Wednesday, 23 September 2026

 Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (14:41): I rise to make a contribution on the motion on the notice paper moved by the Deputy Premier and perhaps particularly to speak to part (c) of the Deputy Premier’s motion, which condemns the Liberals’ and One Nation’s $40 billion in cuts, which threaten essential services relied on by Victorian families.

There is a great deal of concern out there in the community, and indeed in Preston and Reservoir, about the prospect of a Liberal–One Nation government and just what that would mean for services that families and locals rely on. We heard the Premier earlier address this chamber on exactly what it might mean and his concerns, and I certainly echo his comments. While the Premier was speaking, we had the member for Berwick in here, and the member for Berwick sort of pushed back through his interjections on this $40 billion in cuts number. If I heard him correctly when he was interjecting, he said that the $40 billion number was made up. It is very interesting that opposition members appear to be prepared to say that the $40 billion number is made up, but not prepared –

Bridget Vallence interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: In fact the member for Evelyn, who is not in her place, interjects to suggest exactly that thing. Yet I notice that the member for Evelyn, and indeed all of the opposition speakers, are not prepared to stand up in this chamber on this motion and explain what their cuts will actually look like. I put it to you –

Jade Benham interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: You will have your chance, member for Mildura, after I finish my contribution if you would like to stand up and detail exactly what those cuts will look like. I put it to you, Speaker, that the reason they do not want to stand up and detail that is, first and foremost, because very few of them understand their own policy. The Leader of the Opposition has come out and said that they are going to shift Victoria to a fiscal cash surplus by 2032 at the same time as reducing tax revenue. I listened very carefully to their contributions; I do not think anyone within the ranks of the Liberal Party understands what a fiscal cash surplus is.

I give great credit to whichever Liberal staffer came up with this policy. I reckon they came up with it because they did not want to say, ‘We’re going to reduce debt.’ So one of their staffers said, ‘Let’s make our target a fiscal cash surplus’, which was an interesting choice. Good on that staffer, because they have managed to convince opposition MPs to take up this policy, seemingly without having explained to them what a fiscal cash surplus actually is. We miss the days when the Liberals had people who had actually done some accounting. To give him his due, Neil Angus, who you would remember, Speaker – a member for Forest Hill – was a good accountant. I remember when I worked in the Treasurer’s office he was on top of it. But since Neil left, they have really had no-one who can do any accounting. Essentially this policy that has been put forward by the Liberal leader is that they are going to move the government into having what would be called positive free cash flow in a corporate sense, and I do not think they understand just how dramatic that is as a change.

We have certainly had years recently where investment in assets by our state government, investment in really important public transport projects in particular, has been running at $20 billion or so a year. The Liberal Party say they are going to dramatically reduce that. I cannot imagine a world where you reduce that to anything less than $5 billion to $10 billion really. Any government has to build new schools, upgrade hospitals and do a whole lot of asset expenditure which any decent government, you would hope, would do, so they are going to have to leave at least $5 billion or $10 billion on the asset side. Of course our books are balanced at the moment, so they are going to have to cut $5 billion to $10 billion from their expenditure. Furthermore they have promised to cut taxes, so that is, I do not know, another $2 billion, another $5 billion – they are not very clear about what that is. But in rough terms they are talking about cutting expenditure by $10 billion a year. If you add that up across the four years of the forwards, you get a $40 billion cut. That is just my guess at what their cuts might look like, but there is absolutely no way to do what they have said that they are going to do without making very significant cuts that have got a multibillion-dollar number on them. If they are contesting the $40 billion number, which I think is a conservative and generous estimate – you can well and truly imagine a world in which it is $45 billion or $50 billion across the forwards – then it is incumbent upon them to explain how they are going to do that. I can only hope that the member for Mildura, as she says, does stand up after me and give the house some explanation of what that critical policy for the future of our state looks like. She may have to ring up whichever staffer it was who came up with it – credit to them, as I say – and get just a quick explanation of what a fiscal cash surplus is.

Having I feel comprehensively dealt with the motion in front of us, in the short period of time I have left I might just take this opportunity knowing that it might be my last contribution for this session. Indeed we do not know what will happen in November. It may be my last contribution full stop. We all stand up in this place knowing that the way our system works is that one individual is elected to sit in these seats and stand in these places, but we all know that behind us we have great teams who do a huge amount of work. I am very grateful for my electorate office contributing and helping me be here today to make this speech and be here every day to do the work that we need to do. I do want to quickly thank Louise Kenney-Shen, who has been with us right from the start and is a fantastic part of the Darebin community. A lot of the work we are doing around community housing and public housing and the work we do to support some of our local Darebin community members who have more complex needs, additional needs – people who face barriers to participation in our economy or in our society for various reasons – Louise has led. She has been absolutely fantastic on it. I am very grateful for that leadership. A fun fact about Louise is that she speaks fluent Mandarin. I know many Mandarin-speaking constituents in Preston and Reservoir have been grateful for being able to bring issues to her, for those who prefer to speak in Mandarin.

Then we have Ellie Tossol-Smith, who has done a remarkable amount of work to get us organised. You know that some people think of politics, if they are not so involved, as some glamorous business where we are out arguing various points, but many of us know that getting things done in this world is often, as an MP’s office, just a job of remembering to follow up time and time again with ministers and organisations that have promised you that they are going to get back to you with some information or with a policy decision and you still have not heard from and then you have to call up and you have to ring every couple of days and email. Ellie has just done a fantastic job. People think the enemy in this job is powerful vested interests or something, and sometimes it is that. But so often the enemy is just bureaucratic inertia, poor coordination and limited attention span of decision-making. People here know that having someone in our office who has relentlessly, politely said time and time again ‘Hey, you haven’t got back to us. Can you please get back to us?’ has done an enormous amount for Preston and Reservoir. I am grateful for Ellie’s contribution.

I have to touch on Emma Cunningham, who has left our office, but she did a great job of getting us organised. An amazing story – Emma took the job in our office from Dublin, where she interviewed. She had actually never been to Melbourne. It speaks to what an organised person she is that she organised her job here before landing in Melbourne for the first time. Then, remarkably, I have never met anyone who does their homework like Emma does her homework. She got here, and within a week we would be sitting in the office talking about some random Darebin character, talking about Tara Burnett, Alex Bhathal, Kim Le Cerf or someone. I would say this person’s name, and Emma would be like, ‘She’s moved to DEECA now.’ I would say, ‘Not only how do you know who Kim Le Cerf is; how do you know what DEECA is? You’ve been in Melbourne for a week,’ and Emma would be like, ‘I was reading something somewhere about it.’

I do not know if she sleeps. She just must read all night about things. But we were very grateful. I, she and Nathan Kerwood-McCall, who was in her office at the time, had a lot of fun on all things Darebin. As we all know, you have got to work with your local council. That was the previous Darebin council, and working with them was a real challenge. But thank you to Emma. Thank you to Nathan Kerwood-McCall as well, actually. He was an absolute public policy professional who was with us at that time.

Thank you to Will Mezner, who has joined our office at the moment and is getting some survey responses out that I have been meaning to get out for a couple of years. Finbar Bray is in the team at the moment. Maya Charles Sedergreen is doing all our grants work at the moment, which you know, Speaker, is very important stuff, just to help coordinate that for the community. Then there is Laurens Dowling Lane, our great Northern College of the Arts and Technology creative arts QGIS specialist, and Spencer Hurley, who was in our office and worked really closely with our veterans and RSL community. And then there is Reggie Michelson and the amazing Aashini Rastogi, who I think will go on to great things, who came into our office to do work experience and then was so good that she came onto the payroll, still completing year 12, I think. Then there is Alex Mansell; Blake Ward; Callum Rees; Arya Kushwaha; Lisa Greenough; Mayank Sajwan; Thomas Taylor of Reservoir Leisure Centre lifeguard fame, amongst his many achievements; Parth Jadav; Tom Leslie; and everyone else who has volunteered or helped out in the office over that period.

I suppose we are at that time of the cycle where you have got to think, ‘Why would people re-elect me, Nathan Lambert, to a role representing Preston and Reservoir?’ Honestly, I think sometimes if only I could convey to people what it is that these amazing people, mainly young people, have come into our office and done, if I could show them what they were doing, that alone would be reason for re-electing this great team – just to see Ellie and Louise and Will and Maya and everyone who has helped out and to allow them to continue doing what they have been doing for our community.

 Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (14:51): I was listening to the member for Preston, and I will ask the indulgence of this chamber to thank my incredible team and staff too. I do echo what he was saying in terms of the incredible power of work that our electorate staff do and give and the effort they put in and the heart they put in as well.

[NAMES AWAITING VERIFICATION]

Amongst my team I have to give a huge shout-out to Lorna, Kara, Pete, Scott and Seb, who was working with us before and will hopefully come back to us again, and to the beautiful volunteers, Rudy, Lynn and Pat, who just give so much of themselves to help our community. They do go above and beyond, and they deal with stories, as we all know, that are sometimes very difficult and hard to hear, stories that impact us all and that we take away with us when we hear real tales of tragedy. My staff have absolutely been exemplars of wonderful human beings who do a lot to try and make this place even better. As the Member for Preston said, it is not just about the local MP, it is the team of people they have with them, the unsung heroes who turn up every day, sometimes after copping abuse or sometimes after listening to a story that is so heartbreaking and so heart wrenching because we know that we simply do not have the power necessarily to make things better for that person in a tangible way. But they listen and they care, and I know that that matters for many, many people. I will start off by saying that in the first instance.

I will say, though, on this motion that I am very concerned about what Victoria would look like if the opposition carried forth the plans that they are putting out there. I have to say I could listen to the member for Preston for another hour explaining the lack of understanding that seems to be evident on the opposition benches of what their proposed cuts and what their plan for Victoria look like and the impact they are going to have. These are conversations I am now having with people in public who are saying, ‘Oh, but the debt – they’re going to get rid of the debt.’ And I say, ‘No, no, they’re talking about significant cuts to our economy.’

I will talk from the perspective of a business owner, because I employed, at any given time, 40 people across my two businesses when I had two at once, and when I had my one business the whole way through, there were 30 staff, 15 full-time equivalent and a whole bunch of people who would come through. We would have university students who would come through, and maybe they were just working for a year with us and they spread their wings and they flew into the career of their future afterwards. We had a number of people come through, and we had also full-time staff who had only ever worked for us and the previous owner. There is nothing more terrifying when you are in business than the thought that the pie out there, the amount of money that circulates in an economy, is going to shrink, and the figure of $40 billion is actually horrific.

If I were a small business owner right now, I would not be thinking that the Liberals are my best bet for a good future in my small business. I would be thinking the complete opposite. I would be terrified that my customers, my clientele and the people who spend their money for my service or my goods will not have money to spend. Forty billion dollars worth of cuts and a proposed 31,000-odd jobs out there ripped out will have a flow-on effect which will be like a tsunami, and it will crash the economy. That is what I am really worried about. I would not be sleeping very well at night now if my business was still mine. I would be very, very concerned about what they have in their plans to come, and that is just from a business perspective. I want to make that really clear to small business owners out there thinking that maybe the Liberals are their best bet. They are not, because when they completely shrink that economy down, people out there will not have the money to spend in your business, and that should keep you up at night. It is not a good choice for us. It might sound really great for their friends in the Institute of Public Affairs, because that is where they come from, but this is not good for the average Victorian person out there at all.

Putting business aside, now let us look at the services that we are talking about. We are offering free dental for people. It has been the big gap. Ever since Medicare was created in Australia, the gap has always been, ‘Why not teeth?’ That was a question my husband asked me when he moved here, because of course he is from the UK where the National Health Service does cover teeth. In fact I actually had to go and have a root canal under the NHS system in Manchester. He was a particularly frightening dentist, I have to say, but that was more about him rather than the NHS. Eventually I ended up having to get that poor sad tooth extracted. He did not think he needed to use too much anaesthetic, which was a little bit concerning. But all that aside, when my husband came here and realised we had Medicare like the NHS and then had to pay privately for dental, he could not understand why that was. Neither could I. I could not explain it to him other than it was just a gap that had always been there. I always hoped that gap would be filled by the feds. They have not done it, but we are going to do it. That is a fantastic thing for Victorians.

I tell you what, already we have so many people wanting to come and live in this state. We have people flooding the city of Melbourne but also other parts of this beautiful state that we call home. They are going to be storming over to us, I reckon. They will all be experiencing FOMO in New South Wales, Queensland, Tassie, WA, South Australia, Northern Territory and ACT. They will have a severe fear of missing out when we get our free dental here. I really hope that other states take up this mantle, and I hope that the federal government actually looks at this and goes, ‘Yes, it’s about time that we did this too.’ I hope that we once again lead the charge on this one, because we have done it many, many other times in so many other areas.

Let us talk about urgent care clinics and how wonderful they have been. We call them priority primary care centres. They have changed their name, but the same thing applies. We are making sure people can get access to good bulk-billed health care. When someone says to me, ‘What does this free dental clinic look like?’ I say, ‘You know an urgent care clinic – think that but for teeth.’ They go, ‘Oh,’ and it all makes sense because it is tangible and it is real. We went into the last election talking about those bulk-billed urgent care clinics. We went in, we said we were going to do it and then we did it, and it has gone even bigger than we originally anticipated. That is what will happen with free dental.

When I talk about those cuts – I know I spoke about the impact on business, and as I said, I want to make that really clear to businesspeople – the next cuts and the real impacts out there too that we have to worry about are the services we are going to see completely evaporate. When I said there will be a tsunami coming for small businesses, there will also be a tsunami that takes out frontline services. They can say as much as they want. I had this conversation with a nurse, just on the weekend, and we spoke about the fact that the Liberals have said they will not touch frontline services – (a) I do not know how that is even possible and (b) I said to her, ‘Even if in some magic wonderland nurses do not get cut, police do not get cut and teachers do not get cut, all the support people behind them, who allow them to do their work and focus on their work only, without having to worry about the extra admin burden out there, which the support teams do so well to take the pressure off, if they are gone, who is left to do it? For the opposition to say they are not going to cut frontline services is disingenuous, because they may not cut that person out of their role, but all of a sudden that person is going to be left juggling so many other competing interests. How are they possibly going to deliver 100 per cent of frontline services when all of a sudden their role is now taking on an admin burden?

My worry for my electorate and the people across Monbulk is: what does it look like? Is free kinder going to go? What happens to the four-year-old child in Tecoma who cannot get into kinder because their parents cannot afford it? Are they going to get their best start and best life? No, they simply will not. Free kinder has been such an incredibly successful story. It is incredibly successful because these beautiful young people are getting their first introduction to education and they are so ready for prep when they go there, so much more ready than the children who never got that opportunity to do four-year-old kinder, let alone three- and four-year-old kinder. A huge shout-out to the educators and the teachers, the staff across kindergartens, because they make a difference every day to our littlest learners.

What about all the other supports out there that we have provided that are funded? Also, can I say, on the way we have dealt with this, we make sure that people who need a hand up the most get it. Every investment we make is an investment into Victoria’s future and the future of our people. On all the things that we hold dear – education, health care, the things that we all need – our Labor government has spent and dedicated its time and its energy into ensuring that people have a level playing field. That is all at risk this November.

If anyone thinks that a One Nation–Liberal coalition looks like the better alternative, they have got another thing coming. I hope that people really stop and think about where their vote is going to go, because it is dangerous. Forty billion dollars worth of cuts will hurt people. It will hurt the economy. It will hurt small business owners. It will hurt the parents of kids at kinder. It will hurt the parents of children at school who rely on a free breakfast to keep their stomachs full so they can learn. It will hurt so many. I commend this motion to the house.

 Paul MERCURIO (Hastings) (15:01): I rise to give my contribution on the motion regarding Labor’s landmark announcement of free dental for every Victorian. Whilst those on this side of the house care about dental care for Victorians, those on the other side are dedicated to cutting anything and everything. I agree with the member for Monbulk –

A member interjected.

Paul MERCURIO: It was a great contribution, and it would be absolutely fantastic if free dental did not just happen in Victoria but went to every state and became a federal initiative. It is great to see Victorian Labor leading the way, as it often does in many different areas.

I love the idea of free dental. I think, if my memory serves me correctly, I may have had free dental when I was a kid. The reason we used to get free dental, if indeed we did – I would have to ask my mum – is that we would jump on the bus from Coolbellup, go into town into Fremantle and go to the dental school. The reason we did that – I think it was free – is because they were students, and the students needed kids and adults and people with issues with their teeth so that they could train. The only reason we actually did that and put up with it, because it was a bit of a nightmare, is that Mum would buy us a block of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate each after we left the dentist and once our mouths had sort of returned to normal. It is a very Edwardian sort of memory for me too, because the dental clinic was opposite the Fremantle jail. I really do not know if any of the people doing the dental work and training were ex-prisoners or whatnot, so I have always had a bit of a fear of dentists.

It is really great that my daughter and grandchildren went to the dentist the other day. My wife went up to look after the kids whilst my daughter had her teeth done. Then little Max, who is two years old, got up in the dental chair and had his check-up and our little Grace, who is four and a half, had her teeth checked. They are in safe hands, and they are going to start to understand that dentists are not frightening. I think a lot of people that do not go to the dentist do have a fear which is unreasonable. I would urge anyone that has not been to the dentist for a while to actually go.

Certainly this bill gives the opportunity to people that do not have the ability or the money or the opportunity to get to the dentist as much as they should. I think one of the things that this bill will do is it will take the fear factor out. It will get people to go to the dentist because it will not cost them money. Once they are there the dentist obviously can help them and give them advice. These are people that would not normally go. I think it is so very, very important that people go to the dentist.

I met a bloke the other day when I was doorknocking, and he was in a great deal of pain. He told me he had gingivitis. He said his gums bleed constantly and, as I said, he was in pain all the time. I said, ‘Have you been to the dentist?’ And he went, ‘Nuh.’ And I said, ‘Why not?’ And he said, ‘Oh, I’ll be all right.’ I think it is a cost factor and a fear factor. Certainly free dental is going to change that for a lot of people and I think that is a very, very good thing.

What have we announced – a re-elected Carroll Labor government will open 10 free public clinics, seven will be in Melbourne and three will be in regional Victoria. They will be focused on where the gaps in services are. You get a free check-up and you get treatment like fillings, root canals and extractions. The most urgent cases go first, so if you are in pain or you have got swelling or you have had an accident you will be seen first, like that gentleman I saw on the doorknocks; I am sure he was a pretty severe case, he would have been seen first. Once these clinics are up and running they will see more than 100,000 Victorians every year. It is a $230 million investment over three years and it is a first, as we have said, for any state in Australia. It is the first government to put this into place.

Why does it matter? Apart from what I have talked about a little bit earlier, it is because Medicare does not cover dental. And I will say, quietly though, that it absolutely should, but that is another matter and many people have spoken about that already. It does cover a lot, but not dental. The numbers tell the story. According to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on oral health and dental care in Australia, of the $13.2 billion Australians spent on dental services in 2023–24, 61 per cent was paid by patients straight out of their own pocket. One in four people who needed to see a dental professional delayed it or did not go at all, and 16 per cent said cost was a reason. If you look at the gap, in our least disadvantaged areas 65 per cent of people saw a dental professional last year. In our most disadvantaged areas, it was 42 per cent. It should not matter how much you have in your bank account as to whether you get dental care or not; taking care of your teeth is and should be part of your own healthcare plan. The Grattan Institute says more than 2 million Australians avoid dental care because of the costs. When care gets put off, the problem does not go away – it gets bigger. In 2024–25, there were close to 89,200 hospitalisations for dental conditions that could have been prevented with earlier treatment. That is people in pain. It is hospital beds being used when a check-up might have done the job a few years earlier. I did not really realise that people would be going to hospital because of dental ill health.

This plan has been warmly welcomed, and I want to share what people who work in this space have said. The Victorian Council of Social Service said:

This commitment is a game changer for low-income Victorians who have been going without.

They also ask that the clinics reach low-income Victorians first, and the plan is focused on where the gaps in services are.

The Victorian Healthcare Association welcomed the commitment and called it ‘a good outcome for the health and wellbeing of Victorian communities’.

They said it gives us a foundation for prevention and early intervention, and I think prevention is a great word in this debate.

Peter Breadon from the Grattan Institute has argued for years for dental to be part of our health system. On the workforce, he said:

Workforce shortages are not an excuse to deny people care, they’re a reason to invest in training.

I could not agree more.

Dr Simon Judkins, an emergency physician working in a regional hospital, said he can no longer see a logical explanation for dental health being left out of Medicare. He has seen how an untreated dental problem can turn into something serious, like sepsis. That is someone who sees the end result of those people who are waiting.

Tan Nguyen from the Public Health Association of Australia said:

It’s the first time a government has stated that essential oral healthcare is a fundamental right for everyone. A … principle like that will be profound …

The Royal Australian College of Physicians said it reflects a ‘growing recognition that dental care is both a health issue and a cost-of-living issue’.

The National Rural Health Alliance said:

…walk-in check-ups and treatments … would be incredibly valuable for rural people who deserve the same access –

as –

… people in the city.

A dental expert from Charles Sturt University called it ‘a great start’.

That is a fantastic set of voices in support of this. There will no doubt be others that do not support it, but we should not be in the habit of just saying no to things because they are hard to do. The hard things to do are often the right things to do, and this is part of it.

A plan like this only works if you have got the people to deliver it. That is why there is $13 million to grow and keep a strong workforce across the 10 clinics. It includes relocation support to attract 20 clinicians to three regional clinics and two years of support for 30 dental assistant trainees and 20 dental graduates, plus scholarships and mentoring. It is about building the team, not just cutting the ribbon. And we are not starting from scratch. Smile Squad has already visited more than 1000 government schools and given more than 175,000 students dental check-ups, saving families around $400 per child. Parents do not have to take time off work, and kids get the care they need at school. This plan takes that same idea and says, ‘Let’s do it for everyone.’

As the Minister for Health Ingrid Stitt put it, getting dental care should not be determined by your bank account or where you live. That is the very easy to understand reason that is at the heart of this announcement. If you have got a toothache, you should be able to walk in and get it looked at. If your kid needs a filling, you should not have to choose between that and the grocery bill. This plan makes that possible. Whilst I would love Medicare to include dental, we are not going to be waiting around for something to happen in the future; we are going to get on and do the job. Victoria will take the lead, as we often do as the Victorian government. I commend this motion to the house.

 Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (15:11): Acting Speaker O’Keeffe, I know it is poor protocol to reflect on the Chair, but I wish you all the best for your next chapter. I am very pleased to be standing here because this is a real point of difference. This is about a Labor policy that will be a game changer for the most vulnerable Victorians. I think that is what we have got to remember. Who is Labor’s dental care plan going to help the most? It is the most vulnerable people in our community. That is why many of us are here, particularly on this side of the chamber, because we know that a lot of people can look after themselves and they can get the dental care that they need, but for a lot of people, that is not the case. That is why when the Premier announced on 22 August that this was going to happen, I was absolutely elated that a re-elected Carroll Labor government will deliver free dental care for all Victorians. I know that a lot of people are sceptical about this and say that it cannot be done – but it can be done and it will be done if we are re-elected. That is the important caveat that we put on this – that it will only be done under a Labor government, because those opposite will not do this for our most vulnerable Victorians. They will not even speak on this important motion.

We are here talking about our values, and it was really interesting to hear the member for Cranbourne speak earlier about her life before she worked in this place and about talking to people and trying to get them a job but they were so ashamed of their teeth that they were covering their mouth in job interviews because their teeth were in such poor shape. We know that that is very, very class-based because in Australia, and also internationally, people on lower incomes generally have poorer oral health than wealthier people. The research consistently shows that people who are disadvantaged are more likely to have untreated tooth decay. They are more likely to experience gum disease. They have less teeth – they have lost their teeth or they have had them extracted because it is cheaper. They delay or avoid dental treatment because of the cost and they present to hospitals with preventable dental conditions.

One of the main reasons, we know, sadly, is that dental care is not covered by Medicare for most adults, meaning many people must pay out of pocket. As a result, for people with lower incomes, people struggling with the cost of living, with the costs of their rent and with the costs of keeping their families supported, the dentist get deprioritised. It gets deprioritised for six months and then 12 months and then 18 months, and suddenly we have got kids who have never even seen a dentist – but that is okay because we have got Smile Squad, and I will come back to that later.

It is extraordinary, and some people will know this from their own electorates and from speaking to people, but women in Australia and also in countries like the UK used to have their teeth removed before they got married. They would get a set of dentures because their families did not want them to go into a marriage with the burden of having to worry about dental care. Women would have their teeth removed before their wedding. It is just extraordinary. My friend’s mother has talked to me about the trauma of having her teeth removed before her wedding, one of the happiest times in your life. She had her teeth removed because it was going to be cheaper and safer and more effective. She has had dentures since before her wedding. That is what this is about. It is about making sure that we hold on to the teeth that we have got. The best teeth are the teeth that we have, not ones that we have to replace with dentures, because dentures are painful, expensive and difficult to maintain. We need to manage our own choppers all our lives and make sure that we look after them. But we know that without access to free universal dental health care, which is what a re-elected Carroll Labor government will deliver, that is just not going to happen.

We know that poor oral health can be turned around. It is not actually something that cannot be fixed. If you look at the requirements and the suggestions from the Australian Dental Association, we can improve dental health. How do we actually improve dental health? The best thing to do obviously is to brush your teeth every day with good toothpaste. We know that if you brush your teeth twice a day for 2 minutes with fluoride toothpaste you will have better teeth, you will have less cavities, you will have less tooth decay, you will have less gum disease and you will have less loss of teeth. We also know that water fluoridation is considered one of the most effective ways to prevent tooth decay. Can I tell you, growing up in Ballarat, our water was not fluoridated. Mum and Dad used to make us have fluoride tablets every night because we did not have fluoridated water, and I am so glad. It was only in the last 20 years that we actually got fluoridated water in Ballarat.

We know that regular brushing and drinking fluoridated water make a huge difference to prevent tooth decay, that cleaning between your teeth daily with floss and interdental brushes can make a huge difference and that limiting sugary drinks is so important. But the other thing that the Australian Dental Association says is so important for maintaining good dental health is having regular dental check-ups and being able to have access to dentists. That is what this government is already delivering for kids at our government schools and low-cost schools across Victoria. We are doing what we can for our little people, but there are a whole lot of people who have not had the opportunity to get dental health care and live in pain every single day. That is why I am so pleased that we have a plan to make sure that the number of people who are unnecessarily going to hospital due to dental conditions and delayed care can be turned around. This is not a fait accompli. This is being able to get things done and to do things better. We also know that superannuation is about your retirement. We should not be raiding our precious super, thanks to Paul Keating and our federal Labor government, that our unions fought so hard for. Our super should not be raided to get dental care, but sadly, 30,000 Victorians a year are accessing the super that they need for their retirement because they do not have access to dental care.

What are we going to do? What is our plan? It will be 9 am until 9 pm five days a week, because we know people work shiftwork and people go to school – we know people have a range of things. But there is more. Not only will it be 12 hours a day, five days a week; we are also going to open up on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am to 5 pm, on weekends. That is how we are going to see 100,000 Victorians a year – by offering a service that is open, that is available and that is not just in Melbourne, so communities like mine do not have to jump on V/Line to go to the dental hospital; they can have it in regional Victoria.

I know that a few people have got their elbows out, and I am going to put my elbows out as well because Ballarat and the Grampians region deserve a regional dental clinic that opens seven days a week. That is certainly something I will be advocating for. Can I just say to that good Ballarat caller, when the Premier was on ABC radio and they rang in and said, ‘Hello, Premier, will Ballarat be getting one?’ Thank you for your advocacy. I will continue to push for one as well, because it is just so important.

But whether it is our Smile Squad going around to local schools like mine, like Forest Street Primary, Delacombe Primary, Wendouree Primary or Alphington Primary, we know that if we can get kids sorted with regular check-ups, get those fillings done and get the x-rays done, we will set these kids up for success. We will set these kids up to have good dental health for the rest of their lives. We will set them up to be the generation where there was no dental poverty in Victoria, and we will lead the nation in preventing tooth decay, preventing gum disease and ensuring that our people, our kids and our elderly people who have not put themselves first but have put their kids first and have teeth in a terrible state will be looked after.

I could not be prouder than to be a member of a Labor government that understands that dental poverty is a real issue that we are going to address, because everybody deserves to have good teeth.

 Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (15:21): It gives me great pleasure to rise this afternoon and make a contribution in favour of this incredibly important motion and this incredibly important election commitment by the Carroll Labor government. There is a pretty serious contrast between us and those opposite. Those sitting on the government benches and indeed this government under Premier Ben Carroll is using government to reduce an unavoidable household cost for all Victorians. We have got form and we have got history in this area that we are talking about right now.

Prior to the 2022 election, I believe during COVID, there was a clear gap in Australia’s primary health care, which was a clear responsibility of the federal government at the time. But the former Liberal government of nine years decided that they were going to trash Medicare, take money out of it and make it more expensive and less accessible to see a general practitioner. That is a responsibility principally of federal government primary health care, so this Labor government at the time decided that was not good enough for Victorians and that being able to see a GP when you need to for urgent care that is not necessarily care that you would need to go to an emergency department for but was urgent care was principally a right for all Victorians to be able to do. That is the fundamental basis of Medicare, but under the failures of that former federal government that was not happening. So we took it upon ourselves to open, I believe, 25 urgent care clinics at the time, to make sure that Victorians, for urgent care but non life-threatening instances or illnesses, could go to an urgent care clinic free of charge, using their Medicare card, to go and be able to see a GP, nurse or somebody to help them with whatever ailment they may have had at the time.

That was so incredibly successful that once the Albanese Labor government took power in 2022, they took over the responsibilities of urgent care clinics and have grown that system all around Australia. This commitment to universal free dental for all Victorians is based on that urgent care clinic model. As I said, the Carroll Labor government is using their time in government to reduce an unavoidable household cost for all Victorians, which is exactly what dental is. Unfortunately, unlike primary health care, dental care and dental hygiene are all too often ignored by too many Victorians.

I was actually incredibly surprised – I should not have been – that once we made the announcement, those opposite wanted to trash it, acting like a trip to the dentist is a luxury for Victorians, not a necessity, like it is only something you get to do if you have the means to do so, if you have thousands of dollars in your bank account to be able to go to the dentist a couple of times a year for check-ups, and God help you if you need serious dental work, like root canals, crowns or fillings.

As a government we do not see a trip to the dentist as a luxury; we see as a necessity for Victorians. We have already got form in this space with Smile Squad, making sure that young people who go to school can access dental care really easily where they are going to school. The Smile Squad van comes along, and they have their assessments – I have got assessments of my own children at home. But we decided as a government that that was not good enough, that all Victorians, regardless of how much money they have in their bank account, regardless of whether they are in school or not, regardless of whether they may be able to access some of the really limited programs that are accessible through federal support through Medicare, should have access to dental care when they need it, because Victorians should not have to choose between fixing their teeth and paying their electricity bill. They should not have to choose between fixing their teeth and paying their electricity bill, because they are both absolutely essential.

There have been many fantastic contributions before mine and, I will note, none from the opposition. They have chucked the cue in the rack for the term. We will see those of them lucky enough to be returned in December when this place resumes under a Carroll Labor government – a fourth-term Labor government.

Dental hygiene or dental care is health care. All of the research and all of the stats and everything we know says that. If you do not have the means to take yourself to the dentist and you end up with a bad infection, an ulcer or a cyst or something terrible, then ultimately where you end up is in an emergency department. You do not end up at the dentist, you end up in an emergency department or on antibiotics in a hospital bed because you have got such a bad infection from the lack of dental health care you have been able to access. What that then does is put a significant strain on our public hospital system. It puts a significant strain on our emergency departments, and it comes at a significant cost to the federal budget and to the Medicare scheme, which is so incredibly important we need to protect it in every single way that we can. Whereas if that person had just been able to access pretty basic dental care for free before it got to that point where they had that terrible infection, that ulcer or that cyst in their mouth where they had to present to emergency, we would have ultimately saved a significant amount of money. If we were to collate all of that, how many times that happens across this country over a year, we would save ourselves tens of millions of dollars just by making sure that people have the dental care that they need when they need it.

Contrast this with those opposite, who want to trash this policy. I do not even know the grounds for why or how they want to trash it. The infrastructure to set this up already exists. There are places all around Victoria, like the urgent care clinics that we set up, that already have the infrastructure there to deliver this service. It will come at a cost; there is no doubt about that – of course it will. But it is worth every single cent that it will cost, because ultimately what it will do is pay for itself by meaning, as I said, that people will not have to present to emergency departments all around Victoria with secondary infections and in abject pain because they were not able to access to access the care that they needed.

In contrast to this, we have a Liberal–One Nation coalition rolling into an election with the promise of making $40 billion worth of cuts and 7500 jobs going. Not only will they not deliver free dental for all Victorians, we know, because it is in their bones, that they will cut frontline services. They will cut health care, they will cut nurses from hospitals, they will cut Smile Squad from our schools and they will cut our public health system. So not only will you not be able to access free dental, but when you cannot do that and you end up with the type of infection that I spoke of, it will be harder for you to go and see a doctor at an emergency department here in Victoria because they will rip funding out of our public hospital system. It is in their DNA. This policy, free dental for every Victorian when they need it, is Labor to its bones. This is one of the greatest and clearest examples of what Labor governments do: using government to reduce inevitable household costs on every Victorian. Contrast that with the Liberal–One Nation cut squad going into the November election.

 Bronwyn HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (15:32): I also rise to speak on this government motion:

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.

I just want to start by making the very obvious point that all of us – no matter where we live, how much we earn or what we do – rely on government services in some form or other. Often we take these services for granted. We do not actually think about where they come from or how they came to be. We just accept that they are our right, as they are, and that they are things to support us and to make our lives and our families’ lives a little bit easier. I do not think I even thought about this prior to becoming elected. I never really thought about why they were there and what decisions were made to have those services provided, but it is actually elected governments that decide on the government services to be provided to the public. Conversely, it is elected governments that also decide what services we do not receive and what services should be taken away from us.

I know that these are difficult times. I get around the electorate, like we all do, and people are finding it difficult. There is a lot of uncertainty in the world. There are financial pressures. I speak to residents, and they are not happy. They are disappointed. They want to see more, and what they actually want to see more of are more supports from government and more things that help them in their daily lives, not less. This is where it really is incredibly frustrating when we hear about a Liberal–One Nation coalition wanting to be elected to cut those services and cut those billions of dollars out of government spending. That cannot make people’s lives any easier; it can only make people’s lives more difficult.

Getting on to this motion, it mainly talks about the election commitment by Labor for free dental clinics. Of course, as previous speakers have already said, dental care is a part of health. I hear so many people as I get around the electorate saying, ‘Why is it that dental care is not part of our healthcare system, and why doesn’t Medicare provide it?’ I think this move from the Victorian Labor government is a huge step towards having dental health care as part of our universal health system, and it is universal in that everybody has a right to dental care and that dental care should be free.

When we talk about the re-election of a Carroll Labor government, we are talking about, as a central policy shift, this commitment that dental care would be something that everybody could access – that there would be universal dental care for those in Victoria. As in many cases for many things, we would hope into the future that in other states and also federally these initiatives are taken up so that we do get to the point where everybody – all Australians – have a right to universal health care covering all aspects of a person’s health and wellbeing.

While we go through and talk about things like the commitments that we are making, such as the free dental health clinics, in contrast, the Liberal–National–One Nation opposition has constantly talked about cutting government spending as if it is a good thing. They talk about a $40 billion dollar cut to the government budget. In saying that, they seem to be trying to deceive Victorians by somehow suggesting that this does not mean a cut to essential services that are provided by government, that are relied upon by Victorians and that all Victorians expect, rightfully so, to be provided. We have to ensure that we really do make sure that the opposition parties are taken to account when they talk about the things that they will cut and how it is that they will scratch back or claw back this $40 billion from the Victorian budget.

Talking about government services and what governments provide, a good government does intervene in the economy and the society in order to assist people and, in the old economic terms, take the rough edges off capitalism and private enterprise. While that sort of economic system continues, it is done through government in a way that allows the harshest points that are most harmful to people to be taken away by government decisions – for example, through regulation. We have got consumer affairs legislation so you cannot get ripped off when you purchase something from a retail store or some other goods and services provider. When it comes to economic downturns, we look at ensuring that employment is a main focus of the government so as many people as possible have jobs and, again, as many people as possible have good-paying jobs. We look at projects like the level crossing removals, for example. They were not just architectural or engineering wonders or anything like that, they were actually real things that supported the economy. They provided jobs, they provided skills through apprenticeship programs, they supported equality of women by providing high-paid jobs for women in the workforce as well. They also provided convenience for commuters so that there is a little bit less time in getting from A to B, whether you wanted to get to work or whether you wanted to get home or take the kids to school – whatever it might be. It also made it quicker for trucks and logistics to get through those previously congested areas, again contributing to the productivity and growth of the economy in those ways. This is making things easier for individuals, but also on a bigger level we are making economic choices to ensure the economy is growing and investing in the future of the economy and of Victoria.

Then we look at things such as housing. If we left that just to the market – as it seems that the Liberal–One Nation–National coalition would expect us to do – there would even be less housing on the market for our young and next generations to purchase as well as properties that are up for rent. We have got to continue as a government to provide services and spend in areas that then create further wealth and grow our economy and also ensure that essential services, like a roof over your head, are things that can be provided to Victorians.

We still need more housing. We still need to make changes to ensure that there is increased building in the housing market so that there is enough housing for those that need it, whether it is to purchase or to rent. But again, it is government intervention, trying to do things that pull levers that then ensure that there is growth in the industry, growth in housing, so that those houses are available for those who need them. Of course if you just leave it to the market and you do not intervene, then where are we? We are going to be going backwards in housing, with greater problems, difficulties and hardships for Victorians. They are just two examples of where government services are so important.

Government services ensure that there are certain aspects of essential services that are universal rights that every person in Victoria or Australia is entitled to and can have. Any cuts to services through cuts to the budget just mean that we are going to have less of those services. I think it was the Australia Institute, a well-recognised independent research organisation, that clearly stated through their research and study of an analysis what the Liberal coalition and One Nation government were proposing in terms of cuts – that it would have to be cuts to nurses, to doctors, to police, in spite of them arguing that they are going to increase the police workforce. We have to look at the independent analysis, the real facts, the real research to see what party is going to provide what offering to Victorians into the future. It is not right to be offering things that will not be delivered. I know Labor is committed to honesty in our commitments.

 Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (15:42): Acting Speaker O’Keeffe, it is lovely to see you in the Chair. Congratulations again on your valedictory and your contribution in this Parliament. It has been a privilege to serve alongside you and also on the parliamentary Economy and Infrastructure Committee, on which you served as deputy chair very diligently on the various very interesting inquiries, I might add, which we both joined largely on a bipartisan basis.

This of course is a very important matter on public health policy, wellbeing and community wellbeing. But with a little bit of indulgence, I just want to take the opportunity in the house to thank a number of people in my community for having helped me be the member for Pascoe Vale over the last four years and for my community’s support at the last election, which I obviously seek again this coming November to continue that diligent work, advocating and fighting on behalf of our community. I want to just acknowledge my electorate office staff too for their very, very hard work.

Jade Benham: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

Quorum formed.

Anthony CIANFLONE: While the opposition may not be interested in this motion or want to speak on this motion or have any interest in supporting the health and wellbeing and dental hygiene of the Victorian community, we certainly do on this side of the house. I know dental hygiene and the health and wellbeing of my community are very important to me and also to my electorate office staff who fight every single day to serve my community. I want to acknowledge and say thank you to them for their hard work, for helping me be the member for Pascoe Vale and for helping with the thousands of inquiries we have received over the last four years to serve my community.

Mimi Tamburrino OAM JP has been a stalwart for continuous years. We are talking several decades – over four decades. I think she is the longest continuous electorate officer on this side of the house, going back to Jack Walton when he was the upper house member here. She worked for Bob Hawke, the Prime Minister and the federal member for Wills at the time; Kelvin Thompson; Peter Khalil; and then yours truly as well. She has served so many constituents every single day on my behalf. Julian De Marco, my outstanding parliamentary adviser, does a great job on the social media. Justin Tamburrino in my electorate office too does a great job every couple of days, particularly putting together frames commemorating the Hansard contributions in this chamber. Olivia Jones has got a very bright future, Mark Gazić is an outstanding community safety adviser and long-time friend of .mine for many years, too. Also to some of my previous staff who served me over the last four years, including Lucy Birch in particular and also long-time volunteer Paul Gavin, who comes in every single day or two to letterbox and drop and do all sorts of things across my community.

I want to acknowledge, as well, my family – like all of our families, they carry a huge, huge burden for me being here, particularly my wife Anna and my kids, Raffaella and Cleopatra – and the Pascoe Vale Labor branch. We have a branch meeting tonight, and I will be looking forward to hopefully reporting to them about this debate here today.

I just want to pick up from yesterday on Dr Tim Read, who we commemorated yesterday. He was very committed to health. I had the privilege of giving a condolence contribution in his memory, and I quoted quite a few from across our community who wanted to go on the record about his diligent work across our suburbs. One quote in particular I left out – and it was remiss of me to leave it out yesterday – but I just want to put it on the record now. It is from the Brunswick Residents Network, who contacted me. Nancy Atkin, on behalf of the Brunswick Residents Network, said:

It’s a great loss for our community. Tim was an early supporter of the Brunswick Residents Network and other community groups. His advocacy on local issues – from cycling safety to accessible public transport and community engagement – continued when he entered Parliament. He was always approachable on community issues.

We know that the late Dr Tim Read, the member for Brunswick, would be a very strong supporter of improved dental health in this state. Which brings me to the motion, of course, which is:

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.

We know that over the last four years it has been only this side of the house – not just this last four years but since 2014, since we got elected – that has been absolutely committed to taking real action and providing real investment, real initiatives and support to improve and provide more health and wellbeing services right across the state. Whether it is the new hospital and health services in Footscray; the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital; upgrades at the Northern Hospital; the Austin Hospital; the Parkville precinct of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital; the new hospital at Frankston; or the new hospital being built at Melton, it is only Labor governments that have been delivering the new health facilities that our community needs. Community hospitals; more doctors, nurses and allied health professionals; Nurse-on-Call; the virtual emergency department; the initiative to encourage young people by making it free to study nursing; and the Medicare urgent care clinics – can you ever imagine a Liberal–National–One Nation coalition opening Medicare urgent care clinics? It just would not happen any time soon – it never would have happened. We are proud to have one in Coburg at 444 Sydney Road, which is serving our community every single day.

The community pharmacy program is providing people with easier, cheaper and more affordable access to care without the need for a GP or doctor’s prescription for certain conditions. But it is on the broader health policy front that we have continued to take action: the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and progressing all that important work around the mental health of Victorians and the Royal Commission into Family Violence to prevent, deter and take strong action on family violence and men’s and young boys’ behaviour change too. Of course there is also the Australian-first public health-led model establishing the violence reduction unit, which is modelled on the same VRU that has been set up in the UK, in Glasgow and London in particular, which has had an outstanding effect in helping change and turn the lives around of many young people in particular who are at risk and at the margins by tackling those root causes and drivers of crime from a health lens and a health perspective – because violent crime is entirely preventable. To a large extent, it is about looking at the determinants and those drivers, which are around housing, employment, education attainment, skills, health, wellbeing, mental health, substance abuse, trauma and family violence. All these are indicators that determine whether or not someone goes on to pursue a life of crime.

That is what the violence reduction unit here in Victoria is doing under the great stewardship of the relevant ministers – the Attorney-General, the Minister for Police and the Minister for Youth Justice – but also the CEO, Andrea Davidson, and her team, who are doing amazing work. As Parliamentary Secretary for Community Safety, I have been supporting that, particularly through the many regional forums we have been hosting and community round tables across many electorates in our community, including in Sebastopol.

Building on all that work, that is exactly why the Premier has made this commitment to establish 10 free dental clinics should we form government again with the support of the Victorian people this November. It is well and truly time, as we know, and we heard from previous speakers, including the member for Hastings, who made a fantastic contribution, that Medicare should be expanded to cover dental too. That is long overdue. As the member for Tarneit pointed out earlier, just like we stepped in during COVID to set up urgent care clinics because there was a massive gap there under the watch of the Scott Morrison Liberal government – we stepped in because of their lack of investment in the GP network with state-led urgent care clinics, which thankfully have been absorbed as Medicare urgent care clinics under the Albanese Labor government – we are doing the same here with dental.

These 10 clinics will be provided in strategic locations right across the state. I am strongly advocating, of course, for one in the northern suburbs, as are the member for Broadmeadows, the member for Greenvale, the members for Preston and Northcote and all of my colleagues across the north. We would love to host at least one of these dental clinics in our community, because we know that dental care and access to dental care is also a crucial socio-economic determinant to a family’s life chances. It is also why we have already been doing work in this space through the Smile Squad, which is visiting many local schools across the state, including, on several occasions, schools in my community, including my former primary school, Coburg West, which it visited a couple of years ago now. I had the chance to visit and pop by when it stopped by the school. The parents love it, the students love it, and the teachers and education staff love it, because we are providing that dental care right at the coalface, where families need it most. On that note, that is why I commend this motion and support our ongoing action on health.

 Kathleen MATTHEWS-WARD (Broadmeadows) (15:52): I also want to talk about all of the things that have been spoken about before. Oral health and dental health are critical to health in general. As the member for Pascoe Vale was talking about, it has impacts on all-over health, including for your heart. When I worked in aged care policy there was a lot of malnutrition because a lot of older people have poor oral health, and that is why it is a priority for this government. I cannot tell you how proud I was when I heard that we are doing free dental clinics across the state.

We have got public dental clinics, but there have not been enough of them to cater for the need. Eligibility is pretty tough, and we know that a whole lot of working families are now doing it pretty tough. I have always been lucky enough; I can afford to take my kids to the dentist every six months or so. I have always been lucky enough to have good oral dental care. But I know my parents made a lot of sacrifices to make sure that happened. I needed orthodontic work as well. I did not wear my plate often enough, which is why I probably need to go back. But it is very expensive.

We know the difference it makes to confidence also. My father-in-law’s brother’s family – he was a prisoner of war, the brother, and he had some difficulties. They had nine kids and could not afford the dental care that was needed. My father-in-law paid for treatment for one of his nieces, and it made a massive difference to her life and her health but also to her confidence. We know, for people who are self-conscious about their teeth, how that can really impact their confidence. You see it sometimes: people will not smile for photos, and you think, ‘Oh, I know it’s because they are self-conscious about their teeth.’ It breaks my heart, really. So I just think this is such a good Labor policy, and I really am proud because it will give us 10 free dental clinics across the state. There will be no eligibility; you will get the care you need in everything. It is not just urgent care, which is what our public dental system gives currently, where you have really got to be in pain to get eligibility. This will give people dentures. It will give people the ability to chew again. It will make sure that they do not get malnourished because they have not got good oral health.

I really want to shout out to the community health sector, who have done a mountain of work in this area for a long, long time. I know that they will be so very happy with this announcement, because they work so hard to make sure the poorest people in our community have some semblance of dignity and are pain free with the current public dental health system.

But 10 clinics across the state treating, I think, 100,000 people a year will make a massive difference to people, and that is kids, adults and older people. It is not just emergency pain relief, it is the dental care you need. To me, Medicare is one of Labor’s defining policies and something we are all so very proud of on this side of the house. I know the Liberals, unfortunately, threaten that every few years. Including dental in public health will make a massive difference to all of the people that look to Labor for quality of life, for equity, for health care and for the dignity of being able to chew their food, smile in a photo and live a pain-free life.

I do not know if I got around to thanking the community dental health services. DPV Health in particular do a great job in my electorate. I know they have expanded their beds out in Epping, and I am really proud to have been able to have helped to get that funding so they could do that. I am hoping we will get one of these 10 free dental clinics in Broadmeadows, because I know it is also an area that is in need of dental care.

I also want to talk about the Smile Squad and what a massive difference that has made to kids and families in my electorate. It is so hard to get the time to take the kids and to try to book an appointment during school holidays. They are always booked out. Trying to get a before-school or an after-school one is hard. I have also got the privilege of having relatively flexible work. For a lot of families that is not the case, and if you cannot get into a dentist during those times, it is really hard. Having the dental van at school makes a massive difference to even just having the regularity of check-ups, and the free dental care is another thing that you do not have to worry about, because the school is doing it for you and it is getting done during school hours. I remember when I was a kid there was a dental bus that used to come. They would put this big thing in your mouth, and I got quite a few fillings there. It is good public policy. It is good health policy. I am so pleased that our government prioritises spending money on exactly that sort of thing, because it is essential to what we do as Labor governments. We make sure people have equal access to health and equal access to dignity and all of the things that I am so proud are part of being a Labor government.

We can contrast that with what might happen if the Liberal–One Nation party gets in. I am really worried on a whole lot of levels. In the area of economics I think that $40 billion in cuts is going to mean less teachers, less child protection workers, less firefighters and less police – all of the things that we rely on every day to make sure we have an operating society. I just do not know how they can justify all of those cuts. Public transport will go, free TAFE will go and free kinder will go. I know thousands and thousands of people have enjoyed going to the free TAFE in Broadmeadows. The new health and community care centre of excellence has meant that we have been able to train up workers in all of those care industries where we need so many more workers into the future. It suits the people of the north. They are a very caring community, and they give back. Being able to get the training they need at a free TAFE in Broadmeadows makes an incredible difference. Also, if you come and have a look at it there – and I encourage everyone to come and have a look – it is a beautiful place to learn, and everyone feels so proud to walk in there. They feel like they are valued and that they matter, and that is exactly what they are to us. Every person matters. Every person deserves the very best in education, the very best in health care and the access to that and the very best in all of the things that make life worth living and good to live in Victoria.

The other thing I want to talk about is the other cost-of-living relief measure that the government has been providing. The half-price public transport for the rest of the year has been massive, but the free public transport for kids is just amazing. I reckon we have seen 200 kids come through the building today, and that just means that we can have excursion –

The SPEAKER: Order! The time has come for me to interrupt business for the grievance debate.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.