PARLIAMENT OF

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES

(HANSARD)

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT

FIRST SESSION

THURSDAY, 29 APRIL 2021

hansard.parliament.vic.gov.au

By authority of the Victorian Government Printer

The Governor The Honourable , AC The Lieutenant-Governor The Honourable KEN LAY, AO, APM

The ministry

Premier...... The Hon. DM Andrews, MP Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Minister for Mental Health .. The Hon. JA Merlino, MP Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Services ...... The Hon. J Symes, MLC Minister for Transport Infrastructure and Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop ...... The Hon. JM Allan, MP Minister for Training and Skills and Minister for Higher Education .... The Hon. GA Tierney, MLC Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Industrial Relations ...... The Hon. TH Pallas, MP Minister for Public Transport and Minister for Roads and Road Safety . The Hon. BA Carroll, MP Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Solar Homes ...... The Hon. L D’Ambrosio, MP Minister for Child Protection and Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers ...... The Hon. LA Donnellan, MP Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services and Minister for Equality ...... The Hon. MP Foley, MP Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation and Minister for Fishing and Boating ...... The Hon. MM Horne, MP Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice and Minister for Victim Support ...... The Hon. NM Hutchins, MP Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development and Minister for Veterans ...... The Hon. SL Leane, MLC Minister for Water and Minister for Police ...... The Hon. LM Neville, MP Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, Minister for Trade, Minister for Business Precincts, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and Minister for Racing ...... The Hon. MP Pakula, MP Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services and Minister for Creative Industries ...... The Hon. DJ Pearson, MP Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business and Minister for Resources ...... The Hon. JL Pulford, MLC Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Community Sport and Minister for Youth ...... The Hon. RL Spence, MP Minister for Workplace Safety and Minister for Early Childhood ...... The Hon. I Stitt, MLC Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Regional Development ...... The Hon. M Thomas, MP Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs ...... The Hon. G Williams, MP Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing ...... The Hon. RW Wynne, MP Cabinet Secretary ...... Ms S Kilkenny, MP Legislative Council committees

Economy and Infrastructure Standing Committee Mr Barton, Mr Erdogan, Mr Finn, Mr Gepp, Mrs McArthur, Mr Quilty and Mr Tarlamis. Participating members: Dr Bach, Ms Bath, Dr Cumming, Mr Davis, Mr Limbrick, Ms Lovell, Mr Meddick, Mr O’Donohue, Mr Ondarchie, Mr Rich-Phillips, Ms Shing, Ms Vaghela and Ms Watt.

Environment and Planning Standing Committee Dr Bach, Ms Bath, Dr Cumming, Mr Grimley, Mr Hayes, Mr Meddick, Mr Melhem, Dr Ratnam, Ms Taylor and Ms Terpstra. Participating members: Ms Crozier, Mr Davis, Dr Kieu, Mrs McArthur and Mr Quilty.

Legal and Social Issues Standing Committee Ms Garrett, Dr Kieu, Ms Lovell, Ms Maxwell, Mr Ondarchie, Ms Patten, Dr Ratnam and Ms Vaghela. Participating members: Dr Bach, Mr Barton, Ms Bath, Ms Crozier, Dr Cumming, Mr Erdogan, Mr Grimley, Mr Limbrick, Mr O’Donohue, Mr Quilty, Ms Shing, Mr Tarlamis and Ms Watt.

Privileges Committee Mr Atkinson, Mr Bourman, Mr Davis, Mr Grimley, Mr Leane, Mr Rich-Phillips, Ms Shing, Ms Symes and Ms Tierney.

Procedure Committee The President, the Deputy President, Ms Crozier, Mr Davis, Mr Grimley, Dr Kieu, Ms Patten, Ms Pulford and Ms Symes.

Joint committees

Dispute Resolution Committee Council: Mr Bourman, Ms Crozier, Mr Davis, Ms Symes and Ms Tierney. Assembly: Ms Allan, Ms Hennessy, Mr Merlino, Mr Pakula, Mr R Smith, Mr Walsh and Mr Wells.

Electoral Matters Committee Council: Mr Erdogan, Mrs McArthur, Mr Meddick, Mr Melhem, Ms Lovell, Mr Quilty and Mr Tarlamis. Assembly: Mr Guy, Ms Hall and Dr Read.

House Committee Council: The President (ex officio), Mr Bourman, Mr Davis, Mr Leane, Ms Lovell and Ms Stitt. Assembly: The Speaker (ex officio), Mr T Bull, Ms Crugnale, Ms Edwards, Mr Fregon, Ms Sandell and Ms Staley.

Integrity and Oversight Committee Council: Mr Grimley and Ms Shing. Assembly: Mr Halse, Ms Hennessy, Mr Rowswell, Mr Taylor and Mr Wells.

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee Council: Mr Limbrick and Ms Taylor. Assembly: Ms Blandthorn, Mr Hibbins, Mr Maas, Mr Newbury, Mr D O’Brien, Ms Richards, Mr Richardson and Mr Riordan.

Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee Council: Mr Gepp, Ms Patten, Ms Terpstra and Ms Watt. Assembly: Mr Burgess, Ms Connolly and Mr R Smith.

Heads of parliamentary departments

Assembly: Clerk of the Legislative Assembly: Ms B Noonan Council: Clerk of the Parliaments and Clerk of the Legislative Council: Mr A Young Parliamentary Services: Secretary: Mr P Lochert MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT—FIRST SESSION

President The Hon. N ELASMAR (from 18 June 2020) The Hon. SL LEANE (to 18 June 2020) Deputy President The Hon. WA LOVELL Acting Presidents Mr Bourman, Mr Gepp, Mr Melhem and Ms Patten Leader of the Government The Hon. J SYMES Deputy Leader of the Government The Hon. GA TIERNEY Leader of the Opposition The Hon. DM DAVIS Deputy Leader of the Opposition Ms G CROZIER

Member Region Party Member Region Party

Atkinson, Mr Bruce Norman Eastern Metropolitan LP Maxwell, Ms Tania Maree Northern Victoria DHJP Bach, Dr Matthew1 Eastern Metropolitan LP Meddick, Mr Andy Western Victoria AJP Barton, Mr Rodney Brian Eastern Metropolitan TMP Melhem, Mr Cesar Western Metropolitan ALP Bath, Ms Melina Gaye Eastern Victoria Nats Mikakos, Ms Jenny5 Northern Metropolitan ALP Bourman, Mr Jeffrey Eastern Victoria SFFP O’Donohue, Mr Edward John Eastern Victoria LP Crozier, Ms Georgina Mary Southern Metropolitan LP Ondarchie, Mr Craig Philip Northern Metropolitan LP Cumming, Dr Catherine Rebecca Western Metropolitan Ind Patten, Ms Fiona Heather Northern Metropolitan FPRP Dalidakis, Mr Philip2 Southern Metropolitan ALP Pulford, Ms Jaala Lee Western Victoria ALP Davis, Mr David McLean Southern Metropolitan LP Quilty, Mr Timothy Northern Victoria LDP Elasmar, Mr Nazih Northern Metropolitan ALP Ratnam, Dr Samantha Shantini Northern Metropolitan Greens Erdogan, Mr Enver3 Southern Metropolitan ALP Rich-Phillips, Mr Gordon Kenneth South Eastern Metropolitan LP Finn, Mr Bernard Thomas Christopher Western Metropolitan LP Shing, Ms Harriet Eastern Victoria ALP Garrett, Ms Jane Furneaux Eastern Victoria ALP Somyurek, Mr Adem6 South Eastern Metropolitan Ind Gepp, Mr Mark Northern Victoria ALP Stitt, Ms Ingrid Western Metropolitan ALP Grimley, Mr Stuart James Western Victoria DHJP Symes, Ms Jaclyn Northern Victoria ALP Hayes, Mr Clifford Southern Metropolitan SAP Tarlamis, Mr Lee7 South Eastern Metropolitan ALP Jennings, Mr Gavin Wayne4 South Eastern Metropolitan ALP Taylor, Ms Nina Southern Metropolitan ALP Kieu, Dr Tien Dung South Eastern Metropolitan ALP Terpstra, Ms Sonja Eastern Metropolitan ALP Leane, Mr Shaun Leo Eastern Metropolitan ALP Tierney, Ms Gayle Anne Western Victoria ALP Limbrick, Mr David South Eastern Metropolitan LDP Vaghela, Ms Kaushaliya Virjibhai Western Metropolitan ALP Lovell, Ms Wendy Ann Northern Victoria LP Watt, Ms Sheena8 Northern Metropolitan ALP McArthur, Mrs Beverley Western Victoria LP Wooldridge, Ms Mary Louise Newling9 Eastern Metropolitan LP

1 Appointed 5 March 2020 5 Resigned 26 September 2020 2 Resigned 17 June 2019 6 ALP until 15 June 2020 3 Appointed 15 August 2019 7 Appointed 23 April 2020 4 Resigned 23 March 2020 8 Appointed 13 October 2020 9 Resigned 28 February 2020

Party abbreviations

AJP—; ALP—Labor Party; DHJP—Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party; FPRP—’s ; Greens—; Ind—Independent; LDP—Liberal Democratic Party; LP—Liberal Party; Nats—The Nationals; SAP— Party; SFFP—Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party; TMP—

CONTENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS Acknowledgement of country ...... 1293 Legislative Council regional sitting ...... 1293 Proclamation ...... 1293 CONDOLENCES His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...... 1294 deaths...... 1294 ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT Cr John Forsyth ...... 1294 Claire Lock ...... 1296 BILLS Education and Training Reform Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 ...... 1297 Justice Legislation Amendment (System Enhancements and Other Matters) Bill 2021 ...... 1297 Planning and Environment Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 1297 Royal assent ...... 1297 Spent Convictions Bill 2020 ...... 1298 Royal assent ...... 1298 PETITIONS Heatherton train stabling ...... 1298 Dohertys Road, Truganina, bus service...... 1298 Drug driving ...... 1299 COMMITTEES Economy and Infrastructure Committee ...... 1299 Inquiry into the Increase in Victoria’s Road Toll ...... 1299 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee ...... 1301 Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates ...... 1301 PAPERS Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission ...... 1302 Annual Plan 2020–21 ...... 1302 Department of Health ...... 1302 13th Report to Parliament on the State of Emergency ...... 1302 Ombudsman ...... 1302 Investigation into the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions’ Administration of the Business Support Fund ...... 1302 Papers ...... 1302 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices ...... 1304 Adjournment ...... 1304 MEMBERS STATEMENTS Anzac Day ...... 1304 Fall of Saigon commemoration ...... 1304 Legislative Council regional sitting ...... 1305 Bright Brewery ...... 1305 Rural and regional taxi services ...... 1305 Anzac Day ...... 1305 Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide...... 1306 International Workers Memorial Day ...... 1306 Anzac Day ...... 1306 Animal shelters ...... 1307 Learn Local providers ...... 1307 Small business support ...... 1308 Legislative Council regional sitting ...... 1308 BackTrack Youth Works ...... 1308 International Workers Memorial Day ...... 1309 I Cook Foods ...... 1309 McCrae beach renourishment ...... 1309 His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...... 1310 Pepo Farms ...... 1310 Anzac Day ...... 1310 Goulburn-Murray Water ...... 1311 Malcolm Hole ...... 1311 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Veterans mental health ...... 1311 Internet access and mobile black spots ...... 1312 Ministers statements: Alpine View Children’s Centre ...... 1314 Veterans mental health ...... 1314 Climate change ...... 1315 Ministers statements: bushfire recovery initiatives ...... 1316 Fire services workplace safety ...... 1316 Northern Victoria ambulance services ...... 1317 Ministers statements: Regional Digital Fund ...... 1318 Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages ...... 1319 Timber industry ...... 1320 Ministers statements: community legal centres ...... 1320 QUESTIONS ON NOTICE Answers ...... 1321 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Written responses ...... 1321 CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Northern Victoria Region ...... 1321 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1321 Western Victoria Region ...... 1322 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1322 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1322 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1322 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1323 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1323 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1323 Western Victoria Region ...... 1323 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1324 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1324 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1324 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1324 MOTIONS Bushfires ...... 1325 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices of motion and orders of the day ...... 1341 BILLS Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 1341 Second reading ...... 1341 Third reading ...... 1347 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Orders of the day ...... 1347 MOTIONS Belt and Road Initiative ...... 1347 Bushfires ...... 1352 ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT Cr John Forsyth ...... 1356 MOTIONS Bushfires ...... 1357 ADJOURNMENT Alpine Better Places ...... 1363 Tourism...... 1364 Ecotourism ...... 1364 COVID-19 ...... 1365 Community sport ...... 1365 Online safety and consent education ...... 1366 Community sport ...... 1366 Wild horse control ...... 1366 Cycling tourism ...... 1367 Drink spiking...... 1367 Regional economy ...... 1368 Bairnsdale Pistol Club ...... 1368 Western Victoria passenger rail services ...... 1368 Abortion services ...... 1369 Housing affordability ...... 1369 Upper Ferntree Gully height limits ...... 1370 CONTENTS

Responses ...... 1370 WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Dating and romance scams ...... 1372 Timber industry ...... 1372 COVID-19 ...... 1372 COVID-19 ...... 1373 COVID-19 ...... 1373 COVID-19 ...... 1373 Commercial passenger vehicle industry ...... 1374 COVID-19 ...... 1374 Animal welfare ...... 1375 COVID-19 ...... 1375 Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision Centre of Research Excellence in Bone Marrow Biology ...... 1376 Family violence ...... 1376 Learner driver training ...... 1377 COVID-19 ...... 1377 COVID-19 ...... 1378 Box Hill transit interchange ...... 1378 Better at Home initiative ...... 1378 The Orange Door ...... 1379 Suburban Rail Loop ...... 1380 Napier Street, White Hills, bus stop ...... 1380 Voluntary assisted dying ...... 1380 Peter–Bell streets, Preston, traffic management ...... 1381 Mildura train services ...... 1382 Plenty Road, Bundoora ...... 1382 Country Fire Authority Carrum Downs brigade ...... 1382 COVID-19 ...... 1382 Vocational education and training ...... 1383 Forest Road, Anglesea ...... 1384 Elective surgery waiting lists ...... 1384 Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria ...... 1384 Shepparton breast-screening services ...... 1385 Scrap metal industry ...... 1386 North East Link ...... 1386 Small business support ...... 1386 Suburban Rail Loop ...... 1387 Crime prevention ...... 1388 Western Port Bay ...... 1388 Surf Coast Shire Council code of conduct ...... 1389 Women & Girls in STEM Map ...... 1389 COVID-19 ...... 1389 Emissions reduction targets ...... 1390 Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund ...... 1391 Northern Aquatic and Community Hub ...... 1391 Duck hunting ...... 1391 Community sport ...... 1392 Zoonotic diseases ...... 1392 Pakenham East train station ...... 1393 Missing persons ...... 1393 Homelessness ...... 1394 Country sport crowd limits ...... 1394 China trade ...... 1395 St John Ambulance...... 1395 Roadside livestock grazing ...... 1395 Local government elections ...... 1396 Land tax ...... 1396 Greater Shepparton Secondary College ...... 1396 Planning process ...... 1397 Youth employment ...... 1397 Thomas Embling Hospital patient leave ...... 1398 Farmed animal sanctuaries ...... 1399 Fixing country roads program ...... 1399 Firewood collection ...... 1399 Family violence services ...... 1400 Furniture-making apprenticeships ...... 1400 COVID-19 ...... 1401 Cannons Creek foreshore reserve ...... 1401 Solar energy subsidies ...... 1401 Greener government school buildings program ...... 1402 Melton English language education...... 1402 Public sector employment...... 1403 Payroll tax ...... 1403 COVID-19 ...... 1403 VicTrack ...... 1404 Family violence services ...... 1404 Level crossing removals ...... 1405 Greater Geelong planning scheme ...... 1405 Family violence ...... 1406 Footscray town hall ...... 1406 Moorabbin Airport ...... 1407 Barrier Breakers ...... 1407 ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1409 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1409 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1409 South Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1410 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1410 Western Victoria Region ...... 1410 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1411 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1411 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1411 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1411 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1412 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1412 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1412 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1413 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1413 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1413 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1413 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1414 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1414 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1414 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1415 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1415 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1415 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1415 Western Victoria Region ...... 1416 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1416 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1417 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1417 Western Victoria Region ...... 1417 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1418 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1418 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1418 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1419 Western Victoria Region ...... 1419 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1419 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1420 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1420 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1420 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1421 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1421 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1422 Western Victoria Region ...... 1422 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1423 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1423 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1423 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1424 Western Victoria Region ...... 1424 South Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1424 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1425 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1427 CONTENTS

Northern Victoria Region ...... 1427 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1427 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1428 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1428 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1429 Western Victoria Region ...... 1429 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1429 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1430 Western Victoria Region ...... 1430 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1430 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1431 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1432 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1432 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1433 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1433 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1433 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1434 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1434 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1435 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1435 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1436 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1436 Western Victoria Region ...... 1437 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1437 Western Victoria Region ...... 1437 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1438 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1438 Eastern Victoria Region ...... 1439 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1439 Southern Metropolitan Region ...... 1439 Western Metropolitan Region ...... 1440 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1441 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1441 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1442 Northern Metropolitan Region ...... 1442 Northern Victoria Region ...... 1442 Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1443 Western Victoria Region ...... 1444 South Eastern Metropolitan Region...... 1444 WRITTEN RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Casey planning ...... 1445 Duck hunting ...... 1445 Greyhound racing ...... 1446 Privatisation policy ...... 1446 Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria ...... 1446 Modern slavery ...... 1447 Commercial passenger vehicle industry ...... 1447 Service Victoria ...... 1448 Ashley Street underpass, West Footscray ...... 1448

ANNOUNCEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1293

Thursday, 29 April 2021

The PRESIDENT (Hon. N Elasmar) took the chair at 9.37 am and read the prayer. Announcements ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY The PRESIDENT (09:38): I begin by acknowledging the Aboriginal peoples, the traditional custodians of this land on which we meet. I acknowledge and pay respect to the elders of the Aboriginal nations in Victoria past, present and emerging and welcome any elders and members of the Aboriginal communities who may visit or participate in the events or proceedings today. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REGIONAL SITTING The PRESIDENT (09:38): I am delighted to declare open and to welcome everyone to this sitting of the Legislative Council in Bright. This is a historic meeting of the Legislative Council, and I extend the gratitude of all members to the people of Bright and to the communities of north-east Victoria for welcoming us here to this beautiful part of our state. This landscape and the people who live within it have endured much in recent times, devastated by bushfires that impacted so many lives. We pay tribute to your resilience and your community spirit that is evident for all to see. You have worked hard together on recovering from those difficult times, and we recognise that there is still much to be done. There have been many people who have contributed to ensuring the success of this sitting, and we thank you most sincerely for your efforts to help bring the Legislative Council to the north-east. Our heartfelt thanks to the Alpine Shire Council, led by mayor John Forsyth and the council members, chief executive officer Charlie Bird and the council staff, particularly Elaine Burridge. Our thanks are also due to Bushfire Recovery Victoria, especially Melanie Hotton and Diarmuid Kelly. A key aim of our sitting was to connect with local community to better understand all that you have endured and to acknowledge and appreciate how much you contribute to our state. We thank most sincerely the schools that have engaged with us over this past week; La Trobe University for organising a program for our members at their Albury-Wodonga campus; all the people representing a diverse range of organisations who have presented at hearings held by our Legislative Council committees conducted in and around the region this week; ABC Radio for their live broadcast this morning; the Country Women’s Association of Bright; Dumu cafe; Lions Club Bright; Sixpence Coffee; the suppliers from the local community who have presented their produce at the farmers market being held today at this venue; the many suppliers who have supported us with all the logistics and equipment we have needed for this sitting; and my parliamentary staff. Through your efforts we see what makes this such a special place to live and work. It is now time to proceed with the work of this sitting. PROCLAMATION Following proclamation read by the Clerk: I, Linda Dessau AC, , acting under section 8 of the Constitution Act 1975 and all other powers vested in me: (i) vary and alter the place for the despatch of business of the Legislative Council on 29 April 2021 and fix The Pavilion Pioneer Park, Bright, situated at 55–71 Coronation Avenue, Bright, as the place for the despatch of business of the Legislative Council on 29 April 2021 until the completion of business agreed to occur at The Pavilion Pioneer Park by the resolution of the Legislative Council on 17 March 2021; and CONDOLENCES 1294 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

(ii) confirm that once the Legislative Council has completed the business agreed to occur at The Pavilion Pioneer Park by the resolution of the Legislative Council on 17 March 2021, the despatch of business of the Legislative Council shall thereafter revert to Parliament House, Melbourne. Given under my hand and the seal of Victoria at Melbourne, this 20th day of April 2021. Condolences HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH The PRESIDENT (09:42): I recognise the passing of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, on 9 April 2021. I advise members that there will be an opportunity for you to contribute to a form of condolence motion on the next sitting day. However, this being the first sitting day since the passing of His Royal Highness, as a mark of respect I now ask all members to stand in their places for a minute’s silence. Members stood in their places. VICTORIA POLICE DEATHS The PRESIDENT (09:44): I acknowledge the first anniversary of the tragic deaths on 22 April 2020 of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Glen Humphris and Constable Joshua Prestney, and as a mark of respect I ask all members to stand in their places for a minute’s silence. Members stood in their places. Address to Parliament CR JOHN FORSYTH The PRESIDENT: I now invite Cr John Forsyth, mayor of Alpine Shire Council, onto the floor of the chamber to address the house. Cr Forsyth escorted into chamber by Usher of the Black Rod. Cr FORSYTH: Mr President, members of the Legislative Council, guests, my fellow councillors: it is fantastic for me to be able to welcome you all here today to this glorious venue during an exceptional season which is just part of the incredible Alpine shire’s yearly calendar. I would like now to recognise the President’s acknowledgement of country for today’s sitting. Thank you. Our shire covers 5000 square kilometres, with over 90 per cent national parks and Crown land, stretching from Dederang to Mount Beauty and then up to Falls Creek in the Kiewa Valley. Across in the Ovens Valley, which is dominated by the presence of Mount Buffalo, it stretches from Gapsted through to Myrtleford, Bright and Harrietville. Then if you follow the Great Alpine Road further, you ascend through the Alpine National Park, passing through Mount Hotham resort before arriving at our unique alpine township of Dinner Plain. Our villages and towns are one of a kind, a spectacular combination of unspoiled nature, crystal-clear water, country hospitality and incomparable food, wine and fresh produce, which you will no doubt partake of at lunchtime today. Our communities are primarily supported by a thriving visitor economy; diverse agricultural pursuits and forestry, from softwood plantations through to the timber mill, which is value-adding; the hop farms, which you have all seen—we would like to see more breweries here value-adding; and the timber industry, which itself accounts for nearly 25 per cent of the workforce in Myrtleford alone. As you know, our region has suffered one setback after another over the past 16 months. When the 2019 bushfires hit during the peak summer tourism season our towns went from full population, full of people, to completely empty in a single day. Emergencies are a way of life here, particularly in the summer, but the necessary mass evacuation of our towns in the peak of the tourist season was a blow to local businesses. Twenty-nine per cent of the shire was directly impacted by the bushfires. ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1295

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, many people more than once. It had a serious impact on our local economy that we never really recovered from before COVID struck. We were lucky enough not to be too hard hit by the fire on the ground. One home was lost in the Alpine shire, while communities in our neighbouring municipalities of Towong and East Gippsland suffered much more physical damage. Our impact was mostly economic, and that impact was huge. Loss of tourism income for businesses and families was estimated at $90 million. Over 2000 hectares of softwood plantations was burnt, and that will have an effect in the years to come as we run out of softwood timber for processing. The 2020 wine vintage was written off by smoke damage. If any of you have ever tried smoke-damaged wine, it is not pleasant. As I said, one home was lost, but many farms’ assets were destroyed. Our community’s recovery is ongoing, not simply the economic but also the social and psychological. 2020 was certainly a year of highs and lows, from the loss of the summer visitor season, as I mentioned, during the bushfires to the buoyancy that was in the air when superstar Katy Perry performed in Bright—just out there, actually—and then to the COVID-19 lockdowns that came just days later. Our communities have been through a lot. Our businesses, still trying to regain their feet after the bushfire season, suddenly found themselves unable to trade, working to adapt to a constantly changing way of life and a new, unfamiliar threat. As the pandemic went on, the ski resorts opened; however, only for a short time, and then the hope for a strong winter went out the door too. So, as we call it, it was a double whammy for our businesses. Winter is so important to our valleys. There is a vital relationship between the alpine resorts and the alpine township of Dinner Plain and the towns in the valleys. Between them they create the ideal winter offering: a winter wonderland and an off-mountain adventure—activity, food and wine. The alpine resorts are a lifeblood for our valley townships during winter and a way for many in our communities to make the most of the winter lifestyle, which is the reason why so many come here. I am glad that you are here during autumn; you will see it. Come back in winter, please. The unique alpine township of Dinner Plain has a ski run, mountain bike trails and one of the country’s longest toboggan runs. In fact we get probably 450 people a day using that toboggan run, and it is just 10 minutes from Hotham by bus—well worth a visit, winter or summer. Dinner Plain is the highest freehold village in Australia and the only snow village operated by a council, and it has an economy solely reliant on the tourism industry. Following on from the curtailed snow season came the New South Wales border closures and the fiasco of the border bubbles and the various postcode issues that we had, cutting people off from family, friends, schools and workplaces. Our communities have been truly tested, but I am so proud to say they continue to rally in the face of adversity. The resilience, determination and overall decency I have seen from so many residents and business operators over the past 16 months has been absolutely inspiring. As a council, we are extremely proud and honoured to represent a community that continues to face every new challenge with a smile on their face and a positive outlook. After this journey it is fantastic that we can do this here today in a COVID-safe and friendly way and actually welcome you here. We are continuing to work with our community and businesses on their recovery from bushfires and COVID-19. We have enjoyed a resurgence in visitor numbers since November, and that seems to be maintaining. We are just seeing a constant stream of visitors now. Tourism is critical to our economy and that of the broader region. The boom in domestic tourism led to summer business we have never seen—no signs of it slowing down. The upcoming snow season is expected to attract a record number of visitors as people make the most of what the region has to offer. Unfortunately, however, our businesses and the broader community are facing a relatively new challenge which impacts their ability to manage this demand, and that is housing availability. A high ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT 1296 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 number of short-term rentals for our short-term residents, coupled with an increase in people moving to the shire, is causing a shortage in the availability of housing for those key workers who are so vital to our tourism, hospitality, education, service and health industries. Holiday accommodation is essential to our local economy, but we have reached an imbalance, where the high numbers of holiday rentals are causing strain on our community and businesses. This in turn is impacting on the sustainability of our local economy. We know we are not alone in the country or in this state with this issue and that we share it with others. Hopefully over these next 24 to 48 hours, with the number of brilliant brains amongst us, we might come up with some solutions to this problem. We know there is no quick fix and that a solution is a case for all levels of government and for communities. An idea is mostly inspirational and quite often aspirational. This leads to that idea being conversational and, after time, doable. We in all levels of government then owe it to our communities to show that these ideas are achievable. I would just encourage you while you are here to talk to our businesses and our communities—just get out there and talk amongst them—and you will find out an insight into some of the personal journeys that have occurred since late 2019 to now. As we heard last night, four in 10 people are still not really doing that well. In closing, I would like to thank our council officers and the army of staff that you have brought from Melbourne with you from the Parliament of Victoria for their hard work and presenting this place as it is today. As somebody just said to me earlier, they would not know they were not in Melbourne. But please, look outside and you do realise that. As I said, many hands make light work, so thank you very much, welcome and I hope you thoroughly enjoy your stay. Thank you. Members applauded. CLAIRE LOCK Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (09:56): I move, by leave:

That this house invites Claire Lock, a student at Bright P–12, to attend on the floor of the chamber today to address the house. Motion agreed to. The PRESIDENT: Members, by your leave, I now invite Claire Lock, a student at Bright P–12 school, onto the floor of the chamber to address the house. Welcome. Ms Lock escorted into chamber by Usher of the Black Rod. Ms LOCK: My name is Claire Lock. I am a year 12 student and work in various areas of youth advocacy, especially in education and mental health, and I am here as an executive member of the Victorian Student Representative Council. Today I am here representing students and young people of the Alpine shire. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet, and I pay my respects to all Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples and carry that respect to any Indigenous people here today. Fifteen months ago in this room a town meeting was held—not necessarily sinister or out of the ordinary for a small town like Bright. However, this meeting would change the way the next year and a half would play out. The town bushfire meeting would bring the community together for the last time in a long time. Nothing prepares you for bushfires—not the ads on TV nor the lessons you have in school. The emotions were the hardest to deal with. Confusion, grief, sadness, stress and anger were constant feelings for the rest of the summer, and even now. Nothing prepares you to say goodbye to the town that you call home or for having to accept that some families will stay and fight regardless of the dire outlook. BILLS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1297

Barely two weeks after the evacuations, with fires contained but still burning, we went back to school. Everyone wanted to be back at school, even the students who did not like it. It allowed us to be closer to one another and gave us a sense of normalcy, our community. Living in this part of the world it is not hard to see the effects that climate change has. From low snowfalls up in the mountains to dry, hot summers, these evident changes affect all of us. The Black Summer fires will likely not be the last of our major catastrophes in the next 10 years. We can do more to promise a future for our young people. Something I have come across working in trauma advocacy is the phrase ‘I didn’t lose my house, school or town to the fire, and therefore I cannot have emotions around how the fire affected me’. This was common to hear in the first few months post fires—even now. No-one really wanted to talk about it; we all just kept to ourselves. I do not think many people processed trauma until we were forced to spend time by ourselves in our thoughts for extended periods of time. That was the worst part: the uncertainty of an unpredictable pandemic coupled with the unacknowledged trauma of a major disaster. Even now, 15 months post fires, we are seeing the impacts that the unresolved and unattended issues are having on our community, especially our young people and those looking after them. We already know based on the recent royal commission that young people are struggling and people in rural and regional areas have higher suicide rates compared to our city counterparts. It is time to do something about it. We know anniversaries of fires are hard for survivors, so why do we insist on showing extremely triggering media in all forms around these dates? This is not helping communities recover. Triggering and reopening wounds that are already touchy at that time of year is not okay. Studies such as Melbourne University’s 10 Years Beyond Bushfires show that communities need continuous and structured supports long after the fires and much longer after the media stops covering them. Implementing programs and safety nets into our schools and community gathering places is an important step in helping young people recover. Being part of the recovery and growth after a fire gives young people a sense of ownership and pride in their community and ensures that they are not the last ones taken care of. We need safe and accessible help. We cannot go through another one of those treacherous times, because we just will not make it. Working in youth advocacy has shown me that there is still so much to do, and it is not slowing down. We do not have years to fix this. Although things do not happen overnight, the lives of families and communities change when they lose someone. I stand here today hopeful for the future of this community, and I ask that you share that same hope. Thank you. Members applauded. The PRESIDENT: On behalf of the house, I thank Claire and the mayor. Bills EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS) BILL 2020 JUSTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS AND OTHER MATTERS) BILL 2021 PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Royal assent The PRESIDENT (10:02): I have a message from the Governor, dated 23 March:

The Governor informs the Legislative Council that she has, on this day, given the Royal Assent to the undermentioned Act of the present Session presented to her by the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly for and in the absence of the Clerk of the Parliaments: 10/2021 Education and Training Reform Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2021 11/2021 Justice Legislation Amendment (System Enhancements and Other Matters) Act 2021 12/2021 Planning and Environment Amendment Act 2021 PETITIONS 1298 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

SPENT CONVICTIONS BILL 2020 Royal assent The PRESIDENT (10:02): I have a further message from the Governor, dated 30 March:

The Governor informs the Legislative Council that she has, on this day, given the Royal Assent to the undermentioned Act of the present Session presented to her by the Clerk of the Parliaments: 13/2021 Spent Convictions Act 2021 Petitions Following petitions presented to house: HEATHERTON TRAIN STABLING TO THE HONOURABLE THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ASSEMBLED IN PARLIAMENT We, the undersigned Citizens of Victoria, call on the Legislative Council of Victoria to note: 1. The Andrews Labor Government has proceeded with early works for its “Suburban Rail Loop” including intrusive proposed stabling yards in Heatherton near Old Dandenong Road and Kingston Road without: (i) a business case; (ii) a full Environmental Effects Statement and where the cost is unknown but be more than $100 billion for the completion of the proposed works. 2. Specifically notes that the planned stabling yards will be built in Green Wedge land protected by planning instruments in place for many decades, long-standing protections, that Daniel Andrews has announced he will override. Notes also that: 3. The Kingston City Council plan for a “Chain of Parks” as part of the Sandbelt Open Space Strategy to which the proposed stabling yards site is integral and further that the “Chain of Parks” plan will be compromised by the Victorian Government’s stabling plan. 4. That the long-standing plan for the site upon which Daniel Andrews’ proposed train stabling is intended was to provide regional and state-wide sporting facilities which include hockey, baseball, Australian Rules Football, cricket and soccer. These will now be compromised. 5. The need for enhanced regional sporting facilities and in particular, the planned regional sports centre would be supported by the municipalities of Bayside, Kingston & Glen Eira. 6. There has been inadequate investigation of alternate sites for train stabling because much of the process has lacked transparency, and has been hidden behind a veil of confidentiality, eliminating genuine community consultation. 7. That local Labor MPs have for decades supported the retention of the Green Wedge and a creation of the “Chain of Parks” but these same MPs have recently been silent, failing to support the protection of Green Wedges, the ‘Chain of Parks” or the regional sporting facilities. Calls on the Victorian Government to: 8. Recommit to the full, and permanent protection of the Green Wedge, the retention of the “Chain of Parks” and the creation of the planned regional sporting facilities. 9. To investigate alternative train stabling locations in Melbourne’s south east and to do so in a publicly transparent and consultative process. By Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (26 signatures). Laid on table. DOHERTYS ROAD, TRUGANINA, BUS SERVICE Legislative Council Electronic Petition The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that there is currently no public bus service along Dohertys Road, Truganina. The community has grown significantly and so has the demand for better public transport infrastructure in the area. Limited bus services add pressure on an already overcrowded Tarneit station car park. COMMITTEES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1299

A new bus route along Dohertys Road covering Albright, Ellarook, Westbrook, Element and Rothwell estates is desperately needed. Alternatively, existing bus routes could be altered to service this area. The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to work with Public Transport Victoria to introduce a new bus route or alter an existing bus route along Dohertys Road, Truganina to provide service to Albright, Ellarook, Westbrook, Element and Rothwell estates. By Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (340 signatures). Laid on table. Mr FINN: I move:

That the petition be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting. Motion agreed to. DRUG DRIVING Legislative Council Electronic Petition The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that the National Drug Driving Working Group clearly states that drug driving laws are specifically a driving offense and not a drug offense. Despite this, people who are not impaired, but may still have trace amounts of one of three prescribed substances in their bodily fluid, are frequently charged with a road offense. There is a significant economic and social burden from these unjustified infringements. Driving while impaired is a serious matter but the current laws do not reflect an appropriate and just response to this. Broad community opposition to the program threatens to undermine legitimate strategies to address road safety. The situation is worse for medical cannabis users. If they choose to benefit their health, they may have to give up their right to drive, even when not impaired by medication. The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to give consideration to Recommendation 24 of the Law Reform, Road and Community Safety Committee’s Inquiry into drug law reform and refer the matter to the Legal and Social Issues Committee for inquiry into alternative drug driving regimes and changes that address the concerns of medical cannabis patients. By Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (961 signatures). Laid on table. Committees ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE Inquiry into the Increase in Victoria’s Road Toll The Clerk: Pursuant to an order of the Council of 18 February 2021, I lay on the table a copy of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s report on the inquiry into the increase in Victoria’s road toll. Mr ERDOGAN (Southern Metropolitan) (10:05): I present the transcripts of evidence and move:

That the transcripts of evidence lie on the table and the report be published. Motion agreed to. Mr ERDOGAN: Pursuant to standing order 9.09, I would just like to say a few words. I move:

That the Council take note of the report. I guess one thing that unites all Victorians is a desire to reduce the road toll. The desire led to the creation of Victoria’s previous road safety strategy, Towards Zero: Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan 2016–2020. The Towards Zero target was ambitious—to reduce the road toll to under 200 and reduce serious injuries by 15 per cent. Victorian government and road safety partners should be commended for setting such an ambitious target and working so hard to achieve this target. Unfortunately the target was not met, and the road toll plateaued, a trend that we saw occur in other COMMITTEES 1300 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 jurisdictions not only in Australia but around the globe. There is no one reason for this, and equally there is no silver bullet to fix the problem. Rather it is a matter of more hard work in a wide array of policy areas. Road safety is a combination of developing effective policy and committing to putting that policy into practice. As such Victoria remains committed to the four pillars of the safe system approach to road safety: safe road users, safe vehicles, safe roads, safe speeds. These four pillars provide an overarching guide to addressing the main road trauma risks in Victoria. Whilst speeding and impairment level have long been recognised as targets by road safety experts, attention is increasingly also being paid to driver distraction and fatigue, including a recognition that for many Victorians the road is their workplace. The safe system has been a pivotal component of Victoria’s road safety policy for several years, and the committee was reassured to see it remain in the new Victorian Road Safety Strategy 2021–2030. Equally important is a commitment to transparency. Increased transparency and the sharing of information leads to better policy development and improved decision-making. The committee would like to see a greater commitment to transparency from Victoria’s road safety partners and a willingness to work with other road safety experts in the fight to reduce road trauma. We all understood that the responsibility for this issue is shared by everyone, and throughout this inquiry it became increasingly clear just how much individual attitudes influence road safety. Basic driving skills—steering, changing gears et cetera—are taught in cars and we are increasingly using driving simulators and virtual reality technology. A personal commitment to safety, though, is learned from parents, relatives or friends as well as the wider community and society. That is why Victoria’s road safety partners remain committed to delivering education campaigns, both public programs and educating our young drivers about the importance of safety before they hop into a car for the first time. This approach is evidence of how in Victoria road safety has long been a shared responsibility between government and the community. The dramatic drop in the road toll since Victorians first began working together on this problem in the mid-1970s has been the envy of the world. Tellingly, many countries have also seen their road tolls plateau in recent years, wondering what the next step is. Towards Zero was not as successful as we had hoped. Now the aim of the Victorian Road Safety Strategy 2021–2030 is to achieve a road toll of zero. With hard work and a commitment to implementing the improvements recommended in the report, I believe Victorians can reach this target. On behalf the committee, let me thank everyone who participated in this inquiry. The committee received 151 submissions and heard from over 70 witnesses across six public hearings. The evidence came from road safety experts from Australia and Europe, industry groups, transport professionals and Victoria’s road safety partners. I would like to also give special mention to our previous chair and current President of the chamber, Mr , for his contribution at the start of this inquiry, but also fellow committee members: my deputy chair, Mr Bernie Finn; ; Bev McArthur; Mr ; Mr of course; and also the participating members who made a memorable contribution—Mr and . So thank you all for your contributions. I also want to thank the secretariat, who did so much hard work in assisting us and doing the research and putting some of the information together for us: Justine Donohue, Rachel Pineda-Lyon, Maeve Bannister, Cat Smith, Meagan Murphy, Anique Owen, Viv Bannan and of course our secretary, Patrick O’Brien. Their advice to the committee on the broad range of specialist subjects in this inquiry was incredibly important. I commend this report to the Parliament. Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (10:10): Thank you, chair of the inquiry, Mr Erdogan. I congratulate my fellow colleagues who participated in the report and the staff who assisted us. Mr Quilty and I felt the need to put in a minority report, because for a start, ‘beyond zero’ we believe to be impossible to achieve in any case, and the fact that the reliance might be on reducing speed limits in rural Victoria was totally unacceptable to us. We want the roads fixed. We do not want speed limits reduced. That is critical. We also believe there needs to be greater emphasis on preparing international drivers for driving on our roads, especially in my area of the Great Ocean Road, where 20 per cent of COMMITTEES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1301 accidents are caused by international drivers. We are concerned also about the emphasis on safety that requires a rollout of billions of dollars worth of wire rope barriers as the solution to road safety. In many areas we find them more dangerous than the roads themselves. The potholes and the edges on the side of the roads are what are actually critical in reducing accidents and injury on our roads—let alone how the motorcyclists perceive wire rope barriers. We are also concerned particularly about roadside vegetation and the roadsides where we see a conservation zone or a biodiversity area as the priority instead of safe roads. Roads should be safe. They should not be conservation zones or wildlife corridors, because animals actually do not look right, left and right again when they go to cross, let alone getting tangled up in wire rope barriers. So Mr Quilty and I produced a minority report. I hope you all read it. Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (10:13): I will be brief. There are many good parts to this report, and I commend them and the process we went through in producing the report. However, there are a number of recommendations that I could not support, and therefore we produced a dissenting report. Saving lives is very important, but it is not the only value that matters. Measures to reduce the road toll must not sacrifice everything else. Zero is not and never has been a realistic target. The report calls for speed limits to be dropped on poor-quality rural roads because it is too expensive to fix them. Cutting speed limits to 80 kilometres an hour on 80 per cent of our regional roads will devastate regional communities. It is a proposal that only a bunch of city politicians and city-based bureaucrats could have come up with. If you ask country people, they will know it is not supportable, not sustainable. You will kill communities. The report also failed to recommend lifting speed limits on our dual-lane divided motorways, even though that is allowed for under other state systems. We just do not do it. It is a missed opportunity for regional Victoria. 110 is too slow on the Hume Highway. The only thing more important than saving lives is apparently protecting the roadside vegetation. This is not good enough. We need to cut back trees to make the roads safer, especially at intersections. We had more dissenting recommendations, but I will finish it there. I urge you all to read the report. Motion agreed to. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates The Clerk: Pursuant to section 35(2)(c) of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, I lay on the table a copy of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates, including appendices, extracts of proceedings and a minority report. The PRESIDENT: Before I call the member I would like to welcome in the gallery two former members, Ms Amanda Millar and Ms Candy Broad. Thank you and welcome. Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:15): I present the transcripts of evidence and move:

That the transcripts of evidence lie on the table and the report be published. Motion agreed to. Ms TAYLOR: Pursuant to standing order 9.09, I would just like to say a couple of words if that is okay. I would like to say that it was— A member interjected. Ms TAYLOR: I move:

That the Council take note of the report. Thank you for keeping me on track; that is always helpful. It was an incredibly thorough and rigorous process, as should be required, because obviously the public deserve to know exactly how money is PAPERS 1302 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 being expended and in a very thorough and transparent way. As it was, we had everyone from the Premier to ministers to secretaries there day in, day out, answering all questions put forward as honestly and candidly as they could. I can vouch for the fact that it was a very thorough process. We took it very seriously. We understand that it is actually very important for the broader community to have that insight to exactly how expenses are expended on their behalf for all the services that are needed in the community, whether it is the schools, whether it is the hospitals, whether it is the roads— all these services. That is what it is all about at the end of the day. I will also pay my respects to all the participants in the committee. We had members Blandthorn, Maas, Richardson and Richards, and we also had Mr Limbrick, Mr Hibbins, Mr Riordan, Ms Vallence and Mr O’Brien. So I commend all who participated honestly and with candour in this committee, and I commend this report to the house. Members interjecting. Ms TAYLOR: It would have been nice to have been able to have been heard for those members watching on, but of course you had to interject. So be it. Enjoy the day. Motion agreed to. Papers INDEPENDENT BROAD-BASED ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION Annual Plan 2020–21 The Clerk: Pursuant to section 169(4)(c) of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Act 2011, I lay on the table a copy of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s Annual Plan 2020–21. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 13th Report to Parliament on the State of Emergency The Clerk: Pursuant to section 198(8B)(b) of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008, I lay on the table a copy of the 13th Report to Parliament on the State of Emergency. OMBUDSMAN Investigation into the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions’ Administration of the Business Support Fund The Clerk: Pursuant to section 25AA(4)(c) of the Ombudsman Act 1973, I lay on the table a copy of the Ombudsman’s report titled Investigation into the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions’ Administration of the Business Support Fund, April 2021. Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (10:18): I desire to move, by leave:

That the Minister for Small Business make a 5-minute explanation to the chamber about what went wrong with the administration of the Business Support Fund. Leave refused. PAPERS Tabled by Clerk: Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978—Minister’s Order of 3 March 2021 giving approval to the granting of a licence at University Square Reserve. Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986—Minister’s certificate of 30 March 2021 to not require the service of a notice of intention to acquire land, under section 7(1)(c) of the Act. PAPERS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1303

Planning and Environment Act 1987—Notices of Approval of the following amendments to planning schemes— Ballarat Planning Scheme—Amendment C228. Brimbank Planning Scheme—Amendment C200 (Part 2). Casey Planning Scheme—Amendments C230 and C279. Central Goldfields Planning Scheme—Amendment C36. Glen Eira Planning Scheme—Amendment C155. Golden Plains Planning Scheme—Amendment C87. Greater Dandenong Planning Scheme—Amendment C203. Hepburn Planning Scheme—Amendment C85. Hume Planning Scheme—Amendments C248 and C254. Latrobe Planning Scheme—Amendment C124. Melbourne Planning Scheme—Amendment C305. Melton Planning Scheme—Amendments C190 and C227. Mildura Planning Scheme—Amendments C108 and C109. Moreland Planning Scheme—Amendments C203 and C210. Port Phillip Planning Scheme—Amendments C161 (Part 1), C177, C186 and C200. Victoria Planning Provisions—Amendment VC194 and VC197. Wellington Planning Scheme—Amendment C111. Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008—10th Report to Parliament on the State of Emergency, under section 198(8A) of the Act (in lieu of that tabled on 3 February 2021). Statutory Rules under the following Acts of Parliament— Children, Youth and Families Act 2005—No. 22. Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005—No. 30. City of Melbourne Act 2001—Local Government Act 2020—No. 34. Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987—No. 32. Country Court Act 1958—No. 28. COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Act 2020—No. 19. Dangerous Goods Act 1985—No. 27. Education and Training Reform Act 2006—Nos. 24 and 25. Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000—No. 38. First Home Owner Grant Act 2000—No. 31. Local Government Act 2020—No. 33. Magistrates’ Court Act 1989—No. 23. Powers of Attorney Act 2014—No. 37. Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008—No. 15. Public Interest Monitor Act 2011—No. 29. Residential Tenancies Act 1997—No. 20 and 21. Road Safety Road Act 1986—Nos. 35 and 36. Service Victoria Act 2018—No. 26. Supreme Court Act 1986—Nos. 16 and 17. Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998—No. 18. Subordinate Legislation— Documents under section 15 in respect of Statutory Rule Nos. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 1304 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Legislative instrument and related documents under section 16B in respect of Notice under section 96A—Suspension of regulation 13(1)(a) of the Road Safety (Drivers) Regulations 2019 under the Road Safety Act 1986. Proclamations of the Governor in Council fixing operative dates in respect of the following acts:

Education and Training Reform Amendment (Regulation of Student Accommodation) Act 2020— Remaining provisions—18 June 2021 (Gazette No. S152, 30 March 2021). Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018—Remaining provisions—1 July 2021 (Gazette No. S124, 16 March 2021). Police and Emergency Legislation Amendment Act 2020—Sections 3 and 4—7 April 2021 (Gazette No. S152, 30 March 2021). Transport Legislation Amendment Act 2020—Sections 5, 7, 32(1), 32(3), 32(4), 33, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 49 and 50—1 April 2021 (Gazette No. S152, 30 March 2021). Business of the house NOTICES The PRESIDENT: I am aware that there are a significant number of notices of motion to be given today. I would like to remind members that the standing orders allow a total time of 15 minutes. I will try to alternate the call as fairly as possible, but, please, members with multiple motions should prioritise which notices they give today as time may expire before they have all been given. Notices of motion given. Notices of intention to make a statement given. ADJOURNMENT Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (10:37): I move:

That the Council, at its rising, adjourn until Tuesday, 4 May 2021. Motion agreed to. Members statements ANZAC DAY Dr KIEU (South Eastern Metropolitan) (10:37): On Sunday, 25 April, I received the opportunity to commemorate Anzac Day at the Dandenong RSL Sunday service. Anzac Day is an opportunity to pause and stand in solidarity with those who have served our nation in war and peacekeeping, including those who lost their lives for our country. We are forever indebted to all the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for country, freedom and humanity. Neither time nor place can diminish the great contribution of our service men and women, past and present. Lest we forget. FALL OF SAIGON COMMEMORATION Dr KIEU: On another but related matter, Anzac Day also commemorates the 521 Australians who sacrificed their lives in the war in Vietnam. Tomorrow, Friday, we will commemorate the 46th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. Indeed 30 April 1975 is also one of the darkest chapters in Vietnam’s 4000-year history. One million people were sent to re-education camps for years, and more than 165 000 detainees did not survive the hunger, diseases and hard labour. Out of desperation, 1.5 million Vietnamese fled the country. This was the origin of 300 000 Vietnamese-Australians across the country today, of which about one-third call Victoria home. Australia has given us so much but has asked for so little in return; for that we are eternally grateful. MEMBERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1305

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REGIONAL SITTING Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (10:39): It gives me great pleasure to welcome my legislative colleagues to a beautiful part of my electorate of Northern Victoria Region for this regional sitting of the Victorian Parliament. The motion to conduct the sitting in this area comes from a motion that I moved in February last year seeking that the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council both sit in regional communities that were so badly affected by last year’s terrible bushfires. With various committees sitting throughout the week, all open to the public, I am proud that our regional sitting will provide an opportunity for all members of the Council to hear of issues in the local area and also inject much-needed funds into local businesses and accommodation providers. As a Liberal I am proud to be a member of the party that devised the policy of tourism vouchers to encourage Victorians to take holidays in regional areas of the state and provide a boost to regional communities that have done it so tough during the COVID lockdowns. It is pleasing that the government adopted our idea, and the vouchers have been a roaring success as Victorians holidayed locally, pouring millions of dollars into regional communities. The voucher program is due to end on 31 May, and I call on the government to extend the program to ensure continued support for regional communities throughout the quieter winter months. BRIGHT BREWERY Ms LOVELL: I would like to congratulate the Bright Brewery on an innovative recycling scheme involving the collection of Paktech beer can handles. The brewery has distributed recycle bins in local independent bottle shops and supermarkets to collect the can handles, which are 100 per cent recyclable. Well done to the management of the Bright Brewery, and thank you for the delicious dinner that we enjoyed there last night. RURAL AND REGIONAL TAXI SERVICES Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (10:40): Today I want to recognise the struggles experienced by the transport operators in regional and rural Victoria. I was lucky enough to tour our regions only just recently, meeting with many of our hardworking individuals. I would like to thank Bendigo Taxis, who took my team and me out in a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, showing us how things work and sharing their concerns and fears. This was a very important reminder that wheelchair vehicles are an absolutely essential service that is relied on by the community in regional and rural Victoria. We must do what we can to ensure that these operators can continue to operate. I also met the great team down at Taxis of Portland. Small business is tough enough at the best of times in small towns; these unique challenges have been compounded by the devastating reforms of 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, seeing how they have continued to persevere, rebuilding their businesses so they can continue to support the Portland community, is nothing short of inspirational. These stories are not uncommon. Our transport operators in these regions are facing immense challenges, but without them communities can be left with no taxi services at all. It is not difficult to see what a critical role they play in supporting social mobility. For many individuals in rural and regional areas, these taxis are the only way of getting from A to B. There is consensus in the taxi and hire car industry that the government must do more, and I look forward to working with the government to address these challenges. ANZAC DAY Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (10:42): On 25 April we marked Anzac Day around the state. It was very different to last year, when people stood in darkness at the end of their driveways and hoped to hear a bugle somewhere as dawn broke. We came together, albeit in limited numbers, for dawn services, shared silence, the sound of a bugle cutting through that cold air, wreaths laid at cenotaphs around the state and the smell of rosemary amidst it all. Lest we forget the many men and women who gave their lives in service, who give their lives in peacekeeping activities around the world and who continue to contribute in all that they do. MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1306 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

ROYAL COMMISSION INTO DEFENCE AND VETERAN SUICIDE Ms SHING: On this matter, it is pleasing to see that at last the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has been announced and confirmed. This has been so long in the making, and to that end Minister has worked alongside his interstate counterparts, along with so many advocates on the ground whose grief remains so live and so fresh and whose trauma deserves recognition. To that end I want to acknowledge people including Karen Bird, Connie Boglis and Julie- Ann Finney for the work that they have done. INTERNATIONAL WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY Ms SHING: In relation to deaths at work, 28 April marks the International Workers Memorial Day, and 20 workers in Victoria lost their lives in the last year. This includes people in agriculture, construction, law enforcement and the four officers whose anniversary we marked just last week. The work goes on to preserve and protect workplace safety and to never, ever take for granted the fact that people deserve to come home from work alive, safe and well. ANZAC DAY Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (10:44): As I drove to this regional sitting this morning, as the mayor said, Bright was truly looking glorious. The autumnal colours are stunning, and congratulations to everyone for putting this sitting together. I drove past the Bright cenotaph, where wreaths are still at the bottom of that cenotaph, and I was reminded of the services that I attended on Sunday: the dawn service at the East Malvern RSL, the Elwood service on the beach and a service in Caulfield Park. But I think what was so alarming for me and I think for so many Victorians and Australians was the image of a veteran fenced out from the shrine—a very disturbing image where veterans were shut out of the shrine by that high wire fence that went around our shrine locking people out. I think it is a shameful image for Victorians and one that our veterans did not need. I think it insulted all of those people that wanted to attend the shrine and were locked out, with high-wired imagery such as that. Mr Leane interjected. Ms CROZIER: Well, Minister, the high wire fence that was around the— Members interjecting. Ms CROZIER: The high wire fence around the shrine was in contrast to the 78 000 people that were allowed into the MCG. I hope that image does not occur again. Members interjecting. Ms CROZIER: On a point of order, Acting President, I would ask the minister to withdraw the fact that he just accused what I just said of being lying. I ask you to ask him to withdraw that comment. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Gepp): Order! Just in case the local community did not think that they would see the real Parliament here today, here we are on full display. Can I have a bit of order? I ask the minister to withdraw so we can move on. Mr Leane: On the point of order, Acting President, you can call a party as a collective ‘liars’. That is a precedent that has been set by a number of Presidents. I was looking collectively across there, and it is a fact that the opposition continually lie. That is a fact. Ms CROZIER: Further to the point of order, Acting President, Mr Leane has been the President of this very council, and therefore you have made a ruling and I would ask him to abide by your ruling. Members interjecting. Mr Davis: Further to the point of order, Acting President— MEMBERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1307

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Gepp): Mr Davis, I have not called you yet. I have not called you yet, and I will not call anybody until the chamber is silent, please. Mr Davis, further to the point of order. Mr Davis: Further to the point of order, Acting President, Mr Leane called out across the chamber, directly at Ms Crozier, ‘you’. He said ‘you’, and that was at a very specific point in the circumstances of her contribution which she was just concluding. Ms Shing: On the point of order, Acting President, on the basis of the constant interjections which were taking place from the opposition in the course of that contribution, Mr Leane was well within his rights to make the general statement that he did. It is unfortunate that Ms Crozier has taken it as pertaining only to her. I would seek a ruling on that one. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Gepp): I have consulted with the clerks, and in the interests of moving today along— Members interjecting. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Gepp): Thank you for your patience. I will invite the minister to withdraw in the interests of moving things along. I understand the level of discussion that has taken place. Mr Leane: I withdraw. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Gepp): Thank you, Minister. ANIMAL SHELTERS Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (10:50): I started yesterday at Reach Out Wildlife Australia shelter in Myrtleford, where the team and I were lucky enough to meet some rescued baby wombats who would not survive— Members interjecting. Mr MEDDICK: I know, they are adorable—and they would not survive without our state’s hardworking volunteer wildlife carers. That is exactly why I will always advocate for them in the state budget and why we worked so hard with the government to close a loophole and end recreational wombat hunting early in my term. Afterwards I visited Free Spirits Farm Sanctuary in Glenrowan, where we had the absolute delight of bottle-feeding orphaned lambs. Sadly a staggering 15 million lambs become orphaned or die of exposure every year in Australia. That is why I am calling on the government to make shade and shelter a mandatory requirement for farm animals. Finally, I met with Wodonga Dog Rescue and backed their calls to purchase the old Wodonga pound, which has not been used since 2015. Instead, animals are sent to Albury’s facilities. This has been putting a strain on the volunteer-run animal rescue groups. As they are unable to utilise a pound facility, they have less options for housing and fostering out dogs. There are some truly wonderful animal advocates in this region. I would like to thank them for their important work. LEARN LOCAL PROVIDERS Mr MELHEM (Western Metropolitan) (10:51): This week while in Northern Victoria I took the opportunity to visit some of our amazing regional Learn Locals: Corryong Neighbourhood Centre; Birallee Park Neighbourhood House in Wodonga; Yarrawonga Education & Training centre; and Pangerang Community House and Open Door Neighbourhood House in Wangaratta. Learn Locals provide quality preaccredited training programs to enable learners to pursue employment and education pathways to improve their literacy, numeracy and digital skills. These centres are embedded in their community and foster a deep sense of connectedness, and they provide opportunities to vulnerable residents who would otherwise miss out. They step up in times of crisis, which many of these centres experienced during the 2019–20 summer bushfires and the coronavirus MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1308 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 pandemic. The town of Corryong was hit especially hard, and that is why the Andrews Labor government has provided this centre with a $25 000 bushfire recovery grant, enabling the centre to meet the needs of impacted learners and support the recovery of educational provision. At every centre I visited there were amazing success stories, like those of Chelsea and Belinda, certificate III in individual support students in Yarrawonga. Chelsea is a young mum of two, who was originally unsure about her capability to undertake training, while Belinda chose to embark on a new career and path later, in her 50s. Both learners valued the local flexible quality learning offered by the centre, and Belinda has obtained employment at a local disability support service. I also would like to thank all the centres who actually hosted me this week and thank Minister Tierney for announcing the Learn Local Awards, which will take place in the next few months. SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (10:53): Today I want to draw the chamber’s attention to the Ombudsman’s report Investigation into the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions’ Administration of the Business Support Fund. I have to say this is an absolute doozy. This is something the government has stuffed up in the worst possible way—in a cruel way, a way that actually hurts small businesses. I invite the community to read this report of April 2021 from the Ombudsman. The conclusions make shocking reading. I think the community will be shocked when they read that many businesses did not receive a request to revise their application; had minor keystroke errors in their application form and were struck out; disputed the department’s assessment of their eligibility and were struck out; or provided JobKeeper details in the wrong format and were just struck out. These are struggling small businesses in a crisis under COVID, businesses that people’s livelihoods are dependent on, businesses that needed our help. That is why the fund was there. It was right that the fund was there. But it is the job of government, it is the job of the Minister for Small Business, it is the job of other business ministers to actually make sure that they administer these funds properly. The opinion that the Ombudsman came to, on page 97, is something that every Victorian small business should read. It was shocking. In the light of opinion 6 and pursuant to section 23, they are failing to provide business owners with sufficient reasons for its decisions, failing to— Mr Leane: On a point of order, Acting President, I would like you to remind the Leader of the Opposition that it is unparliamentary to point aggressively towards individuals across the chamber. Mr DAVIS: On the point of order, Acting President, I am happy to concede that I was pointing at ministers on the other side. It is something that honestly agitates me—the outcome that has occurred here for small business—and I am very happy to withdraw that pointing. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Gepp): Thank you, Mr Davis. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REGIONAL SITTING Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:56): I too feel very privileged to rise here today in this historic setting of the Legislative Council’s sitting in Bright. I think it is really apt that we are here in this town named after John Bright, the radical and renowned British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1843 to 1889. He was passionate about suffrage, and after many decades of campaigning, the 1867 Reform Act was passed, giving the vote to working-class men, which was the beginning of full suffrage campaigns in the UK and here in Australia. It was in that debate that he also coined the term ‘flogging a dead horse’. BACKTRACK YOUTH WORKS Ms PATTEN: Recently the Reason Party held a screening of the Australian documentary Backtrack Boys. For those who have not seen it, this extraordinary documentary follows a group of MEMBERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1309 troubled young people in rural Australia. Many of these young men cannot see a path forward in life and face dropping out of school and getting caught up with drugs and crime, which will eventually lead them to incarceration. Enter jackaroo Bernie Shakeshaft, who certainly stopped flogging the dead horse and founded the BackTrack Youth Works program, which uses animal-assisted learning and agricultural skills to turn around the lives of some of Australia’s most vulnerable kids. I would like to see innovative programs like BackTrack rolled out widely in Victoria. We need to do everything we can to help prevent the young people of rural and regional Victoria from a life where incarceration, especially among our Aboriginal brothers and sisters, just becomes a natural part of one’s journey through life. INTERNATIONAL WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (10:57): I wish to make a members statement today to mark International Workers Memorial Day, which was held yesterday, as always, on 28 April. I want to commemorate and honour the lives of every Victorian, every Australian and indeed every person in the world who has been killed while at work. It is a day when we have to remember that health and safety at work is a fundamental right. So far in 2021, 14 people have died as a result of a workplace incident or illness in Victoria. I cannot begin to imagine the pain and loss that family and friends and indeed entire communities feel because their loved ones went to work one day and did not come home. We know the agriculture industry is one of the state’s most dangerous, and although it only accounts for 2 per cent of the workforce, Victoria’s incidence of death on farms is significantly above that, and we have already to date had three people die in that industry this year. It is horrific to see anyone lose their life at work, and while we know agriculture is a high-risk industry, it is not an inevitability, and we are working hard, as is WorkSafe, to change those statistics and those attitudes. The Andrews Labor government is committed to making sure that every Victorian worker is safe at work, and we are committed to providing WorkSafe with the resources and the support to do just that. I COOK FOODS Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (10:59): I congratulate Victoria Police Chief Commissioner for his announcement that a review will be undertaken into the investigation of the I Cook Foods matter. This is a most concerning matter, which has seen a local family business targeted and shut down, allegedly based on fraudulent evidence. It has also seen many vulnerable Victorians lose their jobs and, as we have heard, lose their homes. I congratulate Ms Crozier and those involved in the parliamentary committee for bringing many of these issues to light, and there is a strong case for that inquiry to reconvene and conduct public hearings. The Victorian community deserves the truth about this saga, about this scandal, and I would also call on Victoria Police to be transparent in any FOI matter that deals with the I Cook Foods saga. MCCRAE BEACH RENOURISHMENT Mr O’DONOHUE: On a separate matter, I wish to raise community concern regarding the threatened seahorse marine ecosystem in McCrae currently under threat from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. The community is extremely concerned for the welfare of the small but highly significant marine reef ecosystem very close to the shore—where beach renourishment works are currently being undertaken—including the threatened seahorses. I call on the minister to intervene and to make sure that any works conducted do not compromise this very sensitive and very important ecosystem. I join with other members in thanking the local community for the warm welcome here today and acknowledging Anzac Day. The PRESIDENT: Members, I know we are due for question time, but there are only four more members statements, so I might finish members statements first and then go to question time. MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1310 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (11:00): I am saddened by the recent passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, a staunch advocate for the environment. Prince Philip used his public profile for more than 60 years to raise environmental awareness. He spoke out about endangered species, the protection of the Great Barrier Reef, the future of Kakadu, sand mining on Fraser Island, deforestation, logging and whaling in Australia. He was passionate about conservation and the threat of species extinction, using his status to publicly advocate and fundraise for various projects. In 1971 Prince Philip served as one of the early presidents of the Australian Conservation Foundation when few other leaders were discussing conservation or climate change. He was one of the first people to stand up and raise human population growth as one of the most serious long-term threats to the natural world. He went on to say that he lived on a small, very overpopulated island and that Australia had the chance to avoid that fate. The Sustainable Australia Party supports Prince Philip’s concerns, especially about human population pressure on the environment. It seems clear evidence is ignored by the government, and as a result we are seeing our native lands disappear; the loss of green wedges, open space and tree canopy; and species extinction in an unsustainable urban explosion. I hope that we can embrace Prince Philip’s forward thinking and his wisdom. Our ecology must be the primary concern— (Time expired) PEPO FARMS Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (11:02): I had the great pleasure of visiting Pepo Farms yesterday. Oh, my goodness, what a delight! I met Marcus, the business manager, and Sharan, Jay and little Luka. Obviously we talked about all sorts of issues that have impacted them and have impacted so many here locally, including the bushfires and the aftermath as well as COVID-19 and how they pivoted with great agility and were able to make sure that all staff were multiskilled and able to adapt, and therefore they were able to keep their staff on as well, which is a miracle of itself in such difficult circumstances. They spoke about the grant that they have received and what it has done for their business, but I want to commend them on what they have done with the grant, because that is what really matters. The grant was a small-scale and craft business development grant. Basically it is about taking Victorian produce to the world—and what beautiful produce we do have here. Do you know that as a result of their ingenuity they tripled their profits simply by expanding the store so that people could see more of their wonderful pumpkin seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, beautiful walnut oil and pumpkin seed oil? Who knew? I did not even know you could get pumpkin seed oil. It was delicious. Members interjecting. Ms TAYLOR: I do now, and I bought a truckload, and I am going to buy more because they are out there. But what I can tell you is it is sustainable produce too—and no sprays. How cool is that! It was fun. (Time expired) ANZAC DAY Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (11:04): It is great to be here in Bright, and I must look up the pumpkin seeds and see what I can do with those. Anzac Day of course is a sacred day for every Australian, and over the past two weekends I have joined with thousands across Melbourne’s west to show respect, gratitude and love to those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. This nation owes those heroes a debt that can never fully be paid. Sadly this Anzac Day was overshadowed by an image that will stay with me and millions of others for the rest of our days. Never did I think I would see the face of a veteran, a man who risked his life for Australia and lost mates on the battlefield, locked out of the Shrine of Remembrance by the erection of a fence. He and his comrades were denied their right to pay their respects at the dawn service, yet a few hours later across the park almost 80 000 people gathered at the MCG to watch a game of footy. What sort of priorities are these? No veteran should ever be refused entry to the shrine, much less on Anzac Day. The level of disgust I still feel for what happened at the shrine on Sunday is quite QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1311 overwhelming. Whoever is responsible for the erection of that fence should resign or be sacked. This was a disgrace. It was an outrage. It should never happen again. GOULBURN-MURRAY WATER Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (11:05): My colleague and friend the member for Ovens Valley, Tim McCurdy, and I met with Ovens Valley residents and other Goulburn-Murray Water users in Bright yesterday to discuss a very important issue. It has been highlighted that GMW continue to gouge customers, who receive virtually zero customer service. Last year annual fees have doubled, and so has the licence renewal fee. At the same time GMW have changed their renewal fees from 15 years to five years. GMW are providing a revenue-raising source for the Andrews government, with no consideration for those who require this essential service. MALCOLM HOLE Ms BATH: On another matter, I was both saddened and very honoured to attend the funeral of Cr Malcolm Hole, a former mayor who had been in the Wellington shire for 21 years of dedicated service. He was absolutely dedicated to his community of Heyfield and wider. He was a beloved family man with five children and 15 grandchildren. He was a former president of Timber Towns Victoria and a former president of the Australian National Timber Councils Association. Malcolm and I bonded over our mutual passion for timber, for sustainable timber, for a carbon-capturing, job- creating hardwood native timber industry. He was an awesome man. Many in the community feel his loss, and I say vale, Malcolm Hole. Business interrupted pursuant to order of Council of 17 March. Questions without notice and ministers statements VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (11:07): My question is to the Minister for Veterans. Minister, I refer to a letter Mr Noel Sanderson, a member of the Prahran RSL, received from Austin Health’s Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and in particular Mr Michael McKeown, divisional manager of specialty services, mental health division. This letter is dated 18 April this year, and it says:

Austin Health has for many years run the older veterans psychiatry program and rehabilitation work group. He further says:

We are proposing to discontinue both programs from 30 June 2021. And I ask, therefore, Minister: why are you heartlessly allowing or did you direct the repat hospital to slash psychiatric programs for older veterans? Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:08): Can I say from the outset I do sympathise with that individual and his concern. Once again Mr Davis has asked a question to the wrong minister. It should be to the Minister for Health. But can I just say that this is actually quite topical at the moment, with, as Ms Shing mentioned, the announcement of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Veterans clearly understand who has the responsibility for veterans’ and their families’ welfare, and that is the federal government. Because the system administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs has been so ordinary and has let down so many veterans and their families, other agencies and ex-service organisations have just picked up the slack where the federal government has dropped the ball— completely dropped the ball. This is a system where ex-service organisations actually fund—the RSL themselves fund over 10 full-time advocates. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 1312 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The system is so complex that there are full-time advocates paid by ex-service organisations like the RSL out of their Anzac Day appeal to help people navigate a system where there are three different acts—a system where a man who overseas in a recent conflict lost his arm and leg, and his friend who is a veteran said to him, ‘You should get support from the federal government to move house with your disability’. His friend said he would ring up for him, but of course on the other end the computer says no because this particular individual comes under the wrong act. A young widow told me that her husband’s platoon were in an area where the radiation was that high their torches turned on without them switching on. He came home and died of a brain tumour, and his partner gave birth to their first child— Mr Davis: On a point of order, President, the minister has only 20 seconds left in which to answer the question. The very simple question is: will he allow these cuts to the program to occur? Ms Pulford: On the point of order, President, the minister has answered the question. He did so in the first 20 seconds. The PRESIDENT: I ask the minister to continue. There is no point of order. Mr LEANE: To answer the most moronic part of Mr Davis’s question, I did not direct anyone to do anything. Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (11:11): Mr Sanderson has written to me stating the McKeown letter to Vietnam vets seeks to close down the repatriation hospital’s older veterans psychiatry program, and he says it has downplayed and trivialised the existence of the OVPP’s viability and existence. He further says that McKeown, a state government bureaucrat working at the Austin, has forgotten the repatriation hospital is a veterans hospital. That is what he says about a state bureaucrat. I therefore ask the minister: will you stop this absurd and nasty closure of critical and badly needed veterans psychiatric programs? Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:12): Once again—Mr Davis has been here it must be 100 years at least—he knows he is asking the question to the wrong minister. I have not seen this particular letter. If he wants to— Mr Davis interjected. Mr LEANE: Coming from the guy that was shaking his fist at a sky rail in Adelaide! Wrong minister, but I am happy to advocate in any way for veterans welfare. INTERNET ACCESS AND MOBILE BLACK SPOTS Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (11:13): My question is to the Minister for Employment and Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Ms Pulford. During the 2019– 20 bushfires one of the many sets of issues that plagued local communities in Northern Victoria were our longstanding, ongoing problems with internet connectivity and mobile reception. Indigo shire’s CEO, Trevor Ierino, spoke about these problems very publicly last year, when he said the lack of mobile service along major roads into and out of Beechworth, for example, made it near impossible for people in high-risk areas to receive even basic alerts, warnings or updates on conditions. So I ask: what actions, if any, are being taken by the state government to ensure that emergency management considerations are regarded as the most critical priority in fixing mobile black spots and internet access problems in Victoria? Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business) (11:14): I thank Ms Maxwell for her question, and I thank the community of Bright for welcoming us so warmly. Ms Maxwell’s question is absolutely timely, reflecting on the remarks of the chair of the bushfire recovery committee at our welcome reception last night and the comments made so eloquently by both Claire and the mayor QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1313 earlier this morning. They each described the fear and uncertainty of smoke and rapidly changing information, being so close as to be able to see flames. Last night we heard about, ‘Evacuate. No, don’t evacuate. No, go home. Back. Evacuate again’, and one family experienced this five times. Having grown up in a bushfire-prone and indeed impacted area, I can remember well that fear and that anxiety, and of course all anybody wants to know is that they have the most accurate information they can possibly have in the most timely way. So at this regional sitting, which very much came about as a result of discussions in the Parliament about how we can support and hear from our fire-affected communities, this is a very, very important topic. We have been participating in partnership with the federal government for many years now in the mobile black spot eradication program. Different names, different guises and different scales of funding from time to time, but on each and every occasion the input and indeed the final sign-off prior to the minister’s sign-off occurs from the emergency management commissioner. So there is a process where an assessment is made of where the black spots still are, but the emergency management experts in Victoria play a very, very active role in providing advice about sites. I can entirely understand the frustrations and completely acknowledge the legitimacy of concerns in this community around mobile coverage. The terrain does make this challenging, and the telecommunications companies from time to time in particular environments find it difficult to install something that will work in the way that the community wants. We have recently funded six new mobile base stations in Indigo shire, and there was consultation with the local community through the identification of those sites. Just for context as well, we are participating with the federal government’s program and NBN satellite services for public wi-fi internet as well. Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (11:17): Thank you, Minister Pulford. Mr Ierino also suggested last year that the system of choosing locations for mobile black spot funding in Victoria appears to be based more on the commercial interests of telecommunications companies than the emergency management threat. To reinforce that impression I would note that the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions database of potential mobile black spot locations across regional Victoria is not made publicly available, on the basis that it holds commercial-in-confidence data provided under agreement with the mobile carriers. Minister, I therefore ask—this is my supplementary: what changes, if any, will the government be making to improve public awareness and input into decision- making about the areas in Victoria that most need mobile black spot funding? Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business) (11:18): I thank Ms Maxwell for her supplementary question. The commercial viability of mobile towers is very much a matter for mobile carriers, but I want to reassure Ms Maxwell and the community that this does not determine Victorian government funding. That is not a factor that is taken into consideration. The carriers are of course important partners because they play such a key role in building and then maintaining the tower and base station infrastructure. In terms of the publicly available information, carriers do provide public coverage maps, and they are published on the carriers’ websites. For digital plans, the regional digital plans that have been undertaken via regional partnerships over the last three or four years are also publicly released and include an extensive gap analysis, so I think that you will find that the sum of the information that you seek is publicly available. In terms of our next steps as the Victorian government, there was a very significant funding boost to our digital infrastructure programs in the state budget in November last year—$300 million of the $626 million for mobile connectivity to improve the eradication of black spots as well. We will be extensively consulting with communities in the development— (Time expired) QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 1314 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

MINISTERS STATEMENTS: ALPINE VIEW CHILDREN’S CENTRE Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (11:19): It was an absolute pleasure to join with Labor member for Northern Victoria Ms Symes this morning and dedicated teachers and educators to turn the first sod at the expansion of the Alpine View Children’s Centre here in beautiful Bright. I can see why it is called ‘Alpine View’. It would have to be one of the most stunning locations of any kindergarten that I have visited so far. This early learning centre has been successful in receiving a $1 million Building Blocks grant from the Andrews Labor government, and that is part of our $5 billion investment in early childhood education. Once this expansion is complete the two new playrooms will provide extra kinder places for the growing community and also a new area for after-school care. It is just one of hundreds of early learning centres across the state that we are supporting and building and expanding to ensure that every three-year-old right across Victoria has access to the very best education and care. Across the north-eastern Victoria region we have funded 282 individual projects to a total of about $12.6 million in investment, including hundreds of IT and equipment grants and 81 upgrades and capacity-building grants. Kindergarten programs across the Alpine shire have already joined the rollout of the three-year-old kinder program this year, and it is going extremely well, so we are seeing these young children in this region having the benefits of two years of early learning before school. We have heard from local teachers and educators that it has been a terrific success so far. Two years of funded kindergarten ensures children have more time to engage in play-based learning and more time to develop social and cognitive skills and ensures greater opportunities for staff to identify any learning or developmental needs. We are making Victoria the Education State. VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (11:22): My question is to the minister for veterans affairs. Minister, you have supported the royal commission into veteran suicide that was recently announced, for which the Liberal-Nationals have also provided support. Will you request that the royal commission includes in its terms of reference a review of state services so that it can look into the withdrawal of crisis beds at ward 17, a service that caters for our veterans and emergency services personnel? Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:22): Once again that is a question that should be directed to the Minister for Health, but as far as the question about advocating for the terms of reference for the royal commission goes—and I invite Ms Crozier if she wants to—I have set up an email address, which is— Ms Crozier interjected. Mr LEANE: I was asked about the terms of reference, and I am actually answering the question. Minister Chester, the federal minister, wrote to state ministers and asked them to lead consultation on the terms of reference for the royal commission into veteran suicide. I want to hear from veterans, and I have spoken to a lot of veterans, so to make it easy for veterans and their families to put their position on what should be in the terms of reference I have set up an email address, which is [email protected]. That has already been widely put out into the community, particularly the veterans community, and I am open to any suggestions about what should be— Ms Crozier interjected. Mr LEANE: What I am saying is that what I will do—if I could finish— Members interjecting. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1315

Mr LEANE: I am not going to own what I send to Darren Chester. We are going to get the department to collate all the suggestions. Then I am going to get veterans in. Then I am going to get family members in. It is all right for the Johnny-come-latelies to come along, and they are all heroes. They knew—the federal government told them—they were about to announce a royal commission, and then they come out at the last minute and act like they are big heroes. How brave of them! Welcome aboard. The thing is that the royal commission does not belong to politicians. It is the people that advocated for it, the veterans and their families, and I will be listening to them. They will tell us what we send to Darren Chester. I appreciate Minister Chester inviting us to give a submission from our level, and I look forward to hearing from the veterans and veterans’ family members, like the widow that I spoke about before. Her husband lost his life after being in a radiation area where the torches turned on without them switching them on. She came back and had her only child, and she says the Department of Veterans Affairs has torn her soul out for three years. She has not had any assistance. DVA has thrown hired lawyers at her to stop her getting assistance. Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (11:25): I think it is disappointing that the minister would not openly say, ‘Yes, I will advocate for that’. My supplementary question, Minister, is: given veterans requiring crisis care have been turned away from ward 17 because it no longer offers that service, can you explain what you are doing to have these crisis beds restored, as is being requested by many within the veteran community? Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:26): That supplementary definitely should have been addressed to the Minister for Health. I think it is once again Johnny-come-latelies to an issue. I cannot remember them standing up six months ago when I was saying that there should be a royal commission into veteran suicide. Six months ago I cannot remember them writing to Darren Chester and calling for him to support a royal commission into— Ms Crozier: On a point of order, President, I know the minister does not want to answer my question, but I would ask you to draw him back to the crux of this question and ask the minister to answer it. The PRESIDENT: You know I cannot direct the minister how to answer the question. Mr LEANE: President, it is to the wrong minister again. You gave a ruling a couple of months ago around this, and it is kind of sad and pathetic that the opposition is just trying— (Time expired) Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (11:27): I move:

That the minister’s answer be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting. It was pathetic. Motion agreed to. The PRESIDENT: Before I call the next member, I would like to welcome in the gallery a former member, Mr David Evans. Thank you very much for coming. CLIMATE CHANGE Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (11:28): My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. My question today comes from the residents of Bright, who care about the impacts of climate change on their local environment and the wildlife who call it home. The bushfires of 2019–20 are estimated to have resulted in the loss of 3 billion animals across Australia. Minister, given the increasing prevalence and intensity of wildfires in Victoria due to climate change, what extra support is the government planning to provide to support QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 1316 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 vulnerable and affected wildlife, including any increased protection of habitat, ceasing to log burnt areas and more resources for wildlife carers? Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:29): Can I thank Dr Ratnam for her question, which is directed to the minister for environment, and I will make sure— A member interjected. Mr LEANE: Actually the correct minister—good work. That is refreshing for today, isn’t it? So of course I will make sure that question gets directed to the appropriate minister and Dr Ratnam gets a response, as per the standing orders, in time. But can I just say to Dr Ratnam—and I congratulate the people of Bright that did speak to her about this concern—that I had a Teams meeting with a lot of mayors last week, and it was actually the mayor of Indigo who brought this up as a priority. I know they have been talking to a lot of their constituents that are in agriculture. It is a priority for farmers. In saying that, I will make sure that question gets to the minister for environment. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: BUSHFIRE RECOVERY INITIATIVES Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (11:30): 2020 was a year like no other. Bushfires devastated many regional communities, only to be followed by the COVID pandemic. The communities of the Alpine and surrounding regions rallied together, where strength, courage and compassion came to the fore. In Bright today I am so pleased to see the community embrace this regional sitting and welcome us to this beautiful town. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to visit the King Valley and Myrtleford neighbourhood centres. To see and hear firsthand how they have supported their communities is absolutely inspiring. Neighbourhood centres represent the heart of regional communities, and this is profound in times of crisis, as we have seen in the last 18 months. A deep sense of connectedness underpins all that they do, and that is why they are the ideal place for adult and community education. The government introduced a bushfire recovery grant program, and the Alpine shire’s Learn Locals in the Mount Beauty and Myrtleford neighbourhood centres, plus another five regional Learn Locals, received $25 000 each. Great opportunities have since been created. Myrtleford Learn Local is partnering with the Dumu Balcony Cafe here in Bright. Together they are working to build a sustainable workforce by delivering programs in hospitality, agriculture, wine and the ski industries— great skills and opportunities for the local community. Our community service funding supported regional students affected by the bushfires, with scholarships, referral pathways, and wellbeing and trauma recovery programs. Combined, Wodonga TAFE and GOTAFE received $175 000, and they have supported over 900 students. The Andrews Labor government is committed to a positive recovery and building opportunities in this region and throughout Victoria by providing access to skills and training and creating jobs for the future. FIRE SERVICES WORKPLACE SAFETY Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (11:32): My question is to the Minister for Workplace Safety. In 2015 your government’s own fire services review found widespread reports of bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report that was commissioned by your government in response to this review was suppressed by your mates in the United Firefighters Union. Have you as workplace safety minister taken any steps to request your own agency, on its own or in conjunction with VEOHRC, to undertake a comprehensive assessment of bullying, harassment, assault and discrimination in our fire agencies? Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (11:33): I thank Ms Lovell for her question. Let me be very clear that any kind of bullying and harassment in any workplace is unacceptable in this state, and WorkSafe will take significant action QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1317 against any employer who is found not to be adhering to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. As Minister for Workplace Safety it would not be appropriate for me to comment on individual cases. However, we know that the majority of harassment, including sexual harassment, allegations go unreported, so our government is absolutely committed to tackling the issue of harassment. Recently, as you would no doubt be aware, we announced a ministerial task force into the issue of workplace sexual harassment and charged that task force with the development of specific policies to better respond when sexual harassment occurs in a workplace but also to take measures to prevent sexual harassment in Victorian workplaces. We will also look at ways that we can strengthen the occupational health and safety framework in this regard, including asking the task force to see whether or not there should be mandatory obligations on employers of any kind across the state when there are sexual harassment allegations made. I know that the minister for emergency services in the other place is continuing to work with our fire services to ensure that there is genuine and positive cultural change and championing those steps as we move through the reforms of the fire services reform that this government has driven. WorkSafe are also absolutely focused on reducing workplace harm, and as the independent safety regulator in this state that is one of their key priorities. They will improve outcomes for injured workers, including harm and injuries related to psychosocial health. Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (11:35): Minister, there have been numerous media reports over many years of horrendous behaviour occurring in our fire services and complaints about such behaviour being ignored and whistleblowers sidelined. Many women have publicly identified themselves in these reports. In the last couple of months alone these front-page reports have included allegations of rapes, sexual assaults, child pornography, discrimination, bullying and harassment. You are responsible for safe workplaces in this state. What urgent steps have you taken to protect women in our fire services, and do they include reaching out to those women who have spoken publicly of their trauma? Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (11:36): Thank you for your supplementary question. As a member of Parliament and as the Minister for Workplace Safety, I will always stand up for safe workplaces where women can feel valued and where women are not subjected to this kind of unacceptable behaviour. Whether that is in our fire services or whether that is in any other industry or part of the Victorian workplace tapestry, I will be a strong advocate for making sure that this kind of behaviour is not swept under the carpet and that it is acted upon. It is my job as workplace safety minister to make sure that those policies are driven and put in place. It is WorkSafe’s responsibility as the independent safety regulator in this state to actually enforce the law. NORTHERN VICTORIA AMBULANCE SERVICES Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (11:37): My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Ambulance Services. Again I am asking about the failures in delivering ambulance services in Northern Victoria. The Mansfield Courier has been examining the lack of ambulance services in its community and has been talking to local paramedics. Remaining anonymous for fear of losing their jobs, they have told the newspaper that Mansfield is left without an ambulance for long periods, and at weekends, when the local population grows by more than 500 per cent, there is just one ambulance on duty. The paramedics say the increased workload is not only risking patients but also creating danger because they are working around the clock day after day. They say that the addition of just three extra crew would make an enormous difference. If an ambulance gets caught up delivering a patient, there would still be coverage for Mansfield. Given that Mansfield is responding to requests from all over the Hume region, including taking patients all the way to Wangaratta, will the minister undertake a review of the woeful resourcing of ambulance services for Northern Victoria communities? QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 1318 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (11:38): I thank Mr Quilty for his question, and indeed I will refer that to Minister Foley in his capacity as Minister for Ambulance Services. Obviously it is of interest to me too, Mr Quilty, as you are talking about our electorate that we jointly represent. I would like to thank the ambulance paramedics that are so hardworking across our state, particularly those in north-east Victoria. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of them, and indeed I am aware of the issues that have been raised in Mansfield. I would make the point that we know that since the end of the lockdown period demand on ambulance services and emergency departments has increased, with Ambulance Victoria responding to 10 000 more calls than in the quarter before. The Victorian budget last year delivered a record $1 billion of funding for Ambulance Victoria, including an additional $136 million for more paramedics and to get more ambulances on our roads. An investment this year of $14.8 million will deliver targeted additional resources to areas where they are needed. In relation to Mr Quilty’s call for a review into the area, it is certainly something that I support in relation to ensuring that there are adequate services to cover country areas, and it is ongoing work that is supported by the investment of our government to ensure that that occurs. Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (11:39): I thank the minister for her response, which was quite good, as usual. Ambulance services in Northern Victoria and failures in wait times seem to be a constant source of material for me to question this government. I am sure the minister hates hearing from me as much as I hate raising the issue, but I assure you that I will stop as soon as these critical services are fixed and Northern Victoria have the ambulance services they can rely on. I asked last December about ambulance response times in Indigo shire, mentioning then that I had raised the issue in March 2019 and February 2020. I have not yet asked about Alpine shire, but I am sure it will come up. I understand that a man had a 2-hour wait for an ambulance in the main street of Wodonga a few weeks ago right outside my office, and I am told that he subsequently died. I have raised questions about Wodonga response times before as well. Why is the minister happy to leave ambulance services in Northern Victoria under-resourced to the point where people’s lives are repeatedly put at risk? Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (11:40): Thanks, Mr Quilty, for your supplementary question. I enjoy hearing from you. I do not get annoyed at hearing from you, but I do commend your advocacy in relation to this important issue. I will endeavour to receive an adequate response from the minister that addresses your issues and acknowledge this is an ongoing challenge that we are committed to addressing. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: REGIONAL DIGITAL FUND Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business) (11:41): While I did not get to cuddle a wombat like some people, I did have a very nice day yesterday that I would like to update the house on. I had the pleasure of visiting Zeus Coffee Co., a fabulous business in Benalla. There are cafes and then there is Zeus Coffee Co., a multitasking cafe operating alongside a successful screen-print shop in the recently renovated historic cinema building right in the heart of Benalla. With the business about to join the Buy From North East Vic platform, more people can experience all that this fabulous business has to offer. Buy From North East Vic is an online marketplace that has been developed in conjunction with Alpine, Mansfield, Towong and Wangaratta councils and championed and led by the Benalla council. Buy From North East Vic is a fabulous initiative that will enable more small business merchants and makers to take their businesses online, grow and create jobs. I was very proud to announce yesterday that the government has provided a $120 000 grant through the Regional Digital Fund to help further develop this platform and get another 1200 businesses selling online. Businesses, as part of this, are also provided with digital training as part of the project. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1319

The Victorian government’s Regional Digital Fund is also supporting a range of digital projects in areas across regional Victoria. It was a real treat yesterday to visit the Wangaratta Digital Hub, which was established with a Regional Digital Fund grant a few years ago. What an impact it has had on the Wangaratta community, assisting everyone, no matter who they are or what their interest is, to engage in and learn more about digital technology. To illustrate this, I met Ben, who is seven, who is learning about robotics as part of a robotics club that operates after school. And I met Eddie, who is 80, who was a beef farmer for 65 years and never had much cause to learn how to use a computer. But now he is off the farm, has retired and is pursuing a passion for learning about his family history and ancestry. He needed to learn how to use a computer to do this, and so into the hub he went. It is also a wonderful project around helping people with chronic illnesses to better manage their conditions. But the hub is all things for all people in Wangaratta, and it is just wonderful. VICTORIAN REGISTRY OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (11:43): My question is to the Attorney-General. Minister, I refer you to the ongoing significant community concern about problems with contacting Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria. Reports of BDM’s contact centre still being closed for direct public counter and telephone inquiries and long delays in the issuance of birth and death certificates are not only disturbing but causing unnecessary angst, anxiety and trauma in the community, particularly for vulnerable Victorians seeking assistance with death certificates for loved ones. Attorney, why is the BDM contact centre still closed for calls and public counter service, particularly when your government’s health restrictions on office capacity have largely been lifted, including the previous density quotient that had been applied in office-based workplaces, removed as of 9 April? Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (11:44): Thank you, Mr O’Donohue, for your question. It is certainly not an unexpected question. I think many people in this chamber have raised concerns that are coming through their electorate offices at the delays at births, deaths and marriages. It is certainly something that I am seeking to address as a matter of urgency, so I thank for their patience your electorate officers that I know are taking these calls. BDM closed their customer service centre and call centre based on public health advice last year and for the safety of all the customers and the staff at that time. BDM continues to prioritise the minimising of disruption during this time. Customers were directed to apply for all BDM services online, and there is now access to a dedicated phone message service and an email address for urgent inquiries, which I would encourage anyone to direct inquiries to in the meantime. What has happened is that BDM staff were redeployed to assist with COVID-19 operations over the past year, and we are in the process of rebuilding that team. It is not a matter of these people having gone and I can get them back; they have gone off to do other things or contracts have expired. It is not a team that is lying in wait or sitting at home waiting to be redeployed. I have to recruit more people. The department have to recruit more people. I am advised that the call centre will be up and running and services back to normal by 31 May. I can confirm that I have initiated a review to improve the operation and accessibility of BDM’s in- person customer services to benefit more Victorians, including those with diverse needs and indeed vulnerable cohorts. Some justice service centres are already taking BDM appointments, but for the moment the CBD customer service centre, as I said, remains closed until the end of May. But the call centre is the highest priority for me. As you would appreciate, and as I am sure people in this audience would appreciate, being able to access services from any area is a priority, as opposed to having to visit a shopfront in Melbourne. I do acknowledge the issues, Mr O’Donohue, and I am working to address them. Hopefully I can do that as quickly as possible. Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (11:46): Minister, I note your answer, and while some progress in the reopening of the call centre is welcome, I would suggest that 31 May is still unacceptable and is too far away. Will you give an undertaking for the processing of online email QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 1320 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 applications—a time frame by which they will be responded to and dealt with—given that many of the online or email applications have been waiting weeks and months for a response from BDM? Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (11:47): Mr O’Donohue, I can confirm that there is triaging and prioritising of urgent cases going on. That is why there is the urgent phone line, and that is why there is the email address and the staff that are there. As we continue to recruit more people we will endeavour to work through these issues as quickly as possible, and you have my full commitment that I am having weekly briefings in relation to this matter. TIMBER INDUSTRY Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (11:47): My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Minister Tierney, I believe. The world is experiencing a timber shortage crisis, sending prices through the roof and with demand at an all-time high. Reports are surfacing of the price of some containers of structural timber increasing over 30-fold in recent months. The Victorian and federal governments have set aside billions of dollars to boost construction. However, now we are in the midst of a global shortage of structural timber, causing massive delays and financial blowouts in construction. Victoria is perfectly placed to solve this problem. Our native timber industry produces some of the highest quality and most sustainable structural timber in the world. My question is: will the minister act now to cancel the phase-out of native timber harvesting to ensure the long-term security of the construction industry? Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (11:48): I thank Mr Bourman for his question, a question that is directed to the Minister for Agriculture. Can I also thank him and acknowledge his interest in the timber industry. I will refer the matter to Minister Mary-Anne Thomas for a response as per the standing orders. Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (11:48): I thank the minister for her answer. At the risk of verballing the government: when they say no, what are the government’s plans to make construction affordable? Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (11:48): I thank Mr Bourman for his cheeky supplementary. Consistent with the response that I gave to the substantive, I will refer that matter to the Minister for Agriculture. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTRES Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (11:49): I would like to talk about the Federation of Community Legal Centres and their work with the community legal sector to develop a 10-year plan. Community legal centres are, as I am on record as saying, the rock stars of our community legal profession. They comprise passionate people who work every day to deliver what I like to call real justice outcomes. They do this important work because they care about the most vulnerable people in our community, those in need, whether it be in central Melbourne, in suburbia or in beautiful country Victoria. Although the work of CLCs often goes unrecognised, I am certain that most of our country communities are very familiar with their work. Over the last 12 months CLCs have worked especially hard to continue to meet the needs of Victorians. They have adapted quickly and innovatively. CLCs have supported Victorians through the COVID- 19 global pandemic, continuing to respond to diverse issues such as workplace rights, housing and tenancies, consumer and financial issues, discrimination and family violence. Last year the government was proud to announce $17.5 million in funding for legal assistance, including over $7 million for CLCs to meet the challenges of the pandemic. I want to take a moment to thank those in the community legal sector who stepped up to provide legal assistance in bushfire-affected communities. This work is incredibly vital to ensure that people can get QUESTIONS ON NOTICE Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1321 back on their feet as quickly as possible. The increased need for legal services was in part supported through funding from Bushfire Recovery Victoria to support a coordinated legal response, and I thank them for their efforts. With their collective experience working on the front line and in response to increasingly challenging circumstances, CLCs are in a unique position to help change our justice system through advocacy and close collaboration. It is especially timely that they come together now to identify what the next 10 years will look like for the sector. Once again, I look forward to continuing my work with them, and I thank them for their critical support of our communities. We will continue to work together to improve outcomes for vulnerable Victorians and all Victorians who may encounter legal matters. Questions on notice ANSWERS Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (11:51): It has been a busy period. I have 212 answers to questions on notice to furnish today: 630, 1121–4, 1142, 2403–46, 2535, 2547, 2557–62, 2566, 2627–8, 2648, 2677, 2717, 2733, 2738, 2745, 2752–3, 2764, 2775–8, 2793, 2822, 2835, 2852, 2857, 2860, 2910, 2920, 2923–33, 3008–9, 3113, 3117, 3119, 3136, 3152, 3154–6, 3158, 3198, 3211, 3219–50, 3301, 3304, 3310, 3312, 3314, 3322, 3324–54, 3357–60, 3362–3, 3374–9, 3381–9, 3391–2, 3396–403, 3407, 3409, 3411, 3420, 3450, 3452. Questions without notice and ministers statements WRITTEN RESPONSES The PRESIDENT (11:51): Regarding questions and answers today, Mr Leane, two days, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change; Ms Symes, two days, question and supplementary, ambulance; and Ms Tierney, two days for the question and supplementary. Constituency questions NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (11:51): My constituency question is for the Minister for Regional Development. In discussions with councillors and executive officials of the Alpine shire and other fire-affected shires located in my electorate of Northern Victoria Region, it is evident there is a need for the state government to provide funding to assist councils to plan for proposed council-led infrastructure projects. After every major disaster, be it bushfires, floods or storms, funding for shovel- ready projects usually forms a major part of any government’s response. However, this government constantly fails to provide funding to assist shires with the necessary planning and the development of business cases to get projects shovel ready. Will the minister commit to funding to assist shires with the necessary planning and the development of business cases to get projects shovel ready? WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (11:52): My constituency question is directed to the Minister for Workplace Safety and Minister for Early Childhood, the Honourable . The Kinder Tick is a new Andrews government initiative to help parents and carers navigate the kinder programs. It has been rolled out not only in my Western Metropolitan Region electorate, which I share with the minister, but to all the funded early childhood services right across Victoria, including here in Bright. I understand the minister was at the Alpine View Children’s Centre here in Bright only this morning to turn the sod to mark the commencement of their expansion works. My question to the minister is: can the minister update me on what criteria is used to determine which early childhood services display the Kinder Tick and how the introduction of Kinder Tick will make it easier for parents both here in Bright and across regional Victoria as well as in the Western Metropolitan Region CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1322 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 to find government-funded and approved quality kinder programs to help give children the best early childhood education to ensure they are ready for school and ready for life? WESTERN VICTORIA REGION Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (11:53): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Recently I met with the Yarriambiack and Buloke shire councils to discuss issues that they are experiencing. It will come as no surprise that housing, population, unfilled jobs and financial stability are the major issues for most regional councils in western Victoria, indeed right here as well. There are not enough houses to attract more residents, which is leading to unfilled local jobs and hindering the ability for sustainable revenue for councils. Although there are other complex matters at hand, this is the simplest way to put it. One reform option within the Rural and Regional Councils Sustainability Reform Program report from December 2017 was a small shires stabilisation fund, described as an infusion of funding that will help councils under immediate financial pressure to stabilise their finances and maintain infrastructure. The omission of funding streams, such as the fixing country roads program, are also contributing to the financial stress put on our most at-risk councils. My question is: has the Minister for Local Government had any conversations with key stakeholders about the creation of a stabilisation fund to provide financial support for the operating costs of our smaller and at-risk councils? EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (11:55): I had the honour of spending Anzac Day with members of the RSL sub-branch at Box Hill, and I want to thank John Haward, the president there, for inviting me along to the dawn service and then to carry on and spend time with many members of the branch, many of whom of course are veterans themselves, afterwards. It was a beautiful service, and it was great to be there. Now, the Minister for Veterans was talking during question time about hearing from veterans and listening to veterans. Well, I spent Anzac Day listening to veterans, and they wanted me to come along today and to ask one question on their behalf. I will ask that of the minister—that is, ask him to release the health advice to them on which he based his decision on Anzac Day. I continually heard, ‘Why is it okay for people to be crammed into the MCG cheek by jowl when at the shrine, at Box Hill and at other centres there were such onerous restrictions on veterans and on those who wanted to go along on what is’—I think—‘the most important day on our calendar to pay their respects?’. Members interjecting. The PRESIDENT: Order! I would like to remind members that constituency questions are related to your electorate, not a broader issue about the state. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (11:56): My question is to the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, regarding the need for Corryong Foodshare Services to have a permanent site for their relief efforts. Corryong Foodshare delivers to Walwa, Cudgewa, Thowgla, Biggara, Nariel Valley, Corryong township and everywhere in between, clothing and feeding over 110 families last year. They have operated from the Scout hall for a number of years, but this is no longer possible for the long term and they urgently require a permanent home. Investment for regional food hubs is welcome, but the geographical distance between Albury-Wodonga and Corryong demonstrates the need for a dedicated food-share premises instead of operating out of a borrowed building soon to be reclaimed. My question to the minister is: will he meet with Corryong Foodshare and discuss potential solutions so they can continue providing vital support to bushfire-affected and vulnerable people? WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (11:57): My constituency question is to the Acting Premier. A large crowd of locals will gather on the Village Green in Sunbury at midday this Sunday to protest CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1323 against the Andrews government’s plan to dump toxic soil at a site on Sunbury Road. Many thousands of locals are desperately concerned about the impact of carcinogenic PFAS material on their health and that of their families. To make matters worse, this material will potentially be dumped literally across the road from new residential developments. My constituents in Sunbury and Bulla have previously objected to this soil being dumped in their communities but have so far been ignored by the Premier, the Minister for Planning, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, the Minister for Transport Infrastructure and two health ministers. I am speaking at the rally on Sunday, and I ask the following question in the hope I can relay the answer to locals on that occasion. Acting Premier, will you listen to the concerns of my constituents and act to ensure their health and lives are protected from the threat of poisonous, toxic soil? NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (11:58): My constituency question is for the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Earlier this month I was contacted by a 35-year veteran volunteer firefighter from a local brigade. He told me that the CFA is discontinuing first aid training for volunteers. Volunteers will still be required to have first aid training and will be required to renew this training regularly, but they will now have to pay for it themselves. They already volunteer their time; now they will apparently have to fork out for training as well. It is no secret this government has a pattern of pushing aside the volunteer firefighters of the CFA in favour of professional firefighters and of undermining the CFA, a pivotal part of regional Victoria. This move appears to be just another brick in the wall. Minister, can you confirm that Northern Victorian CFA members will be required to pay for their own first aid training? NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (11:59): My constituency question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and it is concerning my electorate—particularly Epping, in my electorate of Northern Metropolitan Region. I wonder if the minister could advise me so I can advise my constituents why a speed camera was set up on the feeder road to Epping RSL at 4:30 am on Anzac Day morning as thousands of local residents were arriving for the very important dawn service? SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): My constituency question is to the Minister for Health. Residents in my electorate are concerned about emergency health services. This follows the tragic passing this week of a Caulfield North woman who waited over 6 hours for an ambulance and new reports of 10-hour waiting times in local hospital emergency departments. Residents are concerned that projected population quotas set by the government for Glen Eira indicate that rather than the 900 new apartments and houses being built as per the government’s quota, developers are currently pushing this to 1400 houses or apartments per annum and that the government is supporting this increase, pushing for the rezoning of lower intensity commercial zones to become high-rise dogbox zones. Does the minister concede that Victoria’s population has outgrown our health infrastructure and that this fact is responsible for this tragic situation? WESTERN VICTORIA REGION Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:01): My question is for the Minister for Education. At a recent school assembly at Brauer College in Warrnambool all male students were asked to stand up and apologise to girls on behalf of their gender. Innocent boys were disgracefully made to feel like culprits for crimes they never committed. The political left in this country continues to perpetrate an insidious culture of collective guilt. Our schools should instead be promoting a mantra of personal responsibility. We saw recently a similar incident at Parkdale Secondary College, where boys that were white and Christian were told they were oppressors. Clearly this is becoming common in the Victorian education system under Labor. Minister, does your government endorse these actions of government schools, including Brauer College? CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1324 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:02): My question is to the Minister for Health. I received an email from a constituent last week after reading the concerns that Mr Hayes has just raised around the stresses on our health services and the tragic loss of that young woman in Caulfield. My constituent woke on Friday, 16 April, in great pain and called an ambulance at 3.15 am. None arrived, and he rang again as he was advised to. Eventually a taxi turned up to take him to the Alfred emergency entrance. He had to have blood tests and CAT scans and received an analgesic to relieve the pain, so he was in quite some distress on that arrival at the Alfred hospital. My question to the minister is: what advice is being provided to taxidrivers and specifically the taxi industry when these drivers are transporting ill patients to emergency departments, in the event that the patient’s condition deteriorates? EASTERN VICTORIA REGION Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (12:03): I raise a matter for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and it relates to the location of the proposed Pakenham East railway station. Minister Allan has identified the location of this new railway station—outside the precinct structure plan area which has been undertaken for Pakenham East—in a low-density residential area. It has come as an enormous shock to the local residents, most of whom live in that area for that exact reason: it is a low- traffic, low-density urban interface area. I have raised this issue with the minister previously, unfortunately with no response. The question I have for the minister is: will she meet with concerned local residents to hear their concerns firsthand about the impact the location of this new railway station will have on the enjoyment of their properties and on their lives? EASTERN VICTORIA REGION Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:04): My constituency question is for Minister D’Ambrosio, and it relates to Parks Victoria’s responsibility for infrastructure. The fires devastated East Gippsland 16 months ago, creating in their devastation the loss of boardwalks, jetties, trails and infrastructure related to tourism. My constituent is an integral part of the East Gippsland tourism association. To date there are three specific areas of concern to my constituent: the infrastructure at Mallacoota, the Cape Conran coastal boardwalk and the Wingan Inlet boardwalk. My constituent wishes to know: will the minister commit that Parks Vic will have completed those infrastructure upgrades by the September school holidays so that tourism can return to normal in East Gippsland? SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (12:05): My constituency question is for the attention of the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and it concerns the Surrey Hills and Mont Albert level crossings, which influence my electorate and Dr Bach’s and Mr Atkinson’s electorates as well. It is a very important crossing removal project supported by all, and it is a rail-under proposal, and we all support that. But what we do not support is the removal of two stations and their replacement with a single station at the loss of the Lorne Parade Reserve area. I should say that Lorne Parade has an interesting history. Dick Hamer saved that reserve in the 1970s when he was Premier, and now another Hamer is going to get rid of it. But my question today is: will the Minister for Transport Infrastructure visit the Lorne Parade residents group that is trying to save that parkland? The PRESIDENT: I would like to remind members and guests that the farmers market will be open until 2 o’clock, so make sure you visit it. Sitting suspended 12.06 pm until 1.34 pm. MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1325

Motions BUSHFIRES Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources) (13:34): I move:

That this house acknowledges the 2019–20 bushfires and their devastating impact on regional communities. I do so because this is the main reason that we have come to Bright and why the Legislative Council has taken over the pavilion, has booked out a lot of accommodation and has been spending up big in the farmers market and in town for the last couple of days and will continue to do so hopefully over the next 24 hours or so. On behalf of the members for Northern Victoria—the five of us that are here— we are very proud to showcase our region to our parliamentary colleagues and to the Parliament staff, and we are very happy to have you in this beautiful part of the world. There is no doubt that the impact of the fires has had a devastating ripple effect on communities in the north-east and indeed East Gippsland and will continue to do so for some time. It has been discussed in the Parliament over the last 12 months, or 16 months since the fires, many times. We have had condolence motions and indeed have spent many hours acknowledging the hurt, the loss, the efforts of those who have responded and those efforts that have gone into recovery. Over that period we know that there were fires of immeasurable scale. Many families lost their homes and their livelihoods, while the loss of our natural environment and farming land was almost beyond comprehension. We know that the communities that were affected by these events will be changed forever. I certainly will again take the opportunity to pay a personal tribute to those who tragically lost their lives in those terrible fires. Some of those who lost their lives, as we know, did so while serving the community and helping to protect Victorians, their homes and our wilderness. For their friends, families and co-workers, I know that this pain is immense and I know that it continues. I, as a member for Northern Victoria and as a north-east Victorian, spent time up in the most impacted areas in January last year, particularly around Walwa and Cudgewa. It is always devastating when you visit natural disasters and see the impacts on communities, but one of the things I think most politicians can reflect on is that you are always a little bit concerned about inserting yourself. You do not want to get in the way of the experts or the first responders, and you are always conscious of that when you turn up to these events. But what is becoming very evident to me the longer I am in this role is that people are so happy that you are there. They are so happy that their elected representative cares, that you want to be there to hear their stories and respond to their concerns and bring back their stories, particularly to Parliament and to Melbourne. So although there was immense tragedy and immense loss, I am so incredibly proud of the communities and their response to the fires. They are resilient communities; they rallied together. Those evacuation centres and centres that were providing the emergency provision of food and water and the like and the amount of people that were just there to roll up their sleeves and help one another are something that as Victorians we should all be very proud of. I certainly again want to thank our emergency services workers, the first responders, the CFA, the SES, Parks Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victoria Police and everyone involved in fighting the fires. I would also like to thank and acknowledge the councils and their staff, the community organisations and the local businesses that provided respite and meals during the impact period and continued to provide for the weeks following. Thank you also to the many volunteers through Rotary and BlazeAid that came to help rebuild, supporting farmers to contain stock, clear debris and rebuild fences. You are always at risk of not thanking everyone, and I am sure I will miss some people, but from that period I would like to reflect particularly on the Towong councillors and their CEO, Juliana Phelps. As we know, the fires impacted our entire region, but they were really in the eye of the storm, I have to say. I do not think they slept or had days off for probably close to three months. Those efforts were MOTIONS 1326 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 enormous, and so I would just like to thank them for their continued support of their community and the way they just kept going back and back. Other people that particularly stood out during this period would include Sandi Grieve, the CEO of Walwa Bush Nursing Centre. I visited Walwa about a week after the fires. They still did not have power, they did not have any phone service but they turned the bush nursing hospital into the one-stop shop emergency place for their community. I visited there this week, and I have got to say they are continuing to provide ongoing support for that small town and for the people in that region, who are still struggling, as we know, with the effects of fire and obviously the impacts of COVID and social isolation over the past 12 months. It is amazing who you meet in small country towns. If you could replicate someone like Sandi Grieve and put her in every country town, I think they would be well served for those endeavours. Another person who I was very impressed with was the district manager of DELWP, Dave Jenson, during the time of the fires. I saw him this week, and he reflected on the time. He said when he first came up to the area and was working with DELWP he sort of flew under the radar a little bit, but after the fires he did live stream community meetings. I watched all of those, and it was just impressive with the information that he was providing to the community about the ongoing threats and the suppression efforts and the like. He said he used to like being sort of anonymous, but now he likes the fact that he is recognised in nearly every country community up in this region because of the efforts that he did at the start of last year. They are the type of local heroes that country communities rely on. There are also a couple of other people in terms of the efforts at Corryong: Dominic Sandilands and the principal of Corryong College, Fran, as well. They are just rock-solid community members that not only were integral to the fire response but are still there for the fire recovery. It is timely to actually just touch on the recovery, and we heard last night that this is going to be an ongoing process. We have learned from Black Saturday as well that a decade on there are still issues to be dealt with and there is still support that is required. And that is why in last year’s budget the Labor government provided around $465 million particularly targeted at the Victorian tourism industry. We know that tourism took a battering. We have heard from several people in this region— and thank you so much for sharing your stories with members of Parliament—that producers and those that rely on the tourism industry did take a hit. Having new visitor accommodation, improving tourist trails, having the Regional Tourism Investment Fund and having the very popular vouchers for $200 to attract more people to regions have been really, really popular. We are hoping to support more and more regional events through the Regional Events Fund, and there is obviously dedicated support for the north-east and for the Gippsland area. It is great to see people returning to country Victoria. Most of country Victoria is heaving at the moment with visitors from Melbourne and interstate, and that is absolutely integral to the economic recovery—but it is also integral to the social recovery, I think. Talking to people about their stories, hearing how they are going—that in itself helps people recover because knowing that Victorians care about one another is something that I think gets people through. And I certainly believe that Victorians are among the best at doing that, supporting each other and pulling each other through, whether it is through signing up to the local wine club or buying the cheese—but just those conversations. Having the event here today I think is also part of the recovery, and I hope that everyone is enjoying those conversations. I know that the feedback that I am getting from locals is that they are very happy that we are here, and they are very happy to be sharing their stories about how they are going right now. Whether it is in relation to recovering from COVID or the fires, they are just happy that we are here and that, as members of Parliament, we care. I do want to touch on the economic stimulus package the government announced not too long ago, with some of the really good investments. Obviously I am a passionate supporter of north-east Victoria, and anything that we can do to enhance what is already beautiful is a good investment as far as I am concerned. Five million dollars has gone in to boost the tourism infrastructure and visitation MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1327 along the Great River Road; $2.6 million has gone in for new and upgraded infrastructure along the Dargo High Plains Road; $2.17 million has gone to support Upper Murray Inc.’s plan to protect communities against power outages and reduce running costs; $1.3 million has gone to the Mansfield Autism Statewide Services to further develop their family accommodation units; Wines of the King Valley will be developing a smoke sensor network, with funding; and Alpine Hotel in Bright is going to undergo a really good redevelopment—and as the entry point to Bright, it is a fantastic project— obviously just capitalising on what we know is a huge drawcard to this region, cycle tourism. These are projects that I am very proud to support, and I know that with the adequate investment and the dedication of the passionate people of this area they will continue to provide further offerings for people that want to visit this beautiful part of the region and indeed perhaps to relocate to this region. One of the investments—this morning I had the pleasure of being with Minister Stitt—is making further places available for the littlest people in Bright so that childcare provision is available for those families that want to move here. I am very proud of this region. Their recovery is ongoing. As a government we want to send that message that we are here and continue to be here with you. We want to work with you on projects of recovery that are important to you, but most importantly we want them led by resilient, determined locals at every step. I think the take-out for the members of Parliament here visiting the north-east, talking to the people of Bright, talking to the people of the surrounding areas, is that it is fantastic community leaders that we know are going to get this community through. And with the support of your local councils and the support of the government, I am sure that we will get there. But I do acknowledge that these challenges are still real, and ongoing efforts will not be diminished from the government. I will leave it there and enable other speakers to contribute to this important motion, but I again take the opportunity to thank all of the community for visiting today. I thank the Parliament staff for their efforts in bringing the Parliament to Bright. I would encourage anybody that is visiting to ensure that you are digging deep into your pockets. It is pretty easy when there is the produce out there, but if you are staying in the region for a bit longer, please continue to support local businesses and indeed return with your families anytime. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Melhem): Thank you, Ms Symes. Before I call the next speaker I just want to acknowledge Tim McCurdy, the member for Ovens Valley, in the gallery here today. Welcome, Tim. Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (13:46): I too rise to join in this motion acknowledging the impact of the bushfires on my electorate of Northern Victoria Region, and I would like to start by first acknowledging the deaths of five Victorians in those fires. One of those, Mat Kavanagh, was actually a resident of Northern Victoria, from Alexandra. He was an employee of Forest Fire Management Victoria and was killed in the line of doing his work during the bushfires. The other four were in the Gippsland fires: Bill Slade, Michael Roberts, Fred Becker and David Moresi. I extend my deepest sympathies to the families and the friends of those who were killed. As Ms Symes said, the effects of the bushfires were devastating to our region here in Northern Victoria and also to Gippsland. It was a horrific fire season, one that we have never really seen before and one that we hope we will never see again. I am not going to go through all of the devastation that happened in the area, but what we do know is that 42 homes were lost or destroyed or made uninhabitable in the Towong shire and one here in the Alpine shire in the north-east. The north-east were very much the forgotten fires. The media all arrived down in Gippsland very early in the piece. Gippsland had all those visuals of tourists stranded on the beach and there was very much a focus on Gippsland. For a while our fires here in Northern Victoria went very much under the radar. That is not to say that they were any less devastating to those who were involved in those fires and to the communities where the fires happened. They certainly were tragic. As a local member I was up here with Bill Tilley, our member for Benambra, around the Walwa, Cudgewa and Corryong communities helping people there MOTIONS 1328 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 who needed assistance and also throughout this region. Although there was less impact in the Alpine shire, the effects of the fires were felt tremendously, and the lack of tourism cost $90 million in this shire alone. But whilst there has been a lot of work done in recovery, we know that there is still a lot more to be done. We are here to hear from the community about that impact and the impact that is still happening and how much more needs to be done to help the community to recover. Yesterday at the reception we heard from the chair of the Alpine shire community recovery committee, Fiona Nicholls, that there is much still to be done in this region. We also heard this morning from the mayor, John Forsyth, and Young Achiever Award recipient Claire Lock about the impacts that are still being felt in this region and how they need to be addressed. Mental health is one of the things that really needs assistance. The physical damage is highly visible, but the mental toll is still mounting. One farmer actually said that making a decision was like juggling six pots on a four-burner stove. Elderly farmers have struggled to access support networks, and they cannot understand the delays in getting things done—things like approvals to remove trees and fence lines and re-establishing fences. The silence and rejection that they receive from support hotlines is often horrific for them. They do not understand. They just want to get on with the work, and they do not understand why they are being held up because of rules that fail to recognise how farms work. Governments need to be more agile. They need to be more receptive to people’s needs after these horrific events. Many of our local people have required urgent intervention for their own mental health and safety and wellbeing. I actually pay tribute to Bill Tilley, our member for Benambra, and his office. That team have really done a tremendous job in connecting some of those who have been affected the most with services. And this morning, as I said, we heard from both John Forsyth and Claire Lock that mental health is one of those ongoing issues that is still really affecting people who have suffered from the bushfires, and it is even having an impact on children. Children are still scared—they are still scared of the fires—and I would say to government: you should really think about the types of ads you put on TV to advertise a fire season after a summer like we had in 2019–20, because the ads that ran at the start of the 2020–21 summer season were terrifying children. Visuals of the fires coming and of being caught in the fires were actually terrorising those children and bringing all that trauma back that they had suffered the summer before. So whilst we think that ads that are in your face might make you think more about your bushfire plan, we need to think of the effect that they have on people who have recently been through a horrific event like that and how they bring back those memories in their minds. Another issue that is really affecting people who want to rebuild in the area is the BAL rating, the bushfire attack level that they have to rebuild their homes to. As I said, we know that 42 homes were destroyed or made uninhabitable in Towong and one here in Alpine, but only a handful of homes have actually been rebuilt, and that is partly to do with the difficulty in attracting trades and builders, because there has been so much work, but it is also because of the increased cost of building to the BAL standards that is required after the fires. Many people have actually been forced to defer rebuilding because they just cannot afford to rebuild. People accept that when you build a brand-new home, if you buy a vacant block, you have to build to a certain standard, and they build a home to that standard and they insure it to that cost. But the homes that were destroyed were existing homes. They were built to a lesser BAL standard than they are required to be rebuilt to and they were insured for the value that they were valued at—people never really expected to have to rebuild—but subsequently their insurance did not cover that extra cost of the increased BAL standards. This can be up to $30 000 or $40 000 in addition to what rebuilding your home costs, so to rebuild exactly the same home that you had before might cost an additional $40 000 on top of what that house was valued at before. In the High Country we are also seeing problems with this. The BAL standards in the alpine villages have gone from 29 to 40. The villagers are unable to get any insurance on the existing buildings even, and this is because the insurers are saying they are at too big a risk from bushfires. That lack of insurance actually puts them in breach of their mortgage if they have a mortgage and puts them in MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1329 breach of the resort management lease as well. We heard from the resort management yesterday at the tourism inquiry here, and they said they are kind of turning a blind eye to the fact that they have not got insurance because they know they cannot get insurance, but I do not know that the banks would be terribly happy about that for those who have mortgages on their properties. They need the government to work with them. This is a market failure. This is why we have section 29A of the act, which allows government to step in when there is market failure and to provide some measure to provide insurance to people. Certainly in the alpine villages we have a market failure. It is not only around getting insurance for existing buildings, but also people cannot get builders insurance for any projects that are underway or that they want to commence at the moment either. So the government do need to work with the alpine management in this area, at both Falls Creek and Hotham, and to step in and provide a way for them to be insured and for them also to get builders insurance. Some of the problems are being caused because of silt and washaways on properties. The loss of trees during the bushfires and the lower storey of vegetation, combined with the heat during the fire, turned that ground into a hard bed, and any subsequent rains have just washed silt and debris and ash into waterways, which has affected domestic and stock water supplies. One farmer up at Thowgla Valley has had to clean up his property 13 times. The debris blocks the culverts, and the silt and the ash flood his property and around his home. He has just said he just cannot do it anymore. He could not afford to pay for someone to do it, and his mental health is suffering because of this. So one of the things that needs to be considered by government after bushfire events is also freshwater supply, and it must be part of the recovery after any future fires. We also need to think about having some protocols in place in areas where we know there are bushfires and we know their effects on certain industries. One of the industries that was affected not so much by fires coming through but by the smoke damage that comes from fires was the wine industry here in the valley. We actually had wineries as far away as Rutherglen where their crops were damaged because of smoke taint. As the mayor told you this morning, you do not want to drink wine that has been made from grapes that are smoke affected. This meant that the wineries lost their entire crop. Dal Zotto told us yesterday it had about a $6 million impact on them, the loss of their grapes. Wineries cannot afford to actually carry those losses year after year, but what they need to know very early on, before they invest any more money in their crops and harvesting those grapes, is how badly affected the grapes are. One of the initial problems that we had was getting the grapes tested, with access to labs for that testing of smoke taint on the grapes, so we could know if they were badly affected—they could just be stripped—or whether it was worth continuing with that crop to produce some other types of wine or some cleanskin-type wines. It did take a while, but I do thank Minister Symes, who did pave the way to opening up some of the government labs to do that testing. It just took a little bit too long. That is why I am saying, if we have protocols in place where we know that bushfires are going to have a huge effect on an industry, every time there is a bushfire we could actually get that happening much quicker. So I would encourage government to look at the learnings from the bushfires and what can be put in place for future bushfires, whether they be in this region or whether they be in other regions, to ensure that we can embark on the recovery processes quicker. As I said, as we heard from the chair of the recovery committee last night, the mayor this morning and the junior citizen, there is still so much to be done to assist in the recovery, and I do call on the government to provide that assistance. I also would like to put on record my thanks to our emergency service workers, and that is the Country Fire Authority, both volunteers who came from all over the state to help us and the career firefighters who were involved in that fight. It could be the SES, Forest Fire Management Victoria—as Ms Symes said, when you start naming these people, you are going to miss someone; I do not mean to miss anyone. I thank all those emergency service workers. I thank the shires in the local area that have led the emergency response and the recovery response. They have all been absolutely fantastic. MOTIONS 1330 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

I thank the volunteer organisations like Rotary, the CWA and the Red Cross, who are all there every time we have an emergency in our region, and BlazeAid, who came and helped with the recovery process, and anyone else who was involved in that. I also thank councils from around the state who sent some of their workers to our local government areas to assist the local government areas. When you have an event like this in your local government area, it creates an enormous amount of work for the shire in leading the response, but what you need to remember is that people who work for the shire are likely to be the ones who have had their homes burnt down or their fences on their properties burnt or something. They are the ones who are going through the trauma, too. And councils from all over the state sent staff, particularly to the Towong shire, to assist them in their dealing with the emergency response. I am still in awe of the response that the Victorian community had to our area here and to Gippsland in helping us to get through those fires and to start the recovery phase, but there is a long way to go and I encourage the government to continue to invest in bushfire recovery in this area. Mr GEPP (Northern Victoria) (14:01): I too rise to speak on the motion brought to the house by the Leader of the Government and my friend and colleague here in Northern Victoria, Ms Symes. Gee, what a last 18 months this community has had up here in north-east Victoria and of course down in Gippsland. I am sure there are going to be representatives from eastern Victoria who are also going to speak on this motion and the devastation of the bushfires over the 2019–20 Christmas period. Of course we spin out of that tragedy, out of that disaster, into COVID and all of the things that we would expect to occur almost immediately start coming to a halt because of a global pandemic. It is truly a great tribute to this community and the community of Gippsland, their outstanding resilience over what has been a dreadful period of time. It should not be lost that, at the same time that we had the devastating bushfires here in north-east Victoria and in Gippsland, in other parts of Northern Victoria, the electorate that I also share with Ms Symes and Ms Lovell, we had drought over in the Mallee. We had a terrible drought affecting those communities. We had over that period of time just every imaginable tragedy that just seemed to impact right throughout our electorate of Northern Victoria. I know from speaking to others who share this electorate, including Ms Maxwell and Mr Quilty, that it is not lost on us that it almost at some point became overwhelming—the devastation that was impacting the communities that we are elected to represent. It is a big electorate, it is 100 000 square kilometres, and the biggest. Clearly when you have got a backdrop like we have today, Ms Symes, we can arguably say the best, can’t we? Ms Symes interjected. Mr GEPP: I think we can, too; I think we can be that bold. Can I also say to the local community my thanks for hosting us today and this week, as people have been running around to all different parts of the electorate and out there with the community. That you can stop and take time to host us after what you have endured in the past 18 months is an absolute credit to you. Before I move on to talk about some of the things that the government has done, I do not want to take up my full 15 minutes, because I know there are a number of people who wish to speak on this. We heard last night from the chair of the recovery committee and we heard from the mayor, but we also heard from Claire Lock. To you, Claire, I think I can confidently say on behalf of all members, without having spoken to anyone about it, that all of us were filled with joy this morning knowing that there are young people in our communities who will take over the baton of these roles in years to come. If you are the example of future parliamentarians, then this place is going to be in very, very good hands in the future, and I certainly hope that you aspire to take someone in this room’s job, including my own. So thank you, and thank you not just for being such a wonderful example of a young person in Northern Victoria but for the work that you do—the advocacy work that you do. There is nothing quite like peer advocacy, I think, in terms of a connectedness for people who are going through various traumas in their lives, so to have somebody so young but so wise is an absolute MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1331 credit to you, your family but also your local community. And the message that you brought forward to us this morning is not lost. It is not lost. We do understand that when the flames go out, when you can no longer smell the smoke, that does not end the trauma—the trauma is enduring. There is an economic legacy that is left, there is a mental health legacy that is left and it takes a long time to recover. Recovery may well take 10 years. I was very privileged before I came into this place to work with my very good friend and colleague Ms Garrett, from Eastern Victoria, in emergency management. We know from that time, during the period when we were entrusted with that portfolio, of the devastation that bushfires bring to communities and the enormous effort that must go on and the continued focus that must go on in terms of recovery. There is no end point; it is a continuum and it is something that we have got to be vigilant about. Claire, your messages this morning I think for all of us have been indelibly left in our minds and are something that we will all take back to Spring Street, regardless of where we come from, and we will ensure that when we are talking to the government minister or the departments those things will be front of mind. I was going to talk about some of the things that the government has done, but I know Ms Symes did touch on some of those and I am sure other speakers will too, and because I know the length of the list I will not go on any further except to say—as Ms Symes did and as Ms Lovell did—I also want to pay tribute to the wealth of volunteers, whether it be firefighters, whether it be Rotary, whether it be Lions Club, whether it be CWA or whether it be FoodShare up there in Wodonga. Whoever those people are, the only way that recovery from these terrible, terrible disasters can ever work is when the community pulls together, not just the immediately impacted community but the broader community. No-one does it better than the Victorian community, and I pay tribute to them. Thank you. Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (14:09): In acknowledging the devastation that the 2019–20 bushfires had on regional communities we must also acknowledge the impact that they had on our environment and the animal communities that inhabit it. An estimated 3 billion animals were killed or displaced by last year’s bushfires, with many of those here in Victoria. Over 200 species lost more than half their habitat, making these species even more vulnerable to extinction. These figures are in addition to the countless animals that become injured or sick through other extraordinary weather events, traffic-related incidents or introduced diseases each year. It is clear that wildlife rescue, care and rehabilitation services are essential and that in times of need we expect them. This happens through the enormous effort of volunteer wildlife rescuers and carers, who despite restrictions worked tirelessly to save as many animals as possible. This last bushfire season also laid bare issues around wildlife rescue and care in Victoria that require significant improvement. Poor coordination, lack of communication and delays in getting skilled and trained rescuers access to firegrounds are some of those. I am pleased to be working with the government to address these issues through the wildlife welfare round tables. We have already seen some good practical actions emerge from these forums, and this year we have seen the government advertise the role of a dedicated wildlife incident controller to be stood up in our emergency control centres. This is but one of many changes we hope to see, and I will continue to advocate for Wildlife Rescue Victoria, a specific agency to lead these efforts alongside Fire Rescue Victoria, police and emergency services and volunteer organisations—the CFA, the SES and Wildlife Victoria. Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (14:11): I rise today to join with my colleagues from around the chamber in recognising the enormous contributions of communities all over Victoria as part of bushfires that ravaged our entire landscape and went into other states and indeed territories just over a year ago. In eastern Victoria, in Gippsland in particular, we lost around 1 million hectares of land. That includes forested land, land for agriculture, the public estate, private properties and in fact many areas that were and remain really environmentally, ecologically and culturally important as well as areas which are of prime importance to the agricultural sector. MOTIONS 1332 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

What we did see as the bushfires burnt was the most extraordinary effort around collaboration, around collective effort, in facing the front line of the destruction that was in play from Mallacoota up to Gelantipy, around to Benambra, around to the north-east of Victoria—as far as the eye could see we saw communities coming together not just to assist with evacuation, not just to assist with protecting property, not just to assist with making sure that emergency services and first responders had the best access possible, but coming together to collect food and supplies to distribute goods to families in need, to provide temporary shelter for animals in need and again to make sure that voices were heard and that elected representatives were on the ground and ready and willing and able to help. To that end, it was enormously important that all elected members of Eastern Victoria Region were on the ground from day one. We saw bushfires begin in November in eastern Victoria. In Gippsland they were already burning and burning well before the Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day firestorms that swept throughout the region. At one point in time, instead of the ordinary burning of things which usually results in one pyroconvective column, we saw seven pyroconvective columns in play at one time. We saw in that burning of a million hectares, as Mr Meddick has indicated, as Ms Lovell has indicated and as Mr Gepp along with Ms Symes have indicated, countless numbers of animals—livestock and native species—losing their lives. We saw horrific issues around animal welfare, with vets deployed to euthanise animals that were too severely burnt to be able to be rehabilitated. We have seen communities rally around food banks, around emergency relief centres, around access to schooling and to essential support to be able to provide immediate resourcing and assistance to communities but also to assist them in the recovery, the return to routine and to normality that is so germane to a positive recovery from an awful set of events like this. In eastern Victoria, those in the chamber and those listening to this contribution will be aware, this came off the back of a really longstanding drought and the worst of all situations around key productivity outputs for primary producers dwindling to almost nothing. We saw around Ensay, around Swifts Creek and around Doctors Flat up to Dinner Plain that the impact of drought was then compounded by the impact of the bushfires, which was then impacted by the change to restrictions which meant that tourism and the visitor economy were also crippled in the aftermath of the fires. Bushfires themselves are an event, a disaster, an emergency which have an incredibly long tail to them. Years after these events, as we know from the 10-year anniversary of Black Saturday, the trauma is still very, very raw. We know that as the trees green themselves again, as that epicormic growth manages to show life after such disaster, that trauma remains very real, that post-traumatic stress remains an issue that many frontline responders and community members continue to grapple with. That is why it is so important that we continue with a unified response across all levels of government to address the impact of bushfires not just now but in the medium to long term. It is why in the course of the work associated with the royal commission after Black Saturday we take on those recommendations and continue to recognise the impact, the injury and the trauma that is faced by communities not just in recovery, not just in understanding, grief and frustration and rage and despair, but also in the rebirth that happens around growth, around support and around resilience. One example that I do want to focus on in my contribution today relates to Lochiel House, an incredible aged-care facility in Orbost. Residents were evacuated from Lochiel House to Moe, and they spent a long time there. This is an incredibly close-knit aged-care facility. I would urge you to get onto their Facebook page and to see the level of care and service that is provided to residents there. Not only did they relocate from an area which for many had been home for their entire lives, but their carers and support staff also relocated to Moe and spent the duration caring for residents to minimise the impact of the fires, of the separation and of the tyranny of distance from their families, friends and support networks. That is one example in countless examples of the way in which communities across regional Victoria have not only risen to the challenge of responding to emergencies but have also provided on countless occasions support, sympathy, encouragement and an opportunity for people to process in the best sense of normality what has happened to and around them. MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1333

The work goes on to make sure that we provide the necessary level of support for these communities, for our communities, so that as we recover across Mount Hotham and then back into the East Gippsland shire we recognise what is needed now and into the future; that we continue to support business, primary industry and our departments who are tasked with wildlife rescue and recovery; that we continue to make sure we are having the difficult conversations that we need to have; and that we work towards a better capacity to manage emergency situations, frontline response and recovery into the coming years as drought will exacerbate under climate change conditions that are incredibly and increasingly variable and as we face new challenges associated with changes to industry and changes to primary production. I am pleased to have been able to speak on this motion today. I hope that it will be taken in the spirit that it has been intended—namely, not to draw party lines around this issue but to note in fact the unified approach that was taken by all members at least in eastern Victoria to be there, to be present and to be part of the trauma and the grief that our communities faced and continue to face. Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (14:19): I am really pleased to rise this afternoon to speak on this motion. It is a devastating motion, and it goes to the fires’ core devastation among our communities. Before I begin I would also like to congratulate the leader of the future and present leader in her school, Claire Lock, because I think she really captivated us as MPs but also has a depth of understanding of what her school and her students and community have lived through and continue to live through. I think we must look at this motion but also look at the fire and learn lessons from it. It is not good enough just to say that we acknowledge it. It is important to acknowledge the depth of devastation. It is important to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of a range of Victorians and people from interstate and overseas who provided support in a variety of ways. It is important to acknowledge our CFA, our SES, our Victoria Police and our agencies that sat down in my electorate in incident control in Bairnsdale and worked harmoniously, each in their various sections—whether it be to let families through back to their homes or whether it be for farmers to access stock to try and get feed to stock or a whole raft of things, communications. The army came on board. All of these people need to be thanked and acknowledged. But it is also important to understand that we must learn the lessons of what could have been different. Now, fires occur. They occur from human intervention, whether that be left camp fires that go astray, which again is a great concern—and I know there is ongoing work in relation to mitigating that. There are lightning strikes that we cannot stop no matter how hard we wish and pray. But when things happen, we also need a level of understanding and responsiveness and a commitment to listen to locals, and I want to raise one example. The fire started in November, and it started on the western side of East Gippsland and travelled across in an easterly direction. I sat in a coffee shop in a bakery in Orbost on 19 December and listened to a very knowledgeable forester—of some advancing years but a very amazing person—and a timber harvester, and they opened the map up and Garry Squires said, ‘It’s going to pass through here, it’s going to pass through the Snowy River National Park and it’s going to end up, with weather conditions as they are, at Mallacoota’. He prophesied exactly what was going to happen. What he had asked and begged for and requested was that Parks Victoria—and this is no indictment of the people on the ground, but somewhere in the hierarchy they forgot to listen—would put in back-burns at regular stations throughout the Snowy River and elsewhere; he asked for that to happen. Now, this is a true story, and I raise it just for the purpose of learning. I think that we really need to learn how to manage these, because there were millions of hectares burnt. Fifty-six per cent of East Gippsland shire was burnt, 300 houses, residential properties and commercial properties, and tragically five people died in all of Victoria during those 2019 and 2020 fires. We can all learn together, and it is really important that we do so. It is also really important, again, that we value the people who really are on the front line. I have in the past commended and will continue to commend the native timber harvesters whose equipment and knowledge fortified and saved many communities and protected people’s lives. I think they are also some of the heroes in this, and also the amazing CFA MOTIONS 1334 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 people. I will give you an example in Bemm River, where the CFA captain said there was fire coming from the east to the west to the Bemm River—tiny, lovely, beautiful hamlet that it is. They said, ‘We must do this back-burn’, and there was a tussle between the CFA members, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Parks Victoria. In the end they did a very successful back-burn, but not before quite a continued pressure and tension. The outcome was magnificent and it saved that town, and I do really appreciate their efforts. There are hundreds of other people, and others have mentioned Gippsland Farmer Relief, St Vincent, CWA, Lifeline and Rural Aid. The Victorian Farmers Federation did an amazing job to support farmers with stock. Wildlife volunteers went out in very dangerous circumstances to protect and feed animals. Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund sent out almost $8 million directly to families and homes whose businesses, lives and homes were affected. People were generous from across the board, and I think this is really important to acknowledge them. In terms of people, I just want to speak briefly about some of the people who were affected and some of their comments to me. The beautiful people in Sarsfield and Clifton Creek spoke about their concern about the level or lack of fuel reduction burns. Again, it is important that we learn those lessons. They said that their fire came across from Crown land, moved onto their property and certainly demolished their house and their business. They are still rebuilding, and that takes time. They are still going to stay there and rebuild, which is important for them, and I think it is a marvellous thing that they are doing. We need to learn how to better manage our state forests and our fuel loads. I say that with respect, but I think we absolutely need to learn some lessons. We need to listen to the royal commission that said 5 per cent rolling targets. We know that they have not been met for many, many years. We need to learn how to better adapt fire mitigation. We in the upper house Environment and Planning Committee have learned only this week about traditional Indigenous burns, and I think there is so much we can learn from that. It is not an instant panacea—it will not fix the problem tomorrow—but I think we all need to engage and learn from our traditional owners how they used to burn and how that can support families but also bring back biodiversity and communities. There are other things that I would like to say. Our hospitality and tourism industries have certainly been gutted both here in the north-east but also in Gippsland, and it is important that government get behind and rebuild some of those very important structures—the Cape Conran boardwalk needs rebuilding, Wingan Inlet, public infrastructure at Mallacoota. These are beautiful areas. People want to go and visit. We need to have that infrastructure back in place now—sooner than now—for people to go and tend to these regions. I would like to keep going, but I will respect the fact that there are many other people that would like to make comments. I would like to speak on the next motion in relation to housing because I think that is another whole area that needs to be discussed and learned from. So thank you for your time. Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (14:28): I will be brief. I have talked about fires and fire management a number of times now. I spoke in Parliament in February 2020 at some length about the experiences—our experiences—during the fires. At the time I was quite angry. Now I am still angry but a bit calmer with a bit more distance. I will not go back over it—the weeks of the smoke, the loss of communication, the experiences on the fire line, the long days and nights with little sleep, the fires that kept coming back from different directions. I do not want to relive it. I do not think any of us do. But our bushfire-affected communities are not over it. There is a trauma that many of us have not had an opportunity to heal due to the COVID crisis of 2020. I know I still have issues to deal with. I find myself getting a little emotional every time the subject comes up. We will get through it, but we are not there yet. In 2019 I spoke about action that was needed to prevent more fires. I told the Parliament that we would rather have your help protecting our homes than your empathy when they burnt down. The reality of 2020 has shown the north-east that even the promise of empathy was not worth that much. I do not MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1335 bring that up as an attack. I want the people in this room to understand what has been done and what they are continuing to do to our communities. Bushfire-affected communities have been let down by the government. The government has made everything worse. Prior to the fires, those in bushfire danger areas were denied information about fuel load levels. This information was requested through freedom-of-information legislation and was denied. The government hid vital preparedness information and left the public in the dark. The government banned fuel load reduction activities like removing trees near dwellings and firewood collection. For the sake of preserving the bush, we were forced to let it burn down around us. The state forced us to rely on their management of the bush, and then they failed to meet fuel load reduction targets during cold months. The government played a key role in enhancing the destruction of the 2019–20 bushfires. Following the fires the key hope for bushfire-affected communities was to rebuild through tourism and industry. This government banned the sustainable hardwood industry, once again citing the protection of the forests that were burning down around us. These industries had their legs cut out from under them right when the forestry communities were at their weakest. The promise of tourism went up in smoke too—COVID put an end to that. Many who lost their homes turned to insurance to recover, but this government has made new housing regulations that mean insurance payouts are unable to cover the cost of rebuilding. The government made a conscious effort to implement rules that would prevent bushfire-affected communities from recovering. They were destroyed when they were denied the ability to protect themselves, and they were destroyed again when they were denied the tools of recovery. I do not doubt that people in this room were trying to do the right thing, but in many cases doing less would have been more helpful. The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’. When we look to the future, things do not look much better. The government has made a concerted effort to undermine the CFA and to entrench government mismanagement of Crown land. We have heard that bushfires will become more intense and more frequent because of climate change, but the people who tell us this refuse to allow any action that might mitigate bushfire damage in the immediate future. If fires get more intense, we need to do more fuel reduction burning, not less. Walwa and Corryong cannot control global carbon emissions, but they can control the land around them if they are allowed to. The sad truth is that regional communities lack the political power to make these changes. For every two votes we have in regional Victoria, there are five votes in Melbourne, and things are only getting worse. Our land management is decided by Melbourne. Our bushfire responses are decided by Melbourne. Our recovery initiatives are decided by Melbourne. Our futures are decided by Melbourne. Our only hope is to change this system. We need to change our representation. This regional sitting is a symbol of Victorian governance of the regions—364 days in Melbourne, one day in a picturesque holiday town in the regions. We get the scraps that fall from the table, and it will not change until we change the system. It is time to take our future into our own hands. The regions need to be able to set their own policies so that bushfires like the ones we saw last year will not happen again or at least will not happen in the same way again. Ms GARRETT (Eastern Victoria) (14:33): It is indeed a privilege to rise here in this beautiful town in this wonderful community and make a contribution on this very significant motion. I think it is absolutely critical that I am here and all of us in the upper house are here, making this contribution in a place that has itself been so devastated by fire in its inner surrounds and listening to those people who have had firsthand experiences of the fear and the horror and the aftermath. There have been no greater words spoken in this chamber today than those by Claire Lock, the youth representative who stood up here so bravely—an exceptional performance. It was exceptional not just because she was articulate and not just because she was courageous but because she spoke so well from the heart about what the experience was like—the experience not just for her community and her MOTIONS 1336 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 town and her area but for young people in her community and in her town and in her area. In doing so she called on us all not just to listen to those words but to act on them. I was incredibly moved, and I know those I spoke to in the break were incredibly moved. This area should be so proud that they have produced such a wonderful young woman who is going to go on and do great things, which brings me to—out of the horror that is fire, out of the unexplainable fear that comes from raging walls of flame— the hope and the resilience and the beauty of community. We will have many discussions on policy. We will have many debates about what should be done with land management and how we should manage our responses to emergencies, and they are right and proper debates to be had not just in this place but at every level of government and in every town hall. Today I just want to focus on the beauty of community because in our jobs, as others have spoken about, we have an extraordinary privilege of standing with community and being with community, particularly at times of great need. That privilege means we get a real firsthand look—more than just a look; a touch and a feel—of how communities respond and cope in times of trauma, and it is absolutely beautiful how they do. When you walk into a town hall, as I remember walking into in the beautiful town of Bruthen in my electorate, there are people who are shattered, who have lost their homes, who have lost loved ones, who have lost animals, who have lost their livelihoods. There are those who are looking at the heavens because the fire leapt past their house, but they are holding a neighbour whose property was devastated. There are the churches, who are in the corner handing out meals and offering solace. There are of course the volunteers on the front line and all the way down to the back line serving sandwiches and respite for people who are there. There are community members holding each other in the light and in love and in hope. That is what gets us through in the most fire-ravaged place in the world. That is what gets us through. Governments are there and politicians are there to support that spirit, to support that resilience in any way they can, and here we are today to pay tribute to it, particularly in our regions of Eastern and Northern Victoria. I pay tribute to it. We see you, we hear you, we are grateful to be allowed to walk by you in these times and we undertake to never, ever forget you, not when we leave this place, not when we have to attend meetings at Spring Street. You are in front of our hearts and front of our minds. Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (14:37): It is a privilege to follow Ms Garrett and speak on this condolence motion for the 2019–20 bushfires. I pay tribute to Ms Garrett’s work in her previous role as Minister for Emergency Services. It is sad she is not there today, really, but anyway. At the outset, I would also like to endorse the comments of my colleagues across the chamber who have paid tribute to all those who worked during the fires to make others safe, to care for them and to still respond to them to this day. We owe a great debt of gratitude to all those unsung heroes. We do not know their names, but they are there every day doing something for somebody else. This motion is the third bushfire condolence motion that I have spoken on in my relatively short time in Parliament. In early 2019 I spoke on a motion of condolence for the tragic 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. In early 2020 I spoke on a motion of condolence for the tragic 2020 bushfires. Now in early 2021 I am speaking on a similar motion. Every year, this Parliament repeats this same exercise of grandstanding and speaking platitudes about how tragic past bushfires have been for regional communities. As I said on the last motion, parliaments should strive to be places of action, not reaction—places of solutions, not condolences. We have a responsibility to provide solutions to bushfire risk, because in this sunburnt country the recent fires will no doubt not be the last. I have offered many solutions throughout my time in this place which the government seemingly have ignored. These solutions fall under three main areas: fuel load reduction, safe energy infrastructure and strong rural fire services. First, fuel load reduction is fundamental to mitigating the risk of bushfire, because we cannot control the weather or ignitions but we can control the fuel. This can and must be instigated through multiple avenues. Controlled burning is the primary method of reducing fuel loads; that is essential yet severely MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1337 insufficiently completed. Even after a royal commission recommendation to dramatically increase fuel reduction burns, Victoria has marginally increased its burns. Former CSIRO research scientist David Packham, OAM, often points out that fuels have increased to 10 times the Aboriginal-managed level, with an increase in rate of spread of 10 times and 100 times in intensity, to account for 97 per cent of the current fire rate of spread and intensity. The 1-degree increase in Earth’s atmospheric temperature over the past 100 years on the other hand yields only a calculated 3 per cent increase in fire rate of spread and fire intensity. Clearly we need to do much more to reduce fuel loads as the primary contributing factor to fires. There are numerous ways in which we can do so in addition to controlled burns, many of which I have advocated for in the Legislative Council continuously, including utilising Indigenous land management practices, which worked for thousands of years, and allowing roadside grazing, because roads should be a firebreak, not a fire wick, and that is what my community has endured in Western Victoria. I am aware that, in the High Country area here in the last fires, land that had been grazed subsequently provided a safe refuge not only for livestock but for wild animals as well, but grazing has been eliminated from many areas in these forests, unfortunately. Those two options are prevented by a ludicrous notion of using Indigenous burning practices being problematic due to intellectual property rights to which other Victorians are apparently not a party and an ideological opposition to droving on roadsides by bureaucrats in Melbourne who would prefer roadsides to be conservation zones and wildlife corridors rather than safe places. Secondly, safe energy infrastructure is imperative to ensuring rural communities are safe from fire risk. The 2018 St Patrick’s Day fires in my electorate were instigated by a faulty power pole collapsing and igniting vegetation beneath it. Thousands of these similarly unsafe power poles are right across regional Victoria but are being replaced at a rate that will actually take centuries to fully complete. Now, people in that fire-affected area are still suffering. They not only suffered the physical loss of land and property and livestock, but they are still suffering emotionally and psychologically, so the effects of fire go on long after the fire has passed. I pay particular tribute to Jill Porter, who did so much to make sure that those affected got fair compensation through the legal system, which would not have happened without her amazing intervention. This is simply unacceptable and is putting Victorians’ lives at risk. We have to do something about energy infrastructure. Further, we seem to be determined to continue down this path of introducing power infrastructure that poses a fire risk. The current proposal of the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project fails to heed the advice of the royal commission to put energy infrastructure underground, and the local communities along a 190-kilometre stretch are rightly concerned about the fire risk that it will pose to their community, as it traverses forests and essential conservation areas of great importance. We are also in a situation where we are proposing to allow people to camp on private land that has leases of river frontage, and the farmers are rightly concerned about the fire risk that that imposes. Now, we speak on endless motions in this Parliament about how terrible bushfires are and how sad we are about the lives and property destroyed by them, but if we are not willing to take action and stop proposals such as this then our words are futile. Thirdly, a strong rural fire service comprised largely of volunteers is essential to ensuring that small fires are maintained and extinguished when they inevitably appear in this ‘continent of smoke’, as Captain James Cook described it when exploring Australia’s east coast in 1770. In 2020 the number of volunteer firefighters in Victoria fell again, to just 32 679. This figure is 4144 less than in 2015, when the Andrews government assumed office. Volunteer firefighters are integral to fire management because the simple reality is that permanent firefighters cannot be stationed in all rural and remote communities. We need a strong surge capacity when fires break out, but with fewer and fewer volunteers every year that capacity is weakening. And it is no surprise volunteers are leaving. Daniel Andrews has torn apart the CFA in favour of his union mates in the United Firefighters Union, to whom he seems curiously indebted. There seems to be an ideological resentment for volunteerism in MOTIONS 1338 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 this government, and they are determined to push this exodus of volunteers along through underfunding, mistreatment and neglect. To close, we need this Parliament and the government to be focused on providing and accepting necessary solutions to the bushfire problem in this state. Ultimately there was a time when Victoria understood how to manage and utilise the land and its forests and when rural Victorians were allowed to use common sense to manage the land we live on rather than being regulated by inside-the-tram- tracks politicians and bureaucrats from Melbourne. The centralisation of Melbourne in our government life by bureaucrats, unions, environmental bureaucrats and political correctness has precluded Victoria from implementing effective solutions to fire risks, such as fuel load reduction, controlled burning, roadside grazing, Indigenous fire techniques, underground energy infrastructure and a well-funded volunteer firefighting service. I hope that this is the last bushfire motion I have to speak on and that henceforth we can return to the Parliament to congratulate the government on its valiant efforts in greatly reducing bushfires in Victoria. However, I sadly doubt that. Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (14:48): I am really pleased to be here in alpine country on the land that First Nations people have lived and worked on and cared for for thousands of years. I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting here on stolen land and that sovereignty over this land was never ceded. It is important for parliamentarians to remember the world that goes on around us outside Spring Street. We do not govern or represent in isolation but rather on behalf of our electorates and for the wider community, and the decisions we make in the chamber are felt by all of us, whether we are in Brunswick or in Bright. I was reminded of this so powerfully this morning when Claire Lock addressed the chamber. Thank you, Claire, for opening up our hearts and minds in the way that you did about how the trauma of the bushfires was compounded by the isolation that the pandemic then resulted in and for reminding us all of the need to ensure that we continue to provide support to the affected communities and do all that we can to address climate change so that we can address the reason why we are experiencing more frequent and more intense fires. So while I am pleased to be here today, I hope that when we return to Spring Street next week we remember the stories we have heard and the people we have met and our duty to govern for our regions and for future generations. I am also very pleased to be here representing the Greens. Many of our members and supporters live in regional Victoria, because the care for our land, our love of nature and native wildlife and a belief in the power of communities are core both to regional communities and to the Greens. We also feel and share the grief and loss that catastrophic events like the 2019–20 bushfires result in. Today in this chamber we remember and acknowledge the devastating impacts on Eastern and Northern Victoria of the fires. That summer we experienced some of the worst bushfires our state has ever seen. Across the country the fires burnt 24 million hectares of land, destroyed 3000 homes and killed or displaced 3 billion animals, and tragically 33 people died. The images of that summer—of towns choked by thick smoke and apocalyptic red skies, of people sheltering on beaches, of kangaroos and koalas fleeing racing flames—are difficult to forget, and while the world moved on and we moved on from one disaster to another, from the fires to a global pandemic, I know that regional Victoria has not forgotten, especially when you are reminded of the fires every day in the landscapes that still bear the marks of the fire or the many people still waiting for a permanent home. I acknowledge how much trauma, loss and grief were experienced and are still felt, and as Claire reminded us this morning, this is something that communities still need ongoing support for. I acknowledge the trauma and experiences of First Nations people seeing the landscapes that they have cared for over generations destroyed. Victorians demonstrated their compassion, strength and generosity in responding to the devastation. The community support and solidarity that came to the fore last summer were mirrored in how we handled the pandemic and give us hope that we face an uncertain future together through this strength. I also want to appreciate the work of firefighters, emergency services, defence personnel and many MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1339 other volunteers, who did so much at the time for all of us. We came together as a community unlike ever before, and the strength and resilience we saw were awe inspiring. During that time there were many of us also so distressed by the realisation that the impacts of climate change are now well and truly upon us. There is no denying it anymore. I talk about this now because it would be reprehensible of us, of this Parliament, which has met here in Northern Victoria to support communities affected by bushfires, to not talk about why this is happening, to not talk about one of the greatest moral responsibilities that each and every one of us has in this place—a responsibility to protect and safeguard our communities from the real and present threat of climate change and the fires it will continue to ignite if we do not act. If we are to avoid even more devastating events in the future as a state and as a country, we need to face the facts that climate change is changing our world and it will mean more intense and more regular fires, more floods, more droughts and more heatwaves. The urgent task that our governments both federal and state now have is to take action to meaningfully address climate change. Once again, I want to talk about this today because if we keep failing to tackle the climate crisis, it is regional Victorians who will experience the worst of the droughts and other extreme weather events that will become the norm in our state. So if we are here today as a Parliament making a commitment to keep working for all of Victoria and to do better for our regions, then part of that commitment must be to tackle climate change. At the time, the Black Summer bushfires were called an unprecedented bushfire season, a once-in- 100-years event, but in the years since we have seen a number of one-in-100-year events, like the flooding and storms in New South Wales this summer or Cyclone Seroja, which devastated the coast of Western Australia earlier this month. In a climate crisis these once-in-a-lifetime events will become the norm, even more extreme, and weather events like flooding, droughts and bushfires we have seen over the past 18 months—this is the future we are headed for. In fact on our current trajectory towards 4 degrees global warming we are headed for a complete ecological breakdown and the collapse of human civilisation as we know it, and I know nobody here wants to see that. So what do we do to turn this around? Burning coal remains the single biggest contributor to climate change in Australia, but our federal government continues to cling onto the dying coal industry. Even here in Victoria our government continues to rely on dirty coal for our state energy. Gas, another fossil fuel like coal, continues to be drilled on Victorian farmland, and we are still logging the forests that provide us with clean air and turning our precious native trees into cheap paper. It does not have to be this way. We have the means to transition to 100 per cent renewable energy and an economy that protects and restores what gives us life. And it is not just renewable energy that will bring jobs and economic sustainability to regional communities throughout Victoria. After the devastation of the bushfires there is a lot of work to be done to protect and restore the natural environment that gives us life. Protecting and helping what is left of the surviving wildlife, animals and habitat will require significant investment from government. A restoring nature program would create lots of opportunities for good-quality long-term jobs. As parliamentarians we owe it to the regional communities of Victoria to learn from what is happening to this land, to protect and to restore it and to take real action on climate change so that the devastating bushfires we experienced last summer will remain a rare and extreme event instead of a typical summer. The Greens will continue using our voices in Parliament to push governments to think bigger on climate and to go further and faster on the climate emergency. Ms WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (14:55): My thanks to the member for Northern Victoria and Leader of the Government, , for moving this motion. The 2019–20 bushfire season was one of the most devastating in our state’s history. Firstly I wish to send my sincere condolences to the families of the five lives tragically lost in Victoria and the 33 across the country. To the Forest Fire Management Victoria workers David Moresi, Mat Kavanagh and Bill Slade, you deserved to come home safe from work. With the passing of International Workers Memorial Day just yesterday, it is crucial we honour the risks and sacrifices our firefighters make each and every summer and remember those we have lost protecting our communities. I would also like to acknowledge Mick Roberts and MOTIONS 1340 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Fred Becker, both beloved members of their communities and men who very much loved the communities in which they lived. I extend my deepest sympathies to the families, friends, workmates and neighbours of those we lost. As the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements explained, thousands of Australians, locals and holiday-makers became trapped. Communities were isolated, experiencing extended periods without power, communications and ready access to essential goods and services or access to cash or EFTPOS to pay for their most basic needs. It is important also that we recognise the impact of this fire season beyond the immediate impacts of that summer. A preliminary evaluation of the health burdens of the fires estimated that bushfire smoke was associated with 120 excess deaths, 331 hospitalisations for cardiovascular problems, 585 hospitalisations for respiratory problems and 401 emergency department presentations for asthma. We have long known the mental damage that can be caused by a major disaster like this. Thousands of Victorians experienced great distress and uncertainty as families evacuated and people faced the prospect of losing their homes and loved ones. The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System examined the impacts of bushfire on mental health in affected communities. We have increased presentations of post-traumatic stress disorder and exacerbation of pre-existing mental illness overloading the already broken mental health system in rural and regional Victoria. On one estimate 95 per cent of children who were present during the fire threat in Mallacoota will develop symptoms and signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Five years after the 2009 Black Saturday fires the proportion of survivors experiencing significant mental illness was still higher than that of the general population. Such significant trauma is not something we can just forget or move on from. Combined with the pre-existing challenges of drought and new challenges of coronavirus, we must ensure that there is practical long-term mental health support in these communities delivered and guided by those familiar with the community. Of course it is also important to note that the 2019–20 bushfire season began during Australia’s hottest and driest season on record. The bureau indicated the rate of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones and bushfires in Australia is increasing. It has anticipated conditions that result in more time spent in drought, longer fire seasons and an increase in the number of dangerous fire weather days. Climate change will even impact our bushfire preparedness, with fewer safe opportunities for planned fuel reduction burns. This is where we see the impact climate change has on our physical and mental wellbeing and why we must act on climate change now. We are one of the world’s most fire-prone areas. I am pleased to see the efforts being made by this government to act on the threat of climate change and work towards a net zero emissions future. In my region we were not spared from fire activity during the devastating season. A fire in Plenty Gorge, South Morang, started on 30 December 2019, an extreme fire danger rated day. Sixty-three hectares were burnt, and the blaze threatened homes in Bundoora, Mill Park, Greensborough and Plenty. While the fire was nowhere near the scale of those experienced in the east and north-east of this state, for those who had to evacuate and were told it was too late to leave we must acknowledge the lasting psychological impacts, and we can never underestimate the damage this does over the long term. Can I just wrap up by saying: my condolences to the families and thank you to the community of Bright for your warm hospitality and generous welcome here today. (Time expired) Motion agreed to. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1341

Business of the house NOTICES OF MOTION AND ORDERS OF THE DAY Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (14:59): I move:

That the consideration of notices of motion, government business, 438 to 447, and order of the day, government business, 1, be postponed until later this day. Motion agreed to. Bills INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Second reading Debate resumed on motion of Ms SYMES: That the bill be now read a second time. Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (15:00): I am pleased to make some brief remarks this afternoon on the Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. But in starting I would like to say what a pleasure it is to be in Bright this afternoon for our regional sitting, the first for this Parliament, and to commend my colleague the Honourable for her motion, which brought the Parliament to Bright today. It has been a very successful sitting, and it is a great credit to the staff of the Legislative Council and indeed the staff of the Parliament more generally that this sitting has come together as well as it has. The bill before the house this afternoon is an omnibus bill, so it is not a bill to make a substantive legislative change. It is a bill which actually seeks to amend a number of pieces of legislation in what are relatively minor and technical ways, and I will just cover those very briefly. According to the explanatory memorandum, the purpose of the bill is to amend the Child Employment Act 2003, the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1997, the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, the Inquiries Act 2014, the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018, the Long Service Leave Act 2018, the Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 and the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005. And the amendments are purported to, one, improve the operation of the labour hire licensing scheme, the long service scheme, the long service benefits portability scheme and the owner-drivers and forestry contractors scheme; two, facilitate machinery-of-government changes—namely, the creation of a new statutory authority, the Wage Inspectorate Victoria; three, extend the statutory protections currently enjoyed by direct employees to contract workers, as recommended by the parliamentary inquiry into labour hire and insecure work; and four, update references to the Crimes Act 1958 in various acts to reflect changes made to the Crimes Act. So the bill, as I said, is an omnibus bill; it makes a lot of minor technical amendments to a range of pieces of legislation. In making my remarks I would just like to comment generally on the industrial relations framework in Victoria that this bill is related to. What we see in Victoria increasingly is a framework and a policy platform that is driven by ideology, and it is largely incoherent, because 25 years ago we saw the Victorian government refer its industrial relations powers to the commonwealth. That was done by the Kennett government in the mid-1990s. It is a platform which was continued by the Bracks government, continued by the Brumby government and indeed continued by the Andrews government. However, we have seen since that referral in the mid-1990s this government in particular dip its toe in the water with a range of ideologically driven measures which are pay-offs, are incentives, to their masters at Trades Hall and which have the effect of simply making the industrial relations environment in this state more complex and more expensive. Two of those we have seen in the last couple of years are the introduction of the Labour Hire Licensing Authority, which goes to this government’s abhorrence of labour contracting, goes to its union masters’ BILLS 1342 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 abhorrence of labour contracting and goes to its desire to force people out of labour contract arrangements into employment arrangements. This has had a number of implications. Members interjecting. Mr RICH-PHILLIPS: You can hear the gallery now as they start to get excited in defending what has been an entirely ideological move by this government to make it difficult, to make it expensive, for businesses to engage in labour hire arrangements. The evidence of this is that while the rhetoric around the introduction of the Labour Hire Licensing Authority was to address work arrangements in vulnerable workplaces, and examples were given around horticulture, given around the cleaning sector and given around the meat processing sector, the reality is the reach of the labour hire licensing regime has been across the economy. One of the sectors which has been most impacted by those arrangements is in fact the IT sector, the technology sector, where a lot of the work that is done in the technology sector, done in the IT space, is in fact done through contracts. It is done through large primes obtaining contracts from the private sector and obtaining contracts from the government to undertake IT development work and then engaging appropriate contractors, technicians, to deliver that work. Now, those people in those arrangements are not vulnerable workers. They are providing high-value-add services, they enjoy substantial fees as contractors irrespective of which prime they are working for and they are very able to enter into contractual relationships with the primes they work for. Yet this government has come in with its Labour Hire Licensing Authority and complicated that relationship. It has meddled in that relationship between contractors and the primes they work for, which has added complexity to the IT sector, has added complexity for the contractors working in that sector and continues to be a bane for the IT sector. If any of the members opposite cared to talk to that sector, talk to the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), talk to the other peak bodies, they would understand the detrimental impact that that labour hire licensing framework is having on the IT industry in this state and the competitive disadvantage it is putting Victorian companies at compared to elsewhere in Australia. One of the other areas this legislation touches on is seeking to— Ms Pulford interjected. Mr RICH-PHILLIPS: Well, Minister, it is interesting. I listened to your forum with the AIIA a couple of weeks ago and I did one myself last week, and the feedback from that sector around that issue is very, very strong. It is perhaps something that, with your digital economy hat on, you may like to address as the minister responsible for that area because it is having a very detrimental impact on contracting in IT and it is putting this state at a competitive disadvantage compared to other parts of this country. The other area I would like to touch on is Wage Inspectorate Victoria, which has been established by this government as part of the wage theft legislation. This is one of the key areas that this bill touches upon and it is one that, again, goes to the ideology of this government, because at the time this government introduced its wage theft framework the commonwealth government had already started a process of introducing commonwealth legislation. At the time— Ms Pulford interjected. Mr RICH-PHILLIPS: Well, Minister, at the time your government was introducing its wage theft legislation it was working with the commonwealth on commonwealth legislation. So, knowing the commonwealth was introducing legislation around wage theft, the Victorian government, for ideological reasons, decided to run a parallel process. And then the Victorian government, having put in place its own framework for this state, decided to say to the commonwealth, ‘Well, you should make your legislation such that the schemes can run in parallel’—so not only would there be the commonwealth wage theft offence, there would be a duplicate wage theft offence under the Victorian framework. So simply for ideological reasons the Victorian government decided to run in parallel— BILLS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1343

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Bourman): Order! It is getting a bit too noisy for Mr Rich- Phillips to be heard. Mr RICH-PHILLIPS: with the commonwealth to the detriment of a workable system in Australia. When the commonwealth returns with legislation on wage theft the question will be raised around the validity of the Victorian scheme—and questions were already being raised around the validity of the Victorian scheme given the responsibility of the commonwealth for industrial relations in this state. The bill before the house this afternoon is a technical one that makes a raft of amendments to a raft of legislation in the industrial relations space. It is not a bill that the Liberal-National is opposing, but I note in my comments that the approach of this government to industrial relations is ideologically driven. It cuts across what has been achieved with a national system over the last 25 years, it is to the detriment of employment in this state and it is to the detriment of Victorian companies which are seeking to compete in this nation and overseas. Mr ERDOGAN (Southern Metropolitan) (15:10): I am very pleased to speak on this bill because it builds on our proud record of putting people first, of outlawing wage theft, outlawing industrial manslaughter. This is stuff that should be universal, not just in our state but across the nation, but I guess we could not wait for the feds to act and we had to act now. So I am pleased to support the Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. Yesterday I had an opportunity to commemorate the world day for safety and health at work by reflecting on how we can make every worker feels safe and secure in the workplace. I am proud that we as a government do not only reflect on these matters but ensure that these reflections form the basis of sound policy. This bill strengthens a number of laws to provide financial relief for employers while improving strong protections for Victorian workers. The amendments contained in this bill are mostly technical in nature, as Mr Rich-Phillips touched on, but they do relate to workplace entitlements, protections and obligations. The proposed amendments can be broadly categorised into four categories: amendments that implement recommendations of the Victorian inquiry into labour hire and insecure work, amendments that improve the operation of existing legislative schemes, amendments that clarify references in other acts of Parliament, and amendments that recognise the new role of Wage Inspectorate Victoria as a statutory body. The implementing of the labour hire inquiry recommendations is very important. That inquiry investigated the practices of labour hire companies, insecure work, sham contracting and the abuse of these to avoid workplace laws and undermine employment standards. The inquiry also examined the social impact of insecure work and assessed whether the Victorian legal framework met the needs of Victorian employers and labour hire workers. It received nearly 700 written submissions and heard from over 200 witnesses between November 2015 and March 2016 across metropolitan and regional Victoria. After extensive consultation and deliberation, the final report was tabled in Parliament and nearly all the recommendations accepted by this government. The bill amends the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 and the Inquiries Act 2014 to continue implementing the inquiry’s recommendations. These amendments ensure that the rights afforded to directly engaged workers under these acts are extended to contract workers. The amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act replace the current definition of ‘employment activity’ with a broader definition to extend the protections provided by the act to contract workers. This will offer protection from discrimination on the basis of employment activity, like making a reasonable request for information on employee entitlements. It will also enshrine the requirement for an employer to make reasonable workplace adjustments for contract workers with a disability while protecting the employee from detrimental action such as dismissal. These amendments will strengthen protections under section 8 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities by ensuring contract workers are protected from unfair discrimination due to the nature of the employment. BILLS 1344 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The amendments to the Inquiries Act will protect contract workers, including subcontractors, who give evidence to an inquiry, a formal review or a royal commission, against detrimental action such as dismissal or demotion. Guaranteeing this protection will go a long way in ensuring fairness and transparency when investigating and evaluating the changing nature of work and employment in Victoria and in fact across Australia. I believe we are leading the way in this space. Improving existing legislative schemes such as the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 and the Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 to improve their operation also is part of this omnibus bill. The amendments to the Labour Hire Licensing Act insert descriptions of the three tiers that determine the labour licence fee currently included in the regulations supporting the act. An amendment also permits the assessment of the annual licence fee to be based on the turnover of the most recent four quarters of trading, rather than the turnover at the time of granting the licence. This will make sure annual licence fees are based on up-to-date figures and that a downturn in business is factored into the fee assessment. This change reflects the government’s proactiveness in responding to stakeholder sentiment regarding the lack of flexibility in assessing licence fees. And that is an important point to touch on, because who did the government consult with in bringing this omnibus bill? Well, it was a broad range, from worker representative groups to the business community: the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group, the Victorian Farmers Federation—hardly a group ideologically in sync with this government, but on many points of fairness we agree. The Victorian Trades Hall Council were of course consulted also, as well as the Australian Services Union, JobWatch and the Consumer Action Law Centre. All these organisations understand the industrial landscape and provided input. It is important to understand that all these reforms are in line with our emphasis on treating all workers with respect and dignity. Fee relief will only apply to labour hire providers that have done the right thing. The changes to the Labour Hire Licensing Act are particularly crucial considering the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses during the past year and recognise the government’s ability to provide support. The bill also amends the Long Service Benefits Portability Act to improve the portability scheme for the contract cleaning, community services and security sectors. I am proud to support a Victorian government that implemented a long service benefits scheme for workers in community services, including early childhood and disability services, and the contract cleaning and security industries. This makes things fairer for some of the most hardworking Victorians, Victorians who have worked hard for years in the same job in the same place without being able to accrue the long service benefits and entitlements that so many workers fought for. The bill amends the Long Service Benefits Portability Act to make way for new regulations allowing the Portable Long Service Authority to reimburse community services employers where they pay a long service leave entitlement to an employee under the Long Service Leave Act 2018 or under a common-law contract. The amendments further allow community services sector employees to apply to the Portable Long Service Authority to be credited for days worked in circumstances where the employer has not provided relevant information for the authority to credit them with this service. It rectifies a previous injustice that was happening. These amendments further allow employees with such employment arrangements to be registered for both schemes and qualify for long service leave for all their work, making sure that they do not miss out on this benefit that many of us take for granted. It also clarifies a number of other pieces of legislation—the Long Service Leave Act and the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005, for example. The bill amends the Long Service Leave Act to extend the prohibition on the use of common-law contracts abrogating employer obligations under the act to post-employment arrangements. This will mean employers will no longer be able to use a settlement in an unfair dismissal case to escape paying long service leave entitlements. It also reaffirms that certain offences under the act are continuing offences, where the normal requirement that a prosecution for a summary offence must commence within 12 months does not apply. This amendment is crucial considering the legal complexities involved with such offences make it almost BILLS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1345 impossible to commence some of these prosecutions within 12 months. The amendments to the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act provide clarity with respect to two offences, namely the failure to provide the information booklet and the failure to provide rates and cost schedules. These amendments make it clear that a failure to provide these documents is an offence under the act for which applicable penalties will apply. Finally, and I believe most importantly, it sets up and it builds on the work of the Wage Inspectorate Victoria. The bill amends the Child Employment Act 2003, the Long Service Leave Act and the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act to transfer the power to appoint authorised officers and approve prosecutions from the department secretary to the Wage Inspectorate Victoria as an agency. The Wage Inspectorate Victoria, a statutory body that will be constituted from 1 July 2021, was established by the Wage Theft Act 2020 to investigate and prosecute wage theft offences from 1 July of this year. The bill completes the planned transfer of the inspectorate’s existing functions ensuring compliance with Victoria’s laws relating to child employment, long service leave and owner drivers and forestry contractors from the Department of Premier and Cabinet to the new authority. I have touched on some of the key elements of this bill, but I am very pleased to advocate the passage of this legislation, which improves the lives of people engaged in various types of contractual work, besides others. The changing nature of work and employment is a challenge that policymakers not only in this country but globally are grappling with, and this offers a solution. I am proud to support a government that is taking proactive action and steps to ensure that change does not mean a change in working conditions, fairness or transparency for all workers. As I stated at the beginning, it builds on our record of putting people first. That is why I commend the bill to the house. Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (15:20): I am pleased to be debating this bill ahead of May Day on Saturday, otherwise known as International Workers Day. On May Day we celebrate the achievements of the labour movement, including hard-fought wins that changed the way we worked, like the 8-hour day. 150 years on, we still have more work to do. Workers are still fighting for better conditions, better wages and better work, especially when Liberal governments and oppositions are constantly trying to chip away at our workplace laws and workers rights. They talk about creating jobs, but the crux of their plan is really stripping away the things that protect workers to put more money in the pockets of big business. While it has been a tough year for many Victorian workers, it has been those in insecure work who have struggled the most: those whose jobs were the first to disappear as industries like retail, hospitality and tourism shut down; casual workers who struggled to make the rent as hours dried up or workers whose jobs were lost entirely; those who had to put their own health at risk to make a living through labour hire, through casual roles or through the gig economy; the cleaners who worked to keep the rest of us safe; the delivery drivers who brought food and goods to those who had the privilege to be able to work from their own homes; workers who had no leave available if they needed to self-isolate or take a test or who had no choice but to continue working in order to cover bills; and the community service workers, like our aged-care and disability support staff, who also frequently work in casual roles or through labour hire across multiple locations. I know all of us were reminded last year of the value of our frontline workers and the extraordinary work they have done in keeping us all safe and helping us through the worst of the pandemic. But while we might have sung their praises as pandemic heroes, we have done little to change the precarious and exploitative nature of their work, the low pay that is prevalent in the healthcare sector, the casualisation that strips workers of leave entitlements and permanency in their roles and the low wages and unpredictable hours that make it hard to plan your life and that leave people trapped in poverty. And there is the creeping growth of the gig economy, where workers are classed as independent contractors instead of employees and so have no access to minimum wages, superannuation or leave entitlements and where, often, the major international corporations that oversee these independent contractors are able to rake in huge profits instead of paying their workers what they deserve. It is these modern workplace trends that will be the focus of the labour movement BILLS 1346 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 now, ensuring that everyone has good work, stable hours and a livable wage and that everyone can access the jobs of the future, like clean energy, habitat restoration or community services. While the changes in this bill are technical in nature, I am pleased to see the state government continuing to introduce reforms, strengthen workers rights and crack down on dodgy employers. To mention a few, the bill is transferring a range of functions and powers to the new Wage Inspectorate Victoria. The Greens were really pleased to see the passage of the Wage Theft Bill 2020 last year, which criminalised wage theft and established this new statutory body. Too many employees have gotten away with stealing labour and exploiting workers for too long, and the reforms last year were an overdue recognition of wage theft as theft of labour and introduced new penalties for those who undercut award rates or withhold leave entitlements. This is in contrast to the federal government’s unconscionable behaviour in scrapping its wage theft laws at the last minute, despite broad support, in a petty, retaliatory move. The bill is also increasing equal opportunity protections to contract workers, specifically protections from discrimination on the basis of employment activity as well as a requirement to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace for employees with a disability. Everyone should be safe from abuse and harassment at work, and everyone should be able to access the support they need to do their job well, regardless of their employment status. The bill will extend protections to labour hire workers who participate in a royal commission or other formal inquiry. It is so important that workers, regardless of how they are employed, are able to give evidence to a royal commission or an inquiry without fearing repercussions from their place of work or employer. Whistleblowers are so often the reason that we find out about corporate wrongdoing, and everyone should be able to expose misconduct without repercussions, regardless of whether they are a senior executive or a security guard. The Greens will be supporting this bill today, and I wish everyone a happy May Day for Saturday. Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (15:24): I rise to speak on the Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. I believe this bill is essential, as it enhances protections for Victorian workers and enables them to ask the most basic employment questions without discrimination. We have a responsibility to ensure that every worker can ask their employer what benefits or entitlements are available to them and to make it crystal clear when employees are entitled to long service leave. As we know, Victoria has a diverse and talented workforce. While there are many protections already in place for our workforce, we must ensure these protections are up to date and reflect the modern issues within those workplaces. Across Victoria approximately 18.4 per cent of our population has a disability. Protecting those individuals who have a disability and who are disadvantaged in some way in the workforce is critical to encouraging others who have a disability to seek employment. In addition, it is about making workplaces and the wider Victorian community realise that those with a disability are capable and can work just as effectively and efficiently. As such, they deserve the same amount of respect as every other worker. This bill extends protection to contract workers who give evidence before the royal commission. I believe this is critical, as the only way to improve a system is if those working in it can speak out without the goings on and conditions that they face. I also believe that as a state we have come a long way from when I first joined the workforce. The balance between workers and employees is a tricky one but one that is worth improving. In particular wage theft has been and continues to be an issue here in Victoria. Over the last couple of years we have heard some shocking stories from the hospitality industry of individuals being significantly underpaid or employers failing to pay long service leave or holiday pay when it is due. To stop this it is absolutely vital that we have an authority that actually regulates, monitors and enforces wages across Victoria. From my experience with the commercial passenger vehicle industry, I know that it is not enough just to legislate and give regulatory bodies the authority and power to enforce the rules but that it is up to the government and its departments to ensure that the new Wage Inspectorate Victoria has the staffing BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1347 and the resources to uphold the high standards created by these amendments and enforce them. I urge the wage inspectorate unit to use these resources wisely. It is vital that this regulator makes itself accessible to our most vulnerable workers and works alongside employee groups and community legal centres to ensure everyone has access to these new protections. We know that for many vulnerable workers government departments can be difficult to navigate. That is why there should be an emphasis on accessibility and community engagement. In addition it is important that the government now puts in place mechanisms to enable workers to get back their stolen wages as soon as possible, enabling them to get on with their lives. As we are all aware, the pandemic has seen many individuals struggle financially. Thus the return of wages owed to some individuals will make a huge difference to their financial circumstances. I also note that unfortunately for some individuals the return of their wages may no longer be possible, as many companies have been forced to close down or go into liquidation as a result of the pandemic. I urge the government to look into the issue and provide support to these individuals as they arise. I believe this bill will hopefully bring us closer to enforcing all the recommendations and findings outlined in the report of the Victorian inquiry into the labour hire industry and insecure work. We must continue to enhance workers rights and to prevent wage theft more effectively. I commend this bill to the house. Motion agreed to. Read second time. Third reading Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business) (15:29): I move, by leave:

That the bill be now read a third time. Motion agreed to. Read third time. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Bourman): Pursuant to standing order 14.27, the bill will be returned to the Assembly with a message informing them that the Council have agreed to the bill without amendment. Business of the house ORDERS OF THE DAY Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (15:30): I move:

That the consideration of orders of the day, government business, 3 to 7, be postponed until the next day of meeting. Motion agreed to. Motions BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:30): I move, by leave:

That this house: (1) rejects the decision of the Chinese Communist Party to block access of some Victorian exports, including timber, wine, barley and seafood; and (2) congratulates the commonwealth government on its decision to cancel the Belt and Road Initiative memorandum of understanding signed by the Premier, the Honourable Daniel Andrews, MP, on MOTIONS 1348 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

8 October 2018 and the Belt and Road framework agreement, signed on 23 October 2019, because they were not in the interests of Victoria and Australia. The federal government has done the right thing here. It has passed legislation that gives it clear power to look at state and territory activities in this regard and it has examined those particular agreements, the two Belt and Road agreements, that the chamber is familiar with and the community is now familiar with. It is true that those agreements—and I have laid this out in earlier debates in the chamber—are not in the interests of Victorians and not in the interests of Australians. It has been used as a propaganda tool—let us be clear—by the Chinese Communist Party. It has sought to drive a wedge between the national government and the Victorian government. We are opposed to the processes used by the Victorian government in this regard too, and it is clear that Daniel Andrews presented cabinet with this rather than going through a formal standard cabinet process before these agreements were signed. And it is also very clear, as I have said in this chamber on other occasions, at length and quoted in detail—and I draw people back, in the expeditious use of time today, to see what I have said on those agreements in the past—that the agreements are not in the interests of Victorians and it is clear that they are unbalanced agreements. You cannot read them without having a strong sense that these are one-sided agreements that work more for the Chinese Communist Party than they do for Victorian business interests. Now, as I have said in earlier debates on this, I am not opposed to striking arrangements with other countries. In fact I think I quoted at an earlier point that Dick Hamer was the leader in this and actually signed the first arrangements with Jiangsu in 1979. Those sorts of arrangements—cultural and other economic links and building and fostering links—make perfect sense, but unbalanced agreements do not make perfect sense. And I say these agreements were unbalanced. For that reason the federal government, after proper process, has made the decision that these agreements will not stand and, under that national legislation, has made the decision that these will be removed from activity. Now, in parallel with this we have seen the decision by the Chinese communist government, the Communist Party in China, to block access for a range of Australian exports. I have named just some of them here, but the point is that many of these exporters supply very directly from the area of the world that we are in. Wine, for example, is a very significant export for Victoria, and we have had very significant wine exports into China. Those arrangements have been built over a number of years, and the Chinese communist government has made a decision to block the access for a number of exporters into China and to do that, frankly, capriciously, unhelpfully and to the detriment of individual suppliers. I think this chamber has already taken a stance on those activities and has said that they are wrong and that it does not support them. I make the point here that this motion calls for us to again reject those actions taken by the Chinese Communist Party that impact so negatively on suppliers not only from this area of the world but from all over Victoria. Agricultural producers in particular, timber, seafood and, as we have talked about before, wine and barley are the obvious ones that have been impacted by these decisions of the Chinese Communist Party. So it is for that reason that I call on the chamber to make a clear statement again. It is wrong, what has occurred with our produce. Those decisions are not World Trade Organization-compliant decisions—the ones by the Chinese Communist Party. The decisions that have been made are not in the spirit of cooperation that you would expect between two sovereign states, or indeed in this case a subnational state. Now, the Belt and Road agreement is a set of agreements that are signed around many countries by the Chinese Communist government, and they have done that for purposes of politics and purposes perhaps of some links. Now, the question in the case of Victoria is ‘Has this actually operated to our benefit?’, and I do not believe it can be shown that it has. The government has been asked again and again and again to show us how this has delivered for Victoria, and they have not been able to do so. I make the point that many of our infrastructure projects are also potentially captured in this loop and this series of attitudes that is coming from the Chinese Communist Party. MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1349

But in essence this is a straightforward motion, an opportunity for the chamber to state clearly what is important: that we reject the decisions that have been made on a number of our important exports— we do not support what has happened in China on those exports; the Chinese Communist Party should not have banned wine, barley or other products from going into the country in the way that they have— and that the decision of the commonwealth is the right one. I think it is important for us to stand with the commonwealth and to send that message quite clearly, so in those circumstances I ask for the chamber’s support. I am conscious that we have an expedited period of time today, and in that circumstance I will not talk longer, but the points I think are clear. The two parts of the motion are straightforward. Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (15:37): It is not the first time that I have risen to speak on the Belt and Road Initiative, and it is not the first time that I have risen to speak on the significant trade and export opportunities which Australia has spent many, many decades cultivating with China and indeed with our partners across the Pacific and around the world. As global markets continue to expand and as we continue to see our economic relativity not just in the region but around the world, it is relevant to note in fact that we rely upon trading partners such as China to develop, to enhance and to shore up markets for our own export of commodities and products. We have an enviable reputation, for example, of world-class products in the agricultural sector. Our wine, our barley, our dairy and our meat are just some of the examples of what we produce which has high provenance, which has high marketability and which is known very clearly to be a brand of good recognition and high standing. These things do not occur by accident, they do not occur as a matter of happenstance; they occur because of significant levels of work and endeavour over many years to build constructive diplomatic relationships with our trading partners. So it is with some dismay that I look at the motion which Mr Davis has moved today, which seeks to infuse a debate about the viability of our trading partnerships and the future of our trading partnerships with the ideologically driven approach which Mr Davis has used, characterising his speech not just today but in previous speeches, by referring to the Chinese Communist Party and by having that catchword appear in every contribution which he makes on the Belt and Road Initiative. I really want to park that ideologically driven approach on one side of this debate, because on the other side of this debate we have a really important issue around the certainty for market supply, contracts, quarantine and service delivery opportunities for Victoria in its future trading opportunities with China, and in this regard I note that throughout the quarantine and pandemic response period we have seen international arrivals and our education sector absolutely decimated. This comes off the back of quarantining issues that have been encountered in relation to fresh produce and other commodities, as well as wine, which have been imported to China and not been able to proceed to their intended destinations. These things are all indicative of the need to carefully balance the relationship with our largest and closest trading partner. It is absolutely vital that we therefore work collaboratively and cooperatively with other jurisdictions in the area, in the region, including China, and that we do so in the spirit of cooperation with our counterparts at a federal level. The decision by Minister Payne to cancel the Belt and Road Initiative is one which is entirely for the federal government. This is a matter, however, which has far-reaching implications for the way in which China as a key trading partner will make decisions about how best to proceed with Victoria’s offering in primary production and commodities, which I indicated earlier are of an enviable quality and have a significant market share. We also note that it is important that in the course of pandemic recovery and response we do as much as we possibly can to enhance, to build and in some cases to rebuild our relationships with other jurisdictions to ensure that the education sector, contributing billions as it does to our GDP here, is in a position to recover and then continue to grow. In short, we rely upon the region in which we live and work and trade to assist us in our economic prosperity, in our social advancement as far as growth is concerned and also in delivering the best possible reputational enhancement for the primary producers, including those in this area where we are meeting today. We rely upon good bilateral arrangements to MOTIONS 1350 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 reach these outcomes and to sustain them over time in ways which reflect well upon us and which also deliver the economic benefits which we desire and the outcomes which we seek. To my mind, it is more than a little naive for Mr Davis to suggest that in fact bilateral arrangements should be something which Victoria might otherwise be considered to have a veto over where they do not meet his standards for what is acceptable. Again I go back to the characterisation of the Chinese government, persistently by Mr Davis and indeed by others in this debate, as the Chinese communist government. One might be forgiven for thinking that there is an improper reason for why the word ‘communist’ appears so often in commentary from conservative parts of politics in the political discourse in this issue. What I do, however, want to put on the record today, with the cancellation of the Belt and Road Initiative, is that again it was not dissimilar from discussions that were initiated, maintained and delivered through Dick Hamer, as Mr Davis quite rightly points out, generations ago to enhance our trading opportunities and not dissimilar from the first mission to Jiangsu province, which occurred under then Liberal Premier , notwithstanding the extensive opportunities for export and trade missions both inbound and outbound which have occurred to Victoria’s benefit. These federal decisions have been taken. They are a matter for the commonwealth jurisdiction. However, it is imperative that in getting to his feet Mr Davis and indeed his colleagues do not disadvantage Victoria’s position on developing and implementing trade agreements which result in jobs and which result in bottom-line economic benefits for towns like Bright and regions like the north- east, Gippsland and indeed the west and that in fact we do the work that we can do through diplomatic channels, rather than undiplomatic channels being exercised under the cover of perhaps parliamentary privilege, to make the most of the opportunities that we have. These opportunities apply whether we are talking about China or the United States, whether we are talking about Eastern Europe or the Pacific. We have a lot of work to do to grow in our sophistication in the understanding of bilateral trade agreements at a state level, and I am looking forward to continuing to develop the sorts of trading relationships through every sector that Victoria relies upon in delivering economic growth and benefit and making sure that we are taking account of all of our opportunities, our relationships and our advantages to be able to remain competitive and to become a region and indeed a state which enhances the whole reputation of Australia as a trading partner. So on that basis there is an interesting dichotomy in the way in which Mr Davis has drafted his motion. There is a condemnation and congratulations. Again, it is pretty emblematic of the approach which the coalition takes in the way in which it drafts motions, and that is, I think, a disservice to perhaps the points which the coalition may otherwise seek to make. The bottom line is we need to deliver for farmers, for primary producers, for those in the services sector and other industries and for people who rely upon a healthy and vibrant visitor economy. We need to do so with a sense of urgency and with a sense of legitimacy as we recover from the pandemic, as we look to ascertain certainty around the reopening of borders and as we look to new and innovative ways to trade with key partners who can deliver us that economic certainty now and indeed into the future. With those remarks, I will leave it at that, but I look forward to perhaps a more enlightened debate should this matter come before the chamber again. Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (15:46): In rising to support the motion put today by my friend and colleague Mr Davis I want to make it very clear to members opposite and in particular to Ms Shing that what we are pursuing is a Victoria-first policy. What we are concerned about is that the Belt and Road Initiative—and we have been concerned about this from day one—leaves and left Victoria at a distinct disadvantage. The BRI was about giving an enormous benefit to a foreign country. It was about giving enormous benefit to a foreign government at the cost of Victorians. That is not something that we on this side of the house can possibly condone. We congratulate the Prime Minister, the foreign minister and the federal government for canning this scheme, because it was a bad deal—it was a crook deal—for Victoria. You just have to look at the reaction by the Chinese government—yes, the Chinese communist government. We call them a MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1351 communist government because that is what they are. They call themselves communists. That is what they are. They always have been—well, since the 1940s anyway. The fact of the matter is the reaction of the Chinese communist government has been nothing short of out of control. These people have shown a total lack of maturity in dealing with the fact that the BRI has been ditched. They have accused us of all manner of things now, and we have, I suppose, over the last few years got used to that. We remember what the reaction of the Chinese government was when Prime Minister Morrison suggested there be an inquiry into where the Wuhan virus came from. We remember the Chinese government at that time went quite troppo with all sorts of threats. And we have suffered not as much, actually, as we had thought we would, because whilst the Chinese government’s intention was clearly malicious towards many of our products and many of our producers, Australians and Victorians very quickly became very much on top of the need to find other markets and to find other buyers of our products. We have done that very, very successfully, so the intent of the Chinese government was not met to the extent that they wanted, and they no doubt will be exceedingly disappointed by that. Now, I just want to make one point. I have been accused, as have some others, of some sort of racism because I am against the BRI, because I am against the Chinese communist government having an advantage over Victorians. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have to make the differentiation, the clear differentiation, between the Chinese government and the Chinese people. Chinese people, good; Chinese government, bad. That is the differentiation. And whilst the Premier clearly has a very different view, I think if you go out and you talk to the people of Victoria, you will find that they indeed have the view that we were selling out to China. I have been absolutely staggered at the vehemence with which so many people have opposed the BRI. So I welcome the actions of the federal government. I thank them, and I congratulate them. They got Victoria out of a very, very nasty spot, and indeed we should all thank the federal government for that. I would hope that the Chinese government in future will display a more mature attitude, an attitude which would enable us to deal with them in a decent and a reasonable manner. I urge members to support this motion. I think it is a very good motion. I congratulate Mr Davis on having put this motion to the house today, and I will be supporting this motion fulsomely and wholeheartedly. Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (15:51): I will be brief. I am ripping off his lines. Today the people of Bright will hear part 4 297 602 of an endless debate between the government and opposition on this topic. And for those of you who may have missed it, I can easily summarise. The opposition thinks the government is bad, and the government thinks the opposition is bad. Your arguments are equally compelling. The Liberal Democrats, though, would like to take this opportunity to speak up for the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong. I have been privileged to meet many courageous people who have suffered at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), many of them from my electorate in South Eastern Metro. The one thing that I have learned from them is that standing up to authoritarians requires real bravery. The Hong Kong authorities are becoming increasingly erratic following the amazing, brave protests in Hong Kong in recent years, but now things have gone quiet—in a way that is very concerning. Dozens of Hong Kong’s democratically elected politicians and their staffers have been arrested. The Liberal Democrats stand for free trade, but freedom of people must come first. The bullies from the CCP have now turned their eyes on Australia’s primary producers. This has hurt some of our industries, but it has been heartening to see how many have responded. Many of the great people who work in our primary industries know how to manage bullies: you stand up to them. They have adapted rapidly, and some of them have found new markets. Australia’s primary producers are used to dealing with adversity and are smart and adaptable. Today I would like to pay tribute to the freedom-loving people of China and Hong Kong and the brave and adaptable freedom-loving people of Australia who will back them. Motion agreed to. MOTIONS 1352 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

BUSHFIRES Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (15:54): I move, by leave:

That this house: (1) notes that hundreds of homes were destroyed in the 2019–20 bushfires across Victoria; (2) acknowledges the enormous devastation and trauma suffered by people directly affected by any bushfire, including from losing a home, enduring living in temporary accommodation, and undertaking the arduous process of rebuilding a home; (3) recognises that only one in around every 40 people who lost their homes in the 2019–20 bushfires has successfully moved back into permanent housing, even after nearly 18 months have passed since the fires; (4) expresses concern at the range of challenges that are continuing to delay and compromise rebuilding and rehousing efforts, especially the: (a) financial gaps that frequently exist between the amounts of insurance payments received and the costs of building a new home in a bushfire area, not least because of the substantial expenses associated with complying with Victoria’s bushfire attack level ratings system; (b) severe shortages in local housing and other accommodation available to the tradespeople required to undertake the rebuilding work; and calls on the government to urgently consider changes to the relevant policies and regulations to help alleviate these very serious, ongoing problems. I would like to begin by saying that I realise we did have our broader discussion on the government’s motion earlier today. However, I feel that it is also important today to focus on— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Sorry, Ms Maxwell. There is far too much chatter in the house. This is a serious motion, and I ask members if they want to have conversations to go outside. Ms MAXWELL: However, I feel that it is also important today to focus on the serious, ongoing problems that are continuing to hamper and delay the process of rehousing and rebuilding for the many hundreds of people in Eastern Victoria and Northern Victoria who lost their homes in the 2019–20 bushfires. Currently these clearly remain the most pressing, practical legacies of these bushfires. At this point I would like to acknowledge all those people, in both paid and voluntary capacities, who have been part of the recovery effort. This is an effort that has been made even longer and more challenging by the advent of the various COVID restrictions during the past year as well. I would like to thank Claire Lock for her courageous speaking this morning—not only her courage to come into this house and speak but also her strength and determination. I would like to reiterate the words that Dr Ratnam said: we are in good hands, and I do believe, Claire, that your advocacy will certainly support the youth of this and other surrounding areas. I would also be very remiss if I did not thank the government for the considerable support and assistance that it has provided in order to aid and expedite recovery in many different forms. I will say that I did express serious fears before the 2019–20 fires in Parliament on 13 November 2019 about the government’s policies on the build-up and management of bushfire fuel loads, and I mention them here again now because, like many of my constituents, I think much more could be done to actively reduce fuel loads. Nevertheless I do commend government MPs for their actions throughout the period since the 2019–20 fires eventuated. In that same spirit, this motion is intended to inspire a productive, rather than an adversarial, discussion. Obviously the task of rebuilding after any bushfire is generally one fraught with great frustration and difficulty. As the wording of the motion reflects, this form of adversity after the 2019– 20 fires has been substantially exacerbated by two sets of issues in particular. These have been the wideranging consequences of the bushfire attack level, or BAL, ratings and the difficulties in bringing the necessary tradespeople to the affected areas. This was also previously mentioned at length by Ms Lovell. I imagine the government will have a more official figure at their disposable on this than MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1353 me; however, I have been told anecdotally by local councils and constituents that only one in around every 40 people who lost their homes has successfully moved back into permanent housing during the nearly 18 months that have transpired since the 2019–20 fires. Bushfire Recovery Victoria also revealed to the Bairnsdale Advertiser earlier this year that there have been as many as 50 locations that have officially been identified as complex sites and in relation to which new planning permits and approvals for rebuilding have therefore not been granted. In turn the cost of rebuilding at many other sites even where approvals have been granted has also become prohibitive. Frequently this has been because there have been large gaps between the amount of insurance payments on the destroyed homes and the asking prices for building the new homes. For many of the people affected these new prices are unexpectedly high because this is the first time they have become aware of the existence of and the substantial compliance costs associated with Victoria’s BAL ratings. As Eliza de Vet and Christine Eriksen of the University of Wollongong made clear in a journal article last year, the BAL ratings can often inflate rebuilding costs by 20 per cent or more, yet these ratings remain largely unknown to most Victorian home owners and are notoriously confusing to navigate. There is little wrong in theory with the concept of more caution and improved standards being applied to the building of homes in bushfire-prone areas. However, as de Vet and Eriksen also pointed out in 2019, insurers and successive governments across Australia have done little to inform home owners about these changes to standards and their associated insurance implications. This has provoked what is now widespread underinsurance prior to disaster events. It has also heightened confusion and anxiety, not to mention created adverse financial consequences, in the wake of such events. Meanwhile there also remain many unanswered questions about what other regulatory changes, if any, might be exercised in respect of the many thousands of older homes that still stand in bushfire-prone areas and that were built before the advent of these various new standards. In turn I understand that in some cases and especially since the 12-month anniversary of the fires some insurance companies have capped payments and/or time periods for temporary accommodation and are therefore no longer covering this even where rebuilds are yet to be completed. To make all of these matters worse, the areas directly affected by the 2019–20 bushfires typically suffer from severe housing shortages. Now, with even less housing and rental stock available than normal in the wake of the fires and prices for it escalating, there continues to be significant confusion about how to bring tradespeople to these areas for days and weeks at a time in order for them to undertake the recovery work needed. This is all compounded of course by the problem within Victoria that there are substantial skills shortages across most construction trades. With all these difficulties in mind I do want to make a plea to the government and/or to any other relevant authority, including in the insurance industry, that it urgently consider changes to the relevant policies and regulations to help alleviate these very serious ongoing difficulties. Above all I hope we each agree that these problems should not be allowed to continue to mount or indeed even to persist at all, particularly by the onset of the next bushfire season. The task of rebuilding lives and homes and restoring even a small degree of normality is arduous enough without having bureaucracy and regulation compounding matters as well. In the meantime I also extend my deep sympathies and best wishes to all of those people trying to move to permanent post-bushfire housing, and in recognition of their needs and interests I would like to encourage communities to continue to back, support and do all you can to help these people get back into their homes. I sincerely would like to thank all who have contributed in supporting the communities who experienced the loss and devastation of these fires. I reiterate the words of acknowledgement by all of my previous colleagues who spoke on the government’s motion, and I would also like to congratulate the Wangaratta community on their efforts in providing shelter, food, clothing and other necessities at a minute’s notice to people and their animals. They provided shelter at a moment’s notice. I know that Ms Symes came down to help out as well. We stood on the foreground of those showgrounds, and we did what we could to provide meals, to provide clothing and to support people to be able to have showers. There were animals being housed MOTIONS 1354 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 there. That was the strength of the community. That was what people were prepared to do. We had so many people come down from Melbourne who wanted to help out. These people had never met any of the people who we were accommodating, but they came in their droves and they helped out. They cooked, and they even put trailers on with barbecues and drove up to Corryong to help out where they could, cooking meals, doing what they could to raise money to support these people. I would like to say, as has previously been said, standing here now that when we go home we will not forget that. We will not forget how resilient communities can be when they face the most adverse and hideous realities that bushfires can bring. I would also like to thank the Bright and District Chamber of Commerce, Bruce Hore and Rupert Shaw for their ongoing work to support the community here in Bright and for the support that they have provided to other businesses. Since being here I have spoken to many businesses. One of the major issues they identified was that they cannot get staff because they have nowhere to house them. People coming here for tourism, for holidays, are asking questions: ‘Why are these cafes not open?’, ‘Why can’t we get staff here?’, ‘Why aren’t we getting the service that we expected?’. I say to those people: be patient; come back and support this area. It will take time to get housing for people to come, but there are ways that we can work through this. I think with a bipartisan approach we can manage this, we can help these communities. We need to stand by them and stand alongside them to help them and support whatever their needs are as best we can. I cannot speak highly enough of the camaraderie and community connectivity of people coming together to help those not only from their own area but from other areas, and I spoke about the people who came down from Melbourne to help in Wangaratta and other areas. The hearts of people! Many families may have been so financially strained, but those people were still coming out to support their communities. It just shows you most people have a good heart and most people want to do the right thing and to help. I am digressing a little bit from the motion, but I am very passionate about this and I do believe that people need to keep putting up their hands for help. There is absolutely no shame in doing that—absolutely none—and there are a gazillion people out there waiting to help in whatever ways they can. It was so informative last night speaking to so many people who provided their experience of the bushfires. When I am on the back of a fire truck and I jump off and I have got a hose in hand and I am fighting a fire, I know the fear that I feel. I cannot imagine the fear and the feeling when people see those flames coming down upon their property, not knowing what to do: ‘Do we leave? Do we stay? Do we fight? What do we fight with? Do we have enough water?’. It is frightening. We are so lucky to have our emergency services who come in and help. But apart from that, we have had so many other services, and I do commend every service. I am not going to start naming them, because inevitably, as Ms Symes said earlier, there is always someone that you forget, and I would hate to do that. I am going to leave it there but say thank you to the Bright community for hosting us here. Thank you so much to the government, the clerks and the staff. The set-up for us to be here for this one day has been absolutely incredible, and I am so proud to stand here in this room today to honour and acknowledge the work that you have done to make this possible. So I truly say thank you, and I am sure I speak on behalf of all those colleagues here in this place. Without further ado I would like to say that whilst the fires have been devastating, I do believe there is a rainbow at the end of this. People are not travelling overseas; people are coming to these communities. People are wanting to spend their money. It was great to see the market here today and to see everybody going out to support them. I will close now so others can speak, and I commend this motion. Ms TERPSTRA (Eastern Metropolitan) (16:11): I rise to make a contribution on this motion in Ms Maxwell’s name in regard to the bushfires, and I want to acknowledge the heartfelt emotion in Ms Maxwell’s contribution today in regard to this motion. I also want to thank the good people of Bright that have welcomed us into this community and provided such amazing levels of hospitality but also brought the farmers market to us today to allow us to sample some of their amazing produce MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1355 from this region. I hope in some small way all of us parliamentarians have been able to contribute today to help fill your coffers with some very much needed funds. Speaking to locals today—and I and my colleagues were speaking to business owners last night at the welcome ceremony—it is very clear that this community post bushfires is still continuing to grapple with the effects of those bushfires but then also of COVID. I know I have heard other speakers today talk about the double whammy that you have experienced in this community. But I want to fill you with a sense of hope and optimism, and I say that from having personal experience as someone who has also lived through a bushfire myself. I was living in Canberra in 2003 when the Canberra bushfires happened. I was talking to Claire earlier when she made her fantastic, heartfelt contribution as a young person. I was talking to her out in the farmers market about the trauma and the sadness and the pain that is often left after a traumatic event like bushfires, but I want to let you know and explain that there is a sense of hope and optimism that you can find out of this by focusing on what might come afterwards and how you can rebuild. It does not always fix everything, but it can become easier. Recovery from trauma is difficult. Everyone’s journey will be different. Nobody’s journey will be the same, but sometimes what you can see is that what comes out of events like these is the resilience of community and often the pulling together of community. We often bring out the best in each other when we serve to help one another and do it in a selfless way, and that is often what you see coming out of traumatic events such as bushfire. I note Ms Maxwell’s contribution. She went through a lot of detail about the level of help and offers of help that were made available by community members, so everyone is to be commended on making those contributions. I hope that there will be more of that into the future as you continue to work through these traumatic events and as you continue to recover. It is a small thing just to say to someone as a survivor with lived experience. It is interesting now to me: I can look back and see how much things have changed in terms of how much communities recover. I mean, when we went through it in 2003, we had nothing. We had no help, nothing at all. We still experienced the same issues Ms Maxwell talked about—insurance hassles. I remember I had a young baby. I ran out of the house with a six-month-old baby on my hip and no shoes on my feet, and when we came back to our house, miraculously the house had survived, but I had to boil water on a gas burner because I had a baby that needed bottles boiled and I had no running water. We received a note in our mailbox warning us about asbestos in the air. We were living in those conditions for six to 12 months, and we had to watch and see our neighbourhood be cleared and the new challenges that came up with that. We had no power. We were notified about concerns around sewerage systems—all those sorts of things. So whilst the fire had gone, there were ongoing impacts. I want to acknowledge and recognise those things as continuing to be difficult for everybody. But like I said, I want to try and fill you with a sense of hope and optimism that by putting one foot in front of the other it can get better. It is not easy; that is not what I am saying. It is not easy, but it can get better and it will get better. Focus on looking forward. With the support that everyone has provided you and also the support that the government and others can provide you, we hope to walk with you through the process of recovery. The Victorian government acknowledges the trauma experienced by people who lost their homes in last summer’s devastating bushfires. An estimated 463 residences were damaged or destroyed in the fires, comprising 264 primary places of residence destroyed and 48 damaged, and 146 other residences—for example, holiday homes—destroyed and five damaged. In addition, 656 farm buildings were also damaged or destroyed, and that is devastating. Having said that, I want to acknowledge the enormity of the rebuilding task, and I have touched a little bit on that just out of my lived experience. The rebuilding task will be huge. The Victorian government is making it easier for people to rebuild by reducing the costs and streamlining the processes. This includes the establishment of a rebuilding support service, a one-stop shop to support owners through the process of obtaining permits, including building and environmental health referral services. The rebuilding support service works closely with our bushfire recovery case support program to ensure ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT 1356 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 people have the personal and technical support they need in making decisions about rebuilding, including supporting them to pull together their planning applications. $4.4 million has been provided to East Gippsland Shire Council and Towong Shire Council through the bushfire rebuilding support service to boost local government planning teams to process permit applications faster. In East Gippsland, 171 property owners have utilised the bushfire rebuilding support service so far. In Towong shire, 29 property owners have utilised the bushfire rebuilding support service so far. In Towong we know that of 80 planning applications lodged, 64 have been approved, while the remainder are under assessment. In East Gippsland, of the 120 planning applications lodged 110 planning permits have been approved while the remainder are under assessment. We know that not everyone wants to rebuild straightaway, and it is important that supports are available when people need them. As a permanent agency, Bushfire Recovery Victoria will be with people who need support in rebuilding for the long haul. New fire safety standards, including the bushfire attack level—the BAL ratings which measure the severity of a building’s potential exposure to ember attack, radiant heat and direct flame contact— were brought in after the royal commission into the 2009 Black Saturday fires. The new standards reflect a commitment to strengthening community resilience to bushfire and prioritising the protection of human life. And, to be clear, these standards are about saving lives. The Victorian government funded the bushfire attack level assessments on bushfire-impacted properties, saving property owners about $3000. The BAL assessments are now complete and will assist property owners and councils with determining planning and rebuilding standards for new dwellings. So far 200 property owners have accessed their BAL assessments to progress their rebuilding permits. For many people the rebuilding process will be relatively straightforward. For a small number of properties, rebuilding to meet the new standards will be more difficult due to the bushfire risk. To support these property owners, a complex site task force headed up by experts in building, planning and fire behaviour has been established and is currently helping property owners. The task force is advising on items such as building products, situation of homes on property and vegetation management. In regard to short-term modular housing we need to recognise the importance of people staying connected to their communities and their properties, so in response to that the government has established the short-term modular housing program, which provides new, high-quality, temporary modular homes at low cost to households that lost their principal place of residence. Fifty-four households are currently in the program, requiring 59 modular homes, and 48 homes have been delivered to date. I might leave my contribution there. I know there are other speakers on this matter and there is plenty of other information for other speakers to contribute, but I just want to again acknowledge and thank the community in Bright for having us here today. We really appreciate your hospitality. I do look forward to your ongoing recovery, and I also look forward to perhaps an invitation for a return journey to see the recovery efforts in this town and also around the region. Bright is a beautiful place. The weather and the autumn leaves have certainly turned on a show for all of us today. I thank you once again for your hospitality, and I look forward to seeing your ongoing recovery. Debate interrupted. Address to Parliament CR JOHN FORSYTH The PRESIDENT (16:22): Members, with your indulgence, I seek leave to invite the mayor of the Alpine Shire Council, Cr John Forsyth, onto the floor of the chamber to receive a gift that I wish him to receive on behalf of all members of the house. Leave granted. The PRESIDENT: Thank you. I ask the Usher of the Black Rod to escort Cr Forsyth to the dais. MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1357

Cr Forsyth escorted into chamber by Usher of the Black Rod. The PRESIDENT: On behalf of the members of the Legislative Council, please receive these tokens of our appreciation to you, your council and the many people of Bright who have contributed so significantly to the regional sitting. We present to you a photograph of the sitting to remember us and an artwork by Sean Bundjalung, My Country, Bundjalung, Waterholes. We thank you most sincerely. Cr FORSYTH: Thank you all so much. I am sure that we will hang this with pride. I know I have only got 20 seconds, so I would just like to say on behalf of the Alpine shire and the nut growers of the area this year I have a little present for you as well. I believe that parliamentary gifts have to be, yes, shared or declared, and I am sure that there is enough in here to share. Now, one other little thing that I do have is one of these lovely, fantastic Alpine shire ties. I would think that you would like to wear this at some stage in one of your sittings in Melbourne and think of us kindly. Thank you ever so much. I appreciate it. The PRESIDENT: Before you leave, I would like to thank the parliamentary staff as well. They have done a wonderful job, and my regards also to the councillors and all the community of Alpine shire. Cr FORSYTH: I concur with you, and that will be definitely passed on to everybody. Motions BUSHFIRES Debate resumed. Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (16:26): I rise to join in the debate on Ms Maxwell’s motion, which is very similar to the motion that we did debate earlier today in that it is all about the bushfires and it does acknowledge the enormous trauma that was faced by people in this part of the world in early 2020. These fires did start in Gippsland in 2019, but here in the north-east they actually came across a couple of days before New Year’s Eve into the Benambra electorate, at Walwa and Cudgewa there, and they burnt here for quite a number of weeks. That affected people in this area tremendously. Everyone extends their thoughts to the people of this region on the trauma and suffering that they faced. Ms Maxwell’s motion recognises that in only about one in every 40 homes that was lost have people successfully moved back into permanent housing, even 18 months after the fire. She expresses concern at the range of challenges in the delay to rebuilding and rehousing efforts and acknowledges the financial gaps that currently exist in insurance payments. I spoke about a lot of this earlier in my contribution and the difficulties that people are facing in rebuilding. These difficulties are in some way caused by a shortage of builders and materials, but largely they are because of bureaucracy and the new BAL, bushfire attack level, ratings that exist in the area. I did speak earlier about this, where many people are choosing actually to defer building because they just cannot afford to build because they were insured for what their homes were worth. Now when they go to rebuild that home, even if it is the same—three bedrooms, two bathrooms, one lounge room, a kitchen/dining area—it is going to cost them so much more because of the higher standards of the new BAL standards that exist in this area. We need to somehow address this. This is nothing new. Bushfires happen on a regular basis in this part of the world. I have been a member of Parliament almost 19 years now. I often refer to my election as a baptism of fire, because only a few days after I was elected, in late 2002, the High Country up in the Towong shire was ablaze once again. It seems to be that they follow elections. In 2006 we had the great alpine fires in this area. Then, just before the 2010 election, in 2009, of course we had the Black Saturday fires. Then, just after the 2010 election, we had floods, and again we were back with bushfires last year. So these are things that happen on a regular basis. MOTIONS 1358 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

We should be learning lessons, we should have in place protocols that allow communities to recover more easily and more quickly and we should also have learned from the 2009 bushfires how difficult it was for many people to rebuild under the bushfire attack level ratings. Somehow government have to work through this, because families do not expect to have to replace an existing home. If you are building a new home and you build to that standard, you know you are building that from a vacant block and building a new home. But when you lose a home, if you have an existing home you do not expect to lose, you are never expecting to have to replace that. This has been a significant barrier for people to overcome. I also spoke earlier about High Country insurance and the problems that the alpine resorts are having getting their properties insured because of the bushfire threat in those areas. This puts them in breach of their mortgages and their leases, and it is a significant concern that government must work with them to address. But governments must also work with people to be able to protect their houses so that we are not seeing so many houses lost. I have some friends who are actually in the gallery today. I did not know these people at the time that this incident happened, but since then they have become very, very dear friends. In the early 2000s they cleared a number of trees around their home, and they did this to protect their family from bushfires. In 2005 their local shire took them to court. It cost the shire over $50 000, it cost the family over $50 000 and the family were actually fined $100 000 for clearing the land around their home to protect their home. They were ordered to replant around 700 trees, which they did in November 2008. When the fire burnt through their area on Black Saturday in February 2009 their house was the only house left standing in the area. It was left standing because they had protected their home and protected their family. They had done the right thing. Human lives and property matter more than a few trees around the home. We do not want to see trees cleared from everywhere in the community, but you should be able to clear trees from around your home to protect your property and protect your family. Those people are only sitting in the gallery here today because they did that. They should be applauded for doing that. Other people in their area died because they were not allowed to do that—but these people protected their family and protected their property, yet they were fined $100 000 for doing that. It is a disgrace that that happened to them. Another issue that exists in this area of course is a shortage of housing. We have heard a lot about that in our briefings that we have had over the last couple of days. We heard certainly at the tourism inquiry yesterday that there is not only a problem with houses being rebuilt from bushfires but also just a general shortage of housing. We are actually hearing about this not only in these regions but right across country Victoria—about affordable accommodation for workers—and particularly here in Bright, where nearly every home that gets sold is actually bought for an Airbnb or a rental property for short-term rental for tourism. So there are 16 000 tourist beds in this town and 5500 permanent residents, but as homes are put on the market they are snapped up for tourists, and there is very little accommodation for the key workers to bring people here to work in the tourist attractions, to work in the restaurants, bars et cetera that service those tourists. We need to see more investment in affordable housing, and we need help from the government to do this—to build homes that will house these key workers here locally. As I said, there are many, many issues that we could address, but we have already spoken on this issue today. We know that the issues after every bushfire, after every disaster, are similar. There needs to be some coordination from governments about lessons learned, and there need to be protocols put in place so that we do see a response for recovery and rebuilding much sooner than we have been seeing under the current government. Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (16:34): I too rise in support of Ms Maxwell’s motion. The destruction and devastation of the 2019–20 bushfires across Victoria is something none of us are going to forget very soon. Five Victorians lost their lives. More than 300 homes were destroyed. Approximately 1.5 million hectares of public and private land was burnt. It is estimated that bushfire MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1359 smoke was linked to 120 extra deaths, 331 hospitalisations with cardiovascular problems, 585 hospitalisations for respiratory problems and 401 emergency department presentations for asthma, according to the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. The 2019–20 bushfires took their toll on everybody, and it is a clear reminder of the Aussie battler spirit of giving a mate a hand no matter what the odds. I wish to take this moment to thank the thousands of CFA volunteers and career firefighters, the SES, the Australian Defence Force and the government, but I also want to make special note of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services at the time, Lisa Neville, forest fire services and the everyday Victorians who banded together in the face of these roaring firestorms. At the very heart of this motion is one of the many devastating outcomes of fire: homelessness. As we know, hundreds of homes were destroyed by the bushfires across Victoria. This motion highlights that only one in 40 people have successfully moved back into permanent housing after nearly 16 months have passed. The stress of living in temporary accommodation for 18 months in a place that is not your own home can be immense. Living in temporary accommodation can be awkward, uncomfortable and stressful. When we add the financial troubles of the COVID-19 pandemic, plus the financial gap between insurance payouts and the cost of building a house in a bushfire area, I can only imagine that these individuals feel like the road to recovery is never-ending. I note that it has been heartening to see the government instigate travel to these regional communities with monetary incentives to visitors, and this has been very successful. I too now call on the government to address the lack of local housing and accommodation in bushfire areas as well as the other relevant policies and regulations to help the lift the load off bushfire-affected Victorians. I also want to thank the people of Bright. It is an area I am familiar with; I did holiday here at Christmas time, so I am very happy to be back. I also just want to say one thing to Claire. There have been a lot of very articulate people speak here today. Clearly I am not one of them. But I also want to think that there has been a bit of inspiration for you. We have got five ministers here today, four of them women, and there are opportunities coming. I often say to the people I work with that life is like a footy game and there are four quarters. I am playing the last quarter, but we are keeping the seat warm, so we are waiting for you to come on. I commend this motion to the house. Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (16:38): It has truly been an honour to be able to be here at this special parliamentary sitting in Bright. I have to concur with many others here today that nothing replaces actually being here and speaking to people directly. It is truly an honour to have been able to participate in that. I was going to say that when I used to work in pharmaceuticals I used to do regional visits 12 weeks a year, and I actually went to Wodonga, Tallangatta, Wangaratta, Beechworth, Benalla and other places. The overriding impression I had at that time—and it has come back to me here in this visit—was the incredible resourcefulness and resolve of people in rural and regional towns, because the challenges are different and the sheer distance is very different for people like me who live in a city area, and that has to be acknowledged. However, with all the resolve and resourcefulness in the world, we are still dealing with human beings, and no matter how strong and how amazing you are, you have to acknowledge that there are times when you reach your limit. Hence the bushfire recovery is ongoing not only because of issues that are still yet to be resolved but also because of the emotional toll, and I just want to express that that is fully acknowledged and embraced and understood. I do not pretend that I know what people have gone through, but I want to say that we have certainly heard very much and very clearly that those experiences probably never really go away; it is just over time that you learn how to perhaps manage the emotions as best you can. So I did want to express that as well. Speaking to people here this week and also hearing the stories that have been shared—on the one hand, you know, when the bushfire hit, it was excruciating just to watch. I cannot imagine what it was like to actually be there and experience it—the naked flame and the terrible destruction that it caused. But having spoken to some business owners and people this week, there are also the other ramifications, MOTIONS 1360 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 like issues with water and smoke impacting produce. So the ramifications are ongoing and beyond the immediate and acute disaster itself. So that is well understood as well. It was also wonderful to hear Fiona Nicholls last night. Actually I was kind of surprised by the presentation. I do not know her personally, but I was really admiring the way she was talking. Fundamentally there were many elements to her eloquence, but in particular the way she was looking forward and seeing how the community could attack such issues in the future in the best way possible, and very much that collective sort of framework for doing so and looking at matters such as insurance and other aspects as well I just thought was incredibly pragmatic, very collective and incredibly positive in spite of such devastating and difficult circumstances. So thank you to everyone for having us here this week. I know there have been many speakers on this motion, so I am not going to elongate the day. But suffice to say it has been an honour, and I look forward to coming here again. Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (16:41): I would like to congratulate Ms Maxwell for bringing this motion on, and I think it highlights the very essence of us as human beings. We have Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and that is: we need water, we need air, we need food and we need shelter. But for humans and some animals our home is our personality, our identity, and for many—300 people in my electorate, but across the ages—to lose your home through bushfire in the most horrendous of circumstances is quite a scar that you often will not recover from. Just imagine, if you look at your kitchen bench or your lounge room wall and you have photos that are removed forever and cannot be replaced, these are the things that certainly people in eastern Victoria have had to deal with since those last fires. I was speaking with a lovely retired principal—who was principal at Lakes Entrance previously— after the 2019–20 fires. We were standing in the remnants of his home, and there was a bit of a garden feature there and there was a shed where his prized old cars were. But I said, ‘Oh, goodness, what are you missing?’, and he said, ‘When I retired from school, the local Lakes Entrance students gave me a beautiful Indigenous painting’. He said, ‘I ran out because the fire was coming and I didn’t know how long it would take and so I needed to go, and I just wished I’d waited 2 more minutes to collect that very precious item’. So people’s lives are vanished in these sorts of fires, and it takes a rebuilding and fortitude that I hope none of us have to experience in the raw. It is also such a devastation to go to Club Terrace—this tiny little place in far East Gippsland, where basically it was a timber-harvesting area and there is a timber mill there—and to see that one house stood and the other house next door was completely demolished through the fire. One place that was a sanctity and a refuge was actually the timber mill, and the gentleman there was very accommodative, as you would be, but he was also very knowledgeable, and he helped to fortify that town against worse disaster. Indeed, speaking with him over a period of time, people were so frustrated they could not get any temporary housing for months and months that they went away, but they wanted to come back to their place, their patch of land. I know from speaking with people from East Gippsland that the recovery took such a long time. Grocon was slow, tediously slow, to come on board. Now, some of that was not— Business interrupted pursuant to order of Council of 17 March. The ACTING PRESIDENT (Ms Patten): There has been a request for there to be an extension for another 15 minutes. Leave granted. Ms BATH: I will keep my contribution quite short. The fact that Grocon took a while—people are often grieving when they are sitting there looking at the destruction of their homes, so it is important that in the future we are more nimble in these clearances and the removal of properties. The next part and the next challenge that many people faced was actually getting insurance back for their house, and MOTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1361 then with that insurance, would it cover the cost of their new property, and then through to planning with councils. That is often a tedious and long time, but there is a bank, and there is quite a strain on council resources. For those people who live in the bush, for those communities that are now up to finding new insurance, where their homes were not lost, they are absolutely struggling to get insurance. Indeed one person in East Gippsland identified to me that they went to 40 different insurance agencies to get insurance and still could not. This is a conundrum that needs to be solved. We have bushfire attack level ratings for a reason—they are to protect and fortify homes. But how can you insure your home? It is something that governments do need to work on. Finally, one of the key ways of supporting people who have lost their homes is to listen and to be empathetic and to go to those regions, as we are today, and to support business and industry and encourage healing through not telling but listening. I support this motion today. Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (16:47): First of all, I also want to thank the people of Bright and the Alpine shire for hosting this Parliament here today and for welcoming us all in the way they have. It has been a remarkable day—very enjoyable. I also thank Ms Maxwell for bringing this motion into the house and for her efforts to raise the issues with the government. The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season was just horrific, destroying 463 000 hectares of Parks Victoria land and more than $50 million worth of built assets across the east of the state, not to mention all the animals who died in the fires—and to think of our part in it. Towns in East Gippsland such as Cudgewa, Walwa, Mallacoota and many others were all on fire. By 6 January bushfires had burnt through 3 million acres of Victoria’s east and north-east and 200 homes were lost. Fires were not declared to be contained until the end of February 2020, just as the regional areas were hit by another crisis—COVID-19. It has been a terrible 18 months for the state and in particular regional Gippsland, which has been struggling through the bushfires and through the recovery effort. Many people here are still waiting for repairs. The issues are wideranging, from insurance gaps to compliance with the new bushfire attack rating rules and reports of owners who had simply not been able to afford insurance. This matter of insurance has been raised many times today and by people I have spoken to. It might be time to really think outside the square on this one and maybe for some sort of community insurance or statewide disaster insurance. Local builders have been suffering from a national shortage of building materials, including timber and steel, and local tradespeople have been restricted by general unavailability in these more remote areas, as well as the COVID rules. This shortfall has meant many delays for applicants to the federal HomeBuilder scheme, which has seen reports of many landowners potentially missing out altogether on the available grants due to construction delays. I am disturbed to still be reading reports of delays in rebuilding East Gippsland jetties, boat walks and cabins and other vital infrastructure still lying in ruins. Gippsland is relying on essential tourism to the area more than ever, and it needs some intense focus. Reports of three jetties in the Mallacoota area remaining burnt out and a Cape Conran boardwalk attraction being held up in the planning processes are of concern. If the government was concerned about regional areas, it would be focusing attention on the urgently needed local infrastructure. Instead it seems to be focusing on fast-tracking 39-storey office towers in the CBD and bypassing VCAT processes by calling in comparatively non-essential builds such as at Selwyn Street, Elsternwick. I do have to question the government’s priorities here. Do we really need to be spending money on ever-increasing density in the city when the demands on regional housing and infrastructure are obviously so pressing? I would like to see the government urgently implement time frames for the completion of these regional projects so visitors to the area and tourism operators can move ahead with confidence and people can find the housing that they need. Whilst I welcome the government’s recent announcements of funding for local recovery, which is very important, with 11 organisations across Victoria’s MOTIONS 1362 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 bushfire-affected areas sharing over $1.25 million in grants, I do feel the pace of restoration has been slow. If Ms Maxwell’s figures are correct and only one in every 40 people who have lost their homes has moved back into permanent housing, then this requires some serious attention from the government. I strongly support this motion and hope that the governments listen to these very urgent regional needs. Mr MELHEM (Western Metropolitan) (16:52): I also rise to speak on the motion by Ms Maxwell and thank her for bringing the motion to the house. I think we can all agree on the devastation the bushfires ravaged through Northern Victoria. As we know, the 2019–20 fires resulted in fire wreaking devastation in this particular region and also throughout Gippsland, and the commitment by the state government to actually assist in the rebuilding process is actually a real commitment. The government has put in a lot of effort and a lot of investment to support the community. We know there are a lot of reasons why these projects have not been completed, and we can all come up with excuses why. There are various reasons; however, they are genuine reasons. For example, members of the community have not made up their mind about whether they are going to rebuild, that is one reason; and then to be able to get permits and get in tradesmen and get designs—there are all sorts of complications people are facing. I recall the result of the 2009 Black Saturday fires, and that took many years for various reasons. But I think the support is there, and we can always do more. I had the opportunity to catch up with the community in Corryong on Tuesday, and it is amazing how the community came together. Three months ago I was catching up with locals in part of the community in Mallacoota. The story they told me was they managed to put together a training course to train 80 locals to get their white cards so they could actually work with the construction companies to clear the devastated area, which they did a great job on, and that job was finished. It was maybe not finished on time, but it was finished, and they were able to complete that. So there is a lot of work to be done, but make no mistake: the commitment of this government to actually assist the affected communities is second to none. We will continue to work hard, because it is our obligation. It is their right to expect their governments—state government, federal government or local government—to actually step up to the mark and make sure we are providing them with the assistance they need. It is going to be a hard recovery, but I think we will get there. Unfortunately fires are always going to be with us. We have been lucky this year. We do not know what next year is going to bring. The challenge here that I am putting is that we need to continue to focus on how we can improve our responses. Going back to Black Saturday and recent times—in the last 10 years and the devastating fires in 2019–20—these things are going to be with us, so we can always learn from these events and put in an extra effort to make sure we are there to provide support to our communities and these regions and make sure they are not being left behind. So with these words I am happy to support the motion. As I said earlier, we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our communities in Northern Victoria and Gippsland, and hopefully we can deliver the result they deserve. Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (16:55): I just wish to associate myself with both this motion and the motion moved by the Leader of the Government earlier this afternoon. It is timely that we are considering the effects of fire and what still is left to be done to address the many challenges that communities such as this and communities in my region continue to experience. I congratulate Ms Maxwell for bringing some specific issues around housing and the consequences still to be addressed from the devastating fires of 2019–20. I will only speak for a few minutes, because I know there is other business to transact. But just very briefly, I remember being in Sale for Christmas 2019 and with my family driving back to the Princes Highway on 28 or 29 December and seeing this convoy of CFA trucks from every corner of Victoria heading towards a fire—a remarkable reminder of the thousands of incredible volunteers we have that provide that response. That CFA surge capacity is just so critical. Then some time later, after the fires ADJOURNMENT Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1363 had passed, I remember being in the main street of Bairnsdale with the member for Gippsland East, Mr Bull, and seeing this convoy of trucks with thousands of bales of hay headed to every corner of East Gippsland to deliver much-needed feed for cattle that were residing in burnt-out paddocks— another great reflection of our community. Of course the economic impact of the fires has been enormous. I think of a town like Lakes Entrance: just as peak season was about to hit, just as the thousands of tourists were about to roll into town, the fires came, and then COVID came—and other members have spoken about the long-term economic impact of that. Long may these visits to regional Victoria that many people are now undertaking continue. But in a similar vein to some other members of the coalition, whilst congratulating the government on things it has done and acknowledging the enormous amount of work of local councils, of volunteers and of a range of service organisations, we must also remember the policy changes the government has made that will increase the risk in the future. Ms Bath spoke about the workers from the timber industry using their machinery to clear tracks and to save people. Well, that industry will not exist in a decade. The government has made a policy choice to shut down the native timber industry, and with it will go that machinery in times of fire—it will not be there for future fires. Similarly, the fire services changes this government has introduced are contentious and difficult. The consequence is already being seen in the reduction in the number of CFA volunteers. The CFA volunteers provide that surge capacity for campaign fires to respond. If this trend continues, that surge capacity will be diminished, and it will create greater risk into the future. Members of the government have spoken about the Black Saturday 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, and those recommendations should be adopted, but this government has walked away from the 5 per cent target of burning public land every year—to burn the entire public estate every 20 years. They have walked away from it. The previous Leader of the Government used to talk about strategic burns in key locations, and Ms Lovell has spoken about the difficulty of actually protecting your own home. That goes against the royal commission recommendations and will increase risk in the future. Looking forward, we are lucky and grateful to all those amazing community members who do so much with such bravery to respond to these challenges. I regret to say that I think those challenges will increase because of deliberate policy choices made by this government. Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (16:59): I am going to use my 1 minute just to thank the people of Bright for having us and thank the staff, the PSOs, security and all that. My time is up. Motion agreed to. Adjournment Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business) (17:00): I move:

That the house do now adjourn after this very special and wonderful sitting day. ALPINE BETTER PLACES Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:00): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Regional Development and seeks support for the Alpine shire’s Alpine Better Places initiative. The action that I seek from the minister is for her to provide funding to Alpine Shire Council of $4 million to complete the Harrietville Alpine Better Places project and $2 million to complete the Tawonga Alpine Better Places project to improve the streetscapes, open spaces and reserves in both towns. Alpine Shire Council’s Alpine Better Places program is a series of ongoing streetscaping projects to beautify and improve amenities in different towns around the shire. Known for its stunning natural beauty, Alpine shire is a favoured destination for both domestic and international tourists, with major ADJOURNMENT 1364 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 ski resorts, countless cycling tracks and numerous wineries and accommodation options offering a diverse range of activities for visitors. Understanding the importance of tourism to the region over the years, Alpine Shire Council has embarked on Alpine Better Places to enhance the lives of residents and improve the visitor experience. Alpine Better Places has so far delivered completed projects in three towns in the shire: Bright, Porepunkah and Myrtleford. The Bright project saw the redevelopment of Mafeking Square into a picturesque war memorial and community space, the Porepunkah project saw the construction of a pavilion shelter and the Myrtleford project consisted of landscape and civil upgrade works in Jubilee Park and Myrtle Street. Alpine Shire Council now plan to continue the Alpine Better Places project with infrastructure projects in Harrietville and Tawonga. The Harrietville project includes an upgrade of the aesthetics and facilities at the Tavare and Pioneer parks and improving pedestrian links with existing trail networks. The Tawonga project centres on the transformation of Pioneer Memorial Park to improve access points and enhance the park’s functionality to make it a premier destination for residents and visitors. Detailed concept designs are currently being finalised, and Alpine Shire Council estimate the cost of both the Harrietville and Tawonga projects to be $4 million and $2 million respectively. The Alpine Better Places infrastructure program has delivered two design awards for the Porepunkah shelter, and I congratulate Alpine Shire Council for the continuous delivery of this initiative. I urge the minister to support Alpine shire and provide the funding required to complete both the Harrietville and Tawonga Alpine Better Places projects. TOURISM Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (17:03): My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, the Honourable . The launch of the four- year Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan is a significant boost for the economy—reeling under the strains of the global pandemic and the bushfires. The plan supports the quick recovery of the domestic market and sets out a framework to build a vibrant and resilient sector into the future when the international market returns. The government’s $633 million investment targets an ambitious goal of $35 billion in annual visitor expenditure. This investment is inclusive of $465 million in the Victorian tourism recovery package and a $152 million boost to the Major Events Fund to secure more crowd-pulling attractions announced in the 2020–21 budget. The tourism industry suffered an estimated net loss of $19.5 billion in 2020, and this investment will help the sector to recover from the pandemic’s impact. Representing the Western Metropolitan Region, which includes the Werribee Mansion and Werribee Open Range Zoo, I know how important tourism is to my local area. I am also aware of how important it is here in Bright, with the alpine region and great food and beverage offerings. The action I seek from the minister is to provide me with an update on how the Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan will support jobs in the tourism industry, which plays such an important role in the Victorian economy. ECOTOURISM Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (17:05): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, and the action I seek is to determine the potential tourism benefits of making Victoria’s waterways available for ecotourism throughout the year. Like many of you, I have enjoyed my time in this beautiful part of Victoria for the last couple of days. I enjoyed the scenery, the animal carers that I met, the environment, the animals and the birds. I want to reflect on the birds. I was delighted to watch them go about their lives, feeding, swimming, flying, singing and caring for their families, all while rightfully oblivious to my comings and goings. I reflected on the fact that ecotourism—that is, watching animals while protecting the environment, not shooting them while destroying it—was worth over $230 billion in 2019 and is set to double over the next decade, pandemic notwithstanding. ADJOURNMENT Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1365

Like most people, when I watched the birds at no point did I have a sudden urge to blow them out of the sky with a shotgun. Indeed, like most people, I think I would find people doing that quite disturbing, and I would want to avoid anywhere it was occurring. In fact we find many anecdotes of people and businesses that do just that—avoid Victoria for their bushwalking, their kayaking events and their travels generally because of Victoria’s strange reluctance to catch up with its more civilised neighbours in banning duck shooting. Who wants to paddle around a bend in a river and be confronted with gun-toting men wearing camo? I know that duck shooting makes very little positive contribution to the Victorian economy. At another time I will have more to say about this. What I do wonder is: what is the magnitude of its negative impact on our regional economies? If the government were to focus on the many, not hand it to the few, how much additional economic activity would be generated by ecotourism throughout our great state? How many more additional jobs would it support? Of course the cost of the cruelty that we inflict on native waterbirds must be measured in suffering, not just in dollars—but what of the dollars? Is there a rosy future for country Victoria with more of its people employed protecting, interpreting and guiding people to meet and to see its beauty? Minister, can you instigate the study that explores that inevitable future scenario? COVID-19 Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:07): My adjournment matter this evening is to the Minister for Health, and it is in relation to the very concerning and quite alarming occurrence that occurred last week with the contact tracing, as has been well reported, of a woman who returned from Perth who was on the same flight as the man who tested positive. Now, we have had a lot of discussion around this. It has been very well aired in the media. But I want to read out a few key points of the experience of Mignon Stewart, who was one of those passengers on that flight back from Perth, because they absolutely outline the farcical and very concerning inability of this government to get contact tracing right. After all this time, after everything Victoria has been through, it is still not right. In relation to what occurred with Ms Stewart, she received a health department text alerting her that she had been on that same flight, and so she undertook to self-isolate and got herself tested. It was not until the Saturday night, four days after that flight back from Perth, that a health official called to say that her husband and her son should also stay at home. She then received a visit from some health workers the following day saying that her family did not need to be isolating anymore and that they were set free, that they were allowed to get about in the community. But then she was called on Sunday night by another health official that said that she could choose to go into hotel quarantine or that the entire family would have to be in quarantine at home—and of course she was worried about her son’s schooling and other issues affecting the family, so she chose to go into hotel quarantine. But then, again, the farcical situation continued when a bus that was on the way to pick her up was then cancelled. This scenario, which I have just outlined in very brief terms due to the time, demonstrates that the contact-tracing system is not fixed. It is a farce. But it is worse than that; it is alarming to every Victorian that this government still has not got it right, and we have seen that with the QR codes—the pen and paper that was still being put into our hot hotels in recent weeks. So the action I seek from the minister is an explanation of how this farcical and very alarming occurrence occurred in relation to this family and an explanation to every Victorian as to why contact tracing has not been fixed, as I have highlighted in this particular case. How many more cases are we going to see before it is fixed? COMMUNITY SPORT Mr ERDOGAN (Southern Metropolitan) (17:11): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Community Sport, Ros Spence. The Andrews Labor government’s $40 million community sport COVID-19 short-term survival package is providing much-needed support for sporting clubs, leagues and associations to secure their ongoing viability and growth. Earlier this week the minister opened round 3 of the survival package. Through this round clubs can apply for $1500 grants and leagues and associations are eligible for a $2500 grant. My question to the minister is: how will round 3 of the ADJOURNMENT 1366 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 package assist community sporting clubs in Bright and the surrounding north-east Victoria region, including those organisations that received funding from the first two rounds? ONLINE SAFETY AND CONSENT EDUCATION Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (17:11): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education. The action that I seek from the minister is for reform to be explored in our school curriculum to ensure online grooming and consent education is mandatory at each and every school in the state. ‘Consent’ is a buzzword at the moment, and rightly so. It seems when the federal government released a video to explain what consent is that more people were left scratching their heads than before they were watching it—the milkshake! If our federal government cannot explain this very simple concept, it seems we need to devote resources to making this education mandatory. You may wonder why I have paired together online grooming and consent to both be mandatory in the school curriculum, and the answer is that they tie in with each other quite well in the modern age. Consent has a large component of online consideration, through the sending and receiving of lewd images through to distribution of pornography, and emerging technologies such as video chat rooms and apps et cetera. So just as we need physical consent education in schools, we now need it in an IT context as well. Last year the Victorian government provided a laptop or tablet to every child who did not have one to participate in online learning. Therefore we need to be responsible for teaching our kids how to use these technologies safely. It is a worry that despite each child having internet access only 52 per cent of parents talk to their children about online safety, so we need to ensure that no child slips through the cracks, by introducing these topics in our curriculum. And no school should get an exemption from this commitment—child safety is non-negotiable. The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation figures show how online grooming has disgracefully boomed in the last decade. Eleven years ago 1680 reports of online child abuse were received by the ACCCE, and last year this figure rose exponentially to over 21 000. In terms of Victoria’s arrests and charges made for these offences, in 2009–10, 42 charges were laid, and 10 years later this jumped to 317 charges. It is a stark growth, and well done to Victoria Police and the AFP. This data is very shocking and something we should try to combat, so this is why I am urging the state government to work with our federal government and our school sector, including non-government schools, to develop an in-depth program that explores physical consent but also online consent and safety from online grooming. COMMUNITY SPORT The PRESIDENT: Mr Erdogan, can you please repeat the action you seek from the minister? Mr ERDOGAN (Southern Metropolitan) (17:14): Yes, I am happy to clarify. The action I seek is an update from the minister on how round 3 of the survival package will assist community sports in Bright and in the surrounding north-east Victoria region, including those organisations that received funding from the first two rounds. WILD HORSE CONTROL Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (17:14): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. Last weekend many of us took time to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers of Gallipoli and hopefully to reflect on the timeless values and the nation for which those brave soldiers fought. Those brave soldiers were joined on the battlefields by other courageous companions, our warhorses. These horses were an integral part of our war effort, with 39 348 Walers serving with the First Australian Imperial Force. The descendants of these inspirational animals now roam free in the wild among the beautiful Victorian brumbies. Sadly the Victorian government now wants to shoot their descendants, who have become scapegoats for environmental damage caused by a range of pests. ADJOURNMENT Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1367

On Saturday I was pleased to attend a rally against this proposal in Barmah. There were many passionate advocates for the brumbies in attendance—who all are stridently opposed to the proposal. I spoke to rally participants about the Victorian government’s ignorance of rural life and their persistent attempts to erode our traditions. There was once a time when the High Country and its brumby population were managed by those who cared for the land, the mountain cattlemen. While grazing their stock they would attend to unhealthy, old and sick horses where necessary while preserving the healthy herds. Now dictates from bureaucrats in Melbourne govern the High Country, and rather than controlling the population of far more destructive and populous species such as deer, pigs, dogs, cats, foxes et cetera, they choose to shoot brumbies, animals fundamentally that they see as symbols of Victoria’s colonial past—a past they would prefer to erase. This is unacceptable and these creatures, beloved by many Victorians, should be left to roam free, not shot. The action I seek from the minister is to reveal just how much effort is being undertaken to cull the deer, pig, dog and cat populations, which are the real culprits of native flora and fauna destruction. CYCLING TOURISM Ms WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (17:17): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Regional Development. It has been a pleasure to spend time visiting this beautiful town of Bright for today’s regional setting. One thing that I have learned is that the High Country has the reputation as Australia’s premier cycling destination, and I understand that the minister was also in Bright today to announce how the Andrews Labor government is extending its support for cycling tourism in this region. Coming from the Northern Metropolitan Region we are full of many enthusiasts of cycling, and I know that many from the Northern Metropolitan Region would be very keen to hear more about how they might take advantage of Australia’s premier cycling destination. So what I am seeking today is for the minister to provide me with an update for further information on this exciting announcement and how it will grow visitation and increased demand for cycling, much of which I suspect will come from the Northern Metropolitan Region. DRINK SPIKING Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (17:18): The matter that I want to address today is for the attention of the Attorney-General. Some recent reporting has highlighted that some very concerning criminal behaviour is going unreported and is often not investigated. It seems that the last significant research and institutional interest in drink spiking was about 15 years ago. A 2006 discussion paper was produced for the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General. This report highlighted that only about 15 per cent of cases were reported and that about a third of drink spiking cases were associated with sexual assault. There have been a number of disturbing media articles about this recently, including one on the ABC website dated 14 April this year. The article describes the experience of a young student. After a suspected drink spiking she was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital. The article says the woman’s mother was told her daughter should think carefully about getting tested for drugs. They reportedly said that if her daughter tested positive for an illicit substance it could go on her record and affect her future job prospects if she was ever asked if she had taken drugs. As a result she chose not to get tested. Other callers to the ABC talkback radio told various stories of being dissuaded from reporting or of poor experience with police if they wanted these cases investigated. While it is true that alcohol is the substance most frequently used for drink spiking and is also the substance most strongly linked to sexual assault, crimes involving other substances should not be dismissed—and these are serious crimes. Sections 19 and 46 of the Crimes Act 1958 highlight this, with maximum penalties of between five and 10 years imprisonment. I have no doubt that everyone recognises this. It seems like there is some sort of misunderstanding or miscommunication between paramedics, hospital staff and police officers, in addition to live music venues and other premises not having a clear understanding of how to respond. Therefore my request to the Attorney-General is to establish a working group within her department to work with other relevant ministers, department ADJOURNMENT 1368 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021 officials and stakeholders to ensure that there is a shared understanding of all relevant laws and policies and an effective framework for responding to these serious crimes. REGIONAL ECONOMY Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (17:20): My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer. The last budget invested over $8 million to help regional communities recover and come back stronger. This investment built on the $18 billion the government has invested to help support regional Victoria since November 2014. The action I seek is for the minister to detail what ways this historic investment in regional Victoria is benefiting regional Victorians. BAIRNSDALE PISTOL CLUB Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (17:21): Last Parliament the government funded 1000 defibrillators for sporting clubs and facilities, creating life-saving opportunities all around country Victoria. It was great to see many take up this opportunity. However, many clubs were unaware of the grant programs and missed out. Bairnsdale Pistol Club was one such club that missed out on the government support to acquire a defibrillator for their club. Their rural location and average age of members places the pistol club in urgent need of a defibrillator. Bairnsdale has 12 defibrillators listed as accessible to the public should the need arise; however, none of these are located near the pistol club. The action I seek from the minister, who will be named in a moment, is for the government to actually do something. I have been trying for the last month to get someone to just say yes, but I would like the Minister for Community Sport to urgently get the Bairnsdale Pistol Club a defibrillator. WESTERN VICTORIA PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (17:22): My adjournment today is for the Minister for Public Transport, Minister Carroll. The transport options in rural and regional Victoria are challenging. For too long our regional Victorians have faced severe disadvantage because of a lack of mobility. Frankly, nowhere near enough money has been spent outside the tram tracks, Mrs McArthur. This contributes to social isolation and creates barriers to accessing employment opportunities and essential services, such as education and health care. This is not good enough. We must do better if we are to maintain regional Victoria as a great place to live and visit. Upon travelling through regions recently and visiting many transport operators, I have learned how a lack of transport severely affects communities in Ararat and towns nearby. The limited transport that does exist currently is unreliable and inconsistent, causing significant and unnecessary stress for those that rely on public transport to do their shopping, go to the doctors and meet with family and friends. We must continue to look for ways that we can improve public transport in the regions, and that begins with listening to and acknowledging the needs of regional Victorians. We owe them more than missed buses and no services on weekends. Part of this problem could be addressed by introducing a reliable rail service from Nhill that is designed to link with an existing passenger service from Ararat to Melbourne. This would not only capitalise on existing infrastructure but also make a significant difference to those living in western Victoria. Providing ongoing staff to manage this service would also provide the community with access to more public sector jobs, boosting employment. With usable standard gauge track in place, there is very little investment required to meet the community demand for a consistent service. Essentially the government could make a huge difference in mobility at very little cost. Such an opportunity deserves greater attention. A trial of this service would provide us with a better understanding of where the demand is, what infrastructure is required and how that service could run. This service is about getting your kid to TAFE, getting your granny to her doctor’s appointment. Therefore the action I am asking the minister to take is: will the government trial a service linking Nhill, Dimboola, Horsham and Stawell with Ararat’s VLocity train to Melbourne to mitigate transport disadvantage in western Victoria and to meet community expectations? ADJOURNMENT Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1369

ABORTION SERVICES Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:24): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister through the department secretary to amend the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017 to ensure nurse practitioners, nurses and midwives are able to prescribe medical abortion medication and allow specially trained nurses and midwives to obtain, supply and administer medical abortion medication for the purposes of an early medical termination. A shortage of trained providers is a significant barrier to accessing abortion care services in Victoria and in particular in rural and regional areas, and I know; I spoke to a sexual health nurse last night who was also lamenting this. By expanding the providers to nurses we would dramatically increase the efficiency of our sexual and reproductive health hubs. This is a recommendation from Women’s Health Victoria. It has the support of the Centre of Research Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health for Women in Primary Care, the Australian Women’s Health Network, Marie Stopes and many more. Abortion access is a human right. Victoria has some of the best abortion laws in the country, but this has to be backed up in practice. Across Australia only 5 per cent of GPs are registered to prescribe abortion medication, and this drops to below 1 per cent in regional areas. We know that nurse-led models are not new, and we see great success in this when we look at HIV medication and hepatitis C medication. Nurse practitioners have been providing PEP and PrEP—the HIV prevention medication—for quite some time, and that is literally saving lives. Women’s health organisations are frustrated that there continue to be restrictions on medical abortion medication. They believe—and I am with them—that these restrictions are based on morals, not on medical advice. Abortion drugs are no more harmful than their equivalents for HIV and hep C. Victoria would lead the country if it adopted a nurse-led model. If we implemented a model, once again other states could follow in this much-needed reform. The debate about abortion is over. It is time we ensured access is not based on postcode. It should be up to the medical colleges to decide who is a suitable prescriber, and it is up to us to provide the legal framework to allow that. The action I seek is for the Minister for Health to amend the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations to enable nurse practitioners, nurses and midwives to prescribe medical abortion medication and suitably trained nurses to administer this much-needed medication. HOUSING AFFORDABILITY Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (17:27): My adjournment matter for tonight is for the attention of the Minister for Planning. In discussions with the Alpine shire yesterday and today they have made it very clear to me that they have a significant crisis with respect to housing and the availability of housing options for not just key workers but many others as well. The shift to short-term accommodation, to Airbnb, and related matters have meant that many properties that were once on the market for long-term rentals are no longer on the market for long- term rentals. It has been made clear to me that what is required here is that the state government, and the planning minister specifically, assist the council. There are other councils that have this situation as well; it is not just the Alpine shire, it is broader. But in the context of where we are today I think it is important to put on record that Alpine shire has a very significant issue here. So what is required is that where workers are wanting to come here they need to be able to properly and reasonably rent a premises. That means the identification of facilities, the identification potentially of land for building and proper planning processes. So there is a strategic planning side to it on one hand. Equally, on the other side, they need to identify quick alternatives. That might be in fact some state government land and state government properties that are lying idle. If there are any of those, the Minister for Planning could also help Alpine shire and similar shires with that sort of identification. And there is the task longer term of making sure that sufficient land and options come forward to ensure that there is a ready supply of rentable properties at reasonable prices so that workers and families can move into areas like the Alpine shire. ADJOURNMENT 1370 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

So I pay tribute to the work that Alpine shire is doing here—the planning work they are doing and the proposals that they are putting forward to state government. I seek the assistance of the Minister for Planning in working with Alpine shire and other shires of the like to find these alternatives and options, both long term with the strategic planning framework and short term. You know, small numbers of properties—it might even be just a handful of properties—can actually make a difference. So he needs to redouble efforts and work quickly to assist with this urgent problem. UPPER FERNTREE GULLY HEIGHT LIMITS Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (17:30): I raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Planning. I refer to my adjournment on 9 February 2017 relating to the community campaign to protect height limits in the Upper Ferntree Gully activity area and the Dandenong Ranges foothills. Following that community campaign, which included a very well attended public rally, scores of submissions and the convening of a planning panel, height and density limits were introduced into the planning scheme to protect the amenity of this beautiful area that is so cherished by both locals and visitors alike. The strategic rationale from planning professionals validated the enormous amount of community input and the submissions made throughout the process and should have settled the local planning scheme for years to come. The height limits in the Upper Ferntree Gully activity area and bush suburban Dandenong foothills residential zones are afforded protection and were designed to preserve the low-density built form and the local environment and to protect the vistas of the hills in the Dandenong Ranges. However, planning scheme amendment GC172, signed by Minister Wynne without community knowledge in the dark of night two days before Christmas—but no doubt endorsed by the Acting Premier, the member for Monbulk, James Merlino—risks all of this by increasing the mandatory height limits in this area. Under the sweeping changes that this amendment allows, the green light could be given to higher buildings and density, scarring forevermore the vistas valued by residents and visitors to this beautiful part of my electorate. This is a reprehensible betrayal of the local community and all those who have fought so hard over many years to preserve the uniqueness of the landscape and these communities. Upper Ferntree Gully is the gateway to the Dandenong Ranges, an absolutely beautiful part of the Eastern Victoria Region and Victoria, central to so many of Victoria’s iconic tourist attractions. Many people have accessed Puffing Billy, the Thousand Steps and other tourist attractions in the Dandenong Ranges by travelling up the Burwood Highway through Upper Ferntree Gully, so this is an important issue not just for the local community but for all Victorians. As has become the standard operating procedure for the Andrews government, a freedom-of- information request lodged several weeks ago by me with both the government and Knox City Council has yet to be processed. Withholding information, denying scrutiny by public consultation and treating community with contempt is how this government operates. The action I seek from the minister is that he urgently review this decision and reverse the increased heights dictated in planning scheme amendment GC172 affecting the Knox foothills to ensure this unique area is protected for future generations and that the will of the community is respected. RESPONSES Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business) (17:32): The adjournment debate brings to a conclusion what has been a really, I think, memorable, special day for everyone. I hope that the community have experienced the same value from today’s sitting as members have. As the person with the final word for the day, I also thank the staff of the Parliament for the really seamless running of the day and of yesterday, and I thank our hosts for their generous hospitality and their warm welcome. ADJOURNMENT Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1371

The adjournment debate tonight featured speeches from 15 members, each raising a matter for the attention of ministers, and I will seek a response in accordance with our standing orders for each of those members from the ministers on the issues that they raised. I also indicate to the house that we have 80 responses to adjournment matters that we are tabling today as well. So thank you, everyone. Safe travels, whether you are from near or far. The PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I personally would like to thank all the members, and on your behalf I would like to thank the parliamentary staff for their hard work and their professional work in bringing Parliament to beautiful Bright. The house stands adjourned. House adjourned 5.34 pm until Tuesday, 4 May. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1372 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Written adjournment responses Responses have been incorporated in the form supplied by the departments on behalf of the appropriate ministers. Thursday, 29 April 2021

DATING AND ROMANCE SCAMS In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (20 February 2020) Ms KAIROUZ (Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation):

Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) helps educate and protect Victorians from scams through social media and online channels. We use these channels to quickly warn of circulating and new scams and how to best avoid them. This includes being able to target our messages to reach a particular demographic or geographic location to warn of scams. Each year CAV takes part in a nationally coordinated effort to warn Australians of the dangers of romance scams. In February this year our Government issued a media alert, in which I urged Victorians to be aware of signs of romance scams. CAV also published a news alert, distributed an online consumer newsletter, and posted on social media about these issues. To further support the reach of our messaging we have information on scams, including romance scams, in other languages on our website. CAV also educates consumers through videos and an online quiz covering common scams, including romance scams, investment scams and computer repair scams. CAV work with partners such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to share information, warn the public and where possible disrupt the activity. TIMBER INDUSTRY In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (3 June 2020) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

The Government is committed to supporting the timber industry in East Gippsland and ensure that businesses are supported in the transition process as outlined in the Victorian Forestry Plan. I acknowledge the impact of the 2019–20 summer bushfires on Victoria’s timber harvesters and haulage operators and note VicForests’ commitment to maximising work opportunities for impacted contractors. COVID-19 In reply to Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (15 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am advised that: COVIDSafe settings are currently in place. These restrictions are designed to balance getting Victorians back to doing the things they love while also putting in place measures to protect all that Victorians have worked so hard for. Businesses in Victoria are able to operate subject to COVIDsafe principles including: • ensure physical distancing (1.5 metres) • wear a face mask • practise good hygiene • keep good records and act quickly if staff become unwell • avoid interactions in close spaces • create workforce bubbles WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1373

• meet required density limits • have a COVIDSafe plan for onsite operations There are also industry-specific COVIDsafe requirements that may impose additional requirements on some businesses, such as daily cleaning, pre-shift health declarations, surveillance testing, and COVID Marshals. These obligations vary between industries. The Industry Restart Guidelines contain more detail on additional obligations. The Business Victoria hotline provides information on restrictions and support to help workplaces plan and respond to coronavirus. COVID-19 In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (16 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed— The Victorian Government acted on expert health advice to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID- 19). COVID-19 is a highly infectious virus that does not discriminate between who it infects, whether they be young, elderly or healthy. If this virus were to run unchecked throughout the community, our health and hospital systems would exceed capacity which would have a devasting impact on the health of Victorians and the economy as we have seen in other jurisdictions around the world. The Victorian Government implemented restrictions to protect public health that are based on expert data analysis and public health advice. Urgent action and significant behavioural change was needed to address risks and protect Victoria’s health system. COVID-19 In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (16 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality)

I am informed: The Victorian Government has acted decisively on expert health advice to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a highly infectious virus that does not discriminate between who it infects, whether they be young, elderly or healthy. If this virus were to run unchecked throughout the community, our health and hospital systems would exceed capacity which would have a devasting impact on the health of Victorians and the economy. Regional Victoria has worked hard at staying safe and helping drive case numbers down to levels where restrictions can be eased in a safe and graduated manner. This is testament to the determination of regional Victorians. A determination to not only get these numbers low—but to keep them low. As more people move around Victoria with the easing of restrictions, a consistent set of restrictions is essential for regional communities to help keep case numbers of COVID-19 low. A consistent approach ensures restrictions are clear to the community, easier to follow and practical to enforce. COVID-19 In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (16 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed: The Legislative Council has made orders on 2 September 2020, 16 September 2020 and 30 October 2020 requiring that the Government produce documents relating to the public health and other orders made under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March 2020. In each instance, the Legislative Council’s dates for production of the documents do not allow sufficient time for the Government to respond to the Council’s resolutions. The Government is in the process of collating WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1374 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

and considering the documents that may fall within the scope of the Orders. The Government will endeavour to provide a response to the Orders as soon as possible. COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VEHICLE INDUSTRY In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (13 October 2020) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

The previous Minister for Public Transport put in place an Advisory Panel to advise on options to mitigate the impacts on COVID-19 on the commercial passenger vehicle industry. I have continued with the panel and have appreciated the work and dedication from both yourself and the Member for Oakleigh, Steve Dimopoulos MP. As a direct result of the Advisory Panel’s recommendations , the Andrews Labor Government announced a $22 million support package, which provides support to booking service providers, independent operators, vehicle owners and drivers through multiple initiatives. Key elements of this package included grant payments to support cleaning requirements, regional service delivery and subsidise depot fees paid by drivers and vehicle. This package comes on top of measures the Government has already implemented to support the commercial passenger vehicle industry, including the pausing of regulatory fees, and the $1500 Coronavirus Worker Support Payment, for drivers who contract the virus or are required to self-isolate. The Government will continue to work with the Advisory Panel to review the state of the industry as restrictions are eased. I am confident that the commercial passenger vehicle industry has the tools and support it requires to provide the Victorian community with safe commercial passenger vehicle services as the state continues to recover. COVID-19 In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (16 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality)

I am advised that: COVIDSafe settings are currently in place across Victoria. These restrictions are designed to balance getting Victorians back to doing the things they love while also putting in place measures to protect all that Victorians have worked so hard for. Businesses in Victoria are able to operate subject to COVIDsafe principles including: • ensure physical distancing (1.5 metres) • wear a face mask • practise good hygiene • keep good records and act quickly if staff become unwell • avoid interactions in close spaces • create workforce bubbles • meet required density limits • have a COVIDSafe plan for onsite operations There are also industry-specific COVIDsafe requirements that may impose additional requirements on some businesses, such as daily cleaning, pre-shift health declarations, surveillance testing, and COVID Marshals. These obligations vary between industries. The Industry Restart Guidelines contain more detail on additional obligations. The Business Victoria hotline provides information on restrictions and support to help workplaces plan and respond to coronavirus. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1375

ANIMAL WELFARE In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (16 October 2020) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

The Domestic Animals (Puppy Farms and Pet shops) Act 2017 (PFPS Act) was implemented to further regulate breeding of dogs, reform pet shops and improve traceability of dog and cat sales in Victoria. As a result of changes introduced by the PFPS Act, consequential amendments were required to the Domestic Animals Regulations 2015, the Code of Practice for the Operation of Breeding and Rearing Businesses and the Code of Practice for the Operation of Pet Shops. Regulation changes focused on operationalising the Pet Exchange Register (PER) and commercial dog breeder scheme, while changes to the codes of practice reflected definition updates and the limitation placed on sources approved to supply animals to pet shops for sale. A new team within Animal Welfare Victoria (AWV) was established to implement and regulate four of the five new schemes created under the PFPS Act, including declared bird organisations, animal sale permits, commercial dog breeders and the PER. The fifth scheme is a voluntary registration scheme for foster carers, implemented by local councils. While the Commercial Dog Breeder Scheme was scheduled to be fully implemented on 10 April 2020, due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, a Governor in Council Exemption Order was made to delay the scheme’s final transition. With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, AWV has recommenced the assessment process. This entails undertaking a thorough review of all applications, which includes an inspection and audit of the business to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation and that the welfare needs of dogs being kept at the business are, and will be, met. To date, eight businesses have been approved as commercial dog breeders. I will only approve breeders that meet the legislative requirements and demonstrate a high standard of animal welfare, on the recommendation of Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer. AWV developed several tools and resources to assist regulatory authorities with understanding and implementing the new schemes from the PFPS Act. This included delivering training seminars across the state, attended by authorised officers from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Victoria and local council. Since the implementation of these changes, 17 declared bird organisations have been approved and 16 animal sale permits issued. The PER was launched on 3 June 2019 to enable those selling or giving away a dog or cat from 1 July 2019 to meet the new legislative advertising requirements, including needing a source number. To date, the PER has issued over 24,000 active source numbers. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, the Victorian Government waived the annual fee to enrol and renew on the PER for another year until 1 July 2021. COVID-19 In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (27 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am advised that: COVIDSafe settings are currently in place. These restrictions are designed to balance getting Victorians back to doing the things they love while also putting in place measures to protect all that Victorians have worked so hard for. Businesses in Victoria are able to operate subject to COVIDsafe principles including: • ensure physical distancing (1.5 metres) • wear a face mask • practise good hygiene • keep good records and act quickly if staff become unwell WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1376 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

• avoid interactions in close spaces • create workforce bubbles • meet required density limits • have a COVIDSafe plan for onsite operations There are also industry-specific COVIDsafe requirements that may impose additional requirements on some businesses, such as daily cleaning, pre-shift health declarations, surveillance testing, and COVID Marshals. These obligations vary between industries. The Industry Restart Guidelines contain more detail on additional obligations. The Business Victoria hotline provides information on restrictions and support to help workplaces like hospitality venues plan and respond to coronavirus. MADDIE RIEWOLDT’S VISION CENTRE OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE IN BONE MARROW BIOLOGY In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (28 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

This question falls within the portfolio responsibility of the Hon MP, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy. Please redirect your question to Minister Pulford. FAMILY VIOLENCE In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (29 October 2020) Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):

The Andrews Labor Government remains committed to pursuing a Victoria free from violence. We are under no illusion that family violence remains our number one law and order issue, and is still the leading cause of death, disability and illness for women under 45. When COVID arrived in Australia, we knew that this would present unique and additional challenges for victim survivors of family violence and the services that support them. At all times throughout the lockdown periods, fleeing family violence was a permitted reason to leave your home. This was communicated to Victorians as part of public health messaging and translated into 49 different languages. All family violence, sexual assault and Orange Door services continued to operate and deliver critical functions throughout the lockdown periods, including providing crisis accommodation and support. We supported our family violence sector with a swift transition to remote operations where possible, while supporting the health and safety of the workforce. We invested $40.2 million for crisis accommodation and specialist support in response to the pandemic—including $20.2 million to help Victorian family violence and sexual assault services meet the expected increase in demand and change their service delivery to respond to remote working. The package also included $20 million for accommodation to keep victim survivors safe in their homes—including funding to services for victim survivors to access emergency housing, and to set up systems to house perpetrators so women and children can stay in their homes. We also worked to increase opportunities for victim survivors to seek assistance during the pandemic. Women who called the COVID hotline were asked questions about their safety. Information about accessing family violence support was provided to women through the hotline, testing sites and door- knocking teams. Specialist family violence agencies across Victoria developed innovative ways to increase accessibility to services during the pandemic. This includes the use of online platforms and increasing social media presence to improve community awareness of services remaining open and available. Family Safety Victoria has provided information through social media. In September, 250,000 ‘wallet cards’ containing information about family violence and contact details for Safe Steps, were distributed to independent supermarkets, hotels accommodating homeless people and through supported residential services and low-rise public housing. Safe Steps is the key entry point to family violence support services. It is the only 24/7 service with broad responsibilities focused on coordinating crisis responses for victim survivors of family violence in Victoria. Safe Steps adapted its service model to overcome the barriers to accessing support faced by victim-survivors during COVID-19 restrictions, who may be isolated at home with perpetrators. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1377

Since late May 2020, Safe Steps has operated a webchat alongside their telephone response as an alternate access point to support victim survivors without compromising their safety. Safe Steps also led an initiative for trained persons in supermarkets in Victoria to support victims of family violence access services safely during COVID-19. Victoria Police’s Operation Ribbon focused on increasing safety for victim survivors during the pandemic by checking their wellbeing and following up on perpetrators. Sharing information about perpetrators with family violence services means risk can be managed more effectively. Despite the pandemic, the Andrews Labor Government remains committed to implementing every one of the Royal Commission into Family Violence recommendations, and we have continued to implement a wide range of system reforms to support victim survivors and assist perpetrators to change their behaviour. LEARNER DRIVER TRAINING In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (10 November 2020) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

Materials to support Learner and Supervising drivers are available online, through myLearners, which is a log book app and website. The app and website allow driving hours to be logged and tracked, and helps form lifelong safe driving behaviours. Licence testing has reopened across Victoria. Appointments that were suspended because of COVID19 have priority for rebooking. Additional licence testing centres with new staff have been setup to offer more bookings, and COVIDSafe measures remain in place to allow the safe delivery of licensing services. A key part of the Government’s commitment to the restoration of service for registration and licensing has been the development of online learner permit and hazard perception testing. Formal procurement of this online testing is being finalised, with delivery expected in early 2021. Formal driving instruction, including through programs similar to myDriveSchool, and on-going informal supervision are complementary. Research indicates that learners who receive a combination of professional driving instruction and informal practice with a supervising driver are more likely to pass their driving test and have fewer crashes. While some research shows training in simulators can improve various aspects of hazard perception and hazard management, there is currently no suitable substitute for real world driving. TAC’s Drive Smart program is a hazard perception simulation that all learner drivers are encouraged to use to practice their skills. Studies have shown some road safety benefits of using Drive Smart, though these benefits are not gained by using Drive Smart in isolation. Drive Smart is also not considered a substitute for real world driving. To develop safe driving behaviours and hazard perception skills people need on road driving practice, interacting with real traffic on real roads. This is a key reason for the minimum 120-hour driving requirement. The risk is about 35% lower for those learners who have practiced for about 120 hours compared with those who have had only about 40 hours of practice. COVID-19 In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (11 November 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am advised that: Fitted face masks have been an effective public health measure, to protect people against coronavirus (COVID-19), supported by other vital public health measures of physical distancing, and hygiene measures. Fitted face masks are a proportionate public health strategy when levels of community transmission poses a potential risk, particularly in indoor settings. The current epidemiological environment proposes much lower levels of community transmission than in previous months and has resulted in the public health restrictions on mandatory mask wearing to change. Individuals are currently required to carry masks with them, but do not have to wear them unless on public transport, in rideshare vehicles and taxis, in sensitive settings such as aged care facilities and in some larger retail settings including indoor shopping centres and supermarkets. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1378 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

We are so thankful for the efforts of Victorians who are playing their part to ensure the current numbers remain low, as we ease toward COVID normal. COVID-19 In reply to Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (25 November 2020) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

On 27 July 2020, the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) assumed operational responsibility for the COVID-19 accommodation program from the then Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). On 27 November 2020, ministerial responsibility for the program transferred from the Attorney• General to the portfolio of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. As you are aware, on 1 December 2020, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) was established as an Administrative Office and assumed operational responsibility for the program from DJCS. CQV only holds limited information about procurement of services for the program prior to its establishment. A review of procurement records indicates that neither DJCS or CQV have engaged Onsite Doctor or DoctorDoctor to provide any services for the COVID-19 accommodation program operated by CQV. CQV procures health services from Healthcare Australia and Alfred Health for the accommodation program. These services include: symptom screening and assessment of travellers upon arrival to Australia; triage and referral of travellers to quarantine health or complex care hotels or hospitals as required; and management of the health of returned travellers undertaking quarantine in the general hotel quarantine program, including COVID-19 testing, daily symptom and health and wellbeing checks, and management of any other health- related matters that can be dealt with safely in these hotel quarantine settings. BOX HILL TRANSIT INTERCHANGE In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (26 November 2020) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region for his question. The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) is the biggest transport infrastructure investment ever undertaken in Victoria and will transform the Box Hill interchange. Commuters will be able to catch a train in four different directions from the Box Hill interchange, slashing travel times to destinations across Melbourne. It is acknowledged that the Member is a staunch defender of the Liberal Opposition’s commitment to scrapping the SRL. The Andrews Labor Government has taken the alternative approach and will deliver on the election commitment that residents of the Box Hill electorate overwhelmingly endorsed at the 2018 State Election. $2.2 billion has already been allocated to start construction next year, and further information on the project, including the new station at the Box Hill interchange, is available at www.suburbanrailloop.vic.gov.au. BETTER AT HOME INITIATIVE In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (10 December 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: The three-year Better at Home initiative commenced in the first quarter of this year. Metropolitan and regional health services are engaging with the Better at Home initiative through the following three components: • growth funding for additional admitted and non-admitted services that will be delivered in the home and supported by telehealth • innovation funding to engage and train clinicians to design and deliver care in the home and integrate functions and service delivery across the partnerships WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1379

• capital investment in technology to support the delivery of care in the home. Western Health will be a key health service in delivery of the Better at Home initiative to support residents of the western suburbs of Melbourne. The coronavirus pandemic has been extremely hard on Victorians, but we have also seen it inspire innovation and more effective ways to care for people. The Better at Home initiative will ensure these programs remain available to Victorians, allowing patients to receive the very best care from the comfort of their home and without having to travel. I thank the member for the Western Metropolitan Region for her interest in the Better at Home initiative on behalf of her constituents. THE ORANGE DOOR In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (10 December 2020) Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):

The Orange Door Network is being rolled out across Victoria—with 17 networks to be operational by the end of 2022. The Network presents a new way for families, women, children and young people experiencing family violence to seek the services they need, and assist with the care, wellbeing and development of children and young people. The location of the primary physical premises within each area is based on the population and demand for services, established service networks, established transport networks, availability of appropriate physical premises and the opportunity to align with other reforms. Regardless of primary site location, The Orange Door Network works with all existing relevant services in the regions, bringing them together to provide integrated support for victim survivors of family violence. These providers have access to new information sharing permissions, risk assessment tools, shared frameworks and help for clients to access new service models and interventions developed following the Royal Commission into Family Violence. The Orange Door Network includes a range of different entries into the network through the establishment of Orange Door sites and network partners that provide the service across the entire region. This ensures that there is “no wrong door” for clients. Planning work is underway for the Orange Door Network in Brimbank Melton which will open next year. It will be an important element of family violence service response in the area, providing support for adults and children who are experiencing or have experienced family violence and for families with the care and wellbeing of children. However, as we roll out this service across the state, the existing services remain in place and provide support for those in need. Agencies in the Brimbank Melton DHHS area are funded over $9.3 million annually to provide family violence support services in the local area. This includes services delivery for family violence intake, case management support, therapeutic responses, housing assistance and brokerage as well as perpetrator intake, perpetrator brokerage, perpetrator responses and men’s behaviour change, and dedicated service responses and brokerage for Aboriginal family violence support and adolescent family violence support. Services operating in the Melton area include, VACCA and Djerriwarrh Health Services, Women’s Health West, Good Shepherd, The Salvation Army, Baptcare and VACSAL. In response to the pandemic, the Andrews Labor Government invested $40.2 million for crisis accommodation and specialist support for people experiencing family violence and sexual assault. This included $20 million for short-term accommodation for victim survivors and $20.2 million to help Victorian family violence and sexual assault services adapt service delivery and meet increases in demand during COVID-19. More than one million dollars of this funding has been allocated to services in the Brimbank Melton DHHS Area. In August 2020, we announced $20 million to help keep family violence victim survivors safe at home and to hold perpetrators to account whilst reducing risk. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1380 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

SUBURBAN RAIL LOOP In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (2 February 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Southern Metropolitan Region for his question. The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will transform Victoria’s public transport system, connecting our suburbs and making travel easier and more convenient for all Victorians. Connecting every major train line from the Frankston Line to the Werribee Line, via Melbourne Airport, the new rail link will improve access to housing, jobs, schools, universities and hospitals in Melbourne’s middle suburbs. SRL will create up to 20,000 jobs during construction and kickstart the careers of 2,000 apprentices, trainees and cadets. Early Works on Stage One of the project, set to commence in 2022, will create up to 800 direct jobs. The train stabling facility is expected to deliver more than 200 local jobs. Train stabling is required near the start of the rail line to allow the fleet of new high-tech trains to begin services efficiently each day. It would not be possible to provide reliable, high frequency turn up and go services without it. Victoria’s busy suburbs make it challenging to find suitable parcels of land for the dedicated facility and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has assessed land availability and existing land use between Cheltenham and Clayton. As a result of these investigations, the preferred location is in the green wedge zone at Heatherton, bordering Old Dandenong and Kingston Roads. Stabling is a permitted use in a green wedge zone and this location will significantly minimise residential and commercial property acquisition, impacts on local jobs, impacts on local agricultural land and impacts on the environment. The Liberals would apparently prefer that stabling is delivered at a greater cost to Victorians and greater impact to local residents and businesses. The Andrews Labor Government is committed to delivering Suburban Rail Loop and remains committed to delivering the Chain of Parks. We will work closely with the City of Kingston, the community, and stakeholders to ensure that SRL enables the Chain of Parks to be delivered. NAPIER STREET, WHITE HILLS, BUS STOP In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (3 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

I understand local traders have concerns about the new location for this bus stop. I have also received correspondence directly from traders about their concerns. The Department of Transport (DoT) has advised that the bus stop currently located near 499 Napier Street was not compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). It was hoped that DDA compliance could be achieved at this site, however an audit by Public Transport Victoria and a physical assessment by a local disability provider confirmed the stop could not be made compliant at that location. DoT considered multiple new locations for a ODA-compliant bus stop before settling on the site near 507 Napier Street. This site has the most benefits and has been assessed as a safe location for drivers, pedestrians, and public transport users. VOLUNTARY ASSISTED DYING In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (3 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (the Act) and its implementation focused on the need to balance community safety and people’s desire to have this additional choice at the end of their life. The balance that has been struck reflects the views of the community while remaining within the legal framework. For clarity I refer to the specific elements of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (the Code) that you raised in relation to the Act. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1381

The Code creates criminal offences in relation to the use of a carriage service to either: I. intentionally access, publish, transmit or make available material which counsels or incites committing or attempting to commit suicide (s 474.29A(1)); II. intentionally access, publish, transmit or make available material which promotes or provide instructions on a particular method of committing or attempting to commit suicide (s 474.29A(2)); and III. possessing, producing, supplying or obtaining material with the intention of contravening or engaging in these activities (s 474.29B). The use of a carriage service under the Code refers to mechanisms of electronic communication including making a telephone call, sending a message by facsimile, sending an SMS message, or sending a message by email or some other means using the internet. While VAD deaths are not recorded as suicides, such deaths—which involve a person taking their own life— may still constitute ‘suicides’ for the purposes of the Code. In order to minimise the risk of prosecution under the Code, persons who are involved in providing medical care or support to an individual seeking voluntary assisted dying should provide this care face to face. By doing so this avoids the risk of breaching ss 474.29A and 474.29B of the Code and avoids criminal liability under the Code. Medical Practitioners who had successfully completed the mandatory medical training to provide voluntary assisted dying were contacted by the Department and advised that in providing advice or information to an individual about voluntary assisted dying in Victoria in compliance with the Act they should be aware of ways to minimise the risk of breaching the Code. This includes conducting eligibility assessments face to face, and not over a carriage service, for example telehealth. The Department have implemented a range of mitigation measures to ensure Victorians and their medical practitioners participating in voluntary assisted dying do not inadvertently contravene the Code. The Department promotes that conversations regarding an individual’s end-of-life are conducted face to face. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board have recognised the challenges faced by some individuals and their families in completing face to face assessments, especially during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. These issues have been noted in the Voluntary Assisted Dying report of operations, led by Her Honour Betty King and tabled in the Victorian parliament in September 2020. The most recent report of operations was tabled in the Victorian parliament on 3 March 2021. I wrote to the Hon Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health, highlighting the challenges Victorians are facing accessing voluntary assisted dying and seeking assurance that where Victorian health practitioners lawfully act in accordance with the Act, that they will not be at risk of prosecution by the Commonwealth for suicide offences under the Code. The Attorney-General, then the Hon Christian Porter MP responded and has advised that no assurance can be provided from the Commonwealth. These matters fall within the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and are taken in line with the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth and independently of the Government. As the Code is commonwealth legislation, I too cannot provide the assurance you seek that medical professionals will not be prosecuted for providing the voluntary assisted dying service via telehealth. This is an unsatisfactory situation. It is one that is capable of resolution by the Commonwealth. I am disappointed that to date the Commonwealth Government have not taken the decision to assist to resolve this matter. I would like to highlight that the Statewide Care Navigator service is available to provide support and follow up to individuals who request information about, or access to, voluntary assisted dying and their family and medical practitioners. The care navigators are a point of contact for the public, health practitioners and health services. The service was established prior to the implementation of the Act and was expanded in January 2020 to improve service coverage in regional areas. PETER–BELL STREETS, PRESTON, TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (3 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

I understand that it can be difficult for parents of children attending St John ’ s College to move to and from busy Bell Street via Peter Street. The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) team advises it has been working closely with St John’ s College with respect to changes impacting school access during the nearby level crossing removal works. Since late 2020, the school’s southern access located on Showers Street has been restricted to facilitate access to/from the rail corridor, which has required parents to instead access the school via Blanch Street. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1382 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The Department of Transport and LXRP, will continue to work with the school while the nearby works continue and consider changes to help people move safely through the area. MILDURA TRAIN SERVICES In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (3 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

This matter does not fall within my portfolio responsibilities. You may wish to address your question to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Hon Jacinta Allan MP. PLENTY ROAD, BUNDOORA In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (4 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

In the 5 years (1 Jan 2015 and 31 Dec 2019), there were 115 recorded casualty crashes along Plenty Rd between McKimmies Road and Greenhills Road, this included 2 fatalities at the intersection of Plenty Road and Greenhills Road. Furthermore, AAMI insurance has identified Plenty Road as Australia’s top ranked road in their annual crash risk ratings three years in a row and based on insurance claim data. In January 2021 a trial speed limit change on Plenty Road between Greenhills Road and McKimmies Road in Bundoora was implemented. The changes will create a safer environment around schools and shopping areas by helping to minimise the risk of crashes along this busy section of road. DoT will consult the community to ensure their feedback can be given and look for further opportunities to improve safety. Details about this project are available on the VicRoads website https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/planning-and-projects/melbourne-road-projects/plenty-road-speed- limit•reduction-trial. This trial is in addition to the improvements being delivered by the Department of Transport and Major Roads Projects Victoria along Plenty Road north of McDonalds Road in South Morang. More information is available at https://roadprojects.vic.gov.au/projects/plenty-road-upgrade. These improvements are important to help create a safer corridor while responding to growth in Melbourne’s northern areas and these must be completed in a safe manner. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY CARRUM DOWNS BRIGADE In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (4 February 2021) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

Over the past four years, the Carrum Downs Fire Brigade has received $3.9 million in asset and infrastructure investment, with a $3.4 m station opened in 2018 and a new $0.5 m Heavy Tanker allocated to the brigade at that time. CFA is in the process of replacing the brigade’s allocated 2002 medium pumper with a refurbished Scania pumper, which is expected to occur in mid-April 2021. In the interim, CFA has assessed the Carrum Downs Fire Brigade’s appliances as safe, appropriately equipped and fit for purpose. The maintenance of CFA’s vehicle fleet is taken seriously, and all vehicles are subject to an annual fire-worthy inspection by qualified technical staff to ensure they are in good working order and remain a suitable and valuable asset to our members, regardless of age. COVID-19 In reply to Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (4 February 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Victorian Government is committed to providing all Victorians with timely and accurate information on coronavirus restrictions and announcements during this pandemic. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1383

The decisions to impose or relax restrictions in Victoria in response to coronavirus outbreaks are always based on public health advice. Victoria continues to react to changing circumstances and doing so quickly is the best way to keep our state safe. Ensuring Victorians are aware of the latest restrictions and public health advice is a key part of this process and is essential to limiting the spread of the virus. Victorians can access the most up to date and accurate information via: • the Government’s dedicated coronavirus website (https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au); • the Department of Health’s website, which is updated daily (https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus- covid-19-daily-update); and, • the Government’s social media channels and the coronavirus hotline (1800 675 398). A hotline for Victorian businesses is also available to provide support (13 22 15). These communication channels continue to be the most effective way to allow all Victorians to access information quickly and ensures consistency of information shared with the community. The government also sends out information on coronavirus restrictions via email to all Victorian Members of Parliament. Since the beginning of the pandemic the government has sent 122 of these updates, and I am informed that the most recent update was sent on 26 February 2021. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (4 February 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Andrews Labor Government is committed to ensuring the supply and development of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) teaching workforce in secondary schools. This workforce plays a critical role in supporting school students to access vocational and applied learning pathways through school and the opportunity for students to build their skills and job readiness is particularly important in the context of Victoria’s economic recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Initial teacher education (ITE) providers’ provision of accessible, high quality ITE that supports VET/VCAL specialisation plays an important part in supporting a strong VET sector in Victoria. Both of these are recognised in the recommendations of the Review into Vocational and Applied Learning Pathways for Senior Secondary Students led by John Firth, former Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). On 24 November 2020, the Government announced in-principle acceptance of all recommendations of this review, which provide a transformative reform agenda that will lift the quality and perception of vocational education; help more students access high-quality programs; and provide students with a vocational pathway that gives them the skills they need to move successfully into further training and jobs. The Government’s Senior Secondary and Pathways Reform agenda includes addressing perception issues related to vocational and applied learning, and in particular related to the VCAL workforce, as identified in the Firth Review. The Government is investing $38 million to support students to access high-quality vocational and applied learning pathways and develop a new vocational pathway within the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). Implementation will include the introduction in 2023 of a vocational specialisation within the VCE, and a fully integrated (VCAL, VCE) single certificate by 2025. The Government has also invested $26.2m to increase the number of high-quality teachers specialising in VET delivered to secondary schools and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). This investment will: • support a pilot to gauge demand for a program where VET industry professionals would study for teacher qualification while working as VET trainers in schools • support schools to share VET trainers between schools and TAFEs, and invest in innovative VET delivery and • provide VET and VCAL teachers with access to professional learning programs and scholarships. These initiatives are in various stages of implementation, with innovation grants, VET Industry Immersion forums and VCAL scholarships currently available to schools. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1384 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

In regards to the provision of high quality Initial Teacher Education (ITE), the Department of Education and Training is aware that the current level of demand for teachers qualified to teach Product Design and Technology and VET is high. The Department meets regularly with La Trobe University and other providers of ITE to discuss their provision of high quality ITE that matches Victoria’s current and forecast teaching workforce demands, including in the vocational and STEM areas. La Trobe University has advised the Department that its decision to discontinue the Bachelor of Technology Teaching was based on a trend decline in enrolments in the course since 2017. The Department has met with Dr O’Reilly Briggs and appreciated the opportunity to draw on her expertise in this field. It will continue to consult with Dr O’Reilly Briggs and other experts in the field as it implements the recommendations of Mr Firth’s Review. The funding of specific university courses is primarily a matter for the respective university and the Commonwealth Government—the Commonwealth has primary responsibility for policy, funding and regulation of higher education. Victoria will continue to advocate to the Commonwealth Government to increase its support for Victoria’s higher education providers impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and ensure Victorians are provided with education and training opportunities in vital areas like initial teacher education. FOREST ROAD, ANGLESEA In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (16 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

It is acknowledged that wildlife around roads have always posed serious concerns around safety and ecology. Various methods have been employed to reduce the risk, including the installation of advisory signage and wildlife crossings and, in some circumstances, speed reductions. Virtual fencing is a new technology aimed at deterring wildlife from roadsides. I am advised by the Department of Transport (DoT) that at present, there is a lack of empirical data to support its viability as a legitimate road safety treatment at the present time. Various studies have shown the efficacy of the technology to be inconclusive or demonstrated it to be ineffective. Forest Road, Anglesea, is a municipal road under the authority of Surf Coast Shire. Surf Coast Shire, as the road authority, is responsible for making the final determination on the adoption, or otherwise, of this technology. Surf Coast Shire have advised that they are currently not in a position to support virtual fencing. Given the Member’s strong interest in road safety and this technology I am happy to offer him a briefing from my Department to discuss its merits and alternative treatments. ELECTIVE SURGERY WAITING LISTS In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (16 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

Elective surgery levels have been adjusted throughout the pandemic as a part of the public health response. All health services, including public and private, are now permitted to increase elective surgery activity up to and beyond 100 per cent of usual activity where safe and appropriate to do so. The 2020–21 Victorian State Budget invested $300 million for an elective surgery blitz to address delayed elective surgery activity. COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VEHICLES VICTORIA In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (16 February 2016) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

As a condition of registration, records must be kept by booking service providers. The records that booking service providers must keep are set out in the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Regulations 2018. Trip data from booking service providers is used for fare monitoring and is also critical to enhancing industry safety, which is why booking service providers have a legislative requirement to collect trip records and WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1385

provide them to CPVV upon request under the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Act 2017. When CPVV requests data, it tells the booking service provider what it will use it for. Trip data allows CPVV to better understand the CPV industry and to design regulatory responses that deliver the best safety outcomes for the whole industry. For example, CPVV can use data to understand the patterns that drivers choose to work across different booking service providers and determine if there is a risk of driver fatigue. During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, trip data has been crucial in informing the Government of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the CPV industry and designing both the financial support package and COVID-19 related safety initiatives. The Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s report on its Inquiry into the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Act 2017 reforms noted that “collecting trip data would allow the Government to make informed decisions about potential congestion issues arising from commercial passenger vehicles”. The Committee therefore recommended that “the Victorian Government require Booking Service providers to disclose their trip data and provide live data on the number of vehicles logged into their system.” As with all Victorian Government departments and agencies, CPVV adheres to all obligations required under the privacy legislation and its data systems and processes are designed, developed, and maintained in line with the Victoria Protective Data Security Standards (VPDSS). CPVV does not ask for or accept personally identifiable information in its trip data requests. The requirement to provide trip information is not new. Prior to the 2017 commercial passenger vehicle industry reforms, service providers were also required to provide trip information to the (then) Taxi Service Commission to support its key functions. To enable the analysis of data for over approx. 60 million trips, CPVV requires this data be provided in an electronic format. In general, the low cost of readily available technology makes electronic reporting simple. However, CPVV recognises that for some booking service providers that complete only a few trips per year, the economic impact of reporting records, outweighs the safety benefit of collecting these records in some circumstances. For this reason, CPVV will consider any request to be discharged from the requirement to provide records in the prescribed electronic format against the: • value of the booking service provider’s records for enhancing industry safety; • safety risk profile of the booking service provider; and • reasons the booking service provider may not be able to provide records to CPVV in the prescribed electronic format. Should a booking service provider be discharged from the reporting requirement, it will still be required to keep all required records and to submit records on the total number of trips provided, the vehicle(s) used to deliver these trips and the driver(s) details. During the 2019–2020 financial year, CPVV has made substantial progress in collecting trip data and has consulted extensively with the industry to provide support to enhance the quality of booked trip data. This has included attending multiple meetings with members of the Victorian Taxi Association. CPVV provides information to all booking service providers about their data collection and reporting requirements, including information about the penalties that may apply if they do not meet these requirements. This is necessary, so that all industry participants are provided every opportunity to comply with their legal obligations and properly understand the potential consequences if they choose not to comply. If the regulator did not provide this information to booking service providers, it could be criticised by the Courts if a prosecution was challenged. I am advised by my colleague Minister Carroll, that CPVV stands ready to assist with any enquires it receives from the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC). SHEPPARTON BREAST-SCREENING SERVICES In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (16 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

Victorian women have access to free breast screening and assessment services through BreastScreen Victoria who is funded to deliver the BreastScreen Australia Program in Victoria, to women who are asymptomatic and aged over 40. BreastScreen Victoria screens women for breast cancer at 42 permanent screening clinics across Victoria including in Shepparton, and at 25 sites that are visited every two years by the mobile WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1386 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

screening service. There are also eight Reading and Assessment Services should a woman be required to have follow-up tests following a positive or suspicious mammogram. The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that Victorian women participating in the BreastScreen Australia Program have access to screening and follow-up assessment services as required. In Shepparton, approximately 5,000 women are screened for breast cancer each year through BreastScreen Victoria. Through funding in the recent 2020–21 State Budget, work is already underway to expand screening and assessment services in regional Victoria enabling increased access to health care closer to home for regional Victorians. SCRAP METAL INDUSTRY In reply to Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (16 February 2021) Ms HORNE (Williamstown—Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Fishing and Boating):

I thank the Member for Eastern Victoria for his question. The Victorian Government remains committed to effective enforcement of the ban on payment of cash for scrap metal introduced into the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1989 in 2018. Victoria Police enforcement activity in respect of scrap metal trading was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In particular, Stage 3 and Stage 4 lockdowns impacted the regional operational activity of the Victoria Police Vehicle Crime Squad, which is active in addressing the practice of selling stolen vehicles for cash at scrap metal dealers’ yards. The Vehicle Crime Squad has now returned to full operations and will continue to undertake enforcement activity, with the support of local police, to drive illegal operators from the scrap metal recycling market. NORTH EAST LINK In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (16 February 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Southern Metropolitan Region for his question. North East Link is Victoria’s largest ever road infrastructure project and represents an investment that will create over 10,000 jobs. The project will change the way people move around Melbourne and result in improved freight connectivity, reduced numbers of trucks on local roads, improved accessibility to employment opportunities and reduced travel times for commuters. Sadly, the Member continues to oppose this project and the massive benefits it will deliver for Victorians. Early works for the North East Link Project are currently underway, with the relocation of utility assets within the Project corridor occurring in preparation for major tunnelling works. In addition, upgrades to the electricity network are required to ensure sufficient power is available for tunnel boring works without supply interruptions in the area. Jemena, as the exclusive distributor in the area, has been contracted to make the necessary and significant upgrades to their network and is likely to subcontract aspects of these works. The teams currently bidding for the project are made up of builders from Australia, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, China, the UK and South Korea. All processes for tenders and contracts are competitive, thorough and in line with key procurement rules, which include value for money, scalability and probity, and are conducted in accordance with Department of Treasury and Finance guidelines. SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (16 February 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

Over the course of the pandemic, the Victorian Government has provided more than $6 billion in direct economic support for Victorian businesses and workers. Throughout 2020, the Victorian Government provided significant packages of business support, which helped businesses to continue operating and supported Victorian workers. These packages included the initial WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1387

$1.7 billion Economic Survival Package in March 2020, a $574 million Business Support Package in May 2020, and a $3 billion Economic Survival and Jobs package in September 2020. Most recently, the government announced a new $143 million Circuit Breaker Lockdown Support Package to support businesses affected by the five-day circuit breaker action over 12–17 February 2021. The Circuit Breaker Package included: • The Business Cost Assistance Program which provides $2,000 grants for eligible businesses in key industries including hospitality, tourism, events and specific retailers • Additional support for licensed venues that have previously received a grant under the License Hospitality Venue Fund • Further support through the Victorian Accommodation Support Program to support accommodation providers that faced cancellations as a result of the necessary circuit breaker action • Regional and Melbourne travel vouchers which build on the current Regional Travel Voucher Scheme. Businesses in Victoria have faced unprecedented challenges due to coronavirus. The pandemic has created significant disruption and economic hardship for businesses of all sizes across most industries, and I recognise that it has been particularly challenging for the services industry. SUBURBAN RAIL LOOP In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (16 February 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for South Eastern Metropolitan Region for his question. The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will transform Victoria’s public transport system, connecting our suburbs and making travel easier and more convenient. Connecting every major train line from the Frankston Line to the Werribee Line via Melbourne Airport, the new rail link will improve access to housing, jobs, schools, universities and hospitals in Melbourne’s middle suburbs. A train stabling facility is required near the start of the rail line to allow SRL’s fleet of new high-tech trains to begin services efficiently each day. Train stabling is a critical part of the new SRL network. It would not be possible to provide high frequency turn-up-and-go train services without it. Victoria’s busy suburbs makes it challenging to find suitable parcels of land for the dedicated facility and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has assessed land availability and existing land use between Cheltenham and Clayton. As a result of these investigations, the preferred location is in the green wedge zone at Heatherton, bordering Old Dandenong and Kingston Roads. The northern section of Kingston’s Green Wedge has been mined for sand, used for landfill and for waste management. Due to the zone’s historical land use as a clean fill tip, the Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) is undertaking a range of geotechnical investigations to better understand ground conditions across the site. Geotechnical and other site investigations are critical to assessing any potential contamination and ensuring it is safe and fit for purpose. Stabling is a permitted use in a green wedge zone and the proposed location at Heatherton will significantly minimise residential and commercial property acquisition, impacts on local jobs, impacts on local agricultural land and impacts on the environment. The Liberals would apparently prefer the Government pursue options with greater impact to local residents, businesses and agricultural land, and at greater cost to Victorians. The Andrews Labor Government is getting on with delivering the Suburban Rail Loop and remains committed to delivering the Chain of Parks. We will continue to work closely with the City of Kingston, local residents, local stakeholders and the community to ensure that SRL enables the Chain of Parks to be delivered. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1388 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

CRIME PREVENTION In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (18 February 2021) Ms HUTCHINS (Sydenham—Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support):

The Andrews Labor Government is addressing the root causes of crime with our Building Safer Communities program. This program was funded with $11 million through the 2020–21 State Budget. It includes a series of community forums, competitive grants, and targeted investment in communities where there are opportunities to respond to the factors that can increase crime. The program empowers and invests in the communities with whom we partner. Together we are building projects that get to the causes of crime. We’ve held three Building Safer Communities forums in the Western Metropolitan region so far, focused on Brimbank, Hume and Melton. These have provided a fantastic opportunity to hear from community members, young people, police, community organisations and councils about concerns and exciting ideas for improvement. We’re building on these forums by developing projects in partnership with the community. Further forums will be held later this year. We have run our first round of Building Safer Communities grants earlier this year—applications closed on 15 March 2021 and are being assessed. Councils and community organisations can apply for funding between $25,000–$300,000 to deliver innovative local crime prevention initiatives. A second round will be run in 2022. The grants were promoted through the department’s extensive communications channels, including: • Direct email to over 1,100 councils, organisations and individuals who subscribe to the department’s Crime Prevention newsletter ‘In Focus’ • The Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary promoting the program via key representative groups such as LGPro, the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), meetings of the Metropolitan Partnerships and the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Neighbourhood Watch and Crime Stoppers as well as via Victoria Police and the department’s regions • Social media announcements. The department also held an online information session on 9 February 2021 which was attended by over 250 people interested in applying for the grants. The member for Broadmeadows and Parliamentary Secretary for Crime Prevention, Frank McGuire, opened this session. I look forward to announcing successful projects for the first round of the program in coming months. WESTERN PORT BAY In reply to Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (18 February 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

Western Port Bay and its surrounding catchment are an important environmental, social and economic region for Victorians and national and international visitors to the state. Western Port was designated as a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s Biosphere Program in 2003 in recognition of its international importance. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Environment Protection Authority, Melbourne Water and the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority are working together under the State Environment Protection Policy (Waters) 2018 to protect and manage the bay’s environmental values. The Healthy Waterways Strategy 2018–28 and Co-designed Catchment Program for the Westernport and Mornington Peninsula Region are currently the principal planning documents to ensure the environmental health of the bay is maintained. The Western Port Ramsar Site Management Plan and management plans for the bay’s three marine national parks further protect marine life and internationally important shorebirds. All future management planning arrangements for Victoria’s marine and coastal environment are now directed by the Marine and Coastal Act 2018. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1389

SURF COAST SHIRE COUNCIL CODE OF CONDUCT In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18 February 2021) Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans):

Councillor codes of conduct are a central component of the councillor conduct framework under the Local Government Act 2020. Recently, each council was required to review and adopt a councillor code of conduct for their council. The adoption of these codes of conduct was required to be passed by a two- thirds majority of the total number of councillors elected to the council. This helped to ensure the codes were broadly representative documents supported by most councillors. While councils are required to review their code of conduct at least once per council term, they remain able to review and amend their code at any time and as many times as necessary to ensure each council’s code addresses that council’s needs. The councillor codes of conduct are required to include prescribed standards of conduct and, while councils can include such matters as they consider appropriate, they cannot include any other standards of conduct. Prescribed standard 5 of the Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2020 provides that nothing in the standards is intended to limit, restrict or detract from robust political debate in a democracy. In addition, section 139(7) of the Local Government Act 2020 provides that a councillor code of conduct is inoperative to the extent that it is inconsistent with any Act (including the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006) or regulation. Both of these provisions privilege and protect robust political debate and freedom of expression under councillor codes of conduct, ensuring they cannot be construed as stifling legitimate political discussion. My department has previously undertaken work with the local government sector facilitating the development of councillor codes of conduct to assist councils in determining what they may wish to include. My department will continue to provide support to the sector in relation to the ongoing implementation of the Local Government Act 2020. WOMEN & GIRLS IN STEM MAP In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (19 February 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

We know by 2023 in Australia, STEM jobs are predicted to grow faster than any other occupation. While this is great news, we also know girls and women are vastly underrepresented in STEM across the state. We know there are many opportunities to get involved in STEM available in Victoria, but it can sometimes be hard to know where they all are. This is why the Victorian Government developed the Women and Girls in STEM Map which I launched at the end of January. The map is an easy to use online resource listing more than 170 programs, events and activities designed specifically for girls and women wanting to be involved in STEM. It will help girls and women of Western Metropolitan Region, at the primary, secondary, university and professional levels kick off their STEM career as it will, all Victorian girls and women. The map includes events and awards, competitions, development and mentoring, professional networks and internships, there will be something for everyone. We want to give Victorian girls and women, including those in Western Metropolitan Region every opportunity to explore a career in STEM. We are doing this by giving them the tools and support they need to feel empowered to be involved with the STEM community and have exciting careers. COVID-19 In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (19 February 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Victorian Government recognises the importance of community sport, and the significant role it plays in the health and wellbeing of many Victorians. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1390 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

From 11.59pm on 26 February 2021, Victoria moved to COVIDSafe Settings. Under the current restrictions, the number of spectators at community sport events is limited to a maximum of 1,000 patrons. Events (including in regional settings) that wish to exceed these capacity limits can apply to operate under the Public Events Framework by submitting a COVIDSafe Event Plan for review and approval. Further information can be found at this link—https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/public-events-information-for-organisers# requirements-from-public-event-organisers. Victoria’s COVIDSafe Settings are based on the advice of our public health experts. The Victorian Government has published Industry Restart Guidelines to support businesses and organisations to operate safely, while ensuring the public feels confident that their health is being protected. Sport, exercise and physical recreation services sector guidance can be found online at—https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/ sport-exercise-and-physical-recreation-services-sector- guidance. The Victorian Government remains committed to supporting community sport across Victoria. Our $40 million Community Sport Sector Short-Term Survival Package provides grants to support the operational viability of community sport and associated active recreation organisations, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in addition to billions of dollars of business support provided over the last year. EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGETS In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (19 February 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

Victoria has the strongest climate change legislation in the country and remains on track to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. The Government remains committed to delivering on the requirements of the Climate Change Act 2017, including the release of our climate change strategy, interim targets and sector pledges. The Government will announce interim targets for 2025 and 2030 in due course. We are continuing to pursue opportunities to accelerate investment in renewable energy, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs. Our recent investments into significant new emissions reducing measures across key sectors include: • $1.6 billion to progress towards a clean energy future, including $540 million towards establishing all six Renewable Energy Zones across Victoria—the largest investment in clean energy of any state government, ever. • $92 million to restore land and plant four million trees across more than 6,000 hectares to store carbon in our landscape. • $20 million for a state-wide trial to investigate solutions to achieve a zero- emission bus fleet and create a pipeline of local job opportunities; and • $25 million to accelerate adoption of zero emission vehicles. These investments will make a huge impact on our carbon emissions. For example, our $797 million household energy package will reduce emissions by 22 million tonnes over 10 years—the equivalent of taking 6.8 million cars off the road. These investments build on a range of important announcements that we’ve made to cut Victoria’s emissions. For example, we have announced the immediate protection of 90,000 hectares of Victoria’s remaining rare and precious old growth forest and the gradual phasing out of all logging in native forests by 2030. This will reduce the State’s emissions by 1.71 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent each year, the equivalent of taking 730,000 cars off the road annually. Our $515 million Recycling Victoria package will transform our recycling sector and drive investment in world class infrastructure and technology, which will slash emissions from our landfills and throughout the economy. By 2030, Recycling Victoria will divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill, cut total waste generation by 15 per cent per capita, reduce organic material going to landfill by half, and ensure every Victorian household can access food and garden organic waste recycling services or local composting. These investments and policies demonstrate this Government’s deep commitment to tackling climate change, and I look forward to continuing to advance this record of national leadership through our climate change strategy. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1391

LICENSED HOSPITALITY VENUE FUND In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (19 February 2021) Ms HORNE (Williamstown—Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Fishing and Boating):

The Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund (LHVF) is administered by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) so any queries regarding the grants program and its operation should be directed to the Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, who I am advised has already responded to this matter. However, the Department of Justice and Community Safety also requested an update from the DJPR regarding the status of the application in question for the Duck Inn at Willow Grove and was advised that the proprietor of the Duck Inn was notified of the successful outcome of his application on 25 February 2021. I understand that the reason for the delay in this instance was due to further time being required to refine the proprietor’s application to ensure all eligibility criteria had been met. The Victorian Government recognises the significant financial pressure the Coronavirus pandemic has had on businesses and we are proud to offer initiatives, such as the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund, to support local businesses to recover and thrive. NORTHERN AQUATIC AND COMMUNITY HUB In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (19 February 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

Deliberations on proposals for the upcoming state budget are currently underway. As with all budget determinations, competing priorities for the use of the Government’s limited resources will be assessed in the best interests of the Victorian community. Further information on these determinations will be provided in the 2021‐22 budget in May 2021. As this matter directly relates to the Regional Development portfolio, I have referred it onto the Minister for Regional Development. DUCK HUNTING In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (19 February 2021) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

The Game Management Authority (GMA) uses the best available information at the time to make recommendations to government. As many game duck species are highly mobile and can move across state borders, data is considered for eastern Australia, not just Victoria. The GMA’s recommendations for the 2021 duck season were based on assessments of rainfall data, wetland extent and distributions, waterfowl abundance, distribution and breeding, harvest data, climatic forecasts and whether hunting activities could impact on the conservation and sustainability of game duck populations. Submissions from stakeholder groups held differing views on 2021 duck season arrangements, with hunting groups seeking a full season and conservation and animal welfare groups seeking a closed season. The Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey is only one piece of a range of data that the GMA uses to form recommendations on duck season arrangements in Victoria. Data on rainfall, stream flows, water storages, harvests and climatic outlooks is also considered. Data on game duck abundance from adjoining states is also consider where available. The GMA website contains all the information that it considered in making a recommendation to government, including and a full copy of all stakeholder submissions. It also contains its advice to government on the recommended 2021 duck season arrangements. All of this information is publicly available on the GMA website at: https://www.gma.vic.gov.au/hunting/duck/duck-season-considerations I agree that we want to make the setting of duck season conditions clearer to reduce objections and uncertainties about this process. This was part of our 2019 election commitments. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1392 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The Government has committed to finalising and implementing Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) for duck hunting, to improve the way in which future duck season decisions are made. The GMA has commissioned the design of a robust monitoring program and trialled it in Victoria with the use of helicopters to survey 633 wetlands in November 2020. The aerial surveys were part of a trial to test the effectiveness of a new monitoring program design to count duck numbers on Victorian water bodies and beyond. The monitoring program will eventually be used to inform adaptive harvest management for game ducks. The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions will lead a process to develop a game duck harvest management framework and a game duck harvest strategy which will set harvest objectives in 2021. Population modelling using data from the helicopter monitoring program and other sources will inform how we achieve the harvest objectives through a sustainable combination of bag limits and season length. The development of the game duck harvest management framework and accompanying harvest strategy will be done in collaboration with key stakeholders including hunting organisations such as Field and Game Australia. COMMUNITY SPORT In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Ms SPENCE (Yuroke—Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Community Sport, Minister for Youth):

I thank the Member for her question and for her support of community sport in Western Metropolitan Region. As the Member has noted, the Sporting Club Grants program provides grants to assist in the purchase of sports uniforms and equipment, to improve the capacity and accessibility of Victorian clubs and other community sport and active recreation organisations, and increase the skills of their coaches, officials and managers. Under the current $6 million round of the program, clubs can also apply for funding to assist with coronavirus (COVID-19) recovery, which will support Victorian sport and active recreation organisations to be COVIDSafe and assist with return to play costs and initiatives. In addition, on 4 March 2021, I announced a one-off funding category that provides funding of $2,000 for eligible Victorian sport and recreation organisations that were forced to cancel or postpone events or activities as a result of last month’s “circuit breaker” lockdown. Round 2 of the Sporting Club Grants opened on 12 February and media releases and other supporting materials were provided to local members to promote the opening of the program. The program was also promoted via email through recognised State Sporting Associations, State Sport and Recreation Bodies, Regional Sports Assemblies, Regional Academies of Sport, Local Government Authorities and Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Regional team, with a request to notify their local sporting clubs and any other networks. To further promote the program, media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram also announced the grants and subsequently the addition of Category 5—Community Sport Event Support. I would like to commend the Member for Western Metropolitan Region for her continued interest in the needs of the community sport and recreation sector, and particularly local sporting clubs in her electorate. ZOONOTIC DISEASES In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (2 March 2021) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

Victoria has a robust and internationally regarded biosecurity response system to manage emergency animal diseases which is exercised and tested regularly. Victoria’s animal health system, in conjunction with Australia’s national system, allows for the early detection of disease incursions and the monitoring of changes to existing diseases or disease agents. This includes zoonotic diseases, which have been linked to many recent global infectious diseases. Early detection of disease incursions or changes to existing viruses allows for a response to be mounted quickly, minimising the spread of the disease to animals and the risk to humans, as well as minimising economic and social impacts. Victoria has access to a wide range of modern diagnostics capability at Agriculture Victoria Research (AVR) and the CSIRO Australia Centre of Disease Preparedness (ACDP), which is a World Animal Health (OIE) Centre of excellence. Where a zoonotic disease is being responded to in animals, Agriculture Victoria collaborates closely with the Department of Health (DH) so that animal and human health risks respectively are addressed. There are WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1393

regular meetings with DH on areas of common interest such as monitoring emerging international zoonotic risks, food borne diseases (e.g. Salmonella Enteritis), and strategies to combat Antibiotic Resistance. The Chief Health, Veterinary and Environmental Officers also have regular meetings to share areas of common concern, especially zoonotic disease Implementing sound biosecurity on the farm, along the supply chain, in the back yard and at the national border is key to minimising the risk of such diseases infecting livestock and then potentially humans. All parties have this responsibility, whether they be governments, livestock industries, hobby farmers or the general public, and the Victorian Government promotes biosecurity on an ongoing basis. Sound biosecurity practices recommended at the farm level include control of animals and materials entering and exiting the property, farm workers wearing dedicated clothing and footwear, controlling farm visitors, minimising contact between wild and farmed birds, record keeping and vaccination of staff against seasonal influenza. The livestock industries have industry-specific guidance for their members. I would be very happy to offer you a further briefing on these matters. PAKENHAM EAST TRAIN STATION In reply to Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (2 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Eastern Victoria Region for his question. There are many considerations and challenges when determining the location of a new train station and in the case of Pakenham East, expert and technical analysis shows that there is no flexibility to provide the station at other locations. The station cannot be located further east along the main line due to the Princes Freeway bridges to the immediate east and the new Pakenham East high capacity train stabling and maintenance facility. The section of track to the east is also curved and not suitable for a new station. The station cannot be located to the west of the selected site as it is constrained by the presence of Deep Creek and the new elevated rail over Racecourse Road. The decision to acquire homes is never taken lightly and only made once all other options have been ruled out through technical investigation. Where properties are being acquired, the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) always make every effort to contact the affected property owners before the public announcement. This is a fundamental courtesy the project provides to residents. LXRP’s dedicated engagement team talk the residents through what is involved and provide an information pack that includes a letter of explanation with key dates and next steps. The team also provides residents with their direct contact details, so they are available to answer any questions. On the day of the announcement, the project team distributed notifications to residents who access their homes via Ryan Road outlining where the new station would be located. There was also an email update sent to project subscribers and information on the project web page. The LXRP also undertook community consultation in December to understand what was important to Pakenham locals and what they wanted to see as part of the project. LXRP will continue to engage with impacted residents and the local community. MISSING PERSONS In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

I can confirm the following relating to missing young person reports to Victoria Police: Age Group Difference % change to 2019 2020 (Years) compared to 2019 compared to 2019

0–10 347 342 -5 -1.4% WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1394 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

11–12 958 973 15 1.6%

13–17 10,696 11,285 589 5.5%

18–19 310 236 -74 -23.9%

Total (ALL) 12,311 12,836 525 4.3%

In response to family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Police commenced Operation Ribbon on 13 April 2020 which focuses on family Violence Investigation Units contacting those perpetrators and Affected Family Members (AFMs) who have been identified as at the highest risk of committing or experiencing further family violence. The Operation ran until 14 December 2020 after which Family Violence Command transitioned the monitoring and enforcement processes to business as usual operations. Victoria Police continues to prioritise vulnerable AFMs, such as children, in its response and is dedicated to early intervention in family violence to prevent further harm; and the potential breakdown of families. The increase in poor mental health within children is of great concern and requires a coordinated response across government to deal with these complex issues. Victoria Police will continue to respond to reports of missing children and, where applicable, coordinate efforts with government agencies involved in their care. HOMELESSNESS In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

I thank Mr Barton, Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region, for raising his concerns regarding the needs of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The Victorian Government has taken steps to support people during the coronavirus pandemic through the $150 million From Homelessness to a Home package, for people experiencing homelessness who have been placed into emergency accommodation as a public health response to the coronavirus pandemic. The program includes funding to enable pathways into stable housing and access to flexible and tailored support packages to help people their new tenancies. The Victorian Government is also taking significant action to address the supply of social and affordable housing. The $5.3 billion Big Housing Build is the largest investment in social and affordable housing this state has ever seen. In addition to generating tens of thousands of jobs, this investment will deliver greater housing choice and affordability, ensuring more Victorians have the modern, secure and accessible homes they need. The Big Housing Build will see the construction of over 12,000 new social and affordable housing homes over four years, providing more safe and affordable housing for Victorians who need it most. As part of the reforms that accompany the Big Housing Build the Government is also developing a Ten Year Social and Affordable Housing Strategy. A discussion paper was launched on the Engage Victoria website on 9 February 2021 and consultation closes on 9 April 2021. The Big Housing Build comes in addition to the previously announced investment of $498 million for the refurbishment and maintenance of existing social housing dwellings; the $185 million Public Housing Renewal Program; $209 million to build 1,000 new public housing dwellings; and $112 million for energy efficiency upgrades to social housing. COUNTRY SPORT CROWD LIMITS In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Victorian Government recognises that community sport plays an integral role in the health and wellbeing of many Victorians. As of 16 March 2021, up to 5,000 people can attend community sport games. For outdoor and indoor (seated) events, attendance must not exceed the venue’s 75 per cent capacity limit, and for indoor (unseated) events, the event must also not feature behaviours that present a greater COVID risk, such as the consumption of alcohol. Under these new settings, an event can proceed without government approval if the event organiser submits a COVIDSafe Event Plan and a COVIDSafe Low-Risk Tier 2 Public Event Attestation, confirming adequate WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1395

COVIDSafe requirements are in place. Further information about the process can be found here— https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/covidsafe-plan-events. The Victorian Government remains committed to supporting community sport across Victoria. Our $40 million Community Sport Sector Short-Term Survival Package has supported the operational viability of community sport and associated active recreation organisations, impacted by the COVID- 19 pandemic. This is in addition to the more than $6 billion of assistance provided to support Victorian businesses and workers over the last year. CHINA TRADE In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Victorian Government recognises the economic value of engaging with China, as our largest trading partner. Cooperation with our trading partners will help the Victorian Government to create jobs, support Victorian businesses, and continue our economic recovery from the impacts of coronavirus. The Victorian Government is monitoring the situation regarding Australian exports. We will continue to work closely with Victorian businesses and the Commonwealth Government to support Victoria’s export industry. In the 2020–21 State Budget, Victoria committed $32 million to provide immediate assistance to Victorian exporters and address logistics and supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This investment will help businesses to connect with international markets and adapt their export strategies to respond to a rapidly changing global context. ST JOHN AMBULANCE In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

Thank you for taking the time to raise with me the matter of funding for St John Ambulance as part of the 2021–22 State Budget. The Andrews Labor Government acknowledges the significant contribution that St John Ambulance has made over its long history of service to the Victorian community. That is why the Victorian Government has provided funding over the last few years to support emergency services volunteers to purchase new equipment and vehicles and operational equipment as part of the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP), of which St John Ambulance was one of the recipients. The Government also recognises the challenge that the COVID-19 pandemic poses to not for-profit service providers’ ability to raise funds. I understand Ambulance Victoria and other health services have partnered with St John Ambulance to deliver patient transports and support public health activities during the height of physical distancing restrictions and I hope this has relieved some pressures St John Ambulance has faced over this period. I am confident that the State’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will restore St John Ambulance’s capacity to raise revenues for delivering valuable services to the Victorian community. I welcome St John Ambulance’s continued application for VESEP grants to fund the improvement of their equipment and vehicles. I also encourage St John Ambulance to engage with the Victorian Department of Health on any potential budget funding requests in future. ROADSIDE LIVESTOCK GRAZING In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (3 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) work collaboratively to manage roadsides through burning. Cattle droving on roadsides with native grasslands causes significant impacts to these values. Where roadsides have little to no biodiversity value, grazing by adjacent landholders can be permitted by local government or Regional Roads Victoria. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1396 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (3 March 2021) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

The local government elections took place under extraordinary circumstances in October 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. The elections were independently administered and overseen by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). In line with the Chief Health Officer’s advice, the VEC took active and necessary steps to protect the health and safety of candidates, staff and the public, while also ensuring the accountability and integrity of the elections. Temporary adjustments to local government election scrutineering processes were permitted through amendments to the Local Government Regulations 2020. This was in recognition of the potential risk that the ordinary operation of scrutineering could present to managing hygiene and social distancing protocols in the VEC’s election offices and counting locations during the coronavirus pandemic. The temporary adjustments allowed the VEC, where necessary, to set a limit on the number of scrutineers that may be present on behalf of candidates at various election activities. These temporary measures ensured compliance with the relevant public health directions in force at the time under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008. These temporary measures continue to be available to the VEC for all local government elections occurring until 26 April 2021. In implementing these temporary adjustments, the VEC recognised that access for properly appointed scrutineers is critical to ensure the accountability and integrity of any election. The temporary measures ensured that candidates could continue to exercise their legal right to appoint scrutineers to represent their interests and to ensure the appropriate conduct of election activities. The VEC clearly communicated the scrutineer entitlements and process to candidates in a Candidate Bulletin and Candidate Handbook, and to scrutineers in a Scrutineer Handbook. The conduct of the most recent US elections bear no semblance to the way we conduct elections in Australia and particularly in Victoria. The VEC is—very importantly—independent from Government. As we did during the local government elections, the Andrews Government will provide the necessary supports to the VEC to ensure they conduct a safe and fair State election in November 2022. LAND TAX In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (3 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

The Victorian Government uses the revenue collected from land tax to provide the core services and infrastructure that Victorians rely on. These investments make Victoria a more liveable state. Increases in land tax from year to year can result from a number of factors, such as growth in the value of properties, changes in ownership arrangements or being taxed at a higher rate once the aggregate taxable value of one’s properties exceeds a higher threshold. Land tax administration is the sole responsibility of the State Revenue Office (SRO) and there are legal mechanisms in place to provide a formal avenue of dispute resolution. For example, customers are entitled to lodge an objection to the site valuation used to calculate their land tax. The Government is conscious of the financial burden of land tax. Customers can pay their bill in instalments across a 38-week period from the date of assessment, using the SRO’s AutoPay system. For customers facing financial difficulties, the SRO is also able to extend the time for payment of tax or accept payment by instalments over a longer period. If your constituent is experiencing difficulty in paying her tax, I encourage her to contact the SRO directly on 13 21 61 to discuss payment options. GREATER SHEPPARTON SECONDARY COLLEGE In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (4 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

Bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Greater Shepparton Secondary College or any school in Victoria. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1397

I am advised that the school leadership has met with the family to discuss their concerns and have put in place a range of actions to support the student’s learning and wellbeing at school. These actions are being led by the school, with additional specialised supports being provided by the Department of Education and Training’s regional office. The support plan will continue to be reviewed in partnership with the family, ensuring that the student is provided with effective ongoing support that is tailored to the student’s needs and learning goals. Thank you for raising this matter with me. PLANNING PROCESS In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (4 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

The State Government released a discussion paper Planning for Melbourne’s Green Wedges and Agricultural Land for public comment from late November 2020 to early February 2021. The paper has a range of options to meet the Government’s election commitment to better protect Melbourne’s green wedges and important agricultural land. One of the options in the paper is to require a planning permit for all dwellings in the Farming Zone within 100 kms of Melbourne. The rationale for this option is to protect important farmland from inappropriate subdivision and rural lifestyle development. Research identified in the discussion paper has found that the proliferation of dwellings and subdivisions is one of the greatest threats to the viability of Melbourne’s important agricultural land. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has received approximately 880 submissions to the Discussion Paper. DELWP staff are currently reviewing submissions and a report on the Government’s response to submissions and next steps will be released in mid-2021. It is important to note that no decision has been made by the Government on whether this option will proceed or not. YOUTH EMPLOYMENT In reply to Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (4 March 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

Thank you to the Member for Northern Metropolitan Region for her question and suggestions. I am pleased to note that I met with Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) in January 2021 to discuss their youth employment recovery plan. As YACVic notes, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted young workers, in particular young women. Young people who were already struggling before the crisis are now experiencing even higher rates of unemployment and underemployment. To address this issue, the Victorian Government is making significant investments to support young Victorians including with job searching, accredited training, apprenticeship and traineeship pathways, and direct job creation. Since 2016, the Victorian Government has supported over 9,000 jobseekers aged 15–24 through Jobs Victoria—with more than 4,000 of these having been supported into work so far. The 2020–21 Budget invested a record $619.4 million to deliver expanded support to jobseekers, including a trebling of face-to- face advice and support. This investment will enable thousands more young people to receive assistance over the next three years. The Budget also allocated $5 million to support youth traineeships across the public sector and $250 million in wage subsidies to help create around 10,000 jobs over the next three years. Young people are a key target group for this investment. Through the Working for Victoria Fund, around 500 young Victorians have found work via the Youth Employment Program (YEP)—with these young people placed into six to 12-month roles in numerous Victorian Government departments and agencies. In addition, 300 apprenticeships and traineeships are being funded through the Victorian Apprenticeships Recovery Package for young people state-wide—again through the Working for Victoria Fund. I am aware of YACVic’s role in supporting young people across our state and am pleased that Working for Victoria has directly invested in expanded youth services delivery through a grant of $6.775m to a youth consortium led by YACVic. This funding is delivering new jobs in youth outreach, engagement and support services that will continue throughout 2021. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1398 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The Member may also be aware that the Hon. Ros Spence MP, Minister for Youth, is working closely with YACVic and other youth bodies to develop a new whole of Victorian Government youth strategy. A discussion paper on the strategy was released last year and consultation has been extensive. The youth strategy will help us improve outcomes for young people across all domains that affect them, including employment. I am looking forward to the strategy’s release later this year and I anticipate targeted youth employment support and outcomes will be a key feature in its implementation. I thank the Member for her input and interest in this area. Like her, I am keen to ensure our recovery is inclusive and young people, particularly those that experience significant barriers to gaining and retaining employment, will be a key focus. We need to make sure that we harness the potential of all young people. While I am not currently considering the establishment of a Youth Employment Commissioner, I am considering how we can best promote and drive our agenda for inclusive employment across business, the community and government. I look forward to discussing further plans in this area with the Member and other colleagues. THOMAS EMBLING HOSPITAL PATIENT LEAVE In reply to Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (16 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

Decisions to grant leave to forensic patients and residents are made independently of government by the Forensic Leave Panel. The panel takes a very cautious approach to granting leave. There are strict conditions attached to leave, which are closely monitored. A risk assessment occurs prior to leave being granted by the panel, and regular monitoring and reviews that take place to ensure the safety of the community. Before a person can access leave, they are subject to a clinical assessment. The person’s mental state will be considered, as well as a range of issues relating to their safety and the safety of the public. Leave will not be permitted if the staff member has any concerns about the person’s mental state or the safety of the community. It is very rare that incidents occur while forensic patients or residents are on leave granted by the panel. The Government is continuing to improve the oversight mechanisms for forensic patients and residents, including access to leave. The Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Amendment Bill 2020 was introduced to Parliament in March last year. This Bill seeks to modernise the provisions of the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 and improve the supervision and management of people found unfit to stand trial or not guilty because of mental impairment. The Bill also seeks to implement recommendations made by the Victorian Law Reform Commission following its review of the Act in 2014, including modernising the tests applied in relation to decisions to grant short term leave of absence to forensic patients and residents. The CMIA Bill will also transfer the functions of the panel to the Mental Health Tribunal. The Bill will require the Tribunal to have regard to the circumstances of victims, where known, when considering what leave conditions are appropriate to impose on a grant of leave. The Bill also provides for victims to be notified (if they wish) when a leave decision is made by the Tribunal that significantly reduces the level of supervision for a forensic patient or resident. This system has been established to provide victims who want to be notified of a decision, noting that some victims do not, with information to assist in their ongoing recovery. Regarding capacity constraints at Thomas Embling Hospital, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System has recommended that the existing 136 beds at the hospital be refurbished and that there be an additional 107 beds built at the hospital by the end of 2026. This will significantly expand the capacity of the forensic mental health system and allow provision of more timely care for people requiring compulsory mental health treatment in this setting. The Royal Commission also recommends the expansion of forensic community programs and services to provide alternative pathways to care for forensic mental health consumers and to support mental health services state- wide to better provide care for consumers with forensic mental health needs. The Government has committed to implementing all recommendations of the Royal Commission, and we are wasting no time getting to work to deliver on them. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1399

FARMED ANIMAL SANCTUARIES In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (16 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

Deliberations on proposals for the upcoming state budget are currently underway. As with all budget determinations, competing priorities for the use of the Government’s limited resources will be assessed in the best interests of the Victorian community. Further information on these determinations will be provided in the 2021‐22 budget in May 2021. As this matter directly relates to the Agriculture portfolio, I have referred it onto the Minister for Agriculture. FIXING COUNTRY ROADS PROGRAM In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (16 March 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

The Fixing Country Roads Program has been successful over the past two years and as was communicated from the outset has now concluded. Every rural and regional council received funding, and completion of the projects saw a total of 224 improved roads, bridges and intersections delivered thanks to the program. Your thoughts about the vital role that infrastructure funding plays in economic recovery is echoed by the Andrews Government and, as such, in May last year we announced a $2.7 billion construction blitz to stimulate the Victorian economy and create thousands of jobs. Of this, $328 million is being directed towards the road network, with focus areas of routine maintenance, periodic maintenance, landslips, bridges and bushfire recovery. The focus of this funding is safety and includes work on local roads. We know that infrastructure plays a vital role in preventing serious crashes. It also helps to reduce the severity of crashes when they're unavoidable. Across the state we are delivering safety upgrades to prevent head-on and run-off-road collisions, including those that involve pedestrians and cyclists. You can expect to see these works completed throughout 2021. Some examples of the works being delivered on local roads include: • Pedestrian and cycling safety initiatives and improvements • Shoulder sealing and other improvements • Safety barriers • Intersection upgrades • Safer speed implementation and speed sign improvements. In addition to this work, we coordinate the Australian Government’s Black Spot Program that received $38.7 million under the 2020–21 funding round. The investment is an important contribution towards reducing serious injuries and deaths on our roads and will deliver safer roads in local government areas throughout Victoria. I recognise the importance of the local road network not only to local communities, but also the wider state. These roads are important links in our supply chains, economic drivers, and essential services. The Andrews Government, through Regional Roads Victoria, is committed to bringing a coordinated, consistent and integrated approach to improving the regional road network. We look forward to continuing to work with regional councils towards this goal. FIREWOOD COLLECTION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (16 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

Firewood from public land is a finite resource and there needs to be a balance between providing access to firewood with other forest values, biodiversity and cultural heritage. Priority access to firewood is given to particular sections of the community such as local residents, Traditional Owners and people who depend on firewood for heating. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1400 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

There are open firewood collection areas along the Murray this season, however limits have been put on who can take firewood to ensure availability to local residents. Where firewood collection has been restricted, this is often due to issues such as reduced availability or to minimise fire risks. Some areas, such as the Barmah Island firewood collection area are permanently closed. Where possible, some firewood is made available from parks managed by Parks Victoria. In the autumn 2021 season, other than near Robinvale, there will be no firewood collection areas in other river red gum parks managed by Parks Victoria to sustainably manage future firewood supply. The Andrews Labor Government has invested substantially in programs to address living costs such as heating. Low income households can now apply for the new $250 Power Saving Bonus. The bonus is available to any households with a Victorian electricity account who holds a pensioner concession card or receives JobSeeker, Austudy, Abstudy or Youth Allowance. It will be available for 12 months and provide immediate financial relief to more than 900,000 Victorian households. Concession card holders who rely only on firewood for home heating may apply for the non-mains energy concession to help pay for firewood. Victorians on low incomes (both concession card and non-concession card holders) who rely on firewood and have experienced unexpected financial hardship may also be eligible to apply for the Non-Mains Utility Relief Grant of up to $650 to help with firewood costs. More information on these programs is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website. My Department and Parks Victoria are working with local community groups to ensure information on energy rebates and alternative sources of energy are known to local community around the Barmah and Picola townships. FAMILY VIOLENCE SERVICES In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (16 March 2021) Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):

The Men’s Referral Service, operated by No To Violence, is a state-wide telephone counselling and referral service for men who use violence. The helpline operates seven days a week, on weekends and public holidays. Men who contact the service after operating hours receive a response the following day. The Andrews Labor Government has also just commenced a 12-month pilot program to establish Victoria’s first state-wide 24/7 crisis accommodation service for perpetrators. The program provides perpetrators with crisis accommodation that can be accessed immediately, while providing wrap- around support to address immediate concerns and linking the perpetrator into services to address their offending behaviour. In August 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Victorian Government announced a $20 million package to support victim survivors to safely stay at home, and improve accessibility to services for men who use violence, including the provision of alternate accommodation. A further $2 million has been invested in a medium-term support and accommodation initiative for people using violence. The initiative seeks to optimise victim survivor stability and safety by providing accommodation for people using violence over a longer period. Since the Royal Commission into Family Violence, the range of perpetrator interventions supported by the Victorian Government has expanded significantly—we remain committed to building the evidence base which supports effective perpetrator interventions, working with agencies to develop an effective model to change behaviour and support perpetrators to stop choosing violence. FURNITURE-MAKING APPRENTICESHIPS In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education):

The Government is committed to providing job opportunities for all Victorians, this includes providing training for apprentices in furniture making and other manufacturing roles in Melbourne’s northern metro region. I thank the Member for his interest in this matter. I am advised that over the past 6 months a range of work has been done with the local LLEN, Headstart Cluster Directors, the Federal Department of Employment and Small Business, the Victorian Skills Commission, the Australasian Furniture Association and TAFEs in respect to this matter. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1401

I am also advised that a Department representative has recently spoken with Mr Mimmo. Mr Mimmo is clearly committed to the progression of the furniture manufacturing industry and to ensuring there are enough highly skilled workers to meet future workforce demands . The Department will also continue to work with TAFEs in the context of an expert review of the Furniture Training Package to identify the way forward to meet the furniture manufacturing industry’s need for specialist wood machining skills. This will be supported by ongoing consultation with the furniture manufacturers in the region and be in conjunction with the expert input of relevant Skills Commission Industry Advisory Group members. COVID-19 In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Victorian Government recognises that sporting events are an important contributor to the Victorian economy. The AFL, in particular, provides much enjoyment and sense of unity to the Victorians who follow the sport. As of 23 March 2021, the attendance cap at AFL events at Marvel Stadium, the MCG, Mars Stadium and GMHBA Stadium was increased to 75 per cent from 50 per cent of venue capacity, together with additional measures including use of a QR code registration by patrons. This is informed by public health advice and in line with the easing of COVIDSafe settings for Victoria. The new attendance caps will allow around 43,000 attendees at Marvel Stadium, 75,000 attendees at the MCG, 8,000 attendees at Mars Stadium and 26,000 attendees at GMHBA Stadium. The Victorian Government remains committed to supporting the resumption of major events in Victoria, in a COVIDSafe manner. CANNONS CREEK FORESHORE RESERVE In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (16 March 2021) Ms HORNE (Williamstown—Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Fishing and Boating):

The Victorian Government has provided unprecedented investment in boating facilities. This includes upgrades at Queenscliff, Rhyll, Hastings, Point Richards and Mordialloc boat ramps and Cowes Jetty. The Victorian Government has also established the Better Boating Fund, which will come into effect in July 2021. A Victorian Recreational Boating Strategy is being developed. This Strategy will guide how the Better Boating Fund will be allocated and consider priorities for upgrades and renewals. An upgrade to Cannons Creek boat ramp will be considered as part of this process. SOLAR ENERGY SUBSIDIES In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (16 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

Through the Solar Homes program, the Andrews Labor Government has helped hundreds of thousands of Victoria households take advantage of solar power—driving down bills for families while slashing our carbon emissions. We have also invested $10 million in a Grid of the Future work program to evaluate technical and regulatory options to enable more solar to be connected without increasing network costs. Decisions about the revenue that Distributed Network Service Providers (DNSP) can recover from customers through investments in the network is managed by the independent Australian Energy Regulator (AER). Approved network upgrades funded by the DNSPs benefit all consumers, by maintaining network voltages within prescribed limits and managing risks to quality and reliability of supply. These upgrades also unlock the economic and environmental benefits of solar exports, including reduced wholesale prices and reduced emissions, which benefit all energy users. The AER is in the process of undertaking a revenue determination for the 2021–2026 regulatory period. Each distribution business was required to submit a cost-benefit analysis to the AER to ensure benefits outweighed WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1402 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

costs. Extensive customer engagement found that an increased uptake of renewables is a significant priority for Victorian energy users. Only investments that unlocked broader benefits for all consumers were approved. In its draft revenue determinations, the AER has provided preliminary approval for a total of $9.1 billion of expenditure. Of this total, $233.1 million is for the enablement of Distributed Energy Resources, with a portion of this funding for enabling solar through network augmentation and other ‘smart’ grid initiatives. A final determination from the AER is due in April 2021 ahead of the start of the next regulatory period on 1 July 2021. The Victorian Government will continue to advocate for judicious investments in the distribution network, while ensuring as many Victorians as possible can take advantage of solar power. GREENER GOVERNMENT SCHOOL BUILDINGS PROGRAM In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Andrews Labor Government is committed to reducing Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions as well as reducing emissions from government buildings. The Government’s Greener Government School Buildings (GGSB) program will contribute to this by implementing a range of energy-efficiency measures including solar energy systems and lighting upgrades, to reduce the energy use of school buildings across the state. As you are aware, on 26 February 2021, I was pleased to announce that the Government had allocated $8.8 million to 171 government schools across Victoria to participate in the GGSB program. Of the 171 schools, 16 schools were allocated funds within your electorate of the Western Metropolitan Region. Subject to the schools signing the program agreement, the 16 schools from the Western Metropolitan Region are as follows: • Essendon Keilor College Niddrie Campus (Niddrie) • Footscray City Primary School (Footscray) • Footscray High School Barkly Street Campus (Footscray) • Footscray High School Kinnear Street Campus (Footscray) • Footscray High School Pilgrim Street Campus (Seddon) • Homestead Senior Secondary College (Point Cook) • Killara Primary School (Sunbury) • Mackellar Primary School (Delahey) • Riverwalk Primary School (Werribee) • Springside West Secondary College (Springside West) • Strathmore Secondary College (Strathmore) • Sunshine College North Sunshine Campus (Sunshine North) • Sunshine College West Sunshine Campus (Sunshine West) • Wyndham Central Secondary College (Wyndham Vale) • Wyndham Park Primary School (Wyndham Vale) • Wyndham Vale Primary School (Wyndham Vale) I trust that this information is of assistance. MELTON ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

English language schools and centres are government schools that deliver intensive English language programs (also known as the new arrivals program) to newly arrived students in the Melbourne metropolitan area and regional areas. A Virtual EAL new arrivals program is available to support students in rural areas who are not within communting distance to a language school or centre. Eligible students who have arrived in Australia within the previous six months (or 18 months for students entering Foundation) can access the new arrivals program for between two and four terms. Class sizes in the WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1403

new arrivals program are funded at the ratio of one teacher to thirteen students. Small class sizes enable qualified EAL teachers to deliver intensive English language programs that are tailored to the differing needs of students. The intensive new arrivals program is not compulsory for newly arrived students. Families may choose not to enrol their child in an English language school or centre and may enrol their child in a mainstream school. The Western English Language School (WELS) provides an intensive English program based on the Victorian Curriculum F–10 English as an Additonal Language (EAL) for newly arrived primary and secondary students through its campuses in Braybrook, Manor Lakes, Footscray and Wyndham and its outpost in St.Albans in the Western Melbourne Area to prepare them for mainstream schooling. WELS has enrolled students from neighbouring areas including Brimbank and Melton. There are currently 472 students enrolled in WELS from across the western suburbs. In addition, WELS is providing an online program to 22 students attending government primary schools in Melton. The minimum number of students required to open a new campus is 36. There needs to be sufficient ongoing demand in order to establish a new campus. The Department of Education and Training is monitoring the trend in eligible students in the Melton area to determine the need for future new arrivals provision. PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (17 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

I am advised that workforce data from the Victorian Public Service Commission, including the information the member seeks, is available online at https://vpsc.vic.gov.au/. PAYROLL TAX In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (17 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

Thank you for raising this matter with me. Taxes pay for essential services used by all Victorians. Since coming into office in 2014, the Government has introduced several payroll tax measures which have benefited Victorian businesses. In the Government’s first term, the payroll tax-free threshold was raised four times from $550,000 to $650,000 and will rise to $675,000 from 1 July 2021 and $700,000 from 1 July 2022. In addition, the Government introduced the regional payroll tax rate of 3.65 per cent from 1 July 2017. This concessional rate has since been reduced further to 2.02 per cent—making it the lowest payroll tax rate in Australia—and is scheduled to be cut to 1.2125 per cent, or one quarter of the metropolitan rate, from 1 July 2022. The Department of Treasury and Finance advises that it is not possible to accurately calculate the effect of payroll tax on the total number of hours worked by Victorians. I can advise that jobs growth continues to climb as Victoria recovers from the global pandemic with 236,800 jobs created in the State since September 2020. COVID-19 In reply to Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality)

I am informed that: COVIDSafe Settings are currently in place across Victoria. This has allowed an increase in the number of people allowed in live music venues and other settings. The capacity restrictions for live music are determined by the venue type, and the relevant industry guidelines. Current restrictions will be reviewed regularly to ensure they reflect current public health advice and are available on the Government’s coronavirus website: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/entertainment-and- culture WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1404 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

VICTRACK In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (17 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations)

The transport leases and associated arrangements are complex and require significant management judgement to determine the appropriate accounting treatment to be applied. The audited (by successive Auditor- Generals) accounting treatment for these lease arrangements by VicTrack has not changed since the inception of these arrangements in 1997. VicTrack, in conjunction with the Department of Transport and the Department of Treasury and Finance, has continually sought independent accounting advice to guide decision making in relation to these technical accounting matters. It has continually confirmed that the VicTrack treatment is allowable and, in their view, an appropriate treatment under Australian Accounting Standards. This is confirmed by the fact that the existing accounting treatment has been scrutinised over many years without a qualification from several previous and the current Auditors General. Accordingly, the decision of the VicTrack Board to continue this historically adopted and accepted practice is sensible. The VicTrack Board is an independent body and has the statutory and governance authority to make professional judgements on how best to report its financial position, operating impacts and cash flow information. The Board has exercised its authority, based on sound judgement and advice. The VicTrack Board will continue to evaluate its position around this matter. FAMILY VIOLENCE SERVICES In reply to Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):

The Andrews Labor Government acknowledges that women from cultural and linguistically diverse communities, who are experiencing family violence, often face additional and complex barriers to accessing the support they need and deserve. In response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence the Victorian Government has worked to implement reforms to build a more accessible, inclusive and non-discriminatory family violence system. Six of the seven recommendations regarding improving family violence responses for people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities have already been implemented, with work on the final recommendation making good progress. We have recently established a Multicultural Working Group, which comprises over 20 representatives from a range of multicultural communities, to provide advice on how to strengthen the Victorian Government’s response to women and children experiencing family violence from culturally and linguistically diverse communities—including in refuges and crisis accommodation. Family Violence refuge agencies are funded to provide specialist case management services to victim survivors of family violence within a refuge or crisis accommodation setting. Additional funding is also provided to enable individualised support such as access to interpreting and translating services. Refuge staff are a skilled, specialised workforce who work in multi-disciplinary teams. They work tirelessly to help reduce the impact of trauma experienced as a result of family violence for all victim survivors, and support them to recover and rebuild their lives as quickly as possible. Family violence refuge providers provide support that is holistic, non-discriminatory and culturally inclusive. The Andrews Labor Government recognises that women living in Australia on temporary visas or without permanent residency have unique, significant and additional support needs. We have undertaken significant and enduring advocacy to the Commonwealth to expand family violence protection provisions and greater eligibility for social services. As you are likely aware, women on temporary visas are ineligible for most welfare support, government grants, Centrelink benefits, material aid and other subsidies. Victorian Government funded services have and will continue to support women on temporary visas. We will continue to advocate to the Commonwealth for broader protection for temporary visa holders. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1405

We recognise that to stop family violence and all forms of violence against women, we must address the attitudes and behaviours that contribute to a culture of violence. It is critical that these prevention and early intervention efforts are evidence-based, community led and culturally safe. That’s why we recently launched our ‘Supporting Multicultural and Faith Communities to Prevent Family Violence’ grants program—to support organisations to build the capacity of multicultural and faith communities to develop community-led initiatives to prevent family violence and all forms of violence against women. LEVEL CROSSING REMOVALS In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Western Metropolitan Region for her question and her continued advocacy for her electorate. The dangerous and congested level crossing at Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing will be removed by building a new road bridge over the rail line, creating a direct link to Princes Highway to the east. The existing crossing will be closed to traffic, making way for improved community spaces and new landscaped areas. A new elevated pedestrian and cyclist overpass will also be built at the site of the existing level crossing, which will create safer access to Hoppers Crossing Station. Major construction has begun and works on building the road bridge and overpass are progressing well. Throughout April, the new road bridge will continue to take shape and work crews will continue earthworks, install retaining walls for the ramps, and construct concrete columns for the road bridge. Crews will also work to install the steel structure as part of the construction of the new pedestrian and cyclist overpass. When the level crossing is removed in 2022, drivers, pedestrians and cyclists will experience a safer, more reliable, and consistent journey travelling through Hoppers Crossing. Removing this level crossing will improve safety, provide more reliable travel times, and significantly reduce congestion for the 18,000 motorists that travel through this area every day. GREATER GEELONG PLANNING SCHEME In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

Greater Geelong Planning Scheme Amendment C395ggee was adopted by Greater Geelong City Council on 25 August 2020 and was submitted for my approval. Amendment C395ggee facilitates implementation of the Greater Geelong Settlement Strategy, August 2020, and the Northern and Western Geelong Growth Areas (NWGGA) Framework Plan, August 2020. The Greater Geelong Settlement Strategy sets the strategic direction for where future residential growth will be supported and housing needs met for the Greater Geelong municipality to 2036. Amendment C395ggee also implements the NWGGA Framework Plan, which provides the strategic framework for two new Geelong growth areas with the capacity to accommodate 110,000 new residents. The NWGGA Framework Plan and the associated rezoning of land to Urban Growth Zone and the new policy provisions introduced into the Greater Geelong Planning Scheme by Amendment C395ggee will ensure that development is facilitated in a sequenced and orderly manner and will guide the preparation of nine Precinct Structure Plans and Development Contribution Plans. Amendment C395ggee was given wide public notice, inviting submissions. The amendment and the 102 submissions received were considered in depth by an independent planning panel during 28 days of public hearings. The panel recommended the amendment be adopted subject to changes, and the council adopted the amendment substantially in accord with the panel’s recommendations. I have determined that Amendment C395ggee and the NWGGA Framework Plan provide the necessary guidance for infrastructure provision in these new Geelong growth areas within the current development contributions and infrastructure provision framework and accordingly I approved Amendment C395ggee on 28 February 2021. In November 2020, I appointed the Infrastructure Contributions Advisory Committee. The purpose of the advisory committee is to provide advice and recommendations to me and the Treasurer on possible models WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1406 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

and options for infrastructure contributions to ensure Victoria’s system is best positioned to deliver on the government’s objectives of: • Supporting the timely provision of basic and essentialstate and local infrastructure for new and growing communities, both now and into the future. • Ease of understanding. • Administrative efficiency. • Transparency and equity. The advisory committee commenced its work with a series of targeted consultation sessions, meeting with more than 70 people from over 30 organisations. The committee also received 12 written submissions and reviewed all submissions to the government on infrastructure contributions over the previous five years. The advisory committee has gone on to ‘road test’ key themes in confidential discussion forums with representatives of councils, state agencies and planning and development interest groups. The advisory committee will provide its draft report to me and the Treasurer by April 2021 detailing its preliminary advice and recommendations, with a view to submitting its final report by late May 2021. FAMILY VIOLENCE In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (18 March 2021) Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):

The Victorian Government is committed to reducing the prevalence of adolescents who use violence in the home and building the strength of Victoria’s response to this complex issue. A key focus of this work is building the evidence base to support a range of therapeutic interventions and ensuring that our family violence workforce has the skills, training and resources they need to provide appropriate interventions and therapeutic support to adolescents using violence in the home, and their families. Family Safety Victoria was a member of the Project Steering Committee for The PIPA Project: Positive Intervention for Perpetrators of Adolescent Violence in the Home. The findings from this research are informing service responses to adolescents using family violence and their families here in Victoria. In August 2020, an additional $5.4 million was announced to strengthen responses for adolescents who use family violence in the home and their families. This investment enabled the delivery of therapeutic and all- of-family interventions to support young people choosing violence and provide flexible, earlier, targeted and coordinated service responses to young people and their families. The Andrews Labor Government is working on several initiatives to support responses to adolescents and their families with The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, including the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework Adolescent Practice Guidance materials and identifying the professional development needs of our workforce. Most recently, we held an adolescent family violence cross-government symposium, “Starting with the young person: Reframing how we understand and respond earlier to adolescent violence in the home”, which examined the current and emerging policy and practice context for adolescent family violence in Victoria. We welcome the latest project funded by ANROWS, WRAP around families experiencing adolescent violence in the home (AVITH) and will maintain close contact with both ANROWS and the researchers. Research into this complex space is vital to guiding how we build a strong and effective response to adolescents who use violence in the home and their families. FOOTSCRAY TOWN HALL In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

The Andrews Labor Government has strongly supported investment in the development of Footscray. This includes development of the Footscray Learning Precinct to enhance local opportunities across all stages of learning at Footscray High School, Footscray City Primary School and Footscray Primary School, in conjunction with precinct partners Victoria University and Maribyrnong City Council. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1407

The Government has provided up to $1.5 billion to deliver a new Footscray Hospital—the largest ever infrastructure investment in the State. Construction is now underway with the hospital expected to open in 2025. The new Footscray Hospital will ensure families from Melbourne’s booming western suburbs can get the care they need close to home. The Maribyrnong Council is also able to access initiatives announced in the 2020–21 State Budget to support local councils, including funding of $13.3 million for the Living Libraries Infrastructure Program and Public Libraries Resource Program, to help local councils and regional libraries renew, redesign or rebuild libraries, and purchase new collection items. The 2020–21 Budget also provided $22.5 million over 15 years to continue the Local Government Community Infrastructure Loans Scheme, which enables councils to access low interest loans financed by the Treasury Corporation of Victoria to help build vital community infrastructure that supports social and economic participation. Access to the loans by will be available across 2020–21 and 2021–22. As part of the upcoming 2021–22 State Budget currently in development, I look forward to announcing new investments that will continue to support the community in Melbourne’s west and Victoria more broadly. As part of the revitalisation of Footscray, I encourage Maribyrnong City Council to continue to develop and progress options for design, funding and redevelopment of the Footscray Town Hall and associated municipal spaces. MOORABBIN AIRPORT In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing)

It is the responsibility of the federally-leased airport operators, which includes Moorabbin Airport, and Commonwealth regulators to ensure development on airport land is sited and designed appropriately. State planning policy recognises Moorabbin Airport as an important regional and State aviation asset by supporting its continued use as a general aviation airport, ensuring future development at the site encourages uses that support and enhance the state's aviation industry. Appropriate complementary uses and employment• generating activity is encouraged adjacent to Moorabbin Airport and other transport gateways, as identified in Plan Melbourne 2017–2050. In line with the Airports Act 1996, I will provide written comment on the preliminary draft Moorabbin Airport Master Plan 2021 when the airport operator makes this available. I look forward to receiving the preliminary draft and will provide a whole of Victorian Government response, which will include any comments from the Department of Transport relating to the transport network surrounding the airport. BARRIER BREAKERS In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (18 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Royal Commission into Victorian’s Mental Health System final report acknowledged that mental health services are critically important in regional and rural Victoria, where there are higher rates of psychological distress, suicide and barriers to access. The Royal Commission recommendations will guide us as we transform Victoria’s mental health system into one that benefits all Victorians. The 65 final report recommendations map out a 10-year vision to rebuild the system from the ground up, into one that is responsive to people and populations with the greatest need, and provides services that are safe, tailored and localised. The Victorian Government now takes the responsibility for realising the vision of a transformed mental health and wellbeing system described in the final report. Implementing the recommendations will require further design and engagement with people with lived experience of mental illness, communities, stakeholders and the mental health system to ensure mental health and wellbeing services are delivered in a way that meets the needs of the community they will support. A key recommendation in the final report is establishment of up to 60 Local Adult and Older Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Services across Victoria. This initiative will provide integrated assessment, treatment and care as well as assist people to access other health and social supports they need in their local community. WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES 1408 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The final report also recommends new Regional Mental Health and Wellbeing Boards to ensure mental health and wellbeing services are planned and organised in a way that responds to community needs and improve outcomes. Further, the Royal Commission recommends establishment of mechanisms to further address systemic issues of mental health discrimination and enhance people’s access to legal protection from mental health discrimination. I am confident that these and other reforms will address many of the barriers to local mental health services that Barrier Breakers has strived to address over many years. The Victorian Government currently funds a range of state-wide organisations to provide legal and non-legal advocacy supports to people with a mental health condition, their families and carers. This includes the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), the peak organisation for mental health consumers. VMIAC has been funded to engage people with a lived experience in the design and implementation of the recommendations in the Royal Commission final report. I encourage Barriers Breakers to work collaboratively with VMIAC to ensure the voice of people with a mental illness living in rural Victoria is heard throughout this process. I welcome Barrier Breakers’ support in helping us build mental health and wellbeing services that respond to the needs of the Gippsland community and recognise the community’s unique strengths and challenges. Further information about how the Victorian Government will be engaging with the community and key stakeholders to implement the recommendations in the final report will follow in coming months. I trust this information is of assistance. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1409

Answers to constituency questions Responses have been incorporated in the form provided to Hansard and received in the period shown. 19 March to 29 April 2021

EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (19 March 2020) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

Agriculture Victoria provided significant support to the agriculture sector, including saleyards, during 2020 to manage the effective implementation of COVID safe principles and Public Health Orders. Saleyards were determined to be Permitted Work Premises during restrictions in 2020, and therefore could remain open under a different model of operations that included limiting the number of people attending each sale event. Agriculture Victoria will continue to engage the agriculture sector, including the Australian Livestock Saleyards Association and the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association, through the COVID- 19 Agriculture Industry Reference Group, where the latest information is shared and support provided to manage the ongoing COVID restrictions and public health orders. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (4 August 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: Surveillance testing may be requested by the Department of Health (DH) as part of outbreak management or enhanced screening in settings which have been assessed as high risk for transmission. Currently the average laboratory turnaround time for a COVID-19 test is less than one day with 96% of test results being provided in less than 24 hours. Case and contact tracing staff work shifts across seven days of the week to support the department’s public health response to COVID-19 and rapidly respond to new cases. There are over 2000 staff directly supporting the COVID-19 contact tracing response who can be surged based on need. Specialised capabilities have also been sourced from a combination of existing staff, health care networks, the ADF and other government departments. All positive cases are interviewed by the contact tracing team within 24 hours and over 99% of known close contacts of confirmed cases have been contacted by DH within 48 hours. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (4 August 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: Various restrictions progressively came into force to give effect to Stage 4 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne and Stage 3 restrictions across the rest of Victoria in August. These restrictions were necessary to reduce the serious risk to public health COVID-19 poses to the community. Under current COVIDSafe settings, there are no restrictions on travel between regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne. Specific information on home and property can be found on the coronavirus website: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/homes-and-property Victorians are strongly encouraged to get tested if they feel unwell and remain at home until they get their results. During this period they should not attend rental inspections. Strict COVID-19 restrictions apply to Victorians if they are COVID-19 positive. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1410 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

SOUTH EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (18 August 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: The decisions that had to be taken to protect the Victorian community from COVID-19 were challenging, and Victorians’ worked hard and sacrificed so much so that we can be in the position we are in today. These restrictions were particularly difficult for new mothers, fathers and families, but they were necessary measures due to the high risk of COVID-19 transmission in hospital settings. There are currently no specific limits for visitors to hospitals under current Chief Health Officer’s directions. The number of visits, the length of the visit and the purpose of the visit are limited by the visiting rules set by the hospital. More information on COVIDSafe settings for hospitals is available on the coronavirus website: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/visiting-hospitals SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (1 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: Data relating to COVID-19 in Victoria across multiple domains is updated daily and can be found on my department’s website https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/latest-news-and-data-coronavirus-covid-19 Available data includes: • The latest coronavirus case numbers • Victorian healthcare worker data • Case locations and outbreaks • Case averages for easing restrictions • Contact tracing data • Coronavirus testing by local government area and • Genomics and epidemiology Providing this information means members of the public can be encouraged to get tested should they develop symptoms if they have been in places listed on the website or exposed to individuals who have been. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (1 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: COVIDSafe settings are currently in place across Victoria. In line with these settings, religious gatherings, including weddings and funerals must comply with the following requirements: • Religious gatherings can be held indoors or outdoors without group limitations • All venues must apply the two square metre rule and use electronic record keeping through the free Victorian Government QR Code Service or Victorian Government Application Programming Interface (API) linked digital system. This is to ensure people have enough room to maintain 1.5 metres distance between them. • Where a religious gathering, including weddings and funerals, are conducted in a private home, the private gathering limit of 100 visitors applies • Face masks are recommended for private gatherings or when the 1.5 metre distance minimum requirement cannot be maintained ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1411

Further information on how COVIDSafe settings impact religion and ceremony, including weddings and funerals can be found at: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/religion-and-ceremony. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (1 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: Under current COVIDSafe settings, there are no restrictions on travel between regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne. You can travel between regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne for any reason. Specific information on home and property can be found on the coronavirus website: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/homes-and-property Under Stage 4 restrictions, Victorians were permitted to leave home to deal with the estate of their loved ones. This included permitting a person to leave home to deal with residential property, including to receive services related to property settlements or to meet necessary legal requirements. This may encompass a variety of tasks that an executor may be required to carry out such as categorising the items of the estate (i.e. furniture of jewellery). A person was also permitted to leave home for emergency purposes. This may have included securing the assets of a deceased estate. EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (2 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

All health services—public and private—are now permitted to increase elective surgery activity up to and beyond 100 per cent of usual activity where safe and appropriate to do so. The elective surgery blitz commenced in March and is intended to help prevent additional delays for Victorians who need it the most. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ATKINSON (Eastern Metropolitan) (2 September 2020) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

My decision to change the vegetation clearing exemptions under Clause 52.12 Bushfire Protection Exemptions was gazetted on 5 August 2020. Amendment VC176 to the Victoria Planning Provisions and all planning schemes aligned the exemptions to Bushfire Prone Areas designated under the Building Act 1993. The change addresses Nillumbik’s concerns about the blanket application of the controls and will assist in protecting the biodiversity and character of Nillumbik Shire while maintaining an important bushfire safety measure. Councils and stakeholders, including Nillumbik Shire Council were notified of the changes through the Planning Matters newsletter on 6 August 2020, which is the medium used to disseminate information about changes to planning policy. Only the nine councils, where the controls were new, received a letter notifying them of the changes. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (15 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

It has been a longstanding convention through multiple governments, including the Baillieu-Napthine governments, that shadow ministers will advise ministers of an intention to meet with service providers relevant to their portfolio. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1412 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

I understand that North Richmond Community Health regularly meet with residents, traders and community groups as part of their engagement with their local community. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (15 September 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: COVIDSafe settings are currently in place across Victoria. In line with these settings, religious gatherings, including weddings and funerals must comply with the following requirements: • Religious gatherings can be held indoors or outdoors without group limitations • All venues must apply the two square metre rule and use electronic record keeping through the free Victorian Government QR Code Service or Victorian Government Application Programming Interface (API) linked digital system. This is to ensure people have enough room to maintain 1.5 metres distance between them. • Where a religious gathering, including weddings and funerals, are conducted in a private home, the private gathering limit of 100 visitors applies • Face masks are recommended for private gatherings or when the 1.5 metre distance minimum requirement cannot be maintained Further information on how COVIDSafe settings impact religion and ceremony, including weddings and funerals can be found at: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/religion-and-ceremony. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (14 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

Our healthcare and frontline workers are the foundation of Victoria’s response to this virus. Every Victorian can and should be proud and thankful for the tireless work of our healthcare community to keep us all safe. I want to reiterate too that our healthcare workers and broader medical community are not invulnerable to mental health toll of this pandemic. Every healthcare worker should seek the support they need. If you need someone to talk to, Lifeline is always available on 13 11 14. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (15 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am advised that: • The total case numbers of coronavirus (COVID-19) is one many factors which inform Victoria’s response to the pandemic. • The transmission dynamics of COVID-19 transmission in Victoria vary to those in New South Wales, despite at times, the overall case numbers appearing to be comparable. • The department’s policy is informed by epidemiological thresholds, the story behind emerging cases and lessons learned from the first wave in Victoria. It is essential to consider the number of cases acquired locally versus cases in international arrivals, cases with unknown transmission, the reproductive number and number of close contacts, as well as social, economic and cultural elements contributing to transmission across workplaces and within a household. • Genomic testing is another way that Victoria is gaining a better picture of how COVID-19 is being spread. • Genomics can be used to identify similarities and differences in strains of the virus and aids in identifying genomic clusters associated with outbreaks. It also provides information on how the ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1413

virus is changing over time. This can provide critical information about how COVID-19 was introduced into a setting, such as a workplace. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (15 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I have been advised— Public Health Directions under the State of Emergency are in place to contain the spread of coronavirus and keep Victorians safe. All regional hospitals have developed pandemic plans which outline protocols in responding to people presenting to the hospital who may meet the criteria for COVID-19 or been to a high-risk area to enable safe screening for the person, staff and other patients. I can confirm that Albury Wodonga Health, as part of the implementation of their pandemic plan, is screening people in front of the Wodonga Hospital Emergency Department. The COVID-19 screening process includes initial assessment and triage based on severity of the illness or injury and the urgency in which they need medical attention. No one seeking assistance from an ED should be refused care, including if they are returning from a hotspot, have or are suspected to have COVID-19. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (28 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: COVIDSafe settings are currently in place across Victoria. In line with these settings, religious gatherings, including weddings and funerals must comply with the following requirements: • Religious gatherings can be held indoors or outdoors without group limitations • All venues must apply the two square metre rule and use electronic record keeping through the free Victorian Government QR Code Service or Victorian Government Application Programming Interface (API) linked digital system. This is to ensure people have enough room to maintain 1.5 metres distance between them. • Where a religious gathering, including weddings and funerals, are conducted in a private home, the private gathering limit of 100 visitors applies • Face masks are recommended for private gatherings or when the 1.5 metre distance minimum requirement cannot be maintained Further information on how COVIDSafe settings impact religion and ceremony, including weddings and funerals can be found at: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/religion-and-ceremony. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (29 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

This question is not within the remit of the Department of Health. Please direct your question to The Hon. Danny Pearson, Acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (30 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality): ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1414 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Data including the number of women who are currently waiting for colposcopies and follow-up treatment and cervical screening for cancer is not routinely available. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (30 October 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

The Victorian Government has engaged former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay AO APM to lead the consultation process for a second Supervised Injecting Room (SIR), to be based in the City of Melbourne. Mr Lay is working with health and drug reform experts to analyse data and evidence on drug harms within the City of Melbourne and oversee a comprehensive engagement process, seeking the views of all interested parties, including experts, community representatives, businesses and other key stakeholders. This consultation process is considering drug activity and harms, existing health and social services, safety and amenity, transport options, policing and infrastructure requirements. The Victorian Government’s decision on the service’s location will be informed by Mr Lay’s advice. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (11 November 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

The Victorian Government has supported low-income clients of alcohol and other drug services with data and phone plans so that they could access online treatment. This funding was provided as a part of the Victorian Government’s $59.7 million COVID-19 mental health and wellbeing support package. The Victorian Government has also provided $21 million to support mental health and alcohol and other drug services to adapt models of care to align with physical distancing and infection control requirements. These measures are keeping staff and clients safe, and preventing staff and clients transmitting COVID-19. This funding will support one-to-one services delivered onsite with physical distancing, where remote delivery is not practical. The Victorian Government 2020–21 budget invested $25.62 million to employ new specialist alcohol and other drug workers to address the impact of COVID-19. These new workers will provide support to Victorians who may have disengaged from treatment during the pandemic, along with those on waiting lists for residential alcohol and other drug treatment. In addition, the 2020–21 State Budget has also invested $3.36 million to commission an additional 80 residential rehabilitation beds in Corio, Wangaratta and Traralgon. Investment in AOD research in Victoria is supported via the Alcohol and Drug Research Innovation Agenda (ADRIA). The Victorian government committed $1 million to ADRIA for four years, with 25 per cent of these funds directed to research that improves health and social outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12 November 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

The Healthy Heart of Victoria program has been allocated funding to support the continuation of the program. I am aware that the Loddon Campaspe Regional Partnership has sought funding for to continue the Healthy Heart Victoria initiative. This proposal will be considered as part of the 2021/22 Victorian State Budget process. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1415

NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (8 December 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

The Victorian Government has engaged former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay AO APM to lead the consultation process for a second Supervised Injecting Room (SIR), to be based in the City of Melbourne. Mr Lay is working with health and drug reform experts to analyse data and evidence on drug harms within the City of Melbourne and oversee a comprehensive engagement process, seeking the views of all interested parties, including experts, community representatives, businesses and other key stakeholders. This consultation process is considering drug activity and harms, existing health and social services, safety and amenity, transport options, policing and infrastructure requirements. The Victorian Government’s decision on the service’s location will be informed by Mr Lay’s advice. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (8 December 2020) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

I am advised that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning provided you with a detailed response in writing about this matter on 16 December 2020. The Melbourne Cricket Club is the public land manager for Yarra Park, and its rejection of the Pavilion Events application to stage an event with amplified sound is not a planning matter in which I can intervene or overturn. EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (8 December 2020) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

The State Government is committed to improving the safety of cyclists across Melbourne and regional cities. To support the growing number of cyclists and improve the existing bicycle network within and around the greater metropolitan area, planning work has been undertaken at both state and local government levels. The Department of Transport (DoT) and Local Government structures have established a high-level Strategic Cycling Corridor (SCC) network as a strategic planning tool. SCC are intended to be key bicycle routes, providing safe and easy connections to destinations such as major activity centres, national employment precincts and transport hubs. During this process Marine Drive in Safety Beach has not been identified as a SCC. Nevertheless, DoT is aware of the existing on-road bicycle lanes and the missing links on Marine Drive and has recorded this request for collaboration with Council and consideration as a local connectivity improvement under any future works along Marine Drive. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (10 December 2020) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

Thank you for your question. The Andrews Labor Government recognises the need for improved access to a range of health and social services in the City of Whittlesea as well as other key growth areas in Melbourne and regional Victoria, and is progressing with the planning for 10 new community hospitals across these areas to meet these growing communities’ requirements. The Whittlesea Community Hospital will house a wide range of day hospital, ambulatory and community health services. This will include a strong focus on community mental health, family and early childhood services, alcohol and other drug support services, women’s health and general practice including primary care nursing and an after-hours 7 days a week urgent care service. In addition to these services, the hospital will offer a range of paediatric care including allied health services. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1416 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The Whittlesea Community Hospital will be operated by Northern Health in partnership with DPV Health, both of whom have long standing and deep relationships with the communities of Melbourne’s north. The Government has committed for the Whittlesea community hospital to be completed by 2024. I would welcome the opportunity for all interested health and social service groups from the region to be involved in the development of this new facility. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (2 February 2021) Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources):

I would like to acknowledge and thank all justices of the peace (JPs) for their continued provision of services and dedication to the Victorian community, particularly in the current environment. In June 2020 a reimbursement fund was established to support active JPs to continue operating by compensating them for any additional expenses they incur in delivering services in the current environment. These expenses could include travel costs, cleaning items and any other costs to support the safety and welfare of JPs should they be able and willing to continue delivering services. Provisions were also made in the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Electronic Signing and Witnessing) Interim Regulations 2020 to allow JPs to undertake certain witnessing and certification activities electronically. In early 2020, the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) commenced targeted recruitment of new JPs in metropolitan areas, including Greater Dandenong, Hobsons Bay, Melton and Wyndham. Unfortunately, further planned recruitment in regional and metropolitan areas were paused for health and safety reasons as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. DJCS regularly assesses the number of JPs in each local government area to identify areas for recruitment. Local government areas are ranked to identify areas with the greatest need. Further recruitment for justices of the peace will continue in 2021 to ensure JP services can continue to be available for the community. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (2 February 2021) Ms WILLIAMS (Dandenong—Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs):

Thank you for your question regarding the support and safety hubs, now known as the Orange Door Network. The establishment of the Orange Door Network is a foundational reform from the Royal Commission into Family Violence. This was a significant step in changing the way we support women, children and families experiencing family violence, and providing additional support to families needing assistance with child wellbeing. The Mallee Orange Door Network has assisted more than 11,000 people, including almost 5,000 children (as at 17 March 2021) since commencing operations in May 2018 and continues to provide critical assistance to women and children experiencing family violence in secure facilities in Mildura and Swan Hill. I am pleased to advise that there has been significant growth in the Orange Door partner services during this time, which requires additional space to accommodate the expanded staff team. Family Safety Victoria is working through options to provide additional space in Mildura. During the COVID-19 pandemic these space constraints have been less relevant, as we have been able to maintain a high quality and timely service to people needing our support with our workforce located across The Orange Door, at our partner agencies sites and working from home. This has included continued face-to- face support for clients where required. These arrangements have worked well for staff and clients and we continue to make effective use of online platforms to bring teams together on a regular basis. With the maximum number of staff returned to the office, in line with social distancing, we will continue these arrangements going forward while longer term accommodation options are worked through. I can assure you that clients of The Orange Door are supported in ways that prioritise their safety, comfort and confidentiality. Client and staff safety are protected via a range of carefully considered security features ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1417

including an-onsite security guard, CCTV, duress alarms, dual entry and exit points and the capacity to lock- down different parts of the building. All client conversations, whether appointments or walk-ins, occur in the privacy of a client interview room and there are a number of rooms available to accommodate different sized family groups, as well as spaces for children and young people who attend with their parents. Consistent with this commitment to a positive client experience, victim/survivors attending the service in Swan Hill are similarly afforded appropriate access to private interview rooms. Typically, the work undertaken by The Orange Door with perpetrators takes place off-site. In the event that a perpetrator does attend the site, they are directed immediately to a secure interview room to minimise any potential risk to other clients. We are doing more than ever before to end family violence in Victoria—this is world-leading reform, and we recognise there is still some way to go. The Andrews Labor Government is committed to seeing this reform through and we will continue to monitor, evaluate, review and refine implementation as the system matures, making necessary changes as appropriate. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (2 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

This matter does not fall within my portfolio responsibilities. You may wish to address your question to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Hon Jacinta Allan MP. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (3 February 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Northern Victoria Region for her question. The Commonwealth Government’s allocation of $260 million is not enough to deliver the project. The business case was completed in 2020 and has been shared with the Commonwealth department. The Victorian Government is working with the Commonwealth Government on solutions for the Shepparton Bypass. This contrasts with the Victorian Liberal Opposition, who have not made any commitments for the Shepparton Bypass, not in Government nor in Opposition. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (3 February 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

In September 2019, the Government declared the Surf Coast a ‘distinctive area and landscape’ under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to protect the environment, landscape and local lifestyle of Torquay-Jan Juc and surrounds from inappropriate development. The declaration triggers a requirement for a Statement of Planning Policy to guide the future use, development, and management of land for the next 50 years. It strengthens the protection of the declared area by setting permanent protected settlement boundaries, enabling integrated decision making across government and relevant responsible public entities and by recognising the connection and stewardship of Victoria’s Traditional Owner communities. In preparing a Statement of Planning Policy for the Surf Coast, I committed to listening to all views within the Torquay-Jan Juc community. The draft Surf Coast Statement of Planning Policy that is currently being consulted on has two options proposed for the settlement boundary at Spring Creek: • Option 1 is for the Spring Creek area to be designated for low density ecologically sustainable development and included within the protected settlement boundary for Torquay-Jan Juc. • Option 2 is for the Spring Creek area to be designated outside of the protected settlement boundary and forming part of the surrounding green break between Torquay-Jan Juc and Bellbrae. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1418 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

A final decision on the settlement boundary location for Torquay-Jan Juc has not yet been made. I have appointed a standing advisory committee to advise me on the rigor of the draft Statement of Planning Policy against meeting the objects of the Act, including the location of protected settlement boundaries. The advisory committee will consider all submissions received through this phase of consultation and provide recommendations to me to inform a final draft Statement of Planning Policy. I will seek endorsement of the final Statement of Planning Policy by responsible public entities and Ministers responsible for those public entities prior to seeking approval by the Governor in Council. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (3 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am informed that: Under existing directions, Victorian businesses and service providers with workers on site are required to prepare a COVIDSafe Plan which should outline, among other things, the measures in place to manage the health and safety risks presented by COVID-19 (including the appropriate level of PPE to be worn) particular to the workplace. As risks of COVID-19 transmission are higher for hospitals than most other Victorian workplaces, it follows that many hospitals would have relatively stringent measures in place under their COVIDSafe Plans. A GP’s note is not an exemption under the directions—it is evidence for the proposition that an exception applies to an individual because the GP is satisfied that the person has a medical illness or condition/disability which makes wearing the face covering unsuitable. The GP’s note does not diminish the Alfred hospital’s duties to manage its COVID risks, and its COVIDSafe Plan might reasonably require PPE and face coverings beyond the general rules in the directions. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (16 February 2021) Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans):

Victoria has a comprehensive integrity framework in place to ensure the highest levels of accountability by councils. Alleged breaches of the Local Government Act 2020 can be raised with the Local Government Inspectorate. Concerns about the administrative decisions or actions of councils can be referred to the Victorian Ombudsman. The IBAC is responsible for investigating any allegations of corruption. I encourage anyone with concerns about the integrity of a council to raise their concerns with the relevant integrity body. The new Local Government Act 2020 includes a range of reforms that support and strengthen council integrity. These include requirements relating to conflicts of interest, councillor conduct, councillor induction, and public transparency and accountability. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (16 February 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Southern Metropolitan Region for his question. The Andrews Labor Government is fast tracking the removal of the two dangerous and congested level crossings at Union Road, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert. The Government has been delighted with the overwhelming positive support for the project from the local community. The community is aware of the lives that have been lost at these crossings and want them removed as quickly as possible. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1419

I acknowledge that the Member is a staunch defender of the Liberal party commitment to exclude these two crossings from the level crossings removal program as a savings measure. The community is well aware of the Liberal party commitment. As with all level crossing removal projects there will need to be a nearby construction laydown area. The Member is wrong. There has been no decision to use either Surrey Park or Canterbury Sports Ground as a construction laydown area. The Level Crossing Removal Project is consulting with all sporting clubs and the local community and will continue to do so before any decisions are made. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (18 February 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

I thank Mr Meddick for his question. Deliberations on proposals for the upcoming state budget are currently underway. As with all budget determinations, competing priorities for the use of the Government’s limited resources will be assessed in the best interests of the Victorian community. Further information on these determinations will be provided in the 2021–22 budget in May 2021. As this matter directly relates to the Agriculture portfolio, I have referred it onto the Minister for Agriculture. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I am advised that: • All public health measures during this global pandemic are taken based on public health advice. The restrictions are informed by multiple different epidemiological factors which all help to assess a level of risk to the community at a particular time. This includes the number and geographic spread of exposure sites, the story behind emerging cases; whether they can be clearly linked to known cases or whether there are cases with an unknown source, whether individuals have been in quarantine during their infectious period, the number of close contacts for each confirmed case, as well as social and behavioural factors contributing to transmission risk across the community. Decisions about restrictions also consider previous lessons learned in Victoria, interstate and internationally about the types of interventions that are likely to contain transmission, save lives and protect our healthcare system. • Victorians have sacrificed a great deal as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent circuit breaker actions were taken to protect the significant gains the state and community have already made against this virus. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (18 February 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Western Metropolitan Region for her question and her continued interest in the Andrews Labor Government’s transport agenda for Melbourne’s west. The Old Geelong Road level crossing in Hoppers Crossing, announced at the 2018 State Election to be removed by 2025, was fast-tracked for removal with completion scheduled for the end of 2022. Major construction has kicked off to remove the crossing by building a new road bridge over the rail line, connecting with the Princes Highway east of the current crossing. In addition, pedestrians and cyclists will cross the Werribee rail line, and access Hoppers Crossing Station, via a new pedestrian and cyclist overpass at the site of the existing level crossing. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1420 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Pedestrians and cyclists will be able to access the overpass either via stairs or fully accessible oversized lifts. Additional bike storage on both sides of the rail line will be included, ensuring commuters cycling to Hoppers Crossing Station will be able to securely store their bikes. Cyclists who do not want to dismount at Old Geelong Road are able to cross the rail line at David Court and Derrimut Road. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (18 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

I was sorry to hear about your constituent’s recent medical emergency. Whilst I can’t comment on the specifics of the case, I can advise that Q2 2020–21 response time results show that in the Local Government Area of Wyndham, on average it took 12 minute 19 seconds for an ambulance to arrive at the scene for Code 1 emergencies. In 2019–20, 97.9% of adult stroke patients were transported to definitive care within 60 minutes. Further, the 2020–21 State Budget included $21.6 million for Victoria’s innovative Mobile Stroke Unit and the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine, ensuring life-saving treatment is delivered to patients as fast as possible—saving lives and avoiding disability. All feedback from patients regarding their experience with Ambulance Victoria is important and can be used to inform service improvements. I understand that Ambulance Victoria’s Patient Experience and Consumer Participation Team have been in contact with the patient and their family and are working through the case. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (18 February 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

Albury Wodonga Health is a Victorian health service and therefore is required to comply with the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s directions. The uniform approach for rural and metropolitan and for Victorian health services was implemented to prevent the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19 from spreading out of Melbourne into rural settings. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (18 February 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

The five day circuit breaker in February 2021 was necessary to prevent further spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and was in line with expert public health advice. Similar actions have been taken in other states. Keeping the virus under control is essential to saving lives and ensuring a sustainable economic recovery. The Victorian Government announced $143 million in new funding as part of the Circuit Breaker Support Package. This package is designed to provide additional support for small businesses, including sole traders, most impacted by the coronavirus circuit-breaker action. Hospitality, tourism, events and creative industries operators are expected to benefit from grants. The Government also recently created a new category in the Sporting Club Grants Program to assist grassroots sporting clubs impacted by the recent coronavirus circuit-breaker action. Grants of $2,000 are now available under the Sporting Club Grants Program’s Circuit Breaker Event Support category. The new category is available for clubs that incurred costs that could not be recouped after events or activities were cancelled or postponed due to the 12–17 February circuit-breaker action. Costs that can be claimed include cancellation fees, lost booking fees and the loss of perishable goods. An additional coronavirus recovery category is also being delivered to provide up to $5,000 for leagues and associations to help them get back on their feet after the pandemic. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1421

The application deadline for funding through the 2020/21 Sporting Club Grants Program has been extended to 19 April 2021. These grants will help support Victorian sport and active recreation organisations to be COVIDSafe and assist with return to play costs and initiatives. The Victorian Government has provided more than $6 billion in direct economic support for businesses and workers to help them get through the pandemic and recover strongly, including $2.6 billion alone in Business Support Fund grants to 134,000 businesses—more than half of all employing businesses in Victoria. Since 2014, the Government has provided more than 4,950 sporting clubs with grants totalling more than $6.8 million. The Victorian Government will continue to monitor the impact of this economic event. As Victoria recovers from this pandemic, the Government is not losing sight of what matters most—the health and wellbeing of our families, friends and communities. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (19 February 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

The Department of Transport has worked collaboratively with the community and stakeholders through the Millers and Williamstown Road Corridor Study Community Working Group and the Inner West Air Quality Reference Group to establish potential initiatives to mitigate issues identified through the West Gate Tunnel Project Environmental Effects Statement (EES) Process. Once the Westgate tunnel is built, it will remove 9,000 trucks from local streets and enable the Victorian Government to introduce 24 hour truck bans on six local roads in the inner west, to ensure that trucks use the freeway and to prevent rat runs through local streets. This will also improve air and noise quality for residents. In addition, the project will provide new cycling and walking links to popular trails and parks, with new crossings over the West Gate Freeway and major roads. Ultimately, our vision for the Inner West is to create more direct freight connections; streamlining access to port to meet our growing freight task, while reducing movement through local streets. This is a long-term goal requiring investment in transformational projects like the West Gate Tunnel, Port rail and integrated land-use planning that separates storage and heavy freight from residential areas. A recent example of this commitment is the announcement of the Government’s approval of the Port of Melbourne Operations that will see an investment of $125 million in new rail infrastructure, investing in the Port Rail Shuttle, and working with the Port of Melbourne to improve rail connections and shift containers from road to rail. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ATKINSON (Eastern Metropolitan) (19 February 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

I note your concerns about the potential impact of the proposal on the parkland, its flora and fauna and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, I am unable to meet with the Banyule residents association. Banyule Planning Scheme Amendment C107bany, seeks to facilitate the proposal, and has been publicly exhibited. Following the exhibition process, Banyule City Council is required to consider all submissions, and if any matters remain unresolved, an independent planning panel will be established to consider those submissions, conduct a public hearing and provide recommendations about the proposed amendment. If the council adopts the amendment and submits it to me for approval, I will consider the recommendations of the panel, along with all of the submissions received. The amendment is part way through this statutory process and it is appropriate that this process run its course. Your comments and the comments of the council and other stakeholders will form part of the information that I will consider in deciding whether to amend the planning scheme to allow the proposed use and development. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1422 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans):

Government policy sets out the basic principles for activity centres. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Each area is unique and local governments are encouraged to work with their communities to determine exactly how their activity centre should grow, while taking into account regional population trends and economic growth. I am pleased that Monash City Council is working with its community on its proposed Mount Waverley Structure Plan. I am advised the council undertook consultations with the local community between 17 February 2020 and 20 March 2020. I understand the council commenced consultation on the proposed structure plan through a discussion paper in 2019 followed by engagement on the draft structure plan in early 2020. The 2020 engagement included direct notification to all owners and occupiers of properties in the study area, an online engagement portal and a drop-in session for members of the community to speak with council staff regarding the proposal. The councils’ consultation report, available from its Shape Monash website (https://shape.monash.vic.gov.au/), outlines the various methods of engagement the council undertook, as well as a summary of feedback received from the community. In addition, the council considered the Structure Plan at its meeting on 25 August 2020. The decision of council at that time was to defer the decision to a future council meeting to enable council officers to prepare advice on amendments to the plan. The amendments would reduce building heights from 5–8 stories to 4– 5 stories in one area and from 4–5 stories to 3–4 stories in two areas. I encourage Dr Bach and interested community members to take the opportunity to engage with the council through the Chief Executive Officer, Andi Diamond. The Local Government Act 2020 provides a principles-based legislative framework that enables local councils to respond to their community’s needs and aspirations. Community engagement is a central pillar of good government, and it forms one of the key principles embedded in the Act. The Victorian Government continues to support councils to make the decisions and take action to advance the wellbeing of Victorians. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

In the 2020–21 State Budget, the Andrews Labor Government announced $25.62 million to employ 100 new alcohol and other drug workers to address the impact of COVID-19. All state funded alcohol and drug providers such as Colac Area Health were invited to make a submission for allocation of this funding. Submissions are currently being considered to enable recruitment to begin by April 2021. In addition, the expansion of residential alcohol and drug services is supported by the Andrews Labor Government Drug Rehabilitation Plan which is committed to addressing drug and alcohol issues in Victoria and meet the need for growing demand. The Victorian Government invested more than $87 million to implement this plan and it includes providing an additional 100 residential rehabilitation beds to treat up to 400 extra people every year. New residential facilities in Corio, Wangaratta, and Traralgon are being progressed and additional funding has been provided to support establishment of these new facilities. It is anticipated they will be operational from the second half of 2021. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1423

EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr O’DONOHUE (Eastern Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Andrews Labor Government is committed to ensuring every community has access to a great local school. This has been demonstrated by an investment of more than $9 billion in education infrastructure over the past six years. As you are aware, as part of this investment, we are building a new junior secondary campus for Wonthaggi Secondary College in San Remo, which is expected to open in 2022. I was pleased to announce that as part of the 2020–21 State Budget, the school was allocated at least $25.76 million in capital works funding to deliver the new campus, building on the $5 million in funding it received as part of our 2020 Building Works Package. Additionally, the school shared in the $624.8 million allocated for new schools in the 2019–20 State Budget. Based on an analysis of existing student transport patterns for Wonthaggi Secondary College and the expected location of families with students attending the San Remo campus, the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) expects that most students will travel to the San Remo campus by bus. School buses will access and leave the school through Phillip Island Road and Potters Hill Road. I can confirm that the currently unsealed part of Potters Hill Road, which will be used by school buses, will be sealed up to the school’s southern boundary as part of the project. A designated bus drop-off and pick-up area will also be provided within the school site. Furthermore, a loop will be provided so that all turning of buses occurs within the school site. Buses exiting the site will be directed to turn right and head back up Potters Hills Road to Phillip Island Road. I can confirm that no school bus will be permitted to use Shetland Heights Road. The VSBA has undertaken traffic analysis, which determined the impact of the expected additional bus and car traffic at the intersection of Phillip Island and Potters Hill roads. This analysis shows that the intersection will continue to perform within a level of ‘service A’ (that is, with minimal queues and delays). Since it is anticipated that Potters Hills Road will be the primary access route to the school site, there will not be a material increase to traffic on Shetland Heights Road. Notwithstanding that, we are funding the upgrade to part of Potters Hill Road in order to ensure there is an appropriate vehicular route to the school site. However, it should be noted that municipal roads, such as Shetland Heights Road, remain the responsibility of Local Government Areas. I trust this information is of assistance. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

The commencement of the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program funding round was delayed due to COVID-19, which meant the announcement of successful grants was also delayed. The details on successful grants for the recent round can now be found on Emergency Management Victoria’s website. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Western Metropolitan Region for her question and her ongoing interest in the Andrews Labor Government’s transport investments in Melbourne’s west. These investments range from the recently completed Western Roads Upgrade package, 13 level crossings already removed, underway, or planned to be removed, the Sunbury Line Upgrade, the Melbourne Metro Tunnel, and the West Gate Tunnel Project. And, of course, the Melbourne Airport Rail (MAR) project. As the Member would know, MAR is a transformational project that will connect the Melbourne Airport with a rail service for the first time and is vital to Victoria’s ongoing prosperity, both for Melbourne and regional areas. It is more important than ever that major projects like this continue, creating jobs and driving local investment, as well as providing Victorians with a viable, reliable alternative to travel to and from Melbourne Airport for decades to come. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1424 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The delivery of MAR will support up to 8,000 jobs during construction: from engineers and subject matter experts undertaking the project planning and development, to construction workers and local suppliers during delivery. The project will seek employment targets for priority jobseekers and prioritise local suppliers through the Victorian Industry Participation Policy. Local suppliers and contractors can also register their details on the ICN Gateway at icn.org.au, which will be provided to potential tenderers after the procurement process for MAR has commenced. EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

The proposed Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling Facility in Hazelwood North has been comprehensively assessed by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) as part of the Works Approval assessment process. The granted Works Approval requires compliance with strict operating conditions, a full risk management plan, comprehensive monitoring requirements and ongoing engagement with the community. Potential impacts on nearby residents, community facilities and the Hazelwood North Primary School were specifically considered over the course of this assessment, and it was found that potential emissions are extremely low and substantially below Victorian and international emissions standards. Community members have been consulted extensively on this matter and were able to express their views on the proposal through the EPA public consultation process and to the council. The views of the council, all relevant agencies and community members were considered in my decision to approve Amendment C129latr to the Latrobe Planning Scheme to facilitate the use and development of the facility. My decision to intervene in the matter and to promptly adopt and approve Amendment C129latr will not be revoked, as this decision will facilitate the timely delivery of a project that is shovel ready, complies with state and local planning policy, and will promptly stimulate the Victorian economy and create employment and investment opportunities, including capital expenditure of $50 million and creation of 100 short-term jobs and 68 long-term jobs. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (2 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

I thank Mrs McArthur for her question. Deliberations on proposals for the upcoming state budget are currently underway. As with all budget determinations, competing priorities for the use of the Government’s limited resources will be assessed in the best interests of the Victorian community. Further information on these determinations will be provided in the 2021–22 budget in May 2021. SOUTH EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr TARLAMIS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (2 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

I thank the Member for Southern Metropolitan Region for his question. Over the course of its two-year inquiry, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System engaged extensively to gather evidence to inform both its interim and final reports. The stories the Royal Commission heard through community consultations, hearings and submissions provided a powerful reminder of why we needed this landmark inquiry: to create a mental health system that gives all Victorians the services they need, and the system they deserve. The final report recognises that mental health is influenced by the communities we live in, and that people should be able to receive services that respond to the needs of local and diverse communities. The recommendations focus on a more holistic approach to good mental health and wellbeing and set out a clear vision for people to be able to access help earlier in their local community, rather than too late in ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1425

hospitals. Through a new, reformed system, more services will be delivered locally in community settings and extend beyond an acute health response. For planning purposes, the Royal Commission has recommended that existing boundaries should be re- aligned and mental health and wellbeing services organised into eight regions (three metro and five regional). Wherever possible, new boundaries will align with planning and service delivery boundaries for health and other social services, and other existing boundaries such as Primary Health Networks. New Regional Boards in each of the eight regions will support mental health and wellbeing services to be planned and organised in a way that responds to community needs. For constituents of South Eastern Metropolitan Region there will be better access to local services, when and where it makes the most difference to them. Establishing new Local Adult and Older Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Services is a key recommendation to achieving this. These services will help Victorians access help in the community earlier, recognising the benefits of people receiving care in their own communities and close to their homes, families, carers and supporters. This work has already begun with the fast-tracking of six sites for these services. The locations of these initial sites, as recommended by experts, include Frankston which, sadly, has one of the highest per capita rates of suicide attempts presenting at emergency departments and one of the highest per capita rates of suicide. The six sites will be the first of up to 60 across the state and will work to a ‘how can we help?’ model, to enable people to be supported from their first to their last contact with mental health and wellbeing services. All six sites will be operational by the end of 2022. The Government is wholly committed to ensuring that each of the Royal Commission’s recommendations is implemented. We look forward to getting to work and closely engaging with the community on the significant reform journey ahead. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (3 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

I thank Mr Davis for his question because it provides me with an opportunity to explain in more detail the operation of the two new planning provisions that will positively change the lives of the people who are in need of housing and boost our economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Firstly I will explain that a development proposal under the new particular provisions at clause 52.20 and 53.20 of a planning scheme can only occur if it meets the special rules of entry, significantly a proposal must be by or on behalf of the Director of Housing. This means that where development is not by the Director of Housing (a Homes Victoria development) other developers such as community housing providers must have the approval of the Director of Housing that it is on his behalf. In all other circumstances an application to develop dwellings, units and apartment buildings must meet the planning requirements specified for the land under the relevant planning scheme. In most cases where a planning permit can be applied for the process will include the requirement for the responsible authority (usually council) to determine if it requires notification to neighbours and the community. Under these permit applications there is an ability to seek review of the council’s decision on the application to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). Mr Davis does not provide any specific development sites or proposals in his question but I will provide details about how a development which is by or on behalf of the Director of Housing under either of these new planning rules will have consultation and must meet development and design requirements. The two new planning rules were introduced in December 2020 to expedite the planning process for these social and affordable housing projects which could ordinarily take several months. These special new rules have been put into place to facilitate an immediate need to construct social and affordable housing for people who are in most need of housing. It will also boost Victoria’s economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, generating an estimated $6.7 billion in economic activity. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1426 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Development proposals made under clause 52.20—Victoria’s Big Housing Build (VC190) This removes the need for a planning permit with a streamlined development approval process where the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change will determine the proposal and approves the project and plans. • Applies only to projects funded under Victoria’s Big Housing Build • Applies to any planning zone except for the industrial, rural or Port Zone • Exempts the requirement to notify surrounding properties and review of decisions associated with a permit process, however consultation with the public and the municipal council is required and will be managed by Homes Victoria. • Requires consideration of normally applicable issues such as heritage, design and environmental issues. • Includes requirements and development standards (based on ResCode and Better Apartments) to support faster decision making, increase certainty and the amenity of adjoining neighbours. Some requirements such as setback to adjoining dwellings are greater than existing standards·for apartment buildings. • Does not exempt certain scheme requirements such as bushfire management, environmental audits and environment effects statements. Planning permit applications made under clause 53.20—Housing by or on behalf of the Director of Housing (VC187) This introduces a provision to streamline the planning permit process for housing projects by or on behalf of the Director of Housing. • Exempts notice (advertising) and review (VCAT) of decisions by third parties such as neighbours. Whilst notice is exempt, Homes Victoria will liaise with councils before lodgement about the planning design and any potential issues of the proposal. After lodgement the Minister will provide the council with a copy of the application and an opportunity to provide comment. • Includes requirements and development standards (based on ResCode and Better Apartments) to support faster decision making, certainty and the amenity of adjoining neighbours. Some requirements such as setback to adjoining dwellings are greater than existing standards for apartment buildings. • The Minister for Energy, Environment, and Climate Change is the responsible authority for assessing the development of 10 or more dwellings and apartments. Proposals for less than 10 dwellings will be assessed by the local council. Consultation Community consultation, and consultation with the relevant municipal council will be undertaken by Homes Victoria as an important input into good design and planning outcomes. The community will be asked to provide their views and feedback on the proposal during a consultation period of approximately three weeks. Submissions including objections will be considered directly by the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. A report summarising what was heard (including objections) and how comments received were considered will be made available online by Homes Victoria after the consultation period. It will also be submitted to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and the relevant Council. Homes Victoria will provide guidance about its commitment to consultation on projects it leads and its expectations for other projects where third parties (such as community housing agencies) may be the developer. Early and ongoing engagement with the relevant Council is required as an important input into the design and planning process, with large projects involving at least four phases of engagement with Council officers. For permit applications under clause 53.20 where the Minister for Energy, Environment, and Climate Change is the responsible authority, DELWP will provide the council with a copy of the proposal and an opportunity to provide comment. This may include without prejudice permit conditions. Under 53.20, Councils will remain the responsible authority for single dwellings and projects with up to nine units on a lot. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1427

The engagement outlined above, while being tailored to the needs of each community, will apply to projects being delivered within your region. Consultation will provide the opportunity for the community to support, object and provide comment. I am satisfied that the mechanisms built into to these special provisions balance the need to develop social and affordable housing in line with the government’s policies and address the need to ensure developments meet sensible development standards and proposals rely on the feedback and local knowledge of the council and community. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (3 March 2021) Ms HUTCHINS (Sydenham—Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support):

I thank the Member for her interest and advocacy on this important issue. The Women’s Justice Diversion Program (WJDP) provides housing and homelessness assistance to women leaving prison to live anywhere across Victoria—including the Western Metropolitan Region. The program assists women at DPFC on remand or short sentences (up to three months) as well as at their location post-release, which includes urban and regional locations across Victoria. The WJDP works with various housing and support partners across Victoria to help women achieve their goals, with strong partnerships with homelessness and housing agencies in the western region. Given the short-term housing options that are often utilised, specific data regarding where support is provided is difficult to obtain, however the program has supported 116 women exiting the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (DPFC) since its commencement in October 2020. Over the life of the three-year contract, the program is targeted to provide support to at least 758 women. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (3 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Northern Victoria Region for her question. The Victorian Government is working with the Commonwealth Government on solutions for the Shepparton Bypass. The business case was completed in 2020 and has been shared with the Commonwealth department. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (3 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Western Metropolitan Region for his question. I, like the Member, am also impressed with the exceptional work undertaken by the project team to improve safety and efficiency for locals in the west of Melbourne. Major works are now complete on the Derrimut Road Upgrade, which has added a lane between Sayers Road and Dohertys Road, as well as upgraded nine intersections and added new walking and cycling paths, with final works continuing until the middle of the year. The Derrimut Road Upgrade is one of eight arterial road upgrades being delivered as part of the $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade, the largest single transport infrastructure investment in in the history of Melbourne’s west. Investigations required to develop a proposal for the future duplication of additional sections of Derrimut Road will be considered in the context of other transport improvement projects across Victoria. Until then, the Department of Transport will continue to work with the Wyndham and Melton City Councils to investigate improvements. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1428 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (3 March 2021) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

The Victorian Government is implementing a significant range of support to encourage local workers to take on seasonal work as well as establishing the pathway for Pacific Island workers through the Commonwealth Government’s Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Schemes. On 17 February 2021, the Victorian Government announced an extra $19.3 million in support for Victorian farmers to secure the workforce they need this harvest season. This includes: • $10.5 million for the Seasonal Harvest Sign-on Bonus—a $2,430 payment for local jobseekers who take up a harvest job • $7.8 million for the Victorian Government’s co-contribution to quarantine costs for Pacific workers, so that industry is only required to contribute $2,000 per worker • $1 million for Seasonal Workforce Industry Support grants, giving industry the dedicated resources they need to support local worker recruitment and retention activities in priority harvest regions. The extra support follows the comprehensive $57 million package already provided to support industry through the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the Victorian Government’s support for agriculture businesses and communities to over $76 million. This includes: • the $50 million Agriculture Workforce Plan, which included a range of business support grants, industry-led training and skill development, e-commerce and market transition support and $1 million for ‘The Big Victorian Harvest’ promotional campaign • $6 million for the Seasonal Workers Accommodation Program • $1.33 million for Seasonal Workforce Coordinators and Engagement Officers for Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities. With regards to international workers, a number of businesses in Gippsland have made applications for Pacific workers and are included in the first scheduled flights planned to begin arriving from 19 March 2021. The Commonwealth Government were unable to expedite their approval processes to support industry to schedule these flights any earlier, despite the Tasmanian Government being ready to accept Pacific worker arrivals and Victorian Government approvals being complete. I encourage agribusinesses in your region to continue to work with Approved Employers that can apply to the Commonwealth Government for workers under the Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Worker Programme and to promote the incentives now available to seasonal workers. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (3 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

Prior to the 2020–21 Budget, the Government invested more than $13 billion to respond to the global pandemic, providing unprecedented support to households and businesses to make sure they see it to the other side. The 2020–21 Budget built on this earlier support, investing $1.5 billion in new tax relief for Victorian workers, businesses and households to help them through the pandemic and recovery. A number of land tax relief measures were outlined in the 2020–21 Budget, including for commercial and residential landlords. Landlords that provided rent relief in 2020 consistent with the principles of the Support to Landlords and Tenants package may be eligible for up to a 50 per cent reduction on the property’s 2020 land tax (exclusive of any absentee owner surcharge), with the remainder to be deferred until 31 March 2021. Landlords have until 31 March 2021 to lodge their applications for 2020 land tax relief. The Government has also provided a waiver for all 2021 vacant residential land tax liabilities that arise due to property vacancies in 2020. In addition, the Government has announced further land tax relief for 2021 land tax assessments for commercial and residential landlords who provide eligible tenants impacted by coronavirus with rent relief between 1 January 2021 and 28 March 2021. Eligible landlords may receive a 25 per cent reduction of the property’s 2021 land tax with any remaining 2021 land tax and any 2020 land tax previously deferred can be ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1429

deferred until 30 November 2021. Landlords have until 30 June 2021 to lodge their applications for 2021 land tax relief. In relation to further 2021 land tax relief, all State tax changes will be considered as part of the upcoming State budget process, and any adjustments are made on their merits. The Government will continue to work closely with the Commonwealth, businesses and the community to ensure appropriate further support is provided. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (4 March 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

Doyles Road has been designed with a bitumen seal (wearing course). Reapplications of spray seal (bitumen and aggregate) are applied every 12 to 18 years, depending on surface wear condition. This will continue to be the design treatment for Doyles Rd into the future. It is important to stress, the bitumen seal (wearing course) is a seal to keep pavement dry and provide a smooth driving experience. It is the granular pavement underneath the bitumen seal that provides the strength in the road to accommodate heavy freight. From time to time water will get into the pavement, usually through some cracking that can occur in the bitumen seal. This can cause sections (patches) of road failure as water softens the pavement. Freight vehicles then drive over the soft spots causing potholes to occur quite quickly. In this instance the product used to repair a failed patch is (and should always be) “hot mix” asphalt. Unlike a bitumen seal, asphalt has pavement like strength. Depending on the thickness applied, asphalt can be stronger than granular pavement. Asphalt is used on sections of road most impacted by heavy freight and high-volume traffic; specifically, intersections, roundabouts, and approaches to bridges. Due to the ease of application of asphalt, as well as its strength qualities, it is also the best product to use to repair a small road patch returning the lost pavement strength as well as the watertight seal and smooth driving experience. The North Eastern Maintenance Alliance (NEMA) delivers road maintenance in the Hume Region as Regional Road Victoria’s (RRV) contracted provider. They are currently undertaking periodic road maintenance on the Shepparton Alternative Route (Doyles Road) between Channel Road and Broken River. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (4 March 2021) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

I understand that the Wimmera River is a much-loved community asset year-round, but particularly in the warmer months. As such, I’m pleased to advise that Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) has confirmed that Horsham Rural City Council was invited to re-submit its application for funding for the Horsham Nature and Water Play Park under round two of the SRV Stimulus Fund. Round one of this fund was substantially oversubscribed, and projects which were unsuccessful but showed merit were invited to re-submit for this second round. Applications closed on 2 March 2021 and are currently being assessed. We expect outcomes will be advised from late May 2021 onwards. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (4 March 2021) Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans):

The Bulla Recreation Reserve is a vibrant community space that provides a variety of community recreation and social facilities and activities. The public toilet block at the Reserve has been closed since 2019 as it was beyond refurbishment, no longer complied with access regulations and attracted anti-social behaviour due to it being located on an isolated reserve. I understand Hume City Council is scheduled to prepare an updated masterplan for Bulla Recreation Reserve in 2021–22 and will consider the development of a public toilet at, or close to, the reserve. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1430 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

The Victorian Government has provided $300,000 under the 2018–19 Growing Suburbs Fund for the development of the Bulla Village Tennis Club Community Pavilion at the Bulla Recreation Reserve, which includes the provision of toilet facilities to service the club and spectators. The Growing Suburbs Fund provides assistance to interface and peri-urban councils to bring forward the development of local community facilities. Hume City Council has received $24,775,491 towards the delivery of 26 projects from the Growing Suburbs Fund since 2015–16. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (4 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Southern Metropolitan Region for his question and his interest in the vital North East Link project. North East Link Project (NELP) undertook a rigorous process, which included consultation with 11 municipalities and other landowners, to find the best location for the new tennis facility. It was a competitive process that enabled us to look at a range of options before confirming that Monash was the best location for a new facility. NELP has worked closely with Tennis Australia, Tennis Victoria, Sport and Recreation Victoria and local councils to select the new site, announced in December 2020. The new Monash Tennis Centre will be an exciting addition to the existing sporting precinct, benefiting the local community and tennis players from across Victoria. The new tennis centre will replace the facilities from the existing tennis centre in Boroondara, which is located on land needed for a crucial interchange to connect the North East Link to the Eastern Freeway. Monash City Council, with support from the NELP team, are working closely with local residents on the design for the site. The local community have provided initial feedback on the proposed plans. NELP is confident that they can work with the residents and broader stakeholders to build a great community sports facility. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (4 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

The planning administration requirements to reopen the Jamieson Creek campground are progressing. However, an unforeseen delay in approval of the permit meant the campground had to remain closed until the matter was resolved. Parks Victoria notified campers as soon as possible so they could book alternative accommodation in the area ahead of the school holidays. To support regional tourism and allow visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Otways, Parks Victoria offers other camping options to customers affected by cancellations. Those with bookings were encouraged to seek accommodation at other locations within the western region. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (4 March 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business)

Public events present a high risk for coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission, with many people moving around and interacting with each other. The Victorian Government requires events to be managed in line with COVIDSafe principles to reduce the risk of COVID-19. The Victorian Government’s COVID-19 website offers a range of advice and information for event organisers seeking to hold a public event, including the Public Events Framework. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1431

The Public Events Framework has been created to guide event organisers and venues seeking to operate events above and beyond what is permitted under the Restricted Activity Directions. Under the framework, events are assessed according to their scale, complexity and associated risk factors to ensure that every event participant, from volunteers through to attendees, are protected from the risk of transmission and can safely enjoy all that Victorian events have to offer. Event organisers are still required to engage with and obtain the necessary approvals from other federal, state and local government bodies. Further information on this, including a copy of the framework can be found on the Coronavirus Victoria website at coronavirus.vic.gov.au/public-events. Beyond the Public Events Framework, the Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that all Victorian small businesses impacted by restrictions have access to the support they need to prepare for COVID Normal operations, including businesses that operate in the events sector. This support is flowing to businesses in the form of cash grants, tax relief, skills programs, and mentoring and wellbeing assistance. On 21 February 2021, the Victorian Government announced the $143 million Circuit Breaker Action Business Support Package to support small businesses, including sole traders, most impacted by the coronavirus circuit breaker action—with hospitality, food wholesaling, tourism, events and selected retail all benefiting from grants. More broadly, the Victorian Government has provided more than $6 billion in direct economic support for businesses and workers to help them get through the pandemic and recover strongly, including $2.6 billion alone in Business Support Fund grants to 134,000 businesses–more than half of all employing businesses in Victoria. In the City of Knox, the Business Support Fund provided 4,411 businesses with $44.64 million in total funding, while the Sole Trader Support Fund provided 55 businesses with $165,000 in total funding. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (4 March 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

The Andrews Labor Government is committed to improving the oral health of Victorians and is investing $319 million in public dental services in 2020–21, including additional funding for the School Dental Program (Smile Squad). The Honourable Members assertions are wrong in fact. They are wrong in detail. I am disappointed to learn that the Member would misrepresent the facts to a member of the public. The dental voucher schemes have not been abolished. There are currently three dental voucher schemes available that utilise capacity in the private sector to provide care to public patients through vouchers—General, Emergency and Denture. The Government is a signatory to the Commonwealth’s National Partnership Agreement on Public Dental Services for Adults which is due to expire on 30 June 2021. I am concerned that to date the Commonwealth Government has provided no advice about future funding arrangements for public dental services. I have raised the issuer directly with the Commonwealth–but we have had no response. I know other States share Victoria’s concerns. I also remain disappointed that funding levels in the existing agreement did not address the previous reduction to Commonwealth investment in public dental services. Any further reduction in Commonwealth investment will have a significant impact on the provision of public dental services for vulnerable people, including to your constituent. The Andrews Labor Government continues to call on the Commonwealth to provide sustainable and fair funding arrangements for public dental services, in line with Commonwealth commitments to other areas of health. I encourage you to write to the Commonwealth Liberal Minister for Health and Commonwealth Liberal Treasurer—both Victorians—to advocate for an end to this uncertainty for Victorians who rely on public dental care. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1432 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (4 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

I thank the Member for the Northern Metropolitan Region for her Constituency Question. In 2017, I released the Victorian Government’s metropolitan planning strategy Plan Melbourne 2017–2050 to guide the growth of the city over the next three decades. The strategy integrates long-term land use, infrastructure and transport planning to accommodate our growing population. I have also introduced new residential zones with mandatory height provisions and a minimum garden area requirement to protect the green open character of our neighbourhoods. For higher density developments, the Better Apartments Design Standards ensure quality design of dwellings, including applying universal design principles to meet the diverse needs and abilities of different households. The Moreland City Council is the responsible authority for planning permit applications in Fawkner. When assessing any planning permit application, the council must consider the objectives of state planning policy, local planning policies, and all of the objections and submissions it receives. I encourage the Fawkner Residents Association to continue to speak with the council about its concerns and to discuss planning for the local area. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Eastern Metropolitan Region for his question and his interest in the Andrew Labor Government’s investments in Melbourne’s northeast. The people of Victoria—and those living and working along the Hurstbridge Line—sent a loud and clear message when they endorsed the Andrews Labor Government’s transport plans for the area. In our first term, the first stage of the Hurstbridge Line Upgrade was delivered—six months early and on budget. It included the new Rosanna Station, duplicated track between Heidelberg and Rosanna, and the removal of the dangerous level crossings at Alphington and Rosanna, resulting in much needed additional services and improved reliability. Commuters on the Hurstbridge line will have more trains, more seats and fewer delays as the re-elected Andrews Labor Government continues our massive upgrade of the Hurstbridge line. The $530 million Hurstbridge Line Duplication-Stage 2 project includes new station facilities at Greensborough and Montmorency, the duplication of three kilometres of track between Greensborough and Montmorency, and 1.5 kilometres of track between Diamond Creek and Wattle Glen to allow more train services during the morning peak. This will allow trains to run every seven minutes at Greensborough, every 10 minutes at Eltham and Montmorency, and every 20 minutes at Hurstbridge, Diamond Creek and Wattle Glen—as well as two extra Hurstbridge express services. The Victorian Government has consulted extensively regarding the project and it is overwhelmingly supported by the community. Also, the Member’s own Liberal Party’s plans for this rail line were wholly rejected by the community at the 2018 State Election—and it included a “rebuild of Montmorency station.” It is beyond irony. The people along the Hurstbridge Line knew that only Labor delivered Stage 1 of the Hurstbridge Line Upgrade and, at the last election, endorsed our plan to deliver the next stage of these works. We recognise the station is very important to those in the Montmorency area. That’s why we are consulting extensively with locals on the precinct plan so the upgraded Montmorency Station can best fit the needs of the community. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1433

NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (16 March 2021:) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health)

I am informed as follows: The Department of Education and Training no longer has oversight of this project. Following the machinery of government changes in 2019, Maternal and Child Health and Early Parenting moved to the Department of Health. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (16 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

Greater Shepparton Secondary College (GSSC) reflects the cultural diversity of its community, which is made up of more than 30 nationalities who speak more than 50 languages. GSSC has the vision of providing a supportive and inclusive environment where students and staff can celebrate the many different cultures that make up their school community. In August 2020, the Department of Education and Training engaged Dr Georgia Birch to provide advice on how GSSC might strengthen their inclusivity to better support the culturally diverse student population. This followed the successful engagement of Dr Birch in advising other schools with similar challenges. The Department received a report from Dr Birch in December 2020, which was then considered by the school leadership team in January 2021. GSSC is committed to working with the wider community to consider and implement the recommendations of the report, with the establishment of a Cultural Advisory Steering Committee to guide and implement inclusive practices within the school. The Steering Committee meets regularly and will provide strategic advice to GSSC on how the school can strengthen cultural understanding and inclusion, and enhance the role of families and communities in supporting student learning and wellbeing. The Committee’s members are working closely with their communities in considering the recommendations and how best to support the school to meet the needs of all staff and students. In addition, the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) has established a representative roundtable to examine cultural and social inclusion across Greater Shepparton. The VMC is leading this work to ensure the voices of culturally diverse communities inform the development of strategies that will enhance cultural inclusion in Greater Shepparton. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):

I thank the Member for Northern Metropolitan Region for his question and his continued strong interest in the Andrews Labor Government’s Big Build agenda. Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) is delivering the Epping Road Upgrade which will add an additional lane on Epping Road between Craigieburn Road East and Memorial Avenue, as well as upgrading new and existing intersections and building better walking and cycling connections. The project will improve traffic flow and travel times, helping people get home safer and sooner. MRPV anticipates appointing a contractor to work through a detailed development phase for the project by late 2021. The project design will be developed in accordance with road safety standards and guidelines. As always, these design decisions are made on the very best safety advice from road engineering experts. With many significant, formative projects currently underway in the north, such as the O’Herns Road Upgrade, the Plenty Road Upgrade and the recently completed first stage of the Yan Yean Road Upgrade, the Andrews Labor Government looks forward to continuing to deliver safety and efficiency upgrades for the communities of Melbourne’s north. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1434 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

I appreciate that capacity upgrades of Mickleham Road and surrounding road networks will be required to better service growth areas in the City of Hume. Although it is a declared state road and will not form part of the proposed Craigieburn West Infrastructure Contributions Plan, the Craigieburn West Precinct Structure Plan (PSP) planning process has included consideration of the future of Mickleham Road. The management of Mickleham Road, including its possible duplication, is the responsibility of the Department of Transport. The Victorian Planning Authority is working with the Department of Transport to ensure development of the precinct occurs in line with the necessary road upgrades. The PSP supports the future duplication through matching intersection designs and additional road connectivity within the PSP. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans)

I thank Mr Finn for his question as it provides the opportunity to clarify a misunderstanding in relation to ANZAC Day services and the CBD March. All events must go through the COVIDSafe events framework to ensure that attendees and the public can participate in the event in the safest possible manner and this includes Anzac Day events. Following significant concerns, since RSL Victoria’s announcement in early February the CBD March on ANZAC Day would not go ahead, the Victorian Government has been working with RSL Victoria, the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Veterans Branch to ensure that commemorations across the State can go ahead in the safest possible form that Health advice allows. Recent changes to the public events framework have made this process easier with Important Changes to Tier 2 events. Some Tier 2 Events will now be designated Low Risk and will not require the same public health approval process previously required. Outdoor events and indoor (seated) events are a Low Risk Tier 2 Event if the event has fewer than 5,000 participants/spectators and attendance does not exceed 75 per cent capacity limit of the venue. Indoor (unseated) events must also meet the following additional criteria to be designated a Low Risk Tier 2 Event: Event does not feature behaviours that present a greater COVID risk (singing, dancing, chanting or consumption of alcohol or drugs). If your event meets these criteria, it is designated a Low Risk Tier 2 Event and you are required to fill out and provide a Public Health Attestation form. In completing the Attestation you are, as event organiser, confirming that you will implement the necessary measures to ensure your event is held in a COVIDSafe manner. If you believe you meet all of the relevant criteria, please complete the Attestation and return it via email to [email protected]. You will subsequently receive confirmation that all required information has been provided and that your event meets the criteria to proceed. Low Risk Tier 2 events with a completed attestation no longer require approval of a COVIDSafe Event Plan. You are still required to have a COVIDSafe Event Plan in place and should update it as required as you prepare for your event. If your event does not meet the criteria for a Low Risk Tier 2 Event, it will continue through the existing approval process for Tier 2 public events. You are not required to complete the attestation or re-submit your COVIDSafe Event Plan. You should however advise of any updates to the Plan since it was submitted. Public health advice, aligned with the Restricted Activity Directions (Victoria), will guide further updates to the Public Events Framework. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1435

Please check coronavirus.vic.gov.au for the latest information about restrictions, exposure sites, public health advice and Restricted Activity Directions. RSL Victoria and the Victorian Government continue to work closely to ensure this year’s March and commemorative services are safe, inclusive and allow veterans to gather on this important day. The Victorian Government is also working with RSL Victoria to provide guidance and support for the hundreds of annual commemorative events held across the state on ANZAC Day, including events organised by local communities, RSL sub-branches and local governments. I encourage the Member to pass on this accurate information to the Sub-Branches in her electorate that have concerns and encourage them to reconsider their decisions to cancel their events in 2021. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (16 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

Bayside City Council’s request to prepare Amendment C177bays to apply permanent heritage controls at 28– 34 and 33–39 Service Street, Hampton, has been authorised and commenced exhibition on 18 March 2020. The council also made a request under section 20(4) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to apply the Heritage Overlay on an interim basis to 28–34 Service Street, Hampton, as part of Amendment C176bays. This request was refused under delegation on 21 November 2020. The council received a planning permit application for the development at 28–34 Service Street, Hampton, in December 2019 and resolved to refuse the planning permit application on 11 August 2020, however, the council ’s request for interim heritage controls was not received until 6 November 2020 prior to the hearing and review by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The council had ample opportunity to use the planning scheme to protect these properties following its heritage studies of 1989 and 1999. The last-minute approach to heritage protection is unacceptable and is inconsistent with the objectives of the Act for fair and orderly planning. It is disappointing that the council’s approach to protecting significant heritage places has resulted in these properties in Service Street, Hampton, being demolished. Local heritage is important, but it is not fair for councils to be too late to act and to change the rules at the last minute. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (16 March 2021) Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing):

The Victorian Budget 2020/21 delivered a historic $5.3 billion Big Housing Build to construct more than 12,000 new homes throughout metropolitan and regional Victoria , as well as supporting around 10,000 jobs per year over the next four years, to supercharge Victoria’s economic recovery through the pandemic and beyond. The Markham Housing Estate redevelopment is one of several ‘fast start’ sites as part of the Big Housing Build. The redevelopment of the Markham Estate in Ashburton will deliver 178 much need social and affordable homes housing in the eastern region, with the development remaining in the ownership of Homes Victoria. Boroondara City Council and the local community have been extensively consulted over a number of years. Significant changes have been made to the development in response to Council and community feedback. The streamlined planning approval pathway for redevelopment of the Markham Estate as part of Amendment C321boro to the Boroondara Planning Scheme is an approach consistent with changes to the Victoria Planning Provisions in December 2020 to streamline the planning process and support economic recovery through the creation of thousands of jobs, and the rapid delivery of much needed social and affordable housing across the state. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1436 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

The Victorian Government is giving Victoria Police the resources it needs to keep our growing community safe which means Victorian communities are seeing an increased police presence in their local area with the roll-out of additional frontline police right across the state. The government’s record $3.6 billion police investment is delivering 3,135 new sworn police officers, as well as state-of the-art intelligence systems, new technology, new and upgraded police stations, and stronger laws. The government’s $3.6 billion investment in Victoria Police resources has strengthened its ability to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, including graffiti vandalism, hoon driving, and the unlawful dumping of rubbish. I can confirm that Victoria Police will deploy additional resources to respond to crime and anti-social behaviour in Whittlesea Police Service Area. This is in addition to current targeted patrols based on intelligence and emerging crime trends and daily patrols to identify locations of concern and remove graffiti immediately. In December 2020 until the end of February 2021, police were specifically tasked to youth related antisocial behaviour in and around Mosaic Drive and Barry Road, Lalor. The Whittlesea Police Service Area also has a dedicated team to address high volume crime issues. The Lalor community can be assured that hoon driving is an offence that the Victorian Government and Victoria Police take very seriously. That is why Victoria Police responds to reports of hoon driving, providing a highly visible police presence to prevent, detect, disrupt and prosecute those involved in intentional high risk driving and anti-social behaviour. Greensborough Highway Patrol Units regularly patrol hotspot areas, proactively targeting persons of interest known to engage in hoon activity. Victoria Police is working with the Whittlesea City Council to discuss initiatives to prevent hoon activity, including disruption strategies such as road furniture and the introductions of a by-law that will reduce crowd gatherings. The North West Metro Region Division has recently secured funding for two dirt bikes for the Greensborough Highway Patrol to target off-road and multi-terrain offending. Victoria Police and the local council area are working together to immediately remove unlawfully dumped rubbish and to prosecute the perpetrators. As a result, infringement and litter abatement notices have been issued to both residents and business owners in recent times. The Lalor community can be assured that Victoria Police and the local council will continue to monitor the area. Community engagement through the Whittlesea Eye-watch page provides information on safety, crime prevention, police operations and local initiatives. Whittlesea Local Area Commander, Inspector Geri Porter, will be holding community meetings between April and June 2021 to discuss community safety concerns and can be contacted at Mill Park Police Station on telephone (03) 9407 3333. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17 March 2021) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

As you are aware, in 2013, the former Liberal/National Government determined that eradication of Queensland Fruit Fly from Victoria was no longer economically viable and ceased funding for eradication. This is a decision that cannot be undone. The Andrews Labor Government has invested $7.8 million in grants since 2015 to assist industry and community to take the lead on managing Queensland Fruit Fly, and we will continue to support local management efforts. Agriculture Victoria has been consulting extensively with stakeholder groups on the draft Victorian Fruit Fly Strategy 2021–2025 since September 2020, including groups from the Goulburn Murray Valley. Our government recognises the considerable achievements of the Goulburn Murray Valley Regional Fruit Fly program in managing Queensland fruit fly under the Victorian Fruit Fly Action Plan (2015–20). Any future funding for the program is subject to State budget processes. The outcomes will be communicated in due course. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1437

WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (17 March 2021) Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations):

I thank Mr Meddick for his question. Deliberations on proposals for the upcoming state budget are currently underway. As with all budget determinations, competing priorities for the use of the Government’s limited resources will be assessed in the best interests of the Victorian community. Further information on these determinations will be provided in the 2021–22 budget in May 2021. As this matter directly relates to the Agriculture portfolio, I have referred it onto the Minister for Agriculture. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality):

PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals used in many industrial and household products. There are low background levels of PFAS in the environment across Victoria and around Australia. Most of us are exposed to very low levels of PFAS in everyday life from common items including some non-stick cooking equipment, furniture and carpets treated for stain resistance, clothing and fast food or packaged food containers. The Commonwealth Department of Health established an Expert Health Panel for PFAS to advise on the potential health impacts associated with PFAS exposure. The Panel’s Report, published in May 2018, found a number of health effects (such as slightly high blood cholesterol) reported in the literature but the evidence was very weak and inconsistent. The health effects were generally small and not clinically significant. Currently, there is no evidence of a significant impact on human health, however as a precaution, exposure to PFAS should be minimised. The EPA has approved an Environment Management Plan (EMP) for Hi-Quality in Bulla as part of the site’s application to receive tunnel boring machine spoil from the West Gate Tunnel Project. The EPA assessed the plan for potential environmental impacts such as surface water runoff, dust, and potential land and groundwater risks and has considered there are appropriate measures detailed in the plan to keep the environment and community safe. The approval of an EMP does not mark the final decision on where the spoil will be sent. The EPA will continue to monitor the treatment and containment of this type of spoil to ensure that it meets rigorous public health and environmental standards to keep Victorians safe. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (17 March 2021) Mr DONNELLAN (Narre Warren North—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers):

Currently BCYF is funded for $1.45 million to provide 50 placements of children and young people in foster care. For each placement, a component of the funding to Community Service Organisations is to fund their responsibilities for recruiting, assessing, training and supporting foster carers. BCYF employ two full-time positions using this funding. The Andrews Labor Government is encouraging more Victorians to open their homes and their hearts to foster children. In the 2020–21 budget $5.8 million was invested in the Fostering Connections program run by the Centre for Excellence in Child Safety and Family Welfare to promote the benefits of foster caring and make the recruitment process more accessible for Victorians. Fostering Connections ensures people can easily find the right agency in their area by providing a centralised service that connects prospective carers with foster care agencies. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1438 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Fostering Connections also provides accurate and detailed information about the process of becoming a foster carer and answers any questions people might have about fostering before they contact an agency. EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (17 March 2021) Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development):

The Latrobe Valley Authority (LVA) is an Authority within the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) and does not produce its own annual report. Details on the performance of the LVA are included in the DJPR annual report. The LVA has not produced a report into the economic impact of the closure of the Hazelwood power station and mine. In November 2019, the LVA held a series of community forums to provide an update on transition progress and released a report outlining achievements from its first three years. This report is available on the LVA website. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (17 March 2021) Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans):

I thank Mr Quilty for his question as it provides the opportunity to clarify a misunderstanding in relation to ANZAC Day services and the CBD March. All events must go through the COVIDSafe events framework to ensure that attendees and the public can participate in the event in the safest possible manner and this includes Anzac Day events. Following significant concerns, since RSL Victoria’s announcement in early February the CBD March on ANZAC Day would not go ahead, the Victorian Government has been working with RSL Victoria, the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Veterans Branch to ensure that commemorations across the State can go ahead in the safest possible form that Health advice allows. Recent changes to the public events framework have made this process easier with Important Changes to Tier 2 events. Some Tier 2 Events will now be designated Low Risk and will not require the same public health approval process previously required. Outdoor events and indoor (seated) events are a Low Risk Tier 2 Event if the event has fewer than 5,000 participants/spectators and attendance does not exceed 75 per cent capacity limit of the venue. Indoor (unseated) events must also meet the following additional criteria to be designated a Low Risk Tier 2 Event: Event does not feature behaviours that present a greater COVID risk (singing, dancing, chanting or consumption of alcohol or drugs). If your event meets these criteria, it is designated a Low Risk Tier 2 Event and you are required to fill out and provide a Public Health Attestation form. In completing the Attestation you are, as event organiser, confirming that you will implement the necessary measures to ensure your event is held in a COVIDSafe manner. If you believe you meet all of the relevant criteria, please complete the Attestation and return it via email to [email protected]. You will subsequently receive confirmation that all required information has been provided and that your event meets the criteria to proceed. Low Risk Tier 2 events with a completed attestation no longer require approval of a COVIDSafe Event Plan. You are still required to have a COVIDSafe Event Plan in place and should update it as required as you prepare for your event. If your event does not meet the criteria for a Low Risk Tier 2 Event, it will continue through the existing approval process for Tier 2 public events. You are not required to complete the attestation or re-submit your COVIDSafe Event Plan. You should however advise of any updates to the Plan since it was submitted. Public health advice, aligned with the Restricted Activity Directions (Victoria), will guide further updates to the Public Events Framework. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1439

Please check coronavirus.vic.gov.au for the latest information about restrictions, exposure sites, public health advice and Restricted Activity Directions. RSL Victoria and the Victorian Government continue to work closely to ensure this year’s March and commemorative services are safe, inclusive and allow veterans to gather on this important day. The Victorian Government is also working with RSL Victoria to provide guidance and support for the hundreds of annual commemorative events held across the state on ANZAC Day, including events organised by local communities, RSL sub-branches and local governments. I encourage the Member to pass on this accurate information to the Sub-Branches in her electorate that have concerns and encourage them to reconsider their decisions to cancel their events in 2021. EASTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (17 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

The Victorian Government is investing $51.5 million to deliver a comprehensive Bushfire Biodiversity Response and Recovery Program to protect species of most concern following the 2019/20 bushfires. Alpine bogs and peatlands, including those found on the Dargo High Plains, are a high priority, threatened plant community being significantly impacted by deer through wallowing and tramping. The impact of deer on biodiversity increases after a fire and places greater pressure on the recovery and survival of native species. The number of deer removed by recreational hunters is not sufficient to protect the Alpine bogs and peatlands and additional targeted control programs are required to reduce deer numbers. Consequently, in key locations, such as the Dargo High Plains, professional contract shooting teams supplement recreational hunting. This approach is consistent with the recently released Victorian Deer Control Strategy which prioritises deer control in areas that provide the best outcomes for biodiversity and other values. Details of the Victorian Deer Control Strategy can be found here https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/invasive-plants-and-animals/deer- control-strategy. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ATKINSON (Eastern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

This matter does not fall within my portfolio responsibilities. You may wish to address your question to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Hon Jacinta Allan MP. SOUTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

I am informed as follows: The Andrews Labor Government has invested more than $9 billion over the past five years to build new schools and modernise existing educational facilities across Victoria. Our ongoing challenge, however, is to responsibly balance and prioritise the needs of over 1,540 government schools, all in varying condition. Ensuring school premises are safe, secure, and well-maintained is a shared responsibility between schools and the Department of Education and Training. To assist schools in identifying and addressing maintenance requirements, the Department’s Rolling Facilities Evaluation (RFE) commenced in 2018. The RFE is delivering condition assessments to every government school on a rolling five-year cycle. Canterbury Girls Secondary College received its RFE condition assessment in December 2019, and the college has subsequently developed a five-year School Maintenance Plan (SMP) in collaboration with the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA). The SMP, which incorporates findings from the RFE condition assessment, will enable the college to build a routine maintenance program to manage asset risks unique to its facilities. I am aware that a wall in the college’s general studies building has suffered deterioration, and that a portion of it and several bricks became dislodged on Monday 15 March 2021. On 16 March 2021, a structural ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1440 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

engineer attended the college to assess the wall, and revisited the site on 20 March 2021 to assess the other walls in the general studies building. I can confirm that works to demolish and rebuild the wall will be completed during the upcoming school holidays, with additional rectification works addressing known structural issues at the college to be conducted in the coming weeks. Regarding the college’s general maintenance requirements, in September 2019 we announced that every government school, including Canterbury Girls Secondary College, would receive a share of $515 million in the single largest boost to school maintenance ever undertaken. As you are aware, the college received $152,560 for essential maintenance works as part of this Maintenance Blitz Package. The college was allocated a further $35,000 through the 2019–20 Planned Maintenance Program to address priority 1 and 2 defects identified through its RFE condition assessment. I am aware that the college has capital and maintenance requirements. I can assure you that the infrastructure needs of all schools, including Canterbury Girls Secondary College, will continue to receive fair and equitable consideration through the State Budget process, and when determining future priorities for the school capital works program. Thank you for raising this matter with me. I trust this information is of assistance. WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Ms SPENCE (Yuroke—Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Community Sport, Minister for Youth):

Thank you to the Member for Western Metropolitan Region for her commitment to supporting multicultural communities in the Western Metropolitan region and for raising this important matter. Victoria is proudly a multicultural state and the Andrews Labor Government is committed to supporting and celebrating our culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Last year presented unprecedented challenges for Victoria as we worked together to keep our state safe from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was a difficult year for all Victorians, and in particular our multicultural communities. The second phase of the Priority Response to Multicultural Communities (‘the Program’) has been promoted widely across Victoria, including across Western Metropolitan Region. Several communication channels have been utilised to create awareness of the second phase of this program, including through the Victorian Government website, social media, radio, direct communications with community members and information sessions with community members and multicultural community organisations. On 24 February 2021, I announced the launch of the second phase of the Program (media release available at: www.premier.vic.gov.au/continuing-support-multicultural-communities) and through my official social media accounts. The Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) and VMC Regional Advisory Councils also shared the announcement of the launch on their social media. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, which administers the program, has also undertaken the following promotional activities: • The announcement was provided to 150 community leaders who are members of the Multicultural Affairs WhatsApp COVID-19 Community Leaders Group. These leaders were also encouraged to share the announcement across their networks. • An electronic direct mail announcing the launch of the program was sent to organisations funded under the first phase of the Program, as well as organisations on the mailing list for other grants programs delivered by the Multicultural Affairs portfolio. • Details of the program including eligibility and assessment criteria were published online on the Victorian Government website (at: www.vic.gov.au/priority-response-multicultural- communities-during-coronavirus-covid-19). • A radio announcement was made through the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council’s Multilingual News Service, which is delivered in 19 languages, reaching an estimated 350,000 listeners on 15 Victorian radio stations (including 4 radio stations in regional Victoria). • Stakeholder kits containing proposed text for social media were shared with Victorian Government Departments and Local Government partners to disseminate information about the announcement of the Program with their networks. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1441

As well as this, Multicultural Affairs staff in the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing have conducted three virtual community information sessions (4 March 2021, 16 March 2021 and 7 April 2021). These information sessions provide an overview of the Program, the application and assessment process, and provide community guidance to support successful applications. There are four more community information sessions planned (12 April for rural and regional communities, 19 April, 30 April, 13 May). These activities will ensure maximum community reach regarding the second phase of the program across Victoria. Should you be aware of any organisations in Western Metropolitan region that are eligible to apply for the Program, I encourage you to direct them to the information and application at:.www.vic.gov.au/priority- response-multicultural-communities-during-coronavirus-covid-19. Organisations approved for funding under the second phase of the program will also be published on this website. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (18 March 2021) Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries):

The next version of the Emergency Alert service (termed, EAP4), is expected to go live in September 2021. This will allow the emergency service users to send warnings messages as long as 612 characters, an enhancement on the 160 characters which is currently allowed. This will allow greater detail to be provided in the text message. An embedded URL will always be provided so those who can access further information may do so. The Emergency Alert system is dependent on the telecommunication network status (i.e. whether it is available or unavailable, strong or weak at any given time) and is a recipient of the critical infrastructure’s capabilities at any given time. Work is currently being undertaken as a part of the Australian Government’s Blackspot Program to improve the reception in identified Blackspot areas. More information on the Blackspot Program can be found by visiting the Black Spot program website at infrastructure.gov.au. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Ms HORNE (Williamstown—Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Fishing and Boating):

Scams are a blight on our community and the Government shares the concerns raised by the Member and his constituent. Scams are designed to deceive people, generally for the purpose of stealing money or personal details. Anyone can fall for a scam, as scammers are getting smarter and using more sophisticated tricks to dupe thousands of Victorians every year. As many scammers are based overseas, they are very hard to track and are outside of our jurisdiction. However, wherever there is scope or opportunity to disrupt scam activity, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) works closely with other Victorian law enforcement agencies as well as the national Scams Awareness Network, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and other Australian Consumer Law regulators, to do so. Educating people about how to avoid scams and warning them of new and emerging scams is the best way to empower Victorians and stop the scammers. CAV has a number of resources available to educate the community on scams, including quizzes and informative videos. These resources are available in 30 languages on the CAV website. CAV also provides timely warnings and information about scams on Facebook and Twitter. It alerts Victorians when particular scams are identified, so it is important Victorians notify CAV of suspicious activity as soon as possible so we can warn others. During the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, CAV alerted Victorians about the potential for scammers to take advantage of public fear and confusion. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1442 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

CAV cautioned the public about fake messages offering immediate government payments and early access to superannuation payments. The Government will continue to work closely with partners to identify, disrupt and prevent scams wherever it can and to educate and support Victorians to avoid scams. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18 March 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

I am advised by Regional Roads Victoria (RRV) that they continue to work with Greater Shepparton City Council to identify intersections to be upgraded to improve safety and traffic movement within Shepparton. RRV and Council have worked together to prioritise these intersections and identify appropriate funding opportunities. NORTHERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr ONDARCHIE (Northern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Mr CARROLL (Niddrie—Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Roads and Road Safety):

Since the pop-up bike lanes were installed, the Department of Transport (DoT) has been monitoring and evaluating the project across a number of performance measures, including network impacts, bike rider usage and gender diversity, safety, road user clarity as well as business and residential access needs. DoT has been responding to community feedback regularly. Prior to construction in December–January, a multi-channel communication roll-out in the surrounding area, including direct letterbox drops to affected residents and businesses was undertaken. DoT will continue to engage with residents, traders and the broader community to ensure this project is right for the community as a whole. It has been three months since completion, and the project has seen weekly riders increase by 30% on average. This is on-par with some of Melbourne’s safest cycling routes. As of March, we are averaging over 6,000 weekly riders using the route. Observational data has seen many families, children and parents riding along Heidelberg Road. These types of riders were not as likely to use the previous road design due to safety concerns with vehicle speed, car parking and lack of adequate separation. A number of adjustments have been made since completion to address safety and road user behaviour issues. As the project reaches a three-month milestone, further adjustments are being planned in response to ongoing monitoring and feedback. These adjustments will involve car spaces being reinstated as well as further parking improvements in the area to support local area use and visitation. NORTHERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (18 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

The Andrews Labor Government committed to a Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ahead of the 2018 state election. This commitment was made in recognition that the current system is broken and failing Victorians. Released on 2 March 2021, the final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System will serve as our blueprint for delivering the biggest social reform in a generation. It sets out a bold vision for a new system that is to be rebuilt from the ground up, with communities at the centre. Throughout its landmark two-year inquiry, the Royal Commission received 3,267 formal submissions, 12,500 contributions from individuals and organisations, and 3,000 people responded to the community survey. It held 61 community consultations at 21 locations, where it heard from 1,650 Victorians. Over 19 days of public hearings the Royal Commission also heard directly from 99 witnesses, of whom 30 were community witnesses sharing their personal experiences in the system. The Royal Commission has recognised that the current mental health system does not support all Victorians, the way it should. The inquiry heard that communities must be at the centre of reform efforts, given they are where people spend most of their time, seek most of their support, and gain an important sense of meaning and purpose. People living in rural and regional areas can face particular challenges when accessing mental ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1443

health treatment, care, and support, among them stigma and a lack of local services, including limited availability of specialist expertise, private mental health care or services for infants, children, and young people. Albury Wodonga Health, Area Mental Health inpatient services form one part of the current mental health service system. Community mental health clinics provide outpatient-based support and mental health service triage lines provide 24-hour telephone support. A Prevention and Recovery Care Centre located in Albury, provides short-term residential treatment services with a recovery focus for people experiencing a mental health issue who do not need an immediate inpatient clinical intervention. The Royal Commission interim report recommended establishment of a Hospital Outreach Post-Suicidal engagement (HOPE) service in each area, with one to be established in Wodonga. This will make two HOPE services in North East Hume with one currently operating in Wangaratta. In addition, Albury Wodonga Health, Area Mental Health Services are working jointly with the local HeadtoHelp clinic provided via the Commonwealth Government which provides access and navigation support for people with mental health issues. The future mental health system will improve access to services and provide high-quality mental health services to individuals and families in their local community. The Royal Commission has set out a clear vision for people to access professional help earlier in their community and ensure that they are supported throughout their recovery journey. The Royal Commission’s final report puts forward several recommendations that will set clear expectations of services to meet the needs of diverse communities and will deliver improvements across Victoria. This includes the introduction of Regional Mental Health and Wellbeing Boards as new regional governance structures by 2023, which will commission 50–60 Local Mental Health and Wellbeing Services across the state (with one already announced for Benalla) to provide access and navigation support for people. There will be 13 Infant, Child, Youth Area mental health and wellbeing services for 0–25 years age groups, and 22 Adult and Older Adult Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Services for people 26 years plus. In addition we will establish new models of care for bed- based services, assisting schools to support students mental health and wellbeing, and provide a platform for greater integration across services beyond the mental health and wellbeing system, to ensure that all Victorians receive most services locally. The Andrews Labor Government takes responsibility for delivering the Royal Commission’s vision for a transformed mental health system that has within it the specialist expertise to support all Victorians, regardless of their specific mental health condition or personal circumstances. The people of the North East Hume will continue to play an important role as we embark on this reform journey. The Government will work closely with the community and stakeholders, including NSW Health, and most importantly, those with lived experience to progress reform. None of this work will be achieved overnight, but we are strongly committed to delivering every recommendation put forward by the Royal Commission. EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health):

Victoria is a proudly multicultural state and the Government is committed to supporting and engaging with all of our multicultural communities, including leaders of our Islamic communities, to tackle racism and discrimination and promote community harmony. Racism and discrimination have no place in Victoria—there has never been a more vital time for us to unite against prejudice and show compassion for one another. The Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Ros Spence MP, recently announced a $3.8 million grants program for community-led projects, programs and initiatives that support understanding, inclusion and social cohesion. The program will strengthen the capacity of local communities to report incidents of racism, promote awareness and understanding of their rights, support those affected by racism and promote community harmony. Through building the resilience and capacity of communities to engage in constructive intercultural and interfaith dialogue, the program aims to provide an effective way to address local challenges to social cohesion. ANSWERS TO CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 1444 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

It will also support the development and distribution of anti-racism resources through local community channels to reach broad and diverse audiences. Further, the Government welcomes the recent tabling of the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s report into anti-vilification protections. The Government is carefully considering the report and will announce its response in due course. WESTERN VICTORIA REGION In reply to Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

Volunteer groups, including Field and Game Australia’s Geelong branch, undertake important conservation work at sites across Victoria, which is why increasing environmental volunteering is a key priority of our $86.3 million investment to implement Protecting Victoria’s Environment—Biodiversity 2037. The Andrews Labor Government is also supporting environmental volunteers through a range of grant programs including Round 2 of the $2 million Volunteering Innovation Fund, the $450,000 2021 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity grants and the $350,000 Aboriginal Community Caring for Country grants. In recognition of the important work Field and Game Australia has delivered over many years, Parks Victoria and Field and Game Australia are developing a collaboration agreement to better facilitate volunteer initiatives and develop conservation programs. This agreement will build on the works delivered at Lake Connewarre and help encourage further collaborations into the future. SOUTH EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes):

The Victorian Government has invested more than $515 million to deliver the biggest transformation and reform of Victoria’s waste and recycling industry. This includes $380 million to deliver Recycling Victoria which will fundamentally reduce waste, boost jobs and establish a recycling system Victorians can rely on. The Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) takes community concerns seriously and conducts regular inspections of the Hallam Road landfill, leading to robust regulatory action to hold the operator to account. Since 2017, the EPA has issued $32,000 worth of infringements to SUEZ for breaches of its licence including exposed waste outside the tipping area, and odour. In partnership with the local community, the EPA will continue to regulate this site and take action as required. Enforcement actions are based on appropriate evidence including information gathered by authorised officers such as observations of non•compliance, and verifying reports made by community members. The EPA issued a pollution abatement notice to SUEZ on 18 March 2021, requiring leachate to be managed in accordance with recommendations from an independent audit. EPA inspects this site at least once a month to monitor compliance with licence conditions. The most recent inspections were on 23 and 30 March 2021 and no notices were issued at either inspection. The EPA operates a pollution reporting hotline for community members to report issues and provides updates to the community through mechanisms such as direct feedback to individuals, web content, and involvement in the community reference group. WRITTEN RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1445

Written responses to questions without notice Responses have been incorporated in the form provided to Hansard and received in the period shown. 19 March to 29 April 2021

CASEY PLANNING In reply to Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (12 November 2020) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

Thank you for your question. In response to your supplementary question, I made a personal explanation to the house on Tuesday 24 November 2020. A copy of my personal explanation can be found in Hansard and my office has provided a copy of it to you directly. DUCK HUNTING In reply to Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (19 February 2021) Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education):

Response: The Game Management Authority (GMA) uses the best available information at the time to make recommendations to government. As many game duck species are highly mobile and can move across state borders, data is considered for eastern Australia, not just Victoria. The GMA’s recommendations for the 2021 duck season were based on assessments of rainfall data, wetland extent and distributions, waterfowl abundance, distribution and breeding, harvest data, climatic forecasts and whether hunting activities could impact on the conservation and sustainability of game duck populations. Submissions from stakeholder groups held differing views on 2021 duck season arrangements, with hunting groups seeking a full season and conservation and animal welfare groups seeking a closed season. The Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey is only one piece of a range of data that the GMA uses to form recommendations on duck season arrangements in Victoria. Data on rainfall, stream flows, water storages, harvests and climatic outlooks is also considered. Data on game duck abundance from adjoining states is also considered where available. The GMA website contains all the information that it considered in making a recommendation to government, including and a full copy of all stakeholder submissions. It also contains its advice to government on the recommended 2021 duck season arrangements. All of this information is publicly available on the GMA website at: https://www.gma.vic.gov.au/hunting/duck/duck-season-considerations This Government wants to make the setting of duck season conditions clearer to reduce objections and uncertainties about this process. This was part of our 2019 election commitments. We have committed to finalising and implementing Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) for duck hunting, to improve the way in which future duck season decisions are made. The GMA has commissioned the design of a robust monitoring program and trialled it in Victoria with the use of helicopters to survey 633 wetlands in November 2020. The aerial surveys were part of a trial to test the effectiveness of a new monitoring program design to count duck numbers on Victorian water bodies and beyond. The monitoring program will eventually be used to inform adaptive harvest management for game ducks. The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions will lead a process in 2021 to develop a game duck harvest management framework and a game duck harvest strategy which will set harvest objectives. Population modelling using data from the helicopter monitoring program and other sources will inform how we achieve the harvest objectives through a sustainable combination of bag limits and season length. The development of the game duck harvest management framework and accompanying harvest strategy will be done in collaboration with key stakeholders including hunting organisations. WRITTEN RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 1446 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

Supplementary response: The modifications to the 2021 season are based on the advice provided to Government by the GMA and reflect the Government’s commitment to ensuring the sustainability of game duck populations. GREYHOUND RACING In reply to Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (16 March 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) is committed to reducing the number of greyhounds that are euthanised each year. GRV’s annual report tabled in Parliament provides a transparent statement of all greyhounds euthanised in Victoria during the reporting period, and following discussions with the RSPCA, the data is independently audited by an accountancy firm every two years. Should an off-track veterinarian diagnose a serious medical condition that causes significant pain or discomfort or a marked reduction in quality of life, this may lead to the euthanasia of a greyhound. If this situation arises, the owner is required to notify GRV that the greyhound has been euthanised and provide evidence of the seriousness of the medical condition that led to the euthanasia (including a veterinary certificate) to ensure the action was appropriate and within the requirements of the rules of racing. The euthanasia is then recorded in GRV’s reporting system, FastTrack, and included (if Victorian-owned) in euthanasia data reported in GRV’s annual report. In 2019–20, there were 518 Victorian-owned greyhounds euthanised, including on track and off-track euthanasia. This is a decrease of 25 per cent on 2018–19 and 66 per cent over the past three years, demonstrating significant reform outcomes within the industry. In addition, in 2016 GRV established a racing injury financial support scheme to ensure funding is available for veterinary services for participants for up to $2500 to treat injured dogs. The Victorian Government will continue to support GRV to develop and deliver evidence-based initiatives to further improve safety in Victorian greyhound racing. PRIVATISATION POLICY In reply to Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources):

The Victorian Government will continue to deliver reform and invest in our growing state through sustainable expenditure and using the balance sheet to fund infrastructure and leverage innovative tools to deliver services. The Victorian Government is committed to building a prosperous economy for all Victorians. Partnerships with the private sector, whether it be through procurement, Public Private Partnerships or a Joint Venture partnering option deliver a number of benefits to governments and the community. A detailed scoping study identified a joint venture partnership as the best way to develop modern registration and licensing services while ensuring the Government retains control of pricing, road access and safety. With Government still at the helm of these vital functions, licensing and registration will remain at the heart of ensuring we have safe drivers in safe vehicles on our roads, and savings are passed on to motorists. COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VEHICLES VICTORIA In reply to Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

I thank the member for his questions. The safety of passengers is our number one priority and Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria (CPVV) is working hard with Victoria Police following a technical issue that meant some drivers were not submitted for weekly police record checks. WRITTEN RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Thursday, 29 April 2021 Legislative Council 1447

This situation was not acceptable to the Government and, at the request of the Minister for Public Transport, the Secretary of the Department of Transport has appointed a third party to carry out an independent assurance review into how this occurred to ensure it can never happen again. The review will ensure that the process that CPVV has put in place is thorough and rigorous and that the system fixes have been implemented. It is important to note that this issue did not affect police checks undertaken before a person became accredited as a driver. All accredited drivers were subject to and passed a criminal history check before being accredited. For the drivers that have had an initial match against police records, it is important to note that this does not automatically mean that the person has committed an offence, or if they have committed an offence that it is one that warrants further action by the regulator—for some it could be a contested traffic or parking infringement. That’s why Victoria Police and CPVV must carefully assess every record. Once a person’s name is matched against police records, Victoria Police undertake a further validation check. Police are now undertaking this validation process, and this is expected to take 4–6 weeks. It is not considered necessary to shut down or restrict the Multi Purpose Taxi Program while this validation process is undertaken. MODERN SLAVERY In reply to Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (17 March 2021) Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources):

Suppliers are required to submit a standardised commitment letter to Victoria’s Supplier Code of Conduct when responding to any Invitations to Supply issued by Victorian Government Departments and Agencies for goods and services, or construction works and services. The Code is a set of minimum standards of ethical behaviour for suppliers to the Victorian Government. It was implemented in July 2017 and was revised in July 2019 to explicitly address the issue of modern slavery. Global supply chains are often complex, trans‐national and contain multiple levels of subcontracting. They are therefore very difficult to regulate across every part of their ever‐expanding supply networks which are often at arm’s length to government. The Supplier Code of Conduct includes an expectation that suppliers proactively identify, address and where required by legislation, report on risks of modern slavery practices (defined broadly to include all forms of human trafficking, forced labour and slavery‐like practices) in their business operations and supply chains. Government procurement is undertaken in accordance with probity principles and is managed by the relevant contract manager. COMMERCIAL PASSENGER VEHICLE INDUSTRY In reply to Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (18 March 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

I thank the Member for his questions. No one should feel intimidated when they are trying to get home—that is why the Government worked with Rod Barton MP to amend the Transport Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 to include touting. The touting offence prohibits directly approaching a person and offering a service, to address concerns expressed by passengers and the commercial passenger vehicle industry about touting at Melbourne Airport. Flexibility to respond to future changes in offending behaviour has been provided through regulatory powers. Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria (CPVV) has the power to issue on the spot fines of $1,983 or penalties of up to $9,913 for a breach of the law. CPVV works together with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) at Melbourne Airport to address touting. The AFP has the power to demand a person’s name and address, which CPVV can use to issue a fine or penalty. WRITTEN RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 1448 Legislative Council Thursday, 29 April 2021

SERVICE VICTORIA In reply to Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Resources):

The Auditor‐General’s report stated the average cost per transaction was $8.09 from 1 July to 30 December, when transactions delivered through the Service Victoria platform to support the COVID‐19 pandemic response are taken into account. It noted that this number will continue to decline as more transactions are delivered. Already for the current financial year (as at 28 February 2021), the average cost per transaction has reduced to $2.76. The Auditor‐General’s report acknowledged the successful delivery of a scalable digital platform and technology solutions, and found that Service Victoria had demonstrated its ability to build and utilise its technology. Most importantly, the report concluded that customers have an improved experience through the Service Victoria platform. It noted that customer satisfaction is above target at 96.7% and the most common word customers use in their feedback is ‘easy’. The Department of Premier and Cabinet and Service Victoria are working together to encourage departments and agencies to onboard more government services to Service Victoria’s platform and utilise Service Victoria’s repeatable and scalable technology for their customer service and identification verification needs. The COVID‐19 pandemic has shown just how important digital services are. The Victorian Government is committed to making more services available through Service Victoria so that Victorians can transact with the government from the comfort of their home, contact‐free and at a time convenient for them. ASHLEY STREET UNDERPASS, WEST FOOTSCRAY In reply to Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (18 March 2021) Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):

I thank the Member for her questions. Ashley Street is recognised as an important north–south arterial network corridor, linking areas of Tottenham and Braybrook in Melbourne’s inner West. The Ashley Street Corridor has a Public Acquisition Overlay along key sections that secures additional land for future road widening. The original Ashley Street underpass, beneath the Tottenham rail yards, was designed to accommodate two lanes of traffic and does not accommodate future road widening. More recently, rail upgrades as part of the Regional Rail Link project considered the need for future road widening, and the newer southern part of the underpass was designed to leave space for additional traffic lanes and improved pedestrian access to Tottenham Station.