Thursday, 9 June 2022

Appropriation (2022–2023) Bill 2022

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Ms SYMES:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (11:04): I rise to speak to the Appropriation (2022–2023) Bill 2022, an important part of any government every year. We have seen the government out spruiking the budget and talking about what they know is a massive issue, and that is the health crisis that is consuming Victorians—a health crisis that is putting the lives of Victorians at risk. The Victorian budget papers say ‘Putting patients first’. Well, I have to say that there are a number of issues that are occurring around the state with the 000 crisis, with the ambulance ramping that is at record levels, with the response times that are just failing Victorian patients. There is the inability to get your elective surgery. We have got 90 000 on the elective surgery waitlist and at least 151 000 on the dental waitlist. We do not even know how many are on the hidden waitlist. These are really concerning issues. In the budget papers the departmental objectives say:

… be safe, high quality and provide a positive experience.

Well, I cannot say that that is what is occurring across Victoria in Victoria’s hospitals, in our health services, that are trying to do their best. It is not for the lack of dedication and care and support that those clinicians are providing to Victorians at their most vulnerable times. They are doing their best, but they have been let down by this government because of years of mismanagement and underinvestment.

We hear the government say that they are putting in record amounts of funding, but it is here in the budget papers that they have actually cut the funding. It goes from $27 billion last year down to $25 billion. It is in black and white. That clearly is not the same amount of money put in to assist with this healthcare crisis at a time that we need it most. Today we have got reports of maternal child health nurses being in short demand, and everyone is coming out blaming COVID. Yes, COVID is contributing to these issues, but it is not the sole reason. It is years of mismanagement and underinvestment.

In this budget, incredibly, there is a cut to the preventative health area. The very good work of the McGrath Foundation, which provides support through, mostly, a woman’s journey when they have got breast cancer, has not been funded in this budget. There are millions and millions of dollars that have not been put into the preventative health space. Prevention is so critical to assist Victorians to not end up in the acute health system, yet this government in their wisdom have cut that. I think it is just extraordinary. This is why the government are saying, with their spin and bluster, that they know that it is a problem, yet they are not putting the money when it should be.

We have got, as I said, a waitlist. Nearly 90 000 Victorians at last count are on that elective surgery waitlist. It would be more. We have got issues that are rising, and the government is attempting to address these issues, but they have not done the consultation and they have not done the work. Again it is just another indication of the chaotic approach that the government has taken.

I mentioned dental health care. Dental health care is absolutely critical as well, because poor dental health can actually lead to some very serious general health issues. For instance, if you get an ongoing abscess or a very bad infection of the teeth, that can lead to serious conditions like SBE, subacute bacterial endocarditis, a condition of the heart. That is how serious issues can be with dental health. But we know there are also psychosocial implications to poor dental health too, and this is again a really critical part of our health system that has been overlooked.

Incredibly in these budget papers there is a cut and paste of the figures, and it was admitted in the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee that there was a mistake in these budget papers around these numbers and around the figures and what the government was actually telling Victorians was accurate. What I question is: if that is a mistake that we picked up in those numbers in the dental health component of the budget, what other mistakes have been made? Well, we know that there has been an extraordinary blowout in debt, as we have gone through the State Taxation and Treasury Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, and we know that the debt is rising and that we have got blowouts in major infrastructure projects that could have and should have been put into health. It could have been put into the areas that need it most rather than having cuts in preventative health, cuts in the dental health area and, importantly, as I said, the $2 billion cut from $27 billion down to $25 billion. Mr Davis in his contribution spoke about this government being the highest taxing and biggest debt government in Victoria’s history. That is going to flow on.

But we have seen the inaction that is now causing what I describe every single day as Victoria’s growing health crisis, and I am so concerned that the government has not sought to really address this or is trying to catch up now, trying to put in measures. We have seen, for instance, an announcement on the Melton hospital. Well, they are to be confirmed, the figures there. That was announced years ago, and it is still a paddock out in Melton. Not anything has been done. This government might be trying to spin their way out of their crisis that they have put us all in, but there is a lot of evidence to suggest that they just have not done the work, and I think Victorians are awake to exactly what is going on. They know that Daniel Andrews has failed them. Daniel Andrews has been in power for eight years. God forbid, we do not need him for another four years. We just do not need him for another four years. Victoria does not need him to fix this crisis. He got us into it; he sure as hell is not the man to get us out of it.

In returning to this important area that we are debating today, the budget, prior to the last election there were 10 new community hospitals promised, and construction was to be started. One, I think, has got construction underway, in Cranbourne. The others have been plagued with problems. Again I grant that these projects do take time to plan, there is no question about that; I am not disputing any of that. But these hospitals—the government calls them hospitals; I would say they are more community health hubs, actually. They are not overnight stays. It is a bit of a furphy for the government to say that they are hospitals in the true sense of the word, because they actually do not provide overnight stays. They are providing services around that community health area, which is very, very important, but they are years away. They are not going to solve the problems that we are seeing now, and again it is more spin about what the government has done rather than what is actually being delivered.

I want to raise the issue about the ambulance response times and ambulance transfer times. Yes, we know that our paramedics have had a lot to deal with in terms of PPE and obviously donning and doffing. I truly appreciate that that takes time, and the cleaning at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020 was certainly a major issue. But these response times and transfer times are getting worse. We are not in that same scenario that we were in back in 2020, but because there is clogging right through the system, they cannot move them into the emergency departments. The emergency departments, as we have heard from other members, are being held up as well. You hear often from the police that they are transporting young people or people of any age with mental health issues, and because there is no-one to look after them they have got to take care of them and stay with them while they are waiting to be seen. The system is under huge stress, and then of course there are not enough beds, bed closures and not enough staff.

The government promised us in 2020 when the pandemic first hit that they would lock us down to prepare the health system and to flatten the curve. Well, we are beyond flattening the curve. We have got the virus, we have got a high degree of immunisation in Victoria and Australia and I think everyone should be congratulated for those efforts. But we went into lockdown after lockdown. That has put so much pressure on the system because people could not get the care that they need and deserve. I see the Cancer Council out there talking about the numbers, just the hundreds of Victorians who had their bowel cancer screenings missed. They will develop cancer and potentially, and sadly, die. We have had so many failures because of the mismanagement. At the start I grant that everybody wanted governments at all levels to get it right.

But the government pursued issues that I think history will show to have had huge ramifications for many, many people for decades to come. Sadly, too many have died. We have had 21 Victorians that we know of who have died because of not being able to get through to 000 or to get an ambulance. The government say they are putting more money in now, but these issues were identified years ago. 000 was identified in 2016, and I have questioned the minister. I know she is not here today because she is not well, but I have questioned the minister time and time again about this, and the investment that they have put in just this year is too little too late. This is why we are in this mess. These decisions are made by this government, who think that they can bluff Victorians with big numbers. Well, what they are doing is not giving what Victorians actually deserve, and that is a greater degree of hope, transparency and honesty, because many of these issues could have been avoided if we had had transparency and honesty. Given the cover-ups and the failures and all those issues that have arisen out of what has gone on over the last few years, as I said, history will not be kind to this government.

I just want to raise the other issue around the government saying that there are billions of dollars that they have put in. In actual fact a quarter of that, $3.5 billion of the $12 billion, was actually spent putting in vaccinations, RATs and PPE. It is there. So the government again might try and spin about the money they are putting in, but some of that money has already been spent. I say again I think that is fine, but I do think we need a degree of honesty around this too to understand exactly what is going on.

There is more that needs to be done. Investment is one thing, but there is reform that can be done. I do not think this government has the answers to get us out of this health crisis. It is just going from bad to worse every single day. Too many Victorians are waiting in pain. They are suffering. Too many Victorians have, sadly, died. There will be more—I know there are more; they just have not been included in the latest figures—and of course the coroner will have their work to do. There are massive ramifications right along our health system.

I want to place on record in my final minute my thanks again to all of those—the clinicians and everyone behind the scenes in hospitals and health services, throughout our ambulance system, the police force and the ADF—who have been working to support and try and care to the best of their capacity for the tens of thousands of Victorians who have needed that care and treatment. I want to place on record my thanks to those clinicians, surgeons, nurses and doctors who speak to me and tell me of what they are so worried about, what is happening, and they are saying how dire and dangerous the situation is. They too are being brave in speaking out about the true nature of what is going on, and I want to place on record my thanks to those people who have just done a magnificent job. Their dedication, the innovation that they have also provided at some very trying times, should be applauded. I say that again and I will continue to say that. Again I say this is an important debate. This is about Victoria’s state of where we are at in terms of our fiscal position, and I think every Victorian should be concerned about another four years of a Labor government.

Ms WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (11:19): I rise to speak on the Appropriation (2022–2023) Bill 2022. The 2022–23 state budget supports Victoria’s recovery and puts patients first. It is a budget that includes some great wins for my local community in the Northern Metropolitan Region. The Merri Creek Primary School community has been advocating for a long time for extra funding to upgrade their school. That is why I was proud to be able to announce $5.35 million for new and upgraded facilities to ensure that Merri Creek Primary School continues to provide high-quality learning outcomes for years to come. The funding will go towards a brand new senior building and rooftop learning space as well as transforming and upgrading existing teaching and learning spaces. I recently visited Merri Creek Primary School, alongside the Minister for Education, James Merlino, and the member for Northcote, Kat Theophanous, and I can assure you that all the students are bursting with excitement at the news. I would like to make a special note of the tireless advocacy of school principal Kerri Gibson and the work of the school council, headed by Stu Whiley and his predecessors. Without their tireless campaigning this upgrade would not have been possible.

The Andrews Labor government knows that a good education can break down barriers and give Victorians the tools to thrive. Education has always been a priority of this government, and this budget builds on that with a $1.8 billion investment to build 13 new schools and upgrade 65 existing ones. Since we took office eight years ago every single special school in Victoria has received funding for a major upgrade, because students with disabilities deserve the same opportunities as every other student in Victoria.

The Andrews Labor government has a commitment towards an accessible public transport network for all. We are improving accessibility, safety and comfort across the public transport network to ensure every Victorian can get to where they need to go, particularly Victorians with a disability. We are delivering six new level-access tram stops across La Trobe Street in the city to improve tram network accessibility. The La Trobe Street corridor will become a key interchange with the Metro Tunnel when it opens a year ahead of schedule in 2025, and we will ensure that we have accessible infrastructure in place for its commencement. It is all part of the $157.8 million investment in the Victorian budget 2022–23 to improve public transport accessibility. Only the Andrews Labor government will deliver the public transport network Victoria needs.

We know that the winter cold can bite, and power bills often go up this time of year. It is something that the Andrews Labor government recognises, and it is why we have included in this budget a $250 million investment in the new power saving bonus, driving down the cost of living right across the state. From 1 July 2022 the new $250 payment will be open to all Victorian households who use the Victorian Energy Compare website to compare their energy deals and seek out better prices. User data shows that seven out of 10 users can save money by switching energy offers, with typical annual savings on energy bills of $330 in the first year of switching alone. Combined with the power saving bonus, this means that Victorian households could save up to $580 a year.

The new $250 power saving bonus, to run until 30 June 2023, follows on from the success of the $50 power saving bonus announced by the Labor government as part of the Victorian budget in 2018–‍19. It builds on the $250 bonus for concession recipients delivered in the state budget 2020–21, which remains open to eligible concession card holders only until 30 June this year. This has provided more than $110 million to more than 850 000 Victorian households in total. If you claimed a previous version of the power saving bonus, then you will be pleased to know that you are still eligible for this new one-off payment when the new program opens in July. I know that the power saving bonus will have a real and meaningful impact on families all across the Northern Metropolitan Region.

The power saving bonus is just one of a number of initiatives in this budget that will drive down energy prices as well as reduce emissions. The state budget will also make switching to solar more affordable than ever with a boost to the Solar Homes program, making $42.2 million available for 64 000 Victorians to take up solar panel rebates and zero interest loans while continuing the current rebate value of $1400. There is also further funding for 1700 new solar battery rebates of $2950, securing more solar savings for families. The budget will drive down household energy costs, with $9 million for critical energy affordability support services and one-on-one assistance for Victorians who need it most as well as $1.2 million dedicated to driving down gas bills for businesses and households.

On top of this the state budget provides a boost to jobs in new clean industries, with a $300 million package investing in renewable energy, a safe and smooth transition to net-zero emissions for all Victorians, securing the grid and new parks and programs to safeguard our precious biodiversity. The government will keep working to futureproof Victoria against natural disasters, including providing communities with access to energy through $10 million for microgrids in high-priority locations and $9.4 million to help recovery from storms, floods and fires. To give Victorians the skills for the renewable jobs they want, there is $8 million to support training for electrical workers, some $9.5 million will create local jobs through priority public works upgrades in our green spaces and $6.3 million will grow regional jobs through forest restoration.

The Andrews Labor government has always been a strong supporter of local jobs. Since November 2014 our economy has generated 560 000 new jobs, including more than 80 000 jobs in regional Victoria. When the pandemic hit our shores we responded with record investment to protect Victorian lives and livelihoods. We had a plan to create 400 000 jobs by 2025, with a target to deliver half of them by 2022. Today Victoria has already far exceeded our goal. With employment rising by 280 000 since September 2020, we are well on track to reach our target of 400 000 new jobs by 2025. We are backing local businesses and keeping Victorians in work, with more than $13 billion in COVID-19-related support provided to businesses since March 2020. Since 2014 our infrastructure agenda has supported or will support more than 191 000 jobs. This includes 14 000 jobs supported by new infrastructure projects announced in this budget.

Those that know me know that I have a passion for youth employment, and I am pleased that the budget includes $12 million in funding to continue and expand the apprenticeship support officers program, providing access to dedicated supports to help apprentices finish their training.

Further, I am quite excited to see Australia’s first sick pay guarantee. Victorians who work in casual or other insecure jobs will no longer be forced to choose between a day’s pay and looking after their health thanks to this guarantee by the Andrews Labor government. The scheme is the first of its kind anywhere in Australia and provides security to vulnerable workers who are sick or who need to care for loved ones. The guarantee provides casual and contract workers in certain occupations with up to five days of sick or carers pay each year at the national minimum wage. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the strong advocacy of workers and unions in bringing about this guarantee, and can I make special mention of union members Carmelo and Ruby, who I met at the launch of this guarantee. They told me how this guarantee will change their lives. They and their fellow workers will no longer have to cancel essential aspects of their lives, such as medical appointments or caring for their loved ones. It will also protect workers, as sick staff will no longer be forced to turn up to work sick and spread their illnesses all over their fellow workers.

This is a budget that puts patients first. The state budget invests $2.9 billion in health infrastructure, including building a new hospital and upgrading existing ones. The pandemic has tested our health system like never before, which is why this budget will ease the pressure on our hospitals and our critical healthcare workers. This budget delivers record levels of surgery capacity across the state, increasing surgeries by over 40 000 in the next year. As part of this plan we will establish rapid access hubs and draw on the capacity of private hospitals to deliver public surgeries. We are also recruiting up to 2000 expat and international healthcare workers through the global workforce recruitment drive.

We are also reaffirming our commitment to rebuilding Victoria’s mental health system from the ground up. We are listening to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, which told us that Victorians need better access to mental health support. So far we have invested over $4 billion into our mental health system to completely reform the sector. This budget will undertake a $1.3 billion investment to take the next steps in the process, including $218 million for 82 new beds in Victoria’s mental health system and other priority initiatives.

This is a budget that delivers more staff for our hospitals and invests in our health system. It is a budget that funds schools and TAFEs. It is a budget that continues the Andrews Labor government’s investment in infrastructure and public transport. It is a budget that delivers for all Victorians, and I commend it to the chamber.

Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (11:30): It gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise in this place to speak on the budget that has just been delivered by the Treasurer. I have to say alarm bells started ringing a while back when the Treasurer at a press conference announced that this recovery of our economy would be a government-led recovery. I thought to myself, ‘Dear God, we’re in trouble now’. How right I was, because what we have seen is unrestrained spending. There has been no restraint by this government in spending taxpayers money. It has gone absolutely berserk. As a result of that we now have a massive debt that will continue to grow and leave Victoria in a place that we just do not want to be in.

I have always been of the view that a fair measure of whether we have been successful or not is whether we leave a place in better condition than we found it. This government will not do that. It is absolutely shameful what they have done to the state’s finances. They are financial incompetents. It is as simple as that. They are financial incompetents, and they are leaving this massive debt. Yes, certainly some of us who are here now are going to be paying it, but it will be predominantly paid by our children and our grandchildren—and won’t they be grateful to us for that! When we are long gone, our children and grandchildren will still be paying this massive debt that the Andrews government has run up on the Victorian taxpayer. It is absolutely outrageous, to tell you the truth. I think it is perhaps an indictment of our society that we are a little bit too greedy. We will take the benefits now, and whoever comes after us can foot the bill. That is not my way of doing things. That is just not good enough.

Of course one of the major problems has been the blowouts in major projects—blowouts of $28 000 million, a staggering sum—yet the government does not seem to care about that. A classic example of that is the West Gate Tunnel, the white elephant in my electorate that is becoming more of a white elephant every day. The elephant is growing. As the hole grows and the money is poured into it, the elephant continues to grow. The problem is that whilst we are some $4 billion—$4000 million—over the spending limit at this point in time, and it is getting worse, what we are seeing is a project that will in no way solve the problems faced by people in the western suburbs who want to get into the city. It is not going to do anything for them. In fact it will do for the western suburbs what the Eastern Freeway and Hoddle Street do for the eastern suburbs. It is a nonsense. It is insane.

One day there will be an investigation and we will find out exactly the deal that Daniel Andrews did with Transurban to get this thing up and running. As I have often said before—and I was chairman of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee that examined this at length—it is my view that when all the facts are laid on the table as to what transpired with the conception of the West Gate Tunnel at least some people will go to jail.

I think this is a crooked deal. It is a dodgy deal. It is a deal that does nothing for the people of the western suburbs except leave us with a whopping great debt. Look, I do not blame Transurban. They can see a mug coming a mile off, and they did. They took that mug for a ride, and unfortunately we are the mugs who have to foot the bill. As I said, it is already $4 billion over budget. God alone knows how much it will be by the time it is finished, and God knows when it will finish. We were supposed to be travelling on the thing now, but it has blown out to maybe next year, maybe the year after, maybe after that—who knows? Perhaps it will become a tourist attraction. ‘Come see the most stuffed-up major project in the history of Australia’. That could be quite an attraction down the track.

But what the people of the western suburbs need is a solution to their traffic problems. This is not it; this tunnel is not it. Clearly the east–west link would provide that solution. The people of the west have been taken for granted for far, far too long, and I speak on their behalf today when I say we have had a gutful of this. We have had enough—we have had more than enough—and we are not going to put up with it anymore. What we have seen is both sides of this house treating the west with total contempt. We have seen the Liberals do it. We have seen the Labor Party do it. And the people of the west are not going to put up with that anymore. I stand here offering them an alternative. I believe that they will grasp that alternative in November, and they will indeed vote for the DLP in very large numbers. I am particularly looking forward to that, and I can assure them that I will fight and continue to fight for their best interests—always their best interests.

This tunnel has led to the issue of the toxic soil. And you, Acting President Melhem, living near the Ravenhall tip, would be aware that not only is asbestos being dumped there but toxic soil is also being dumped there, and that is a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of people in Caroline Springs, Deer Park and surrounds. Government does not care about that, though. ‘It’s only the western suburbs. Why would you worry about the western suburbs?’, says Daniel Andrews, ‘They’re going to vote for us anyway’. Well, will they? We are going to find out in November, because, as I said, I think the people of the west are going to send a very, very clear message to both the government and to the opposition that we are not going to be treated like this anymore.

Where I live, near Bulla, we have now a huge toxic soil dump that was built, interestingly enough, during the lockdown. So you could not do anything else, but you could build a toxic waste dump near homes, near schools and near a major road that has many thousands of people travelling on it every day—many more now, with many trucks taking the poisonous crap to the toxic soil dump. Every day, every hour, night and day, it is happening, and it is just despicable. I spoke in this house last night about the Ombudsman’s report into the EPA’s attitude towards residents in Sunbury and in Bulla, and I will have a lot more to say about that as time moves on. But the fact of the matter is that the people of Sunbury and Bulla have been treated like—well, I was going to say dirt, but quite literally they have been treated like dirt by a government that shows nothing but contempt. I have to say the local member there, the member for Sunbury, Josh Bull—I have been around this place for a fair while—is a nice enough fella but as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike.

He is just pathetic. He will not go into battle for his constituents. He will not stand up for those who need him to stand up for them. He sat back and he allowed this monstrosity to be built in the centre of his electorate. He did not raise an objection, he did not fight hard—he did not do any of the things that the people of Sunbury and Bulla were demanding of him. He will pay the price in November because I know the people of Sunbury will not put up with that. They will not put up with that. They have long memories, and they will remember come November what Josh Bull did not do when they needed him to. He is the invisible man. He pops up for a photo opportunity from time to time, but apart from that you just do not see him and you certainly do not hear from him, and that is, to my way of thinking, a total abrogation of responsibility that he has shown as a local member of Parliament. He has left his constituents for dead. He has just walked away and left them, and that, to my way of thinking, is disgraceful. It is a total contempt for the people of his electorate, and no doubt there will be consequences.

I do not want to speak excessively on this today, but I do want to touch on what is happening in our education system. The government will tell us that they are spending billions and billions of dollars on education. Yes, they are spending a lot of money, they are spending a lot of money on everything; if they can find something to spend money on, they will spend it, there are no worries about that. They do not care what is happening, they do not care what the outcome is—as long as they are spending money and they can tell people they are spending money, that is all that matters to this government. But we have a situation where the education system in this state is producing kids who cannot read, cannot write and cannot count, but they can tell you how you can change your gender. It is just bizarre. This programming—and I do call it programming—of our kids by the government is what I would describe as child abuse. It is child abuse, and it is bloody horrendous what is going on with our kids right now. Is it any wonder that kids have major mental health problems when their gender is questioned when they go to school? Little boys are asked if perhaps they might be little girls after all. Little girls have suggested to them that in fact they might be little boys. And then, when all that is sorted out, they are told that they are all about to die because of climate change.

We have got the sort of brainwashing that totalitarian governments all over the world would be proud of, and it is happening right here in Victoria. It is teaching kids what to think, not how to. My view is that if we do not have a future with independent thought, if we do not have a future with people who can think for themselves, we have not got much of a future at all—and that is a very, very, very horrifying prospect to many of us. It is something that distresses me enormously. When I see kids terrified, when I see kids thinking that their lives are about to be extinguished—and they get that from the classroom—I think that is appalling, because we all know that is not going to happen.

I have a message for Victorian children today, wherever they may be, and I want them to listen carefully. I want to make this very, very clear to them: there is no climate emergency. It is a nonsense, an absolute nonsense. The planet is perfectly safe, and we are not all about to die. The climate change lobby and the left have been spinning these yarns for decades. For decades they have been telling us what is about to happen, and then when the time expires they come up with something new: ‘Oh, look over there, there’s something else to see’. They make these things up. It is as simple as that. As for most of those islands, I might tell you, that were going to disappear by now, there is actually more of the islands now than there was 20 or 30 years ago, and that is a simple fact of the matter.

Mr Meddick interjected.

Mr FINN: And Mr Meddick, the animals’ friend up here, perhaps—

Mr Meddick: On a point of order, Acting President, as much as I enjoy Mr Finn’s orations from time to time—they are quite amusing in many situations—what we are talking about here is a budgetary bill. I would have thought that, even though he might object to some of the things that are in the bill and the expenditures of the government, he might restrict himself to those particular things. What we are witnessing today is basically what he might use as an election promotion video, espousing some of his own personal philosophies. I would ask you to call him back to the bill and addressing the bill.

Mr FINN: On the point of order, Acting President, the fact of the matter is that I am talking about the education system. I am talking about what is being taught in Victorian schools. And believe it or not, the money that pays teachers and keeps the system going is in the budget. Mr Meddick might not be aware of that, but that is the fact of the matter, and that is exactly what I am talking about. I am speaking about the budget.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Melhem): Thank you, Mr Finn. I understand when we are talking about the appropriation bill and the budget it is a very broad subject and it could entail various subject matters, so it is very broad. If Mr Finn were able to get back into the budget, that would be great, but I just want to make the point to members that it is very broad and members are entitled to go into other areas.

Mr FINN: I thank you for that, Acting President. It is interesting to note that the left love freedom of speech until such time as somebody disagrees with them, and then they are up and about and trying to shut everybody down. Well, let me tell you, I will not be shut down on this, because this is far too important. This is far too important. Our children and their future are far too important to be shut down by those who would like to do just that. Let me tell you that the DLP is totally committed to telling the truth on climate change, and that is what I will continue to do in this house until November and beyond. I will continue to tell the truth about climate change. I will continue to tell the truth about what this—

Dr Kieu: On a point of order, Acting President, Mr Finn will have a lot of chances until November to talk about climate change, but certainly it is inappropriate to propagate misinformation and an unscientific—with no data to support—point of view of his in this budget debate. He will have a chance to do so if he wishes to.

Mr FINN: On the point of order, Acting President, Dr Kieu has the right to express his view, as indeed do I. Has this Parliament got to the point where if somebody says something you disagree with, you try and shut them down altogether? I have had enough of that this year, to tell you the truth. If Dr Kieu wants to speak on the budget, good luck to him. I welcome that; he has a right to do that. But can I suggest, Acting President, that it is my right at this moment in time to speak on the budget, and that is exactly what I am doing.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Melhem): Thank you, Mr Finn. You can resume your contribution, but I think maybe less on climate change and back to the budget.

Mr FINN: It is interesting because you cannot speak about the budget without referring to climate change because so much of the budget is committed to fighting this climate change. The fact that we have an energy emergency, an energy crisis, coming our way is a result of the fact that governments are doing silly things to fight climate change, supposedly. The fact is that here in Australia we could stop all emissions, 100 per cent of emissions, today—we could do it today—and it would have no impact on anything or anyone except Australians and our workers and those who would suffer as a result of those policies. So you cannot say that is a separate issue to the budget, because huge amounts of money—taxpayers money—is going into this climate change scam, and that to my way of thinking is disgraceful. It is disgraceful, and I will call it out.

And can I just respond to Dr Kieu about those who have been making all sorts of claims for a very long time about what is coming next. Al Gore was talking about 30 years ago about how all the ice was going to melt at the poles, but of course we now know that there is more ice than ever. Remember Tim Flannery, old Sandbags Flannery himself? He was on the taxpayers teat for quite some time and did very nicely on the caper. And we owe then Prime Minister Tony Abbott a great debt of gratitude for getting him off the public teat, but no doubt with Albo in the Lodge he will be back sucking away for all he is worth very, very soon.

But we heard from Sandbags Flannery, who told us that the rain that fell from the skies would never fill our reservoirs again. So all the Labor governments went out and they built desalination plants. Talk about white elephants, if you do not mind. We have got a desal plant down there at Wonthaggi, and, guess what, they built it on a floodplain. Only a Labor government would build a desal plant on a floodplain. This was done because we were told that we would not have enough rain to keep going. In Queensland, in New South Wales, in Victoria and in South Australia there have been massive floods since. They do not call him Sandbags Flannery for nothing, because wherever he goes, wherever he makes predictions, floods will follow. This is just the sort of nonsense that we have come to expect from the climate change lobby. Let us have a look at what they say and let us have a look at what actually happens, and you will find they are two very, very different things.

As a result of governments accepting this nonsense the Victorian taxpayer is far, far worse off. Instead of spending money on hospitals, instead of funding 4000 ICU beds—remember that; remember how the government was going to fund 4000 ICU beds—no, do not worry about that. We do not worry about sick people in Victoria—unless of course we use them as an excuse to lock people in their homes. That is fine. That is not a problem. But we do not worry about them otherwise. Instead of spending money to help sick people, instead of spending money to pay nurses and hire more doctors, we are pouring it into the black hole that is the climate change industry. People will wake up eventually that they have been had. They have been had for a very long time now. There are a number of people around the world who are so much richer, usually at the expense of taxpayers, as a result of their involvement in the climate change industry. There are a lot of people around; they can see where there is money to be made and they jump onto it quick smart. And I suppose you cannot blame them for that, except when we are paying for it.

I am a proud Victorian, but it distresses me enormously when I see the path that the Andrews government is leading Victoria down and when I see a government that, for a start, has no respect for the basic rights of its citizens—and we have seen that over the last couple of years—but more to the point it distresses me when I see that it has no respect for our children and our grandchildren. As I said before, this debt that they are building is a massive debt. It is a debt the likes of which we have never seen in Victoria before. It is interesting to know: Victoria has a debt which is more than New South Wales and Queensland combined. Would anybody have thought that possible? But it is, and I see Dr Kieu over there chuckling away. He has obviously got some sort of leave pass from paying taxes in this state, because any taxpayer who looks at the financial situation in Victoria would not be laughing. Let me assure you: they would not be laughing. It is not amusing in any way, shape or form.

What we have to do in this state is have a realignment of thoughts. What we have to do is to find proper ways to expend money, and more importantly what we have to do is to spend less money. It is typical of socialist governments around the world: we do it because we can, not because we should but because we can. That is what the Andrews government has done, and that is what the Andrew government continues to do. It is not their money, it is the taxpayers money. The men and women in the suburbs, in country towns right across Victoria, on farms right across Victoria—it is their money. It is not some socialist government in Spring Street’s right to spend the money, because it is not their money, simple as that. I fear it every day. When we have governments making announcements and I hear press conferences being called, my blood runs cold. I think, ‘Oh, dear God, what are they going to spend today? How much are they going to spend? What will they waste today?’. Because I tell you what: there are a number of things that this government is very, very good at. Telling lies is one—exceptionally good liars they are—and the other thing is spending other people’s money, usually on things that do not work. I mentioned the West Gate Tunnel. Their judgement on a whole range of things is so far up a wattle that it is not funny. It is not funny at all. That is something that they will be held accountable for in November.

I am aware that there is great disenchantment in the electorate with both major parties; in fact all three major parties—I will throw the Greens in there as well. We can anticipate that a good number of people will be looking for an alternative, and I am here today to provide that alternative. I invite them to support the sort of commonsense policies that the DLP has always provided and will continue to provide for Victorians.

A member interjected.

Mr FINN: I am not in the business of bagging people, as you know, Minister. I am not in the business of bagging people, but I just make the point that the people of Victoria are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They have got a government that does not care about them, that is trashing the place, that is destroying Victoria from one end to the other, and they have got an opposition that perhaps might not be ready for government. That is the simple fact of the matter: they are not ready for government. We have a very, very difficult situation that we face and a very, very difficult decision that Victorians have to make. Because at this election in November, Victoria’s future is on the line. If the Andrews government gets back and it continues along the path that it has taken to this point, there will be no Victoria in 2026. There will be nothing left.

Members interjecting.

Mr FINN: There will be. Members of the government can carry on like pork chops. They are very good at it. That is another thing that I should have added to the list of things they are good at: carrying on like pork chops. They do that very well. But seriously, this state needs an overhaul. It needs a serious overhaul, and it needs it now.

Business interrupted pursuant to sessional orders.

The PRESIDENT: Members, we have in the gallery from the Queensland Parliament’s Community Support and Services Committee the chair, Ms Corrine McMillan; other MPs, Mr Stephen Bennett, Mr Michael Berkman, Ms Cynthia Lui and Dr Mark Robinson; and Ms Lynda Pretty. Welcome to the Victorian Parliament.