Wednesday, 23 September 2026

 John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (18:48): I rise in support of the motion moved by the Deputy Premier. This motion asks the house to consider a clear choice for Victorian families. The Carroll Labor government is committed to free dental care for all Victorians. The Liberals are proposing $40 billion in cuts, and One Nation will help them deliver those cuts.

For a family in Glen Waverley, that choice is practical. It is about whether you can book a dental appointment when your child needs one. It is about whether you can get treatment when a tooth starts hurting without first working out which bill you can put off. It is about whether the hospital, school or other services your family relies on will be there when you need them.

Dental care is health care, yet for too many people the cost has made it feel optional. They wait through pain. They hope a problem will go away. Parents put their children’s appointments first and postpone their own. Anyone who has done that knows the cost does not disappear, the pain gets worse, the treatment can become more complicated and the worry sits with you every day. That is why Labor’s commitment matters. Free dental care for all Victorians will take pressure off household budgets and make it easier for people to seek care when they need it. It says that a person’s income should not determine whether they can look after their teeth.

I represent a community with families at every stage of life – young children starting school, students and apprentices, parents balancing work and care, and older residents who want to stay healthy and independent. They do not need the same treatment, but they all deserve access to dental care. For a parent, this commitment means one less expense to dread. For a young worker, it means getting a problem checked before it keeps them off the job. For an older Victorian, it means being able to eat comfortably, speak confidently and get the care that they need. It means a great deal to the multicultural communities I am proud to represent in Glen Waverley. Many families have worked incredibly hard to build a life here. They choose our community because of its schools, its opportunity and the welcome they find among their neighbours. They contribute to Victoria every single day. They deserve a health system that is there for them too. That is what a Labor government does. It looks at the pressures families face and asks how it can make life better.

Now consider the alternative being put forward by the Liberals. They have promised $40 billion in cuts. That is an enormous figure, and it can sound abstract until you ask what a cut on that scale means in a school, a hospital or a local service. The nurses who care for patients are people. The teachers who help a child learn are people, and so are the child protection workers, the allied health professionals and the people who keep essential services running. Their work cannot be brushed aside as a line in the budget. The opposition owes Victoria a straight answer: where would the $40 billion come from? Which services would lose funding? Which projects would stop? Which workers would lose their jobs? Families have to make their budgets add up, and the Liberals should be prepared to do the same.

In Glen Waverley I hear from parents who want strong local schools. I hear from people who need timely health care. I hear from residents who want safe communities and better transport connections. Those needs do not vanish because the opposition announces a savings target. Labor has invested in our schools because education changes lives. At Vermont Primary School we have secured funding for the first stage of its master plan. At Camelot Rise Primary School more than 700 people have signed a petition calling for the upgrades their school community needs. I have been advocating for better facilities at Glen Waverley Secondary College, a school that means so much to our local families. I know the principals, teachers, staff and parents behind those schools. They are asking us to meet the needs of students today and prepare for the students who will come after them. So when the Liberals talk about cuts, I think of those school communities. When they promise a number as large as $40 billion, they must explain what that number would mean for classrooms, for support staff and for buildings in which our children learn. The same is true in health care. A family waiting for an appointment does not want a slogan about efficiency. They want care. A patient in an emergency department needs the people and facilities to treat them. Free dental care expands access to the essential part of that care. Deep cuts would put pressure on services already relied upon by Victorian families.

We need to talk honestly about One Nation’s place in this debate. One Nation likes to say it stands up for ordinary people, but standing up for working people means backing the services they depend on and respecting the people who provide them. It means standing with nurses, teachers, tradies and other workers when their jobs, pay and safety are at stake. The prospect of a Liberal government dependent on One Nation should concern Victorians. One Nation would have a say in what that government did. The Liberals should tell Victorians plainly which One Nation policies they would accept in return for support.

My community also knows the harm that division causes. Glen Waverley is strong because people from many cultures, languages and faiths have made it their home. Families have come here, worked hard, started businesses, cared for their neighbours and raised children who are proud to be Victorian. I will always stand with those families. I will not accept a politics that asks them to contribute to our state while treating them as an outsider. That is another part of the choice before us. Labor wants to bring people together and make essential care more accessible. The Liberal and One Nation approach offers division alongside cuts to the services that bring security to people’s lives.

My own working life began outside this Parliament. I worked in construction. I built a telecommunications business from scratch. I understand that creating jobs takes hard work, risk and persistence, and I also understand what public service means to a worker and their family. When your child is sick, you need health care. When they start school, you need a good local school. When you are training for a trade or changing careers, you need opportunities to learn. When you get older, you need to know that that care will be there for you. These are the foundations that let people work, build businesses and plan for the future, and we should strengthen them. That is why I support this motion.

Free dental care is a direct commitment to Victorian families. It will help with the cost of living and remove a barrier to essential health care. It reflects a government that sees a person behind every budget decision. The opposition’s proposed $40 billion in cuts demands the same scrutiny. Victorians deserve to know what would be cut, who would be affected and what role One Nation would play in those decisions. The people of the Glen Waverley district work hard. They look after their families. They contribute to their community. They deserve a government that backs them when they need care and invests in the services their children will rely on. The Carroll Labor government is making that choice. I commend the commitment to free dental care for all Victorians, and I support the motion.

 Belinda WILSON (Narre Warren North) (18:55): It is my pleasure to speak on this motion about free dental care for all Victorians. This is something that is extremely important for all Victorians, and it is very important for our south-east region, especially my electorate of Narre Warren North. I talk about my community by way of my nervousness of what is happening with the far right and One Nation across Victoria, what people are seeing in them and what they will do to this state. What frightens me is what services they are going to take away from my community. I am very nervous about what a Jess Wilson–One Nation coalition will look like, and I am very nervous about what services, health services, particularly –

The SPEAKER: Correct titles, member for Narre Warren North.

Belinda WILSON: Sorry, Speaker – the member for Kew – that they will take away from my community. These are essential services that they need every single day, like my urgent care clinic, which also has dental in it. I am very nervous about what is going to happen to these incredible services in my electorate.

I am really excited about the prospect of free dental because I know what that means for young children. I know what a difference our incredible Smile Squad has made to our community. To my community, particularly, the 19 schools that I have, Smile Squad has made an extreme difference to each and every single one of them. It is that early intervention in teeth and dental care that makes such a difference to young people’s lives. I had the unfortunate situation where my daughter needed braces, and they were extremely expensive. We had to go on a payment plan, and it cost us a lot of money. I remember then taking my younger two boys to the dentist with fingers crossed and hoping that they did not also need that treatment – because of the expense.

Paul Edbrooke: Did they?

Belinda WILSON: They did not, fortunately. They have beautiful, perfect teeth like their mother, and they did not need early intervention.

Paul Edbrooke: And are they beautiful and perfect like their mother?

Belinda WILSON: Exactly. However, many young people do need intervention in their care, and it is very expensive. This will make such a difference to so many people’s lives. It is a service that people do not realise how expensive it is until they have had extremely difficult oral care. I know a lot of members on this side have already spoken about root canals, extreme dental care and fillings. These are all expenses that people do not budget for, especially at the moment in Australia, so I think being able to offer this as a free service is something that is leading in this country. As we have said earlier, many people do not realise that it is not covered by Medicare. It is not, and that is something that the federal government need to have a good, hard look at. But this is something that we are leading the country in. We are going to offer free dental care, and I am really proud to be part of a government that looks after the health of all Victorians every single day of the week. I know that my friend across the road here who is giving me a smile understands how important free dental is for all Victorians.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.