every single cent. You cannot build a strong community or a strong economy without healthy families. Government must invest in the care families need and the services that give them a better life. Those opposite have a very different idea. The Liberals and One Nation want to rip $40 billion out of the services families rely on every single year – $40 billion. They should stand up in this house and explain where that will come from – which hospitals, which schools, which services they think families can manage without. We know what happened last time the Liberals were in government. They cut $1 billion from health. They cut $1 billion from education. They went to war with our paramedics. They even cut Free Fruit Friday. That is how miserable they are. They stole fruit off kids. That tells you every value. They put a press release out on a Sunday highlighting the schools that they would cut. This is what they will do. They will highlight the schools they will cut. They will also cut more services that everyday Victorians rely on. And you know what, they will do it with One Nation. A Wilson–Pickering government will cut the very social fabric that Labor has built up in this state. People know you cannot help a family when you are cutting the services they rely on. You cannot do anything you want to do. Working people deserve the support they need.

That is why the choice is very clear: a Labor government fighting for working people or a Liberal–One Nation government that will hurt working people, go after education, go after health and do everything they can. Working people rely on working governments. A Labor government will always make life easier for working people. Only a re-elected Labor government will deliver free dental, because we are on the side of health care. We protected Medicare. We will protect free dental. This is the Labor way, not $40 billion of cuts, not cutting over 30,000 jobs from hardworking Victorians.

 Josh BULL (Sunbury) (12:10): I am very pleased to have the opportunity to follow on from the Premier and to be able to speak to this motion, to be able to make some reflections on what is at stake in November and follow on from the Premier and his contribution about what we see from those opposite and what we are looking at when it comes to these matters. We know that those opposite – I am sure throughout the journey of the motion that is before the house this afternoon – will categorise this motion as irrelevant, perhaps saying it does not matter or perhaps saying it is not important, but we know on this side of the house that nothing could be further from the truth. That is because, as the Premier has just outlined, this is a government that focuses on investment – investment in health, investment in education and investment for Victoria for Victorians.

What we just heard from the Premier and what we covered last week was the startling report, the damaging report, that came out in relation to the proposition that we see from those opposite. Let us just have a look at some of these numbers, if we can. A Liberal–One Nation government will strip $40 billion from Victorians, and that has a serious and tangible and practical effect. That is saying cuts to schools, cuts to hospitals and, as the Premier just outlined, 30,000 jobs gone. That is in an environment that we see growing population in this state. We see more pressure on services. I can see over there the fantastic, hardworking member for Melton, my electorate neighbour, and we know, being out there in the growing corridors, we need to make sure that we keep investing. That is why, whether you look at places like Sunbury, whether you look at places like Melton or whether you look out in the south-east or in the fast-growing west, we on this side of the house know that that investment makes a difference. That investment is about building new schools, about creating new jobs, about investing in transport. What we see –

Brad Battin: Acting Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

Quorum formed.

Josh BULL: I will continue where I left off. It might be tricky for those opposite to hear and understand what those cuts are going to mean for Victorians. For those that rely on our hospitals, our roads and our schools, this investment is indeed critically important.

What is also very important, as was well canvassed by the Premier, is our investment in dental care. To have the Premier make such a significant and important announcement in Tullamarine in my electorate about a month ago, to see the difference when you speak to people in local communities when it comes to dental care, is something that is genuinely important to communities. Dental hygiene, we know, is so important. Dental care – putting off that really important work that you need when you or a member of your family is in a significant amount of pain and making that choice between, as the Premier said, perhaps tapping into funds that you rely on and that you need –

Brad Battin: Acting Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house. If Labor members cannot stay in here, you cannot hold quorum.

Quorum formed.

Josh BULL: I am pleased to make a continued contribution for the second time now and to go to some of the matters that are in the motion before the house this afternoon. What I think is really clear is that we on this side of the house are not focused on cheap stunts but focused on Victorians. The Premier knows and I know that every single member on this side of the house is not focused on the theatrics of the house. He is focused on talking to Victorians about something that is really important, and that is their dental care. He is focused on talking to Victorians about better schools and better hospitals and on making sure that we are delivering for those Victorians. I think what we see before the house time and time again are so many of those cheap stunts that we get from those opposite, which is in stark contrast to the facts and the figures and the hard work that is done by this government.

I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge those that have put in the significant amount of work that goes into these commitments. I had the opportunity to have the Premier in my electorate just some time ago to meet with some amazing people at Omnia Community Health who do some extraordinary work when it comes to dental care in our state. To be able to listen to those staff and to be able to understand the important work that they do in dental health is something that I know this government very much values and we will continue to value each and every day.

Those cuts which have been outlined in the report by the Australia Institute will be put to Victorians in November. What I think we are now seeing is the stark contrast as the contest sharpens and Victorians really turn their mind to what they are going to see from a Liberal–One Nation coalition versus a government that continually invests in health and education and the things that matter. This is something that is indeed very important to those on this side of the house, but more important than anyone in this chamber is every single Victorian that relies on these services. We know – this side of the house knows, the Carroll Labor government knows – that we need to make sure we continue to do this work. This is important work. The opportunity to be able to get the health care that you need without going broke and the opportunity to be able to walk in and to be able to go to an urgent care clinic or in the case of this motion – this commitment – a dental care opportunity for you and your family are all things that are vitally important. If those on the other side of the chamber do not see that, well, then that is their loss. We are focused on making sure that we are there providing the care that local communities need, and we will continue to do that important work each and every day.

What we saw in the Australia Institute report were, frankly, some devastating figures: the 30,000 job losses that the Premier mentioned, the significant and important cuts to health and education. We are not going to stand for that. Whether it is today, tomorrow or all the way as we march to November, we are going to be talking about this because it matters to Victorians, and this is the important work that is done.

I want to acknowledge, as I said earlier, the important opportunity that this presents for this government to be able to explain to local communities, whether you live in Melton, whether you live in Sunbury or whether you live in Greenvale, that these are important matters. I commend the bill to the house.

 Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (12:20): I am really happy to stand up and talk about something that matters to working families in my community, and that is dental care, because right now there are people in my community that are in pain because they are putting off going to the dentist. The reason they are putting it off is because they cannot afford it. It is as simple as that. It is a bit of a self-indulgent story, but when I lived in Myanmar, I developed gum and tooth pain, and I had no way to get the treatment that I needed and I had to wait until I was in New Delhi for a meeting to finally be able to go to the dentist. Isn’t it crazy that for some people in Victoria they may as well be in another country because they cannot get access? Even though they are surrounded by dentists and dental clinics, they do not have access to the dentists. The barrier is not a border between countries, and it is not the status of the country they are in, it is simply a lack of funding. They may as well be in remote Myanmar, where I was. But we are in Victoria, and it should not be that way, which is why we are making dental care free.

The other week I met a woman in my community who had recently had two teeth removed. She was serving at the shop in Mernda. Having those teeth removed, she told me, had cost her $1200. As she was there serving me, she was in pain on the other side of her mouth, so I asked her, ‘Are you going to go back to the dentist?’ ‘No.’ She is not going back. It is not the pain of having her teeth dealt with that she is scared of, it is the cost. She is too scared that she will be up for that amount of money again. So there she is at work, struggling with the pain in her mouth and serving customers, because for her dental care was also out of reach. That is something that this government just is not willing to accept, which is why we have announced 10 free dental clinics across the state. This is happening right across Victoria.

You can imagine: if a budget at home gets tight, what is getting paid first? It is the mortgage or the rent, then it is the food, school needs for the children, shoes, et cetera, electricity and petrol. They are the things that get paid first. Pushed down and down the list, of course, is the dentist. It gets put off. That toothache does not care about the family budget. It is not influenced by your family budget. That toothache is there. Infection does not wait until payday. That pain is there until it is dealt with. That is why we are doing something so significant in bringing forward something that should, we believe, be available across the nation. But of course Victoria is leading the way, as we have seen in so many other sectors, to make dental care free and available for adults and children.

We expect more than 100,000 Victorians to be able to access this care once it is fully operational. It is real cost-of-living relief. It is not a voucher. It is not sort of a one-off thing. It is something that is structurally there that you can build into your family budgeting and assumptions, to know that the government has got your back on this really important part of your healthcare. It is a permanent public service.

I think about Smile Squad. Smile Squad is in my community at the moment, I believe, at Mernda Park Primary School. They have recently been at my child’s local state school doing the teeth there. Moving around my community, when I see the Smile Squad van at the schools, I feel really, really pleased. I have spoken to the dentists and dental technicians that work in my local schools, and they have told me that some of the kids they are seeing really needed to see a dentist. It is not the case that our young people have perfect teeth. They need the dentist, even from a young age. And we are providing that free dental care.

I am also really pleased that free dental care is being expanded to low-fee non-government schools, because we know a lot of families that are doing it a bit tough do make sacrifices to send their child to their school of choice, usually due to religious belief, so I am glad that we are also enabling those children to have access to free dental care. I know it will mean a lot to their families.

Part of the difficulty with the dentist is not just the cost but the time and the life admin. If you think about the short window after school and getting kids to the dentist, they are the appointments that fill up fast. Trust me, Acting Speaker Walters, this is something you will come to know well. They are fought over, those appointments, 4 o’clock or 4:30 at the dentist. Oftentimes it is the case that Mum or Dad need to take time off work to take their child to the dentist, and then there is the cost. The cost is measured not just in money but also in the time that is taken by families away from work, potentially with reduced income, to make sure their children get dental care that is needed. Smile Squad is a great benefit for not just the child but also the families. All of the benefits that I have just laid out are at risk. They are at risk because those opposite are focused on stripping back, cancelling and cutting services that working families depend on and that working families are looking forward to receiving under a re-elected Labor government. They do not care. Famously they are the party that cut Free Fruit Friday. They are not going to think twice about cutting our Smile Squads, and they certainly have not come forward to match our commitment on free dental care for Victorians.

With those opposite you are on your own. It is each person for themselves. You are on your own. If you listen carefully to their rhetoric, they are very much focused on what they call ‘reward for effort’. I was about to go down a big biblical gospel analysis path, which I will not. But there is a sense that if you are having a good life and things are working out well for you, you have probably put effort in, and if your life is maybe a bit tougher, if you just pulled yourself up by your bootstraps a bit more, maybe you too would have a good life. That is the basic Liberal promise, and it is a fallacy. We know that people that work incredibly hard cannot always make ends meet, and it is not through a failure of effort and it is not through a failure of character; it is through a failure of government. I am looking at those opposite because they refuse to provide a steady foundation under the feet of people who deserve support. They make aspersions about people’s character. They wish to make sure that the interests of their backers are put before working families, and they have an absolute ignorance when it comes to the reality of daily life for families and what the day before payday is like for a family, when it is 2-minute noodles for dinner or duct tape to tighten up the school shoe when the sole comes off. They are not interested. They do not care about this reality for families.

But looking around on this side of the chamber I see a group of people who go door to door in their communities, meet people where they are, care for them as they are and are not asking them to change and fit into the mould of those opposite or a monoculture. We are a group of people that seek to be that support for Victorians, for working families and for those that are doing it tough, because we believe that the social contract is worth something and believe that we have a responsibility to provide for Victorians the quality of life that they deserve, and Victorians do not deserve to have that mob opposite come into power and take away what they rely on for a good life.

Those opposite care about their own personal lives, their personal careers and their trajectories, while those on this side care about making sure that people in our community have what they need when they need it, and they know that the government is always there ready to support them with their next step in life.

 Mathew HILAKARI (Point Cook) (12:30): If you do not care about your teeth, then you should vote for the One Nation–Liberal coalition. If you do not care about your teeth, that is what you should do. We are at a sliding doors moment in Victoria. We are at a point in time where we have free dental care right in front of us for every Victorian, or we have the anti-fluoridation mob who reckon there is some sort of world global conspiracy, some 15-minute city-type people. When they got into power in Queensland under Campbell Newman, that is exactly what they did working together, One Nation and the Liberal Party. It was a social and economic disaster for the people in Queensland who missed out on fluoridation. Twenty years ago they said in Queensland that it was costing the state a billion dollars not having fluoridation across the state because it had a health impact. One in four kids going to Queensland hospitals at that time was because of problems with their teeth and dental hygiene – one in four kids. Imagine that in your health system, one in four kids having to turn up for that reason. In the six years after fluoridation was added to communities there was a 40 per cent reduction in tooth decay. Of course there was. People listened to the science.

But that mob opposite, those who seek to be in Parliament and those people opposite who seek to lead the state, have no idea. They will be at the whim of conspiracy nutters, if they are not the ones actually sitting in Parliament themselves. That is the real issue here. That is what is at stake for Victoria. If Labor is re-elected, we will have 10 free public dental clinics across the state, with three in regional Victoria. Last time the Liberal–Nationals and One Nation delivered anything for regional Victoria, my God. What they delivered in Queensland was bad teeth, more hospitalisations, more cost to the economy and more pain. All of us know the pain of a problem with your teeth. We all know that. It is debilitating. Yet as policy those opposite are up for that. They are up for pain and suffering in this state, pain and suffering in particular of children and older people, because of their weird thoughts on science, they are anti-science.

For tens of thousands of Victorians who cannot afford a dentist, we will make that available. We expect that these dental clinics will see 100,000 Victorians a year. They will be open from 9 to 9 on weekdays and 9 to 5 on weekends – available. At least 30,000 Victorians currently raid their super to get dental work done. This is unacceptable and this is why we need to act. For the community that I represent in Point Cook, we are building a community hospital. One of the top three things that I asked Western Health to deliver was more public dental chairs. They agreed because we are down in the western suburbs and we need to do that catch-up. I hope to see, and I expect to see, one of these public dental clinics in the western suburbs of Melbourne. It is the right place to locate it. Maybe I will say one at minimum. We will have that advocacy from me –the member for Melton and the member for Werribee are nodding along with me right now on that advocacy. The member for Lara will join me. Of course wherever they are located they will improve the lives of the community around them.

I just want to talk a little bit about why dental care and free public dental care matters. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare updated their report in August of this year. They talked about how good oral hygiene and health and wellbeing are fundamental. The ability to speak, to eat and to socialise are all impacted by dental hygiene.

One of the few indicators of class in this country is to look in somebody’s mouth. It is one of the few indicators of class that we have, because bad teeth say you are poor. Bad teeth say you will not get the job that you are interviewing for. Bad teeth define your experience in this country, and that is why free dental care is so important. I hope our federal colleagues hear this as well: 4.2 per cent of all the burden that nonfatal diseases placed on the community in 2024 was because of poor dental hygiene. To tell you about the health deterioration – and I am quoting from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report – over a lifetime is shocking: five- to 10-year-olds have 1.5 teeth decayed, missing or filled. Fortunately, six- to 14-year-olds get that down to 0.5 in that transition from baby teeth to adult teeth. There are some great programs in Victoria that we have really led on, including dental care in schools. That has been a real game changer, serving over 175,000 Victorian students. Fifteen- to 34-year-olds have 4.1 teeth decayed, missing or filled and 35- to 54-year-olds have 10.3 teeth decayed, missing or filled. When you hit 55 to 74, on average 19.4 teeth are decayed, missing or filled. That means on average you have got 12 good ones. When you hit 75 years old, 24.4 of your teeth, on average, are decayed, missing or filled – seven good teeth over the age of 75. That is not right. That is not something that we should stand for. There are many reasons for this to happen. We know that 56 per cent of Australians saw a dentist in the last 12 months. Fifteen per cent of people aged over 75 – that is those people with seven good teeth – had not seen a dentist in the last five years. For the whole population, 11.4 per cent had not seen a dentist in the last five years. Of course we should do something about it.

That is why there is this risk of One Nation and the Liberal Party joining together and not only not delivering free dental care but actually taking dental care backward by decades – this anti-fluoridation mob. Do not listen to what they say before the election. Should they get the honour of forming government, look at what they do. They did that in Queensland, and this mob from Queensland are going to do exactly the same thing here. I have not heard the Liberal–National parties stand up and talk about free dental. I do not think ever in this chamber have I heard them talk about dental care at all. I rarely hear them talk about health care, but certainly they have not been talking about care for your teeth. What is the link between poor oral health and chronic disease? It goes to cardiovascular disease and heart attacks – a friend of mine had that occur to him because of poor oral care; oral cancers; diabetes; stroke; adverse pregnancy outcomes; and lung conditions. All of these are a result of poor dental hygiene. They have massive impacts on individuals and massive impacts on our economy and our community.

This is what the One Nation member Rosa Lee Long said when she was a member of Parliament up in Queensland:

A lot of our populous is dead against fluoride being put in the water. They’ve let us know loud and clearly that we don’t want it.

I personally don’t think it should be forced on anybody. I think if you like fluoride and are really keen on the idea, you should go and get the tablets.

I don’t like dictatorship.

For her good health care – health care that protects children and protects our community – is the equivalent of a dictatorship. What are these guys thinking? Where did they come up with these ideas? I now quote from the Labor national platform:

Labor sees oral health as the missing element of Medicare. Our goal is to provide universal access to affordable dental services for all Australians.

This is a great step in that direction. Just like our urgent care clinics were nation leading, these are nation leading too, as they should be. We see the problem, and we are going to do something about that problem. That is what Labor has been doing in this state for the last 12 years. Should we get the honour and the privilege of being elected again, Victorians should expect the same: that we will work on those issues that are issues for every Victorian, not just those people with high levels of private health insurance. For every Victorian it should be a universal right. I invite the federal government to take a look at this, and I hope that Victorians in November will support the things that will make their futures better.

 Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (12:40): When we are talking about dental care, it really is a critical part of health care. If you are going to have good nutrition, you have got to be able to eat a wide variety of foods. If you cannot chew properly, that will not only gravely impact your quality of life but also the ability to be able to have a wide variety of nutrients as well, unless everything is going to be pulverised, which does not sound very appealing. But I am just making a broader statement about why dental care is critical and is about a question of fairness and also about staying healthy throughout your life. We know that if something goes wrong orally – and I am talking about to do with your teeth – the ramifications for health can be even above and beyond that of nutrition et cetera, leading to other greater toxicity and other matters. This is where one would need to be a doctor to speak to those matters, but I am just saying that we know the ricochet effect can be dramatic and profound.

Only a re-elected Carroll Labor government will deliver free dental and boost Victoria’s dental workforce. Labor’s 10 free public dental clinics will create new jobs across the state – that is an important part of this reform – as part of our $230 million investment. This includes 180 full-time equivalent roles created to operate 10 clinics. These clinics will be an Australian first, delivering structural cost-of-living relief to Victorians, because I have to say, unfortunately, it is a strong cost-of-living issue. This is why many people defer going to the dentist, simply because of the sheer cost involved. We know on the other side of the equation that having those regular cleans and check-ups is certainly a good preventative method in terms of hopefully being able to retain your teeth for as much of your life as possible. There is also that further equity proposition that has also been put to the chamber, and that is with regard to your capacity to successfully get through a job interview, because unfortunately a mouth without an appropriate coverage of teeth – and I am not sure how else to frame that, but I think we know what we are talking about – can have a severe and profound impact on your hopes of getting a job, which is also a further element of unfairness.

So that is what Labor is about in terms of righting the wrong and making sure that there is genuine equity in access to good dental health and support in our state. I have to say that, as I have been doorknocking around my seat, when you talk to many people this particular reform is seen as having merit because you cannot escape having to go to the dentist, we all have to go and it can really be a game changer when it comes to the issue of do I pay my rent or do I go to the dentist? You do not want to have to choose between those two key elements. Even just getting a check-up is one thing, but if you have to get a root canal you are looking at possibly thousands of dollars. That can be simply out of reach for many Victorians, and that is just not right. I am really actually proud of this reform as a collective because I know the difference it can make for so many Victorians. I think it really is the right thing to do, and I further that element that it would be good if our federal colleagues would take heed of these reforms as well.

When it comes to accessing good dental care, it should not be dictated by your postcode or your bank balance. That is why we are investing the additional $12.9 million to grow and retain a strong workforce throughout the clinics.

I should say that when you are looking at the cost-of-living issue, it is not just affecting the Victorians who need dental care; it is also making it harder for the next generation of Victorians hoping to pursue a career in dentistry. We do not always think about that, but of course we need to have good dentists and that succession planning et cetera for the future. The additional funding will secure a pipeline of future dental workers by investing in traineeships and study programs. This includes support for 30 dental assistant trainees and 20 dental graduates for the next two years as well. I know, having had, if you like, the privilege of being able to have regular dental care, it is a very delicate and nuanced space, and obviously it needs the utmost of expertise, whether it is the dentist or the staff that are supporting the processes. It is also quite an anxiety-driven space for many people. I know I am probably going on a little tangent here, but it is not exactly the most pleasurable activity. Hence we do need to make sure that we have well-trained staff and good succession planning to be able to deliver on these reforms.

Thinking more broadly about the healthcare workforce, under Labor Victoria’s health workforce has grown. This includes more than 40,000 additional nurses, midwives, doctors, allied health professionals and hospital staff, while the on-road paramedic workforce has grown by 50 per cent. Only Labor is fighting for working people. Why am I mentioning these matters? I think it is really important for Victorians to know exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it but also for us to say, ‘We’ve done this. We’ll also bring about the dental care reforms.’ Labor know that if you have not got your health, the quality of life just plummets in a nanosecond. It is absolutely vital; no-one gets out of needing to have good dental care. But above all else it certainly breaks my heart to think that some people in their lifetime hardly ever get good dental care. I just cannot imagine what that would be like. I certainly do not take it for granted. I feel a sense of gratitude that I can go to the dentist when I need to, and I want every other Victorian to have that right as well. We will actually all be better off because more prevention and more good dental care – as a continuum, as opposed to just going to the dentist when you are absolutely in the most critical stage in your life – is also a good thing. Certainly from an economic point of view it makes good sense as well, before matters get to a very serious stage.

Having said that, you cannot always predict which way your body is going to respond, and things do not always go as we plan, of course. This is why having this investment in free dental care in Victoria is so important. It is so that you do have somewhere to go, and it is good because it is going to operate seven days a week, which is actually important, because you do not know when you are going to have tooth pain. You cannot predict that necessarily will be on a Tuesday; it might be on Saturday night. Who knows when it is going to arise? Therefore having the convenience, in terms of the time and accessibility, is a really important part of this reform as well.

You can see it is a really practical reform. I have to say, as I referred to a little earlier on the many conversations that I have had on this issue in my local area, people certainly can see the why. They can absolutely see the why and appreciate that this is a good investment by our state Labor government, and it is certainly something that we absolutely will honour should we have the privilege of being re-elected as the Victorian government for this fine state of Victoria. It is certainly something to be proud of, but also it has been well-thought through to make sure that we facilitate the free dental care and that it is accessible. It is not only in metro areas but also the regional areas. I think there are seven for the metro areas and then three for the regional areas.

We are also making sure that we do foster the pipeline of jobs that will be needed to support the dentistry and support the dentists themselves to be able to deliver that optimised health care for Victorians, because they deserve it. It is simply unfair to not be able to access good-quality dental care in our state. As we know, with the way that we have significantly and substantially boosted the health workforce and, furthermore, nurse-to-patient ratios, this aptly reflects that we are good for it, because we have done it before and we will do it again. In terms of further profound investment in health care around our state, it is the right thing to do, but it is also leading to a healthier Victoria.

 Pauline RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (12:50): It is a terrific pleasure and in fact it is with extraordinary enthusiasm that I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this motion. This motion is incredibly important, and I do join with others, the speakers and my colleagues on this side of the house, in commending the Carroll Labor government for committing to free dental care for all Victorians. I would like to do that by taking you on a journey back in time.

In a previous life, a life that I led certainly before coming into this place and indeed when my children were young, I held a role in recruitment. I was supporting people to get into paid employment, and I loved everything about that role. I loved seeing people’s aspirations met. But in fact perhaps on reflection the element of the role I enjoyed most was in working with people who did not really see themselves as having the confidence to be able to undertake professional paid employment that would be able to contribute to their families. In particular for a few years I was working for a company that served a lot of people who were struggling with seeking paid employment, and I can tell you there were many themes to those people, who had often extraordinary attributes, amazing aspirations, diligence and commitment to hard work and, more than anything, a commitment to be able to support their families.

The barrier for so many people was poor oral health. In the most extreme cases – and there were more than I would like to be able to count – people were missing teeth and were in such dire health because of the nature of their oral ill health that in every conversation they had with somebody, including me as a person trying to get them into work, they held their hands over their mouths. They were ashamed. They were ashamed that they were missing teeth, often missing more than one tooth, sometimes missing several front teeth. I think back in particular to a woman I met who had been working diligently in her family’s business as a bookkeeper, had been supporting her young children on the kindergarten committee, had been helping out in all sorts of other places and was a single parent and really needed to get work. But she was missing her front teeth, and her mouth had so much decay that she was in constant pain. That matters. People need to get access to high-quality clinical dental care so they can live the lives that they deserve. This motion is incredibly important, but more than that, the choice at this election has never been starker.

Dental care is often treated as separate from health care, but for families this very real health cost has a cost-of-living implication as well. My colleagues and friends on this side of the chamber have already spoken with great eloquence, notably the member for Albert Park, about the clinical costs to people’s physical wellbeing in having oral ill health. The member for Sunbury and of course the Premier in particular have spoken about why this is emblematic of a Labor commitment to the people of Victoria. And of course the member for Point Cook contrasted the scientifically based humane and decent approach of considering dental care and contrasted that with the consequences of a loopy, to be frank, One Nation party that would be forming the front bench, taking up seats in the cabinet with the Liberal–National coalition if they were to form government after November. The contrast could not be more significant.

We know that Medicare does not cover the cost of dental treatment, and that means families cannot have access to the type of medical care that they deserve. For growing communities like Cranbourne, access to affordable health care matters, because families are balancing mortgages; balancing rent; balancing the costs of groceries, transport, child care and all other rising costs. Could there be anything that parents want more for their children than to be able to fulfil their aspirations? And could there be anything parents want more than for their children to be healthy?

Cranbourne has a special place in the history books as it relates to the Smile Squad, because the choice that we made to introduce the Smile Squad to provide free dental vans in government schools, and again to expand it to low-cost independent and Catholic schools, was born in Cranbourne, because the first clinic, the first announcement that celebrated the importance of the Smile Squad was in Cranbourne. It was with a group of young children, now eight years older than they were at the time, standing there with their toothbrushes in their hands and looking forward to what it would mean for our communities and the communities of so many people across the outer suburbs, regional Victoria, the inner suburbs – north, west, east, south-east in particular – to have access to high-quality dental care.

We have done it before. We said we would do it and we did it. We have rolled it out across schools across our state system in Victoria, then we have expanded it across into our low-fee Catholic and independent schools. The next step now is for us to make a commitment that we know we will fulfil for 10 clinics across the state.

The member for Point Cook said that he will be fighting tooth and nail for his community to have access to one of these dental clinics. I can say I will be joining the member for Narre Warren North and other colleagues from the south-east to ensure that we have the services that we need in our community. I am sure, Acting Speaker Walters, that as the committed member for Greenvale you will be doing likewise, ensuring that your community has access to the quality of services and health care in particular that is needed.

We know that one of the key impediments to access is having dental care close to home. With these 10 dental clinics that the Carroll Labor government will be rolling out across the state – three in regional Victoria – we will be able to ensure that more people have access to this extraordinary and life-changing care, making sure that check-ups do provide treatment for fillings and for really important cleans as well. This can all be undertaken by professional oral health clinicians. This is going to be, as the member for Albert Park also identified, a key workforce commitment that will be fulfilled, as we have fulfilled other commitments that we have made around dental care.

Those opposite might say, ‘You know, for the deserving poor the money will trickle down.’ The money will trickle down despite the $40 billion in cuts that have been planned and celebrated by those opposite. But we know on this side, as we form government, that we need to look to working families to ensure that people can have the access to the health care that they need.

Just in the final minute, I do want to pick up one of the elements of the debate that the member for Point Cook touched on, which is One Nation’s views on health care. Often potentially amusing in previous decades, I think now we know the risks of some of their views on health care, particularly fluoride. The Secretary of Health and Human Services in the United States – I am conscious that One Nation want to Trumpify our healthcare system – has asked that there be a review of fluoride going into the water in the United States. In fact Utah, I just read recently, has stopped putting fluoride in water. Those opposite would need to form government with One Nation, and these are the kooky policies that they will endorse.

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:02 pm.

Business interrupted under standing orders.