Tuesday, 9 December 2025

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:13): I want to end the parliamentary year by paying tribute to the thousands of Victorian workers and organisations who have spent 2025 building safe, affordable and stable homes for those who need and deserve them most. Whether they are building new homes, planning and building precincts, delivering social housing or providing homelessness and outreach services for people at their times of greatest need, these workers are rightfully proud of the contribution they make every single day for Victorians, and we are proud of them. There are the community services workers who prevent people from falling into homelessness or support women and children fleeing family violence; the Aboriginal community controlled organisations who ensure that Aboriginal Victorians can access culturally safe supports and housing; the housing support staff who help people who have been sleeping rough for years get settled into stable housing again; and of course the construction workers we rely upon to build the homes of tomorrow – homes that provide a foundation on which Victorians can build a good life. Next year we will see tunnel-boring machines launch on the city-shaping Suburban Rail Loop project and 4000 Victorians working hard to make that vision a reality – a project that will deliver 70,000 homes, which means our kids and their kids will have a better chance at living near their families, their schools and their jobs, within walking distance of all that it means to have a livable community.

While we are busy building, we know that what the Victorian Liberals will be up to in 2026 is diametrically opposed to this: cancelling a project that Victorians have voted for in at least three straight elections. I take this time to thank the thousands of Victorians who have now clocked over 14 million hours working across Suburban Rail Loop sites and who are making this transformational project a reality. Perhaps 2026 will be the year when those opposite are honest with those workers about what a Liberal–Nationals coalition government means for their jobs, but I would not hold my breath. Whether it is cancelling the SRL and sacking 4000 workers or organising rallies against the development of the homes Victorians need, those opposite have no credible answers for the big challenges facing Victorians. We certainly do.