Thursday, 18 August 2022

Responses

Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria—Minister for Water, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Equality) (18:27): We have had 12 adjournment matters this evening, and they are as follows: Mr Grimley to the Minister for Police, Mrs McArthur to the Minister for Planning, Ms Maxwell to the Minister for Health, Ms Burnett-Wake to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Mr Finn to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety or the Minister for Local Government, Ms Bath to the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, Ms Patten to the Treasurer, Mr Davis to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Dr Cumming to the Minister for Housing, Mr Rich-Phillips to the Minister for Crime Prevention, Mr Quilty for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure and lastly Ms Lovell for my attention as Minister for Water.

Turning now to the substance of what it is that you have talked about today, Ms Lovell, I note the merit and the effort that has gone into the Greening Euroa project, which itself is a pacesetting initiative and intended to create a model by which other parts of rural and regional Victoria, and indeed Australia, can assist in a more efficient and a more integrated framework for using water for a range of purposes. This is an issue which has gotten significant public coverage. The mayor, Laura Binks, who I was delighted to meet with recently at Lake Nagambie when we opened the further works on the pathway that has been developed—she talked about what it is that council has been doing to develop a critical momentum around improving streetscapes and landscapes and also managing an increasingly scarce resource—has in fact been a strident advocate of this project.

I know also that this is a project which has enjoyed widespread community support. It has also been a project that has received funding from the Strathbogie Shire Council but also from Goulburn Valley Water and from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), which has assisted in some of the feasibility work for the purpose of that initial stage of developing the business audit and the facilities audit necessary to proceed beyond stage 1. This is a three-stage project, and it is currently at the second stage, which is treatment plant and root capital infrastructure design and quantity surveyor analysis.

As Ms Lovell indicated in her adjournment matter, this is a project for which a total of around $3.8 million is being sought for the purpose of capital upgrades. This is not something which is solely within the remit of the state government. There is also a push for federal government water funding to be made available to assist with delivery of this project. I note that we in fact have a new commonwealth government which is far more interested in water infrastructure than its predecessor. We have most recently had a grants round, which you, Ms Lovell, may be aware of, which was available to a range of stakeholders across Victoria to apply for capital grants of up to $1 million, and I know that the Strathbogie Shire Council was in fact encouraged to apply for a grant under that.

Ms Lovell interjected.

Ms SHING: It is really interesting, Ms Lovell, that you talk about—and I will take up your interjection—it not being enough. Well, the fact of the matter is that when the former coalition government was in power there was scant regard for capital upgrades and infrastructure developments. There was scant regard for partnerships to be had and maintained with water authorities and with catchment management authorities and community groups. And in addition to that, the former—

Ms Lovell interjected.

Ms SHING: It is interesting to see just how exercised Ms Lovell becomes about this issue when it is called upon her to justify the fact that the former coalition government was missing in action. And in addition to that—

Ms Lovell: On a point of order, President, the minister should be responding to an issue that has been raised in 2022 by the Strathbogie shire. Instead she is just attacking the opposition, dragging up something from eight years ago. This project had not been proposed then, and I would ask you to bring the minister back to the subject, based on relevance.

The PRESIDENT: Ms Lovell, first of all there was an interjection and probably she was responding to the interjection. But, Minister, please come back to the answer.

Ms SHING: Thank you, President. I look forward to not needing to take up any further interjections from Ms Lovell or indeed anyone else. The former federal government very recently—very, very recently—also failed to invest in critical infrastructure for integrated water management not just across Victoria but around Australia. And what we see at last is a commonwealth government that is actually interested in engaging with communities, including those in rural and regional Victoria—for the first time in nine years—on the sorts of projects which communities have been crying out for. Your federal counterparts—

Ms Lovell interjected.

Ms SHING: More interjections, Ms Lovell. I can keep taking them up if you would like.

Ms Lovell: Oh, keep going, smugness. Keep going.

Ms SHING: Can I ask you to withdraw that, please?

The PRESIDENT: Ms Lovell?

Ms Lovell: President, you have not asked me anything. She has not asked anything through the Chair.

Ms SHING: President, I would ask that you request that Ms Lovell withdraw that comment.

The PRESIDENT: Ms Lovell?

Ms Lovell: I withdraw.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you. And, please, no more interjection. And, Minister, can you please only answer briefly—no debate.

Ms SHING: Sure. What I would like to actually just confirm is that since the engagement has been continuing with the Strathbogie Shire Council and with DELWP there has been a lot of work that has happened with the water authority to understand what those needs might be. Those grants that were available and open until 7 June allowed for funding of up to $1 million for capital projects, and as people might know, there are a range of grants funding sources that can be available to meet the staged needs of projects like this one. So on that basis I am very, very happy to look at what the outcome of this grants round might well be. It may well change the landscape of the discussion which has been put to me in the adjournment this evening, and we may well then be in a position to see what the new commonwealth government is prepared to do given that it has a much greater appetite for actually engaging with communities on the sorts of water infrastructure matters that are of greatest importance to them.

On that basis I am delighted to confirm, as I have already indicated to the Strathbogie shire, including its CEO and mayor, that I look forward to continuing discussions about the critical water infrastructure that they need and indeed that this particular LGA deserves, particularly as it relates to long-term climate change, to meeting the needs of a growing population and to also making sure that we are engaging in innovative and effective efficiency matters now and into the future.

Ms Lovell: Smug, smug, smug.

Ms SHING: On a point of order, President, ‘Smug, smug, smug’, I think it was, again. It is the same. She has repeated the same insult.

The PRESIDENT: Ms Lovell, I did not hear it, but if you did, please withdraw.

Ms Lovell: I withdraw.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you. The house stands adjourned.

House adjourned 6.35 pm.