Wednesday, 19 February 2020

Responses

Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Planning) (19:24): I will do those at the end if I can, with your indulgence, Deputy Speaker—and Minister for Housing as well by the way, just to keep me off the streets.

The member for Murray Plains raised a matter of importance for the Minister for Police and Emergency Services seeking further resources for his community of Rochester. He has a petition afoot of I think 130-odd people seeking some further support for his community with further police resources. I will make sure the minister is aware of that.

The member for Polwarth raised a matter for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change in relation to the work on the Great Ocean Road, particularly pertaining to Point Grey at Lorne and the fishermen’s pier and the potential for, if I can perhaps summarise his position as I understand it, a less elaborate redevelopment of that site that is much more in keeping with the Lorne community. I will make sure that the minister is aware of that.

The member for Broadmeadows, that warrior for the good people of the north, raised a matter for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure seeking that the minister visit the Broadmeadows Revitalisation Board, which is doing some excellent work out there not only in terms of strategic planning but advocating for really a very exciting redevelopment of the Broadmeadows station precinct and other fantastic opportunities that I am very much aware of. I will make sure that the minister is aware of that good work, and I am sure the minister will be happy to visit again the revitalisation board.

The member for Carrum raised a matter for the Minister for Roads seeking that the minister visit Nepean School at Seaford to see the important traffic management works that have been undertaken there so that the young people who are participating at the school are able to access the school in safety. I think that is a fantastic outcome, and I thank the member for Carrum and indeed her community who reached out seeking support for that initiative.

The member for Brunswick raised a matter for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change seeking a quarterly update on the quantity of coal consumed by our power stations, and I will make sure that the minister is aware of that request as well.

The member for Bayswater raised a matter for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure seeking further understanding and advice in relation to the benefits for his community from the North East Link Project going forward. I will make sure that the minister is aware of that matter.

The member for Ferntree Gully raised a matter for the Special Minister of State in the other house in relation to a Development Victoria site at 621 Burwood Highway—which is on the books of Development Victoria for a residential development, as I understand it—seeking that the site be assessed for contamination because it previously had fairly toxic activities going on there. Obviously in that assessment of it for residential use an environmental overlay may well have to be put in place in the first instance. That would then satisfy some of the concerns of both the council and the local community to ensure that in any future development of the site, if there are contamination issues as the member for Ferntree Gully suggests, they will have to be addressed going forward. That is a very important consideration.

The member for Burwood raised a matter for the Minister for Youth seeking that information be provided to key stakeholders in his area in relation to opportunities that will arise out of the Victorian Youth Week funding, particularly as they relate to the Ashwood specialist school, and I think that is a fantastic initiative. I will make sure the minister is aware of that.

The member for Mornington raised a matter with me in relation to planning scheme amendment C270, which he advises me has now been approved by the council, and the request has come in to me I think in the last couple of days—

Mr Morris interjected.

Mr WYNNE: So it has just been approved. That request will no doubt come in to me fairly quickly for the matter to be exhibited in the first instance. It would go to an independent panel of course and an opportunity provided for any affected party to make submissions. That matter, as a matter of process, then comes back and it is provided to the council. Council can then deliberate on it and provide me with advice about any potential planning scheme amendments that may be required there, so I will be looking out for that as it comes forward to me.

I think the final one was the member for Mount Waverley, as I recall. He sought my advice in relation to how the government is responding from the perspective of the multicultural portfolio to the coronavirus. I can advise the member that literally tonight there was a very important conversation between the Premier, a number of members of Parliament, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and key members of the Chinese community who really were speaking to government about many of the issues that they are confronting but across the community, particularly in terms of the effect that this has had on the business community more generally. We all know that.

Many of us of course have enjoyed on so many occasions the opportunity that is offered to us in the broadest sense by the contribution that the Chinese community have made to this state for more than 150 years, including festivals and so forth. Along with the shadow minister, I have been at so many of these events. Indeed the Leader of the Opposition and I were together at a Chinese New Year event down here in the city. But I think we are very clear eyed that there have been significant impacts. There is no question about that. There have been significant impacts on business, very significant impacts on inbound tourism and very significant impacts of course on our universities as well. So there are very great challenges ahead for us. We know there is still quite a long way to go. That is why I was really pleased to join with the member for Mount Waverley, and of course he has got a significant community out in his area as well. I think across the Parliament we share an absolutely bipartisan position of saying we have to stand together and support our Chinese community. They are doing it tough economically, they are doing it tough socially and they are doing it tough psychologically as well.

You will see a number of initiatives that the government will be emerging with in the next couple of days which, both symbolically but indeed practically as well, speak to the opportunities that we have as a Parliament and indeed as a community to stand shoulder to shoulder and in solidarity with our Chinese community. They need us. They have reached out to us, and I know this Parliament will respond to that in the way that we always have with these great challenges. So I look forward to continuing on a bipartisan basis—and it absolutely is on a bipartisan basis that we work as a government and opposition—and we will always stick with the wonderful Chinese community that have contributed so much to the rich diversity of our great multicultural Victoria.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The house now stands adjourned until tomorrow.

House adjourned 7.33 pm.