PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES

(HANSARD)

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT

FIRST SESSION

WEDNESDAY, 9 JUNE 2021

Internet: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard

By authority of the Victorian Government Printer

The Governor The Honourable LINDA DESSAU, 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 Resources ...... 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 and Emergency Services .... 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, and Minister for Small Business ...... 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

OFFICE-HOLDERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT—FIRST SESSION

Speaker The Hon. CW BROOKS

Deputy Speaker Ms JM EDWARDS

Acting Speakers Ms Blandthorn, Mr J Bull, Mr Carbines, Ms Connolly, Ms Couzens, Ms Crugnale, Mr Dimopoulos, Mr Edbrooke, Ms Halfpenny, Ms Kilkenny, Mr McGuire, Ms Richards, Mr Richardson, Ms Settle, Ms Suleyman, Mr Taylor and Ms Ward

Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and Premier The Hon. DM ANDREWS

Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and Deputy Premier The Hon. JA MERLINO

Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition The Hon. MA O’BRIEN Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party The Hon. LG McLEISH

Leader of The Nationals and Deputy Leader of the Opposition The Hon. PL WALSH Deputy Leader of The Nationals Ms SM RYAN

Leader of the House Ms JM ALLAN

Manager of Opposition Business Mr KA WELLS

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 ASSEMBLY FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT—FIRST SESSION

Member District Party Member District Party Addison, Ms Juliana Wendouree ALP Maas, Mr Gary Narre Warren South ALP Allan, Ms Jacinta Marie Bendigo East ALP McCurdy, Mr Timothy Logan Ovens Valley Nats Andrews, Mr Daniel Michael Mulgrave ALP McGhie, Mr Stephen John Melton ALP Angus, Mr Neil Andrew Warwick Forest Hill LP McGuire, Mr Frank Broadmeadows ALP Battin, Mr Bradley William Gembrook LP McLeish, Ms Lucinda Gaye Eildon LP Blackwood, Mr Gary John Narracan LP Merlino, Mr James Anthony Monbulk ALP Blandthorn, Ms Elizabeth Anne Pascoe Vale ALP Morris, Mr David Charles Mornington LP Brayne, Mr Chris Nepean ALP Neville, Ms Lisa Mary Bellarine ALP Britnell, Ms Roma South-West Coast LP Newbury, Mr James Brighton LP Brooks, Mr Colin William Bundoora ALP Northe, Mr Russell John Morwell Ind Bull, Mr Joshua Michael Sunbury ALP O’Brien, Mr Daniel David Gippsland South Nats Bull, Mr Timothy Owen Gippsland East Nats O’Brien, Mr Michael Anthony Malvern LP Burgess, Mr Neale Ronald Hastings LP Pakula, Mr Martin Philip Keysborough ALP Carbines, Mr Anthony Richard Ivanhoe ALP Pallas, Mr Timothy Hugh Werribee ALP Carroll, Mr Benjamin Alan Niddrie ALP Pearson, Mr Daniel James Essendon ALP Cheeseman, Mr Darren Leicester South Barwon ALP Read, Dr Tim Brunswick Greens Connolly, Ms Sarah Tarneit ALP Richards, Ms Pauline Cranbourne ALP Couzens, Ms Christine Anne Geelong ALP Richardson, Mr Timothy Noel Mordialloc ALP Crugnale, Ms Jordan Alessandra Bass ALP Riordan, Mr Richard Vincent Polwarth LP Cupper, Ms Ali Mildura Ind Rowswell, Mr Brad Sandringham LP D’Ambrosio, Ms Liliana Mill Park ALP Ryan, Stephanie Maureen Euroa Nats Dimopoulos, Mr Stephen Oakleigh ALP Sandell, Ms Ellen Melbourne Greens Donnellan, Mr Luke Anthony Narre Warren North ALP Scott, Mr Robin David Preston ALP Edbrooke, Mr Paul Andrew Frankston ALP Settle, Ms Michaela Buninyong ALP Edwards, Ms Janice Maree Bendigo West ALP Sheed, Ms Suzanna Shepparton Ind Eren, Mr John Hamdi Lara ALP Smith, Mr Ryan Warrandyte LP Foley, Mr Martin Peter Albert Park ALP Smith, Mr Timothy Colin Kew LP Fowles, Mr Will Burwood ALP Southwick, Mr David James Caulfield LP Fregon, Mr Matt Mount Waverley ALP Spence, Ms Rosalind Louise Yuroke ALP Green, Ms Danielle Louise Yan Yean ALP Staikos, Mr Nicholas Bentleigh ALP Guy, Mr Matthew Jason Bulleen LP Staley, Ms Louise Eileen Ripon LP Halfpenny, Ms Bronwyn Thomastown ALP Suleyman, Ms Natalie St Albans ALP Hall, Ms Katie Footscray ALP Tak, Mr Meng Heang Clarinda ALP Halse, Mr Dustin Ringwood ALP Taylor, Mr Jackson Bayswater ALP Hamer, Mr Paul Box Hill ALP Theophanous, Ms Katerina Northcote ALP Hennessy, Ms Jill Altona ALP Thomas, Ms Mary-Anne Macedon ALP Hibbins, Mr Samuel Peter Prahran Greens Tilley, Mr William John Benambra LP Hodgett, Mr David John Croydon LP Vallence, Ms Bridget Evelyn LP Horne, Ms Melissa Margaret Williamstown ALP Wakeling, Mr Nicholas Ferntree Gully LP Hutchins, Ms Natalie Maree Sykes Sydenham ALP Walsh, Mr Peter Lindsay Murray Plains Nats Kairouz, Ms Marlene Kororoit ALP Ward, Ms Vicki Eltham ALP Kealy, Ms Emma Jayne Lowan Nats Wells, Mr Kimberley Arthur Rowville LP Kennedy, Mr John Ormond Hawthorn ALP Williams, Ms Gabrielle Dandenong ALP Kilkenny, Ms Sonya Carrum ALP Wynne, Mr Richard William Richmond ALP

PARTY ABBREVIATIONS ALP—Labor Party; Greens—The Greens; Ind—Independent; LP—Liberal Party; Nats—The Nationals.

Legislative Assembly committees

Economy and Infrastructure Standing Committee Ms Addison, Mr Blackwood, Ms Couzens, Mr Eren, Ms Ryan, Ms Theophanous and Mr Wakeling.

Environment and Planning Standing Committee Ms Connolly, Mr Fowles, Ms Green, Mr Hamer, Mr McCurdy, Mr Morris and Ms Vallence.

Legal and Social Issues Standing Committee Mr Battin, Ms Couzens, Ms Kealy, Ms Settle, Mr Southwick, Ms Suleyman and Mr Tak.

Privileges Committee Ms Allan, Mr Carroll, Mr Guy, Ms Hennessy, Mr McGuire, Mr Morris, Mr Pakula, Ms Ryan and Mr Wells.

Standing Orders Committee The Speaker, Ms Allan, Mr Cheeseman, Ms Edwards, Mr Fregon, Ms McLeish, Ms Sheed, Ms Staley and Mr Walsh.

Joint committees

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

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

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

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

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

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

CONTENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS Acknowledgement of country ...... 1977 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices of motion ...... 1977 PETITIONS Breast screening ...... 1977 Wimmera healthcare services ...... 1977 DOCUMENTS Documents ...... 1978 BILLS State Taxation and Mental Health Acts Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 1978 Council’s agreement ...... 1978 COMMITTEES Electoral Matters Committee...... 1978 Reporting dates ...... 1978 Integrity and Oversight Committee ...... 1978 Membership ...... 1978 General business ...... 1978 MEMBERS STATEMENTS COVID-19 ...... 1979 Regional tourism ...... 1979 Country Cob Bakery ...... 1979 COVID-19 ...... 1979 Small business support ...... 1979 Asylum Seeker Resource Centre ...... 1980 COVID-19 ...... 1980 Peninsula Health ...... 1981 Sikh Volunteers Australia ...... 1981 COVID-19 ...... 1981 COVID-19 ...... 1981 Wyndham small business support ...... 1982 COVID-19 ...... 1982 Knox Basketball ...... 1982 COVID-19 vaccinations ...... 1982 Wimmera healthcare services ...... 1983 Pascoe Vale Girls College ...... 1983 Muslim Women’s Council of Victoria ...... 1983 MacLeod sports facilities ...... 1984 Youth mental health ...... 1984 Community food relief ...... 1985 Melbourne Kannada Sangha ...... 1985 Youth mental health ...... 1985 COVID-19 vaccinations ...... 1986 Essendon electorate centenarians ...... 1986 Budget 2021–22 ...... 1986 STATEMENTS ON PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORTS Public Accounts and Estimates Committee ...... 1987 Report on the 2019–20 Financial and Performance Outcomes ...... 1987 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee ...... 1988 Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates ...... 1988 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee ...... 1989 Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic ...... 1989 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee ...... 1990 Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates ...... 1990 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee ...... 1991 Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates ...... 1991 Environment and Planning Committee ...... 1992 Inquiry into Tackling Climate Change in Victorian Communities ...... 1992 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices of motion ...... 1993 BILLS

Education and Training Reform Amendment (Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership) Bill 2021 ...... 1993 Statement of compatibility ...... 1993 Second reading ...... 1994 Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 1998 Statement of compatibility ...... 1998 Second reading ...... 1999 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Orders of the day ...... 2001 BILLS Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021 ...... 2001 Second reading ...... 2001 Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 2013 Second reading ...... 2013 MEMBERS Minister for Prevention of Family Violence ...... 2024 Absence ...... 2024 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS COVID-19 ...... 2024 Ministers statements: COVID-19 ...... 2026 COVID-19 ...... 2026 Ministers statements: COVID-19 ...... 2027 COVID-19 ...... 2027 Ministers statements: business support...... 2028 Government procurement policy ...... 2029 Ministers statements: victims of crime ...... 2030 COVID-19 ...... 2030 Ministers statements: energy policy ...... 2032 CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS South-West Coast electorate...... 2033 Footscray electorate ...... 2033 Gippsland South electorate ...... 2033 Bass electorate ...... 2033 Brighton electorate ...... 2034 Pascoe Vale electorate ...... 2034 Mildura electorate ...... 2034 Narre Warren South electorate ...... 2035 Warrandyte electorate ...... 2035 Box Hill electorate ...... 2035 BILLS Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 2036 Second reading ...... 2036 GRIEVANCE DEBATE COVID-19 ...... 2048 Opposition performance ...... 2051 COVID-19 ...... 2054 Liberal-Nationals coalition ...... 2057 COVID-19 ...... 2061 Liberal Party performance ...... 2063 COVID-19 ...... 2067 Opposition performance ...... 2071 BILLS Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 2074 Second reading ...... 2074 Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Cross-boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2021 ...... 2076 Second reading ...... 2076 ADJOURNMENT School chaplaincy services ...... 2085 Wattle Park facility upgrades ...... 2085 COVID-19 ...... 2086 Broadmeadows electorate youth services ...... 2087 Small business support ...... 2087

CONTENTS

Brentwood Park Primary School ...... 2088 Flood plain harvesting ...... 2088 State Emergency Service Cranbourne unit ...... 2089 Mornington Peninsula ...... 2089 Workplace mental health ...... 2090 Responses ...... 2090

ANNOUNCEMENTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1977

Wednesday, 9 June 2021

The SPEAKER (Hon. Colin Brooks) took the chair at 9.36 am and read the prayer. Announcements ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY The SPEAKER (09:37): We acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land on which we are meeting. We pay our respects to them, their culture, their elders past, present and future, and elders from other communities who may be here today. Business of the house NOTICES OF MOTION The SPEAKER (09:37): I wish to advise the house that general business, notices of motion 26, 27 and 46, will be removed from the notice paper unless members wishing their matter to remain advise the Clerk in writing before 2.00 pm today. Petitions Following petitions presented to house by Clerk: BREAST SCREENING To the Legislative Assembly of Victoria, The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Assembly that the Andrews Government has failed to fully reinstate the funding for health protection services which will see 29,000 fewer Victorians have the ability to access a breast screen service. Victorians know that preventative measures such as breast screenings are vital and potentially lifesaving. We therefore request that the Legislative Assembly call on the Andrews Government and the Minister for Health to reverse the cuts to women’s health and fully fund the program so all women, at all times, have access to this essential program. By Mr HODGETT (Croydon) (188 signatures). WIMMERA HEALTHCARE SERVICES To the Legislative Assembly of Victoria The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws the attention of the house to the emphatic community opposition to a proposed amalgamation between Wimmera Health Care Group and Ballarat Health Services. We note that among residents’ primary concerns are that an amalgamation will lead to significant job losses and a loss of local control over services that residents have fought for and raised money for over many decades. We also note that amalgamation will not alleviate any of the well-documented issues facing rural and regional health services such as funding, infrastructure, insufficient clinical staff and specialists and recruitment, and that these issues can only be fixed by intervention through government policy that supports rural and regional hospitals and by injecting the funds our hospitals desperately need. The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Assembly of Victoria calls on the State Government to ensure that the amalgamation does not proceed. By Ms KEALY (Lowan) (3648 signatures). Tabled. Ordered that petition lodged by member for Lowan be considered next day on motion of Ms KEALY (Lowan). Ordered that petition lodged by member for Croydon be considered next day on motion of Mr HODGETT (Croydon).

DOCUMENTS 1978 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Documents DOCUMENTS Incorporated list as follows: DOCUMENTS TABLED UNDER ACTS OF PARLIAMENT—The Clerk tabled the following documents under Acts of Parliament: Commission for Children and Young People—Our youth, our way: Inquiry into the over- representation of Aboriginal children and young people in the Victorian youth justice system—Ordered to be published Ombudsman—Investigation into Melton City Council’s engagement of IT company, MK Datanet Pty Ltd—Ordered to be published Victorian Inspectorate—Inspection Report March to September 2020 under the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003. Bills STATE TAXATION AND MENTAL HEALTH ACTS AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Council’s agreement The SPEAKER (09:40): I have received a message from the Legislative Council agreeing to the State Taxation and Mental Health Acts Amendment Bill 2021 without amendment. Committees ELECTORAL MATTERS COMMITTEE Reporting dates Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (09:40): I move, by leave:

That the reporting date for the Electoral Matters Committee’s inquiry into the impact of social media on Victorian elections and Victoria’s electoral administration be extended to no later than 16 September 2021. Motion agreed to. INTEGRITY AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Membership Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (09:40): I move, by leave:

That Ms Hennessy be made a member of the Integrity and Oversight Committee. Motion agreed to. GENERAL BUSINESS Ms SHEED (Shepparton) (09:41): I desire to move, by leave:

That this house: (1) notes that non-government business is an essential part of ensuring a responsible and representative Parliament in any Westminster system, and currently Victoria’s Legislative Assembly is the only lower house in Australia that does not provide meaningful opportunities for non-government members to move motions or progress bills; (2) resolves to replace matters of public importance and the grievance debate with 3 hours of non- government business every sitting Wednesday; (3) refers the required amendments to the standing orders to the Standing Orders Committee to report to the house by 19 August 2021; and (4) adopts the required changes to the standing orders by 2 September 2021. Leave refused.

MEMBERS STATEMENTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1979

Members statements COVID-19 Ms McLEISH (Eildon) (09:42): The government must adopt a commonsense and flexible approach to community sport and particularly junior sport as restrictions are eased. We all know it is safer outside than inside. In regional Victoria last week too many competitions were cancelled and teams were short of players. This weekend major junior tournaments in regional cities have been cancelled. The response must be proportionate to the health and safety risk. Golfers were caught out being allowed 50 people on a course at any one time, including in the clubhouse. This 50-person limit is ludicrous on a 40-hectare course. I renew my call from last year for the Acting Premier to classify non-urban areas of the Yarra Ranges as regional, not metropolitan Melbourne, for the purposes of COVID. I have been contacted by countless Yarra Ranges residents who are up in arms about being lumped in with metro Melbourne restrictions again. The Labor government even referred to the Yarra Ranges as regional last year when distributing the tourism travel vouchers, completely contradicting themselves and, believe me, it did not go unnoticed by the community. Many communities are over 60 to 80 kilometres from the CBD and exposure sites. People can easily go for a walk during their allocated 2 hours of exercise in a 10- kilometre radius and not come across another person. Many work in horticulture or agriculture. There have been no active cases or hotspots listed in the Yarra Ranges during this lockdown, and there were very limited numbers reported last year. Small country businesses are suffering the effects of the lockdown, with many ineligible to receive government help. The change must be made. REGIONAL TOURISM Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development) (09:43): With restrictions eased in regional Victoria it is more important than ever to support the many fantastic small and family businesses throughout Macedon and across our beautiful state. Whether this means heading out for a morning coffee, booking dinner at a local restaurant, treating yourself to a massage or packing your bags and experiencing a new part of regional Victoria this long weekend, every little bit helps. I want to encourage people across rural and regional Victoria to take the opportunity to explore our great state, from silo art in the north-west to our snowfields and cycling tracks throughout the north-east and Gippsland, the rugged and world-renowned Surf Coast and Great Ocean Road, Budj Bim on Gunditjmara country and great food, wine and natural beauty in the Daylesford to Macedon region. And of course regional Victoria is looking forward to welcoming back our metropolitan friends when it is safe to do so. We know small businesses support our local communities in so many ways, so now is the time to do our bit to return the favour by shopping, spending and enjoying local throughout regional Victoria. COUNTRY COB BAKERY Ms THOMAS: And while I am on my feet, a shout-out to Kyneton’s Country Cob Bakery for winning Australia’s best meat pie again, indeed four times in a row, for the successful opening of their new store in Boronia—I know the member for Bayswater is a big fan—and for their plans to open in Springvale. That is great news for the members for Clarinda and Keysborough and of course our Premier, the member for Mulgrave. COVID-19 Ms THOMAS: We have seen record testing and vaccination numbers these past two weeks. Victorians are stepping up to answer the call. I thank our regional health services for their role. SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT Ms RYAN (Euroa) (09:45): Labor must urgently review its lack of support for hundreds of small businesses across my electorate. The Acting Premier stated very clearly a few days ago that business support was a responsibility of the state government, yet when businesses with a turnover of less than

MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1980 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

$75 000 have tried to apply for support from this government, they have been unfairly rejected. Carl Leech has operated a small business repairing guitars and selling custom instruments in Euroa for three years. His business is heavily reliant on out-of-town tourism, and he is ineligible for support under the cruel criteria Labor has put in place, despite losing his income through lockdown. Carl told me:

… like many other small businesses I have fallen through the cracks, and really wonder whether it’s worth having a small business … John Wright has called me from Rushworth. He is desperate for help. The lockdowns have crippled his events business, and he is now selling belongings to get by. He and his wife have two young children, and they are considering leaving Victoria. He has been told that he is ineligible for support from the Victorian government. Other businesses have found that the government has just drawn a line through their type of business. Some are in and some are out, for no apparent reason. Shawn Cody is a mobile paint removal technician from Wandong. He could not work during the lockdown, but he is ineligible for assistance because his business code is not listed. I could stand here for an hour with examples. People are losing income, they are struggling to pay their bills and it is not fair. ASYLUM SEEKER RESOURCE CENTRE Ms HALL (Footscray) (09:46): I rise today to wish a very happy birthday to an incredible organisation in my community. On Tuesday it celebrated its 20th birthday. Happy birthday to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC). Footscray’s history is inextricably linked with people who have come to our country seeking safety and a better life. Footscray is a place that lifts people up, and for that reason Footscray is proud to be home to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Kon, the CEO, is owed an incredible debt of gratitude by every single member in this place and the other place and every single Australian. The ASRC is Australia’s largest independent human rights organisation for refugees and people seeking asylum. It offers more than 40 support programs. It empowers and enables asylum seekers to advance their own futures and adapt to the newest chapter of their lives. Each year the ASRC provides assistance to 7000 people. It does this with a network of more than 100 staff and 1000 volunteers. These people absolutely deserve recognition and significant thanks as well. They are just essential to the operations of the ASRC, as Kon is, and I know he would be the first person to ensure that they receive recognition as well. As we celebrate 20 years of tireless service this week, we see why their work is so important, and I appeal to the federal government on behalf of my community to do the humane thing and to end the pointless and heartbreaking suffering of the Murugappan family. Bring them home. COVID-19 Ms VALLENCE (Evelyn) (09:48): Victoria is in its fourth lockdown. The Andrews-Merlino government says it always follows health advice, and this is not true. The government anchors its decisions on advice from its own appointed chief health officer about managing infection outbreaks, but it is ignoring the health advice from GPs and experts about the dramatic and devastating impact their lockdowns are having on people’s mental health. When Labor throws Victoria into lockdown again and again, it fails to recognise the enormous, unfair and disproportionate burden this has on the mental health of all Victorians and particularly our children and young adults. Soaring numbers of children and teenagers are self-harming and battling suicide and eating disorders. New Kids Helpline data reveals a catastrophic 44 per cent spike in suicide attempts in the last six months, with a 184 per cent increase in interventions of all types for young Victorians aged five to 25. It is heartbreaking, and it is not okay. It is happening due to the actions and inactions of this government. I am a mum of two—one being a teenager—so I get it. Our kids have been forced out of the classroom, with disrupted education away from friends and social activities, and forced out of community sport.

MEMBERS STATEMENTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1981

To every young person struggling, I wish I could wrap my arms around you, be there for you, listen to you, tell you that you are stronger and it will be okay. PENINSULA HEALTH Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (09:49): Last week we celebrated the annual Crazy Socks 4 Docs Day, which aims to break the stigma about mental health issues among doctors and practitioners. Sadly one in five doctors in Australia have reported being diagnosed with or treated for depression, according to the 2019 National Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical Students. Almost 10 per cent of doctors surveyed admitted to being treated for anxiety disorder. I want to give a big shout-out to Peninsula Health’s own cardiologist Geoff Toogood, who started the Crazy Socks 4 Docs Day and is a tireless advocate for improving the mental health outcomes of health practitioners. SIKH VOLUNTEERS AUSTRALIA Mr EDBROOKE: I just wanted to point out that I have come to know an amazing group of people in the south-east called Sikh Volunteers Australia, who deliver more than 1000 hot meals a night to more than seven municipalities. I have joined them every night for the past week with between 20 and 32 other carloads of people who deliver meals to people. I was delivering in Frankston. The food is hand cooked—vegetarian food—by the marvellous team. You could not get a more humble, passionate, committed group of people, there just to help humanity. Their motto is ‘Love all, share all’, and they definitely live up to that motto. For anyone interested, I would urge them to look up Sikh Volunteers Australia and see what this amazing group of people do for all of our communities. They are well renowned, they have got a great reputation and throughout this COVID crisis they have been amazing. COVID-19 Mr RIORDAN (Polwarth) (09:51): I rise this morning to discuss the incredibly vexed issue that small businesses, communities and families around our state face again in this government’s lockdown number four. Unlike any other state in Australia, Victorian small businesses, Victorian families and Victorian communities are paying a massive cost again. The government want us to believe they are taking the best medical advice. We trust that that is the case, but governments have a responsibility to take all advice into consideration. They are refusing to listen to the community advice. They are refusing to listen to business advice. They are refusing to listen to economic advice and mental health advice. Businesses, families and communities are feeling the toll of these lockdowns that are most unfair, most uncompassionate and most unreasonable. Why is it that a gym in Mildura, a gym in Colac or a gym in Portland, where there is no virus, there is no risk, is forced to shut? They have been shut for two weeks, despite some businesses being able to open. They are closed indefinitely at this stage, and despite the announcements that we might get today, there is still no hope that businesses in that field will be allowed to open. This government assume that when they lift the lockdown the businesses just spring back immediately. They do not. Business comes through hard work—blood, sweat and tears. It relies on consumer confidence, and this government is not supporting it. COVID-19 Ms CONNOLLY (Tarneit) (09:52): I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the incredible work put in by my community in Wyndham this past fortnight in bunkering down and doing their bit to fight this recent outbreak of COVID. At the height of the pandemic last year Wyndham was the largest epicentre here in Victoria as well as Australia as a whole. This is not something we wanted to see repeated again, and people in my community know that the only way out of this is to do the work: stay at home, stay safe from the virus and, most importantly, if they are eligible, go and get that vaccine. What we have managed to see so far is that this is working, and the virus has largely stayed out of our local community.

MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1982 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

WYNDHAM SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT Ms CONNOLLY: I know that many are doing it tough right now, especially small businesses in my community and the workers that rely on them. I want to personally say to my small businesses: I know this is a deeply distressing and anxious time for you all. My office is here for you and ready to assist you and help you meet these challenges head-on. Please do not hesitate to pick up the phone and give us a call. Our local community in Wyndham is a really great community for pulling together in times like these to help people in need. I would like to remind folks to continue to shop local. Our business community need you right now, and we need you to stick by them, whether it is getting a hot cup of coffee in the morning or popping into cafes like the Little Growling Cafe in Tarneit to pick up one of their daily specials, like the burger-and-chip boxes I saw on Facebook last night. Rashi and her team need us, and there are so many other businesses that need us and our support to keep them afloat right now, as do many other local businesses. But the sooner we get these case numbers down the sooner we can all get back to normal, and by the looks of the numbers today we are heading in the right direction. COVID-19 Mr WAKELING (Ferntree Gully) (09:54): I wish to raise concerns on behalf of many Knox small businesses, who are struggling during this very difficult period of our fourth lockdown here in Victoria. Many businesses are unable to receive any government assistance because of the funding that they have in terms of their turnover. It is certainly not good enough, and I call on the government to work with small businesses to support small businesses across Knox, across Melbourne and across Victoria to help them through these very difficult times. I am concerned around the lack of messaging by the government regarding business obligations to make reasonable efforts to assist customers with QR code check-ins and to provide alternative check-in methods. We have got numerous examples across Knox of residents that have been either refused entry or unable to be served because of their inability to access mobile phone technology. It is certainly something of concern to many seniors in my electorate, and I call on the government to identify a solution to ensure that those in our community are not left behind. KNOX BASKETBALL Mr WAKELING: Congratulations to Knox Basketball on being awarded Basketball Victoria’s Association of the Year. Not only the largest association in Victoria, Knox Basketball has provided great opportunities for thousands of young people as well as seniors throughout Knox, and I congratulate them for all their efforts. To Grant Harrison and the team, well done—congratulations. COVID-19 VACCINATIONS Mr SCOTT (Preston) (09:55): I rise today to give thanks to all of those within my community who have come forth and got vaccinated. There is no greater duty that people can perform to protect those who are more vulnerable. I note there is at least one medical practitioner here, but there are some in our community who look particularly to those suffering from certain types of cancer who, from the evidence seen, would in fact be unlikely to receive immunity from vaccines in the same way as the rest of the community. This actually raises a serious moral issue which is not often discussed in relation to COVID vaccination: if enough of us as a community do not get vaccinated, those persons will be at significant risk in a way that cannot be mitigated by their own actions in the way that others can mitigate the risk by being vaccinated. Therefore it is incumbent on all of us out of goodwill to seek the opportunity that exists to be vaccinated—not just to protect ourselves but to protect those who are vulnerable and those who are unable to protect themselves in the same way. This is an issue that extends beyond self-interest and encompasses protecting those who are unable to protect themselves. I note the wonderful work—and I am lucky enough to have been vaccinated with at least one dose myself—of those working in the vaccination centres tirelessly working to protect all of those involved in the medical research, all of those participating, including in Melbourne, in medical trials around the

MEMBERS STATEMENTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1983 vaccines and the work that they and all of us contributing to this effort are doing to bring this terrible pandemic to an end. WIMMERA HEALTHCARE SERVICES Ms KEALY (Lowan) (09:57): I urge the government to bring on the notice around the petition that I raised earlier today and bring this matter on for debate in the chamber. There is overwhelming community feedback that the Wimmera communities do not want their hospitals to merge with Ballarat Health Services. I refer to a recent letter from the Minister for Health which outlines the requirements for him to approve amalgamations and mega mergers of the type that are under debate in the west of Victoria at the moment. The first point of requirement is that extensive community consultation must have taken place. However, the community consultation sessions which have happened in the west of the state have not posed the specific question of: do you want your hospital to amalgamate or not? And when this question was posed to the community there was a definitive no; they do not want to lose the autonomy of their hospital. In regard to due diligence, no alternative models have been put forward and investigated beyond just merging with Ballarat. For example, Edenhope has not investigated merging with West Wimmera Health Service or Casterton Memorial Hospital or even looking over the border. In regard to clear community benefit, this has not been articulated through the consultation process. We absolutely want enhanced partnerships and there is an expectation our public hospitals will work together to improve services for the region, but it has not been articulated why amalgamation is the requirement for this. And in regard to community backing, my petition shows there is not community backing for this. I urge the government to say no to amalgamations and to bring this matter on for debate. PASCOE VALE GIRLS COLLEGE Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale) (09:58): The 2021–22 Andrews Labor government state budget delivers a massive $11.944 million investment at Pascoe Vale Girls College as we continue to build the Education State in Pascoe Vale. On budget day I was very pleased to call in to the senior leadership meeting at the school and give the good news to the school principal, Kay Peddle, and her senior leadership team, who were, needless to say, ecstatic at this announcement and in particular the size of this announcement. Along with the school community, principal Kay Peddle has worked extremely hard over the last few years to plan and advocate for improved facilities at the school— facilities that will match the fantastic teaching and learning that absolutely happen at Pascoe Vale Girls. This funding will enable the construction of stage 2 of the school’s master plan, which is a new arts and technology centre. This follows the completion of stage 1, a $2.3 million build which includes a performing arts centre along with new music and food technology facilities and a renovated sports hall. I had a sneak peek at this building on my recent visit, and the facilities are completely unrecognisable. It is indeed an absolute transformation. This existing space has been upgraded with such innovation that it is really inspiring. The school is very much looking forward to the productions and concerts that they will now be able to present to their community within this space. The food technology spaces are also a real tribute to the team who have worked on this rebuild. They certainly replace the vintage feel that existed there previously. We have also invested $200 000 resurfacing the oval at the school. MUSLIM WOMEN’S COUNCIL OF VICTORIA Dr READ (Brunswick) (10:00): On Friday I visited the Reynard Street Neighbourhood House to meet volunteers from the Muslim Women’s Council of Victoria who were cooking fresh meals and packing food boxes. Every Friday they prepare this food relief for people who are struggling to feed themselves or their families. Among those they are helping are international students, people from New Zealand who do not qualify for our social welfare system, refugees, unemployed people who receive only the meagre JobSeeker allowance, which is below the poverty line, and others who are short of cash right now. It is to our shame, really, that there are significant numbers of people in this

MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1984 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 city who cannot afford food and that we do not have a social welfare system that can support them, particularly when many of these people are paying more than half of their income in rent. The volunteers there, most of whom are women, come from all walks of life. There were doctors and lawyers there, and some of the recipients of the food aid themselves were also volunteering. They were cooking curries and pakoras to give recipients something fresh while others were filling boxes with food to last the rest of the week. The Muslim Women’s Council need a larger kitchen to fit their giant cooking pots, to store the food and to fit in their team of volunteers. They are hoping to return to the Moreland council kitchen at the Coburg town hall or something of similar size nearby. I want to thank the volunteers and the donors for their time, their effort and the food they contribute to feeding some of Melbourne’s neediest people. MACLEOD SPORTS FACILITIES Mr CARBINES (Ivanhoe) (10:02): I am pleased to announce $320 000 for Macleod Junior Football Club at Macleod Park for new female-friendly player and umpire change rooms plus upgrades to the existing change rooms. This upgrade is thanks to the office of the Minister for Community Sport and will be matched by Banyule City Council, so that is a $640 000 upgrade to facilities at Macleod Park. I want to thank Cr Tom Melican for his support of the project and also all the parent volunteers and the Macleod Junior Football Club committee members who put in tireless hours every week to make sure that those teams get the training they need and that the young people are supported in those community games that are played in the Yarra Junior Football League and also the other social activities that are provided. I have had the opportunity to volunteer as a goal umpire with the under-11 girls team, where our daughter and many of her school friends play each week. I just want to again thank them for the great commitment and the opportunities they provide to young people in our community. Also the senior club at De Winton Park, Macleod senior club, has had a $3 million redevelopment, a partnership between both Banyule council and the state government out of some of the work we did with the level crossing removal at Rosanna. We opened that back in April. So both the senior club at De Winton Park and the junior club at Macleod Park have big partnerships, relationships and pathways for young people and for the volunteer parent community, being backed very significantly with capital works by the state government and Banyule council. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (10:03): Mental health issues have swept across Victoria like a tidal wave. Labor has sacrificed our children’s mental health. Children have been locked out of our schools for 114 days. A secret report from the Victorian Agency for Health Information has revealed that in the six weeks to the end of March average weekly presentations to emergency departments by children were up 51 per cent for those self-harming and suffering suicidal thoughts and 44.9 per cent where teenagers have needed resuscitation in emergency care. The report also found that girls aged 12 and above have been hardest hit, with a 26 per cent increase in those battling serious eating disorders and an alarming 34 per cent increase in new disorder cases. Kids Helpline is also reporting disturbing figures in Victoria. Tracy Adams, the chief executive officer of the helpline’s parent Yourtown, has said:

It is very clear that the pandemic is taking a toll on the lives of children and young people … and that the Victorian results are ‘very disturbing’. The helpline reports that over the last six months there has been a 184 per cent increase in emergency interventions where the helpline counsellor has been forced to call police, ambulance or other emergency intervention services, and further, for children and young people aged 5 to 25, 44 per cent emergency interventions occurred because of an immediate intention to commit suicide. This government has lost its moral compass. Labor’s lockdown is causing lifelong mental health damage to our children. What is happening is criminal. Labor is dangerous.

MEMBERS STATEMENTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1985

COMMUNITY FOOD RELIEF Ms CRUGNALE (Bass) (10:05): Our Andrews Labor government announced this week an additional $30 million relief package which will directly support people experiencing hardship to access food and additional financial support. It includes expanding the capacity of community food relief organisations and supporting new partnerships between them and local restaurants, cafes and hospitality businesses—enabling them to rapidly purchase raw produce and prepared meals for Victorians in need. This also supports local businesses and local workers. It expands Foodbank Victoria’s mobile food van service across the state, reaching vulnerable groups such as casual workers and students. It makes sure our multicultural communities continue to have access to culturally appropriate emergency food, support and vital public health information. The extreme hardship support program has also been extended to continue assisting Victorians not eligible for income support from the commonwealth, like temporary and undocumented migrants and people on temporary protection visas. We cannot do all of this without on-the-ground, connected-in local community groups, organisations, their volunteers and donors who continue to provide meals, food relief and support to those in need. Thank you ADRA, Bless Collective food van, Paddy’s Kitchen, PC3 Community Cook Up, Planetshakers, Living & Learning Pakenham, AfriAus iLEAC, Sikh Volunteers Australia, Gurudwara Baba Budha Sahib ji in Pakenham, the Salvos in Pakenham and Wonthaggi, TurningPoint churches in Koo Wee Rup, Hallam and Cranbourne, Phillip Island Community & Learning Centre, Mitchell House in Wonthaggi, Corinella & District Community Centre—I think I have run out of time. MELBOURNE KANNADA SANGHA Mr TAK (Clarinda) (10:06): Congratulations and thank you to Melbourne Kannada Sangha. This important community organisation has been successful in applying for the Andrews Labor government’s priority response to multicultural communities during the coronavirus phase 2 grant program. During the pandemic Melbourne Kannada Sangha has stepped up to the plate to support the Indian Victorian community in Clarinda and across Melbourne. Under phase 2 MKS will receive $15 000 in funding to deliver a further 300 emergency food relief packages to vulnerable community members over the next five months. Thank you to the committee members and volunteers, including president Gandhadhar Bevinakoppa, vice-president Srinivasa Sharma, secretary Chandra Bangalore, treasurer Srinivasa Murthy and all the committee members. MKS is a wonderful organisation that was inaugurated in 1986. For more than 30 years they have responded to the needs of the growing Kannada community in Melbourne. My sincere thanks to all those who have been working hard on weekends to deliver food packages to international students and those struggling across Melbourne. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Mr FOWLES (Burwood) (10:08): I rise to speak on youth mental health. In the budget we announced a record $3.8 billion investment to deliver the biggest social reform in a generation, building our mental health system from the ground up as we deliver on every single recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. This will be a decade-long reform, delivering more community-based services, more help for those with acute needs, more early intervention and, importantly, a new dedicated system to support our kids. Our kids deserve to grow up healthy and happy, self-aware and strong. Schools, students, families, principals, teachers and ancillary staff in my electorate all tell me mental health and wellbeing is the single biggest issue affecting our kids, and that is why we are putting schools at the very centre of our response. This year’s budget establishes a $200 million School Mental Health Fund. It is a flexible model, allowing schools to select and implement mental health and wellbeing programs that best meet the needs of their students. Schools will be able to draw from a range of evidence-based measures proven to work, from positive education to therapy dog programs to mental health first aid training, as well as

MEMBERS STATEMENTS 1986 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 funding to engage more mental health and wellbeing staff. Funding will also massively expand the mental health in primary schools pilot to reach 100 schools, funding them to employ a mental health and wellbeing coordinator while also supporting staff to better understand and respond to mental health and wellbeing issues affecting their students. This is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally transform the way we support our young people, and I am enormously proud to be part of a government that is getting it done. COVID-19 VACCINATIONS Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (10:09): There is nothing like gratitude to provide perspective. I rise to acknowledge the work of the health teams providing vaccinations and COVID testing in my electorate of Essendon. Their stoic and dedicated work is playing a crucial role in protecting our community from coronavirus. The Melbourne Showgrounds is a hive of activity, with testing and vaccination being undertaken in separate locations on the site. At the Wingate Avenue Community Centre in the public housing estate and close by at Moonee Valley Racecourse, multiple tests are being conducted every single day in rain, wind and cold—and a big shout-out to those agencies at the Flemington public housing estate towers providing services and support to CALD communities. Ninety-seven-year-old war veteran Laurie Larmer is a constituent and a friend of mine. On 28 May he received his vaccination at the showgrounds. He tells me that the process was efficient, staff took great care of him and it was all very well run. Now, if Laurie can do it, we can all do it. I want to thank the testing and vaccination health teams from the bottom of my heart for their commitment, their good cheer and their service to our community. John F Kennedy said, ‘As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them’, and that is a goal to which we can all aspire. So please, get tested and get vaccinated. ESSENDON ELECTORATE CENTENARIANS Mr PEARSON: I also want to extend birthday wishes to three of my constituents who are turning 100 during June: Valda Bolwell turns 100 years old today, Alexander Metelmann turns 100 on 19 June and Edna Hendy turns 100 on 23 June. Happy birthday. Following statement incorporated in accordance with resolution of house of 8 June: BUDGET 2021–22 Ms EDWARDS (Bendigo West) I’m excited to announce that three projects in Bendigo West have been successful in receiving funding through the Andrews Labor government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund stimulus round. $1.4 million has been allocated towards the completion of the Mount Alexander shire’s Small Town Streetscape Renewal Program. This will deliver the final upgrades to streetscapes in Newstead, Guildford and Chewton. Increasing the livability in these towns, increasing safety, it will support social cohesion and boost the local economies by attracting more visitors to the region. Bendigo’s much-loved Golden Dragon Museum will receive $1 million to create a new night-time dining experience, helping to further activate our Chinese precinct, which is a highly valued community asset that hosts a collection that is of global significance. The Bendigo showgrounds provides significant social, community and economic benefits to our local and regional economy, including one of regional Victoria’s most visited markets, the Sunday market. $680 000 has been provided to deliver infrastructure, visual and useability improvements to the market’s precinct. These improvements will help ensure the Bendigo showgrounds is financially sustainable as well as attracting more visitors to the site and region via major events. These projects mean a great deal to our communities and I’m thrilled they have received this funding. The Regional Infrastructure Fund is key to the government’s $8 billion investment across rural and regional Victoria unveiled in the Andrews Labor government’s budget 2020–21 to support communities to come back stronger than ever.

STATEMENTS ON PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1987

The second round of the fund’s 2020–21 program is due to open for application from 16 June 2021. This government is committed to ensuring our regions have the support they need to move beyond the challenges of the COVID pandemic and thrive into the future, helping to make regional and rural Victoria an even better place to live, work and visit.

Statements on parliamentary committee reports PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Report on the 2019–20 Financial and Performance Outcomes Mr ANGUS (Forest Hill) (10:11): I am pleased to rise this morning to make a contribution in relation to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s (PAEC) Report on the 2019–20 Financial and Performance Outcomes, which was tabled in this place a few weeks ago, in May 2021. The report contains 110 findings and 34 recommendations, and I want to focus my contribution this morning on chapter 5. And in particular I want to turn to subsection 5.6.2 on page 70 of that particular document, and that is headed ‘Cost increases and project delays affecting transport projects’, ‘Project cost increases’. And it is a very revealing section within this particular report, Acting Speaker Blandthorn, which I am sure that you are very aware of, being the chair of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee. This particular part just goes into some of the budget blowouts, some of the overruns within the Department of Transport, and I commend the committee for having the courage to put this in there, because I know there would be enormous pressure on the government members of the committee in particular to suppress and hide information such as this. I commend the committee for having the courage to stand up for their principles and to disclose fully to the people of Victoria what is going on in some of these projects. So we can see that the department identified 31 projects in 2019–20 with a revised total estimated investment that varied by at least 5 per cent or $50 million from the original total estimated investment that was announced. Figure 5.3 on page 71—it has got a graph there of projects with cost increases in 2019–20, and there are 26 projects listed. Then further down that page, table 5.6 has got the ‘Department of Transport top five projects with greatest TEI increase as of 2019–20’, and that is what I want to focus my contribution on this morning. The first one there is the high-capacity metro trains, with an initial investment of $1301 million, so $1.3 billion. The revised value is $2.1 billion, so it is a blowout of $875 million, or 67 per cent. The West Gate Tunnel Project was originally slated at $5.5 billion; $6.3 billion is the revised figure— $802 million, or 15 per cent, over. The level crossing removal program was originally $6 billion; it was revised to $6.7 billion, so that is $759 million over, or 13 per cent. The Murray Basin rail project was a $220 million project, and even that has blown out to $568 million—a $348 million blowout, or 158 per cent. So a relatively tiny project for the department in the department’s scheme of things has just absolutely blown out unbelievably. The Caulfield to Dandenong conventional signalling and power infrastructure upgrade has gone from $360 million to $608 million, a $248 million, or 69 per cent, blowout. So just in those five projects there we have got a total blowout of $3 billion, or on average 23 per cent. So it is quite shocking, I think, for all Victorian taxpayers to realise that just in the top handful of projects, at the department’s own admission—and, as I said, credit to the PAEC team for putting it in here—how out of control the projects are under the Department of Transport. Now, I note that the department, in their response, has said, ‘Oh, well, sometimes there are some scope variations’ and this and that. In fact they said 81 per cent of the variations were attributed to scope change, additional works, additional funding or a change in funding recognition. But here is one of the most telling sentences in the book. It says, and I quote:

The Committee notes—as it previously did for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 financial years—that these explanations do not fully illuminate the underlying issues causing the TEI variation.

STATEMENTS ON PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORTS 1988 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

I think that is very telling, and it hopefully will send a very clear message to this department—the Department of Transport—but also to other departments that they cannot keep making these things up and trying to pull the wool over not only the committee’s eyes, not only the Parliament’s eyes but also the eyes of the Victorian taxpayers. They need to estimate these projects more accurately and make sure that that is revealed and disclosed appropriately, rather than having these continual arbitrary figures that they are using and then having these so-called scope changes to keep increasing expenditure. There is a lot more I could say in relation to that, and I will perhaps leave that for another time, but I certainly recommend this report for reading to all members. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (10:16): I refer to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee inquiry into the budget estimates and the contribution from the Treasurer on how Victoria is trying to strengthen economic performance with a range of mechanisms. This is vital and urgent now, as we look like we are coming out of lockdown again, to get the economy up and driving. The last two budgets we have had have seen record investments to make sure that this can occur. I want to commend the government on how that has been done and particularly the work that has been done on medical research—the leadership that has been taken is outstanding—and the opportunities that we have. One of the key component parts that I have been arguing for is that we have the chance now to be a world leader in mRNA vaccine manufacturing, and the government has put $50 million down to make sure we land that here in Victoria. That is an outstanding opportunity, and it brings together the elegance of our science, the business acumen, the industrial nous that we have and the manufacturing skills. Really what I have also been calling for is for the Australian government to supercharge the vaccine rollouts. CSL has manufactured more than 8 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses and is making a million doses a week right here in Melbourne. My question has been: why hasn’t the Australian government fast-tracked the more than 8 million doses into jabs in arms for the most vulnerable—people aged over 50 and the elderly in aged care? The Australian government’s vaccine rollout is months behind schedule. We now confront variants of the virus declared by experts as significantly more contagious. Winter is here. Australia’s vaccination rate is about 3 per cent of the population, compared to the United States and the United Kingdom with more than 50 per cent. American President Joe Biden has committed to a month of action with the target to deliver at least one vaccine shot in the arm to 70 per cent of American adults by Independence Day, 4 July. So my call is to the Australian government to declare its deadline to vaccinate 70 per cent of Australian adults. Victorian GPs say they can double their number of vaccinations, and pharmacists are pleading to help to deliver jabs in arms. These offers must be seized, not squandered. The Australian government knew winter was coming but maintained there was no race for vaccines. The race is to save lives and livelihoods by delivering vaccines with the utmost urgency. Victoria has the most effective distribution results. Vaccines in arms are our way out of lockdowns and the pandemic, and delivery must be supercharged so that another golden opportunity is not missed. This is the argument that I have been making. Of course CSL manufactures the vaccine concentrate in its plant in Broadmeadows, and then it goes to Parkville for the finishing part of the process and to be put into vials. There are not many countries that actually manufacture vaccines. This is a great opportunity that we have. I want to commend the Victorian government for having the foresight to take the leadership position straight up, put the $50 million down to say, ‘We want it locally’. Then the other great leadership that was shown in protecting us for the future was the $400 million contribution for an Australian infectious disease institute right here in Melbourne, based on the Doherty Institute, acknowledging Peter Doherty, who won the Nobel Prize. The Victorian government originally put $155 million on the table and asked for the Australian government to partner. They did not do that, so we took the leadership and delivered on our own. And that is absolutely to be commended. That will protect us into the future. These are the landmark decisions that have been

STATEMENTS ON PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORTS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1989 made by the Victorian government. They are of intergenerational significance. The mRNA vaccine is a generational change. So here is how we have the opportunities. I just want to bring it back to my own state district and commend the government and thank the government for the landmark $60 million investment into the Broadmeadows Health and Community Centre of Excellence. This will invest in skills, training and jobs, and it connects two of the key institutions, Kangan Institute and Northern Health. It is about how we bring this to the areas that need it the most, how we address the social determinants of health and take care of the areas where we have been exposed to the pandemic and how we actually address that. This is the Victorian government’s big-picture vision. This is what it does best, and I commend it for delivering. The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Blandthorn): The member for Gippsland South. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (10:21): Thank you, Acting Speaker Blandthorn. It is good to have you in the chair as I rise to speak on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee’s inquiry into the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. I want to touch on some of the elements that were addressed in the inquiry’s report, in particular that we are back here again. It feels very much like groundhog day at the moment. We have more hotel quarantine breaches. We have lockdowns again. I heard the member for Broadmeadows just saying we are on the verge of coming out. I hope he is right—and he might like to share any inside information he has. I am sure that he gets told just at the same time as it gets dropped to the Herald Sun and the Age. But we have got hotel quarantine breaches. We have got lockdown. We have got business and economic and social impacts right across the board, and I am very frustrated at many of the issues that the committee looked at last year when we were learning, admittedly, about how to handle a pandemic and how to handle this particular COVID-19 issue—but it does not seem that many of those lessons have been learned. My constituents cannot believe we are here again, particularly in regional Victoria—and I will come to the health issues shortly. But the impacts on our local communities are massive and I fear are not fully understood by some of the people making the decisions. Just a couple of examples from my electorate: I have got a large accommodation business in my home town of Sale. They estimate they have lost $100 000 in bookings just for the month of June from a one-week lockdown, from the subsequent fact that on the Queen’s Birthday holiday they will not be open for Melbourne visitors and from the flow-on effects. I have got Bob from the Yarra Valley who runs a very small, niche boutique accommodation and retreat-type business—$6000 wiped from his bookings for the first weekend of the lockdown. That will be probably doubled, if not more again, with the Queen’s Birthday lockdown as well. And then there are the ongoing impacts of people being reluctant to make bookings in the event that there is a further outbreak somewhere down the track. As we stand here today, on Wednesday, we have no cases. There have been no cases in regional Victoria. There are currently no exposure sites, and of the exposure sites that were listed over two weeks ago there has not been a single case come from them. I will never say ‘no risk’, but there is very, very little and very negligible risk—so we should be open in regional Victoria. I mention that in the government’s budget papers only released a couple of weeks ago, under ‘Strategy and Outlook’, budget paper 2, it talks about how the budget is framed and what the risks in the out years are, and it talks about the fact that the budget has factored in localised, short-term restrictions. What we have not seen is localised and short-term restrictions. We have again seen this state government adopt blanket statewide restrictions that have hurt people in regional Victoria unnecessarily. I go on with some of those issues. Dance schools—once again, as they were last year, even though regional Victoria has been opened up they have remained closed, along with gyms and indoor swim schools. And of course hospitality is still significantly restricted. I spoke to Mel from In-Step Dance

STATEMENTS ON PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORTS 1990 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

School in Sale the other day. In the February lockdown, short as it was, they had 15 trial students that they lost—that never came back. They had another 16 families who would not book because they decided ‘Well, we can’t be sure that we’re going to get through this term’, so they are not going to commit to the whole term. I had the same story the other day from Jenny and Holly at Leaps and Bounds and Lisa Pellin at Lisa Pellin Dancers in Leongatha. These are stories repeated across all of those industries, and hospitality of course too, which is open but severely limited—capped at 50, no matter how big and how many rooms you have. These are the issues the committee looked at last year that we highlighted were problems in the government’s handling, and they have not been addressed. Yes, it is a pandemic, but I think some making decisions have actually lost sight of the flow-on impacts, particularly the other health impacts—from stopping elective surgery to the delay in people going to GPs, and we saw that prior to this lockdown in the strain on the health system. This is not what we need. We actually need a better system. We need lockdowns as a last resort, not as the first; we need the lockdowns only based on publicly released health advice; we need them to be proportionate; we need them to be targeted, not blanket; and we need them lifted immediately once less damaging measures can be implemented. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates Mr MAAS (Narre Warren South) (10:26): I too rise to make a statement on a committee report, that report being the Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates. It is great of course to follow fellow committee member the member for Gippsland South in making this statement, and I agree with him wholeheartedly, to the extent that it is great to have you, Acting Speaker Blandthorn, in the chair. If I could thank the rest of the committee for putting this report together, including the secretariat who really worked very, very hard in all of the collaboration that they did, and I thank them wholeheartedly for that. I do also note that the report has a minority report attached to the end of it, which I must say I am a little bit confused about. Knowing how vigorously we debated putting this final report together to find at the end of it a somewhat skinny minority report—some 5000 words—if you are going to put a minority report together, at least have something to say. There is no broader vision included in that minority report, but rather really broad and fluffy statements. It really looks like no more than a whinge, which is based on bullet points that go nowhere near hitting the target. What does hit the target, though, is our investment in education. I am very pleased to refer to chapter 4 of the report, which shows the investment in the Department of Education and Training (DET). Of course the Department of Education and Training is responsible for delivering and regulating learning and development services across Victoria’s early childhood, school education, and training and skills sectors. It currently supports the four ministerial portfolios of education, training and skills, higher education and early childhood. If you have a look at some of the initiatives that were made in that budget year, the initiatives responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. That accounts for some 39 per cent of the investment in DET, and DET has of course the second-largest budget, which is just under $17 billion, accounting for around 21 per cent of all output funding. The budget provided $3.1 billion in new capital projects. DET’s total capital spend is $5.7 billion, approximately 8.3 per cent of the total general government capital spend. The budget also provided $250 million over two years to address the impact of interrupted face-to-face schooling on student learning. That initiative provides for more than 4100 tutors to support students at risk of becoming disengaged, who are experiencing adverse learning outcomes due to the pandemic. I know that in my electorate in Narre Warren South that that initiative is really well appreciated by the various school communities. In terms of skills and training, the government’s $631 million investment in free TAFE boosted subsidised and free training places in priority areas most impacted by the COVID pandemic. Minister

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Tierney, the Minister for Training and Skills, stated that the investments would ensure Victorians who lost work due to the pandemic could reskill and retrain. TAFE commencement grew by 88 per cent in the first year of free TAFE in 2019, and there were notable increases in demand from women, unemployed people and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, just showing that Labor is doing what Labor governments do in providing for all people in Victoria. I could go on about some of the many great findings that this chapter made. Mr Dimopoulos interjected. Mr MAAS: Unfortunately, member for Oakleigh, I am running out of time. But of course there is kinder availability, three-year-old kinder, and it is all terrific. But I do commend the chapter on education, and I commend the report. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates Ms VALLENCE (Evelyn) (10:31): Today I rise to talk on the Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates. I would particularly like to talk on the minority report, which is at page 327, and I would like to commend that report to this house. Six key sections are featured in that minority report, and I will focus on a few today. Section 1 calls out that Victoria will be hundreds of billions of dollars in debt with no plan to pay it back. Now, the 2020–21 budget confirms that Victorians would be drowning in hundreds of billions of dollars of debt for decades to come as a consequence of the Andrews Labor government’s financial incompetence and reckless spending agendas. Now, while the Premier and his ministers would like to shift the financial blame to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is nothing short of a cheap political excuse. The pandemic has shone a light on how fragile Victoria’s economy was at the time of the writing of this report and the economic failures of the Andrews government. The simple fact as highlighted in the report is that Victoria was in recession, Victoria’s AAA credit rating had been stripped away and downgraded by two notches by both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s and Victoria was projected to be in debt to the tune of $154.8 billion by 2024. We now know that in the recent 2021–22 budget that this has escalated to $158 billion. Now, when the Premier was asked during the hearings when Victorians could expect to pay the $154.8 billion back, he could not answer. Without a plan to pay back any of the billions of dollars in borrowings the Andrews-Merlino government is incurring, major lending institutions will be acutely anxious of course in providing any additional liquidity, and this was the exact reason why, as this report found, Victoria’s AAA credit rating was ripped away. Labor cannot blame the COVID pandemic for this, because of course just recently the federal Morrison Liberal government has successfully had Australia’s AAA credit rating reaffirmed by Standard & Poor’s. Section 2 is headed ‘Cuts to IBAC’—to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission— ‘to prevent transparency and accountability’. Under the Andrews Labor government’s 2020–21 budget, IBAC saw its budget, as is stated in this report, slashed to the tune of $4.4 million. At the time of this report IBAC was undertaking a number of serious investigations into corrupt activities, including allegations that parliamentary officers were being used for Labor Party branch stacking and allegations of serious corrupt conduct concerning planning and property development decisions involving the City of Casey. Unless IBAC is adequately funded it will be unable to undertake investigations into these very serious allegations. The IBAC Commissioner, the Honourable Robert Redlich, AM, QC, in IBAC’s 2019–20 annual report observed that:

Now, more than ever, Victoria needs a strong integrity system. And he said that:

… operations and the requirements on IBAC have continued to grow, but the funding we need to continue this important work has not.

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Now, when the Premier was asked repeatedly during the hearings to explain why funding to IBAC had been cut, the Premier refused to answer these most basic of questions. In the interest of transparency and accountability, the report shows that the government would prefer to see things like Labor Party branch-stacking and corrupt property deals swept under the carpet. Now, the recommendation of this report is that funding be restored. Recommendation 1 is:

Funding be restored to IBAC immediately to allow it to perform its corruption fighting work. The government in fact has now accepted the recommendation of the Liberal-Nationals minority, as we see a much-needed funding uplift in the most recent 2021–22 budget as well as a $7 million funding boost from the Treasurer’s advance. Labor finally conceded that its cuts in funding to these vital integrity agencies left gaping holes in the budget, which left them unable to do their work. This just goes to show how effective the Liberal and Nationals minority, the Liberal and Nationals members, of the PAEC committee is. I also pay tribute to the Shadow Attorney-General, Edward O’Donohue, in the other place, for having pursued this very important work to ensure that IBAC can do its vital work. ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING COMMITTEE Inquiry into Tackling Climate Change in Victorian Communities Mr CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (10:36): It is with pleasure that this morning I rise to speak on the Inquiry into Tackling Climate Change in Victorian Communities. I must say I had a tremendous amount of pleasure with my committee members in getting around regional Victoria particularly and taking evidence across the state in terms of what regional communities were doing with respect to that great challenge of climate change, and I must say, having been involved in politics at both national and state level I am very aware of the particular challenges that parliaments across this nation have found in responding to climate change. Particularly because of the attitudes adopted by the LNP in Canberra, coming to a consistent view across our nation on climate change has been problematic, and our nation’s response to climate change has been in so many ways held back as a consequence of that. Of course here in Victoria we have I think very much been leading the nation in the debate in terms of the actions required to respond to that great challenge of climate change. I must say as the chair of the committee I am very, very pleased that our inquiry was able to hear firsthand how passionate Victorians were about responding to those particular challenges. Indeed our inquiry made some 70- odd recommendations and some 30-odd findings about the role that Victorians communities can play and some of the public policy reform that we do need to continue with to make sure that we do respond to that great challenge. I want to read the first paragraph or so of the executive summary, which in so many ways from my perspective very much sums up what we do need to be doing, and that is:

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and managing the impacts of climate change requires action from all levels of government, all economic sectors and all sections of society. I think in reflecting on the evidence that I heard and the contributions made by many Victorians and many Victorian groups it is very clear that is exactly the approach that we have adopted in Victoria. There is no doubt that this is a significant challenge of our time, and there is no doubt that every single part of our society needs to have a comprehensive plan for responding to greenhouse gas emissions and how they may decarbonise their community. Now, since the tabling of this report I have had the opportunity to have some follow-up meetings with various stakeholders who made submissions to that inquiry. One of them of course was the Surf Coast Energy Group, located in my electorate, and also the Hepburn energy group. Both of these groups made submissions to our inquiry. Both are passionate advocates for the role that local community organisations can play in decarbonising our economy and building a new energy system that delivers renewable energy that can be owned by local community groups. I was also particularly pleased to hear firsthand what some of the agroforestry groups were doing in how they are managing their land and utilising the opportunity to produce and grow trees as a response to climate change, as a response to land degradation and also as an economic opportunity to produce

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 1993 an income for those farming families. There is no doubt that climate change is a huge challenge that our society needs to continue to respond to, and under our minister we are leading the nation. Business of the house NOTICES OF MOTION Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (10:41): I advise that the government does not wish to proceed with the notice of motion today, and I ask that it remain on the notice paper. Bills EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM AMENDMENT (VICTORIAN ACADEMY OF TEACHING AND LEADERSHIP) BILL 2021 Statement of compatibility Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (10:42): In accordance with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 I table a statement of compatibility in relation to the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership) Bill 2021.

In accordance with section 28 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (the Charter), I make this statement of compatibility with respect to the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership) Bill 2021 (the Bill). In my opinion, the Bill, as introduced to the Legislative Assembly, is compatible with the human rights as set out in the Charter. I base my opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement. Overview of the Bill The Bill amends the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (the Act) to establish the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership (the Academy). The objectives of the Academy, as set out in proposed new section 2.6A.4 of the Act as if amended by clause 4 of the Bill, are to: (a) to improve outcomes for students through the provision of specialised teaching and leadership excellence programs for exceptional teachers and school leaders (b) to increase equity of access to professional learning to lift the quality of teaching across Victoria (c) to provide a dedicated pathway for established exceptional teachers to contribute to school and system improvement (d) to improve the quality of school leadership (e) to raise public awareness of the capability and status of teachers and school leaders in the science and practice of teaching. In order to meet its objectives, the Academy’s functions include to develop and publish guidance materials and resources for use by providers of professional learning programs (see proposed new section 2.6A.4(1)(c) of the Act as if amended by clause 4 of the Bill. Proposed new section 2.6A.9 of the Act as if amended by clause 4 of the Bill empowers the Academy to publish its advice, on its own initiative or at the request of the Minister or the Department for certain specified purposes, including the performance of its functions. Human rights issues Right to privacy Section 13(a) of the Charter provides that a person has the right not to have their privacy, family, home or correspondence unlawfully or arbitrarily interfered with. An interference will be lawful if it is permitted by a law which is precise and appropriately circumscribed, and will be arbitrary only if it is capricious, unpredictable, unjust or unreasonable, in the sense of being disproportionate to the legitimate aim sought. The right to privacy is engaged by proposed new sections 2.6A.4(1)(c) and 2.6A.9 of the Act as if amended by clause 4 of the Bill, for example, where the Academy publishes advice containing a person’s personal information.

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However, the Academy will be subject to the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and the Information Privacy Principles under that Act, including the provisions which regulate the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. Accordingly, in my view, the Bill will not unlawfully or arbitrarily interfere with a person’s privacy, and is compatible the right to privacy. Rights of families and children Section 17(1) of the Charter recognises that families are the fundamental group unit of society, and entitles families to protection by the society and the State. Section 17(2) of the Charter provides that every child has the right, without discrimination, to such protection as is in their best interests and is needed by them by reason of being a child. It recognises the special vulnerability of children, defined in the Charter as persons under 18 years of age. ‘Best interests’ is considered to be a complex concept which must be determined on a case-by-case basis. However, the following elements may be taken into account when assessing the child’s best interests: the child’s views; the child’s identity; preservation of the family environment and maintaining relationships; care, protection and safety of the child; situation of vulnerability; the child’s right to health; and the child’s right to education. As mentioned above, proposed new section 2.6A.4(a) of the Act as if amended by clause 4 of the Bill provides that one of the objectives of the Academy is to improve outcomes for students through the provision of professional learning programs, including specialised teaching and leadership excellence programs, for school leaders and outstanding teachers. In my view, this objective, and the Bill in general, promotes the rights of families and children. Second reading Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (10:43): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time. I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard. Incorporated speech as follows: The Bill proposes amendments to Chapter 2 of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (ETRA) to establish the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership (the Academy) as a statutory entity in the education portfolio. This Bill will deliver one of the most significant education reforms of this Government, and address a vital element that is currently missing from the Victorian school education system architecture. That is, a distinct specialist entity dedicated to developing teaching and school leadership excellence and raising the calibre and status of the entire Victorian teaching profession through the provision of specialised professional learning. The Bill will lay the foundations for a coherent, whole of system approach to professional learning for the entire Victorian teaching profession—that is, from all school sectors—at every stage of their careers. Through the design and delivery of specialised professional learning programs, the Academy will improve student outcomes by increasing the effectiveness and impact of teaching and school leadership practice in our schools. Guided by a Board comprising education experts and members from all school sectors, the Academy will have a public profile that champions the entire teaching profession and in so doing, will promote and instil greater public trust and confidence in every Victorian school. The Academy will incorporate and build on the work and reputation of the existing Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership, currently located in the Department of Education and Training, which will be transferred to become the new Academy as part of this Bill. The Education State vision is to provide outstanding teachers and school leaders in every classroom, delivering excellence and equity in learning for every Victorian child and young person. The evidence is clear that investing in the knowledge and capabilities of teachers is necessary for improving student outcomes. And the quality of school leadership is second only to quality teaching as the biggest-in school influence on student achievement. High-performing school education systems are distinguished by their strong and relentless commitment to supporting and developing teachers and school leaders at every stage of their careers.

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They do this through an integrated and coherent whole of system approach to the provision of relevant, high- quality and evidence-informed professional learning. The importance of investing in the teaching profession to enhance the impact of teaching is a view also supported by the 2019 report of the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO), which stated: ‘it is important for education systems to invest in professional learning, as teacher quality has a considerable influence on student outcomes.’ These same high-performing systems are also characterised by an intentional approach to the recognition and promotion of aspiring and emerging leaders, and learning from those identified as the most outstanding of the profession. An example of this approach is Singapore, which I visited in 2019, where significant and sustained investment in the quality of teaching professional learning over successive years has led to enormous progress in educational outcomes. Singapore’s ‘Master Teacher’ designation provides a dedicated professional learning pathway for teachers already at the pinnacle of their careers to deepen their knowledge and practice, build the expertise of other teachers and so contribute to school and system improvement. This dedicated professional learning pathway provides professional recognition for outstanding teachers and a career path that enables them to remain in the classroom where they can make the biggest impact on student outcomes. Singapore’s Master Teachers also play a leadership role across the system in bringing together teachers from across schools to increase the effectiveness and impact of teaching practice in every school, which is critical for system-wide improvement. It is such world-leading approach to professional learning for Victorian teachers and school leaders that informs the Victorian Government’s ambition for the new Academy. Since 2015, the Victorian Government has delivered unprecedented levels of investment in school education to make Victoria the Education State. Like Singapore, we have a strong commitment to creating a world-leading education system that delivers teaching and school leadership excellence in every Victorian school, which are pre-conditions for improving student achievement. And we have made strong progress. We have delivered unprecedented levels of equity funding to support our schools to deliver targeted education supports to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or who have fallen behind to raise their educational outcomes. We are continuing to invest in inclusive education reforms which are providing schools with the resources, support and guidance they need to ensure every student at every ability can thrive in school and achieve their full potential. In response to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, we are funding increased mental health and wellbeing supports in schools in recognition of the adverse impacts of poor mental health on student outcomes. And as part of our unprecedented investment in school infrastructure we are building, upgrading and modernising schools across the State to provide inspiring, twenty-first century learning environments for our students. We are also making significant investments in the knowledge and skills of our teachers, and recognising and promoting the best of the profession to lead improvement in our schools. As an example, we are improving the quality of Initial Teacher Education, by raising the ATAR score to 70 to attract the highest achieving graduates into the teaching profession. We also recently introduced legislation to better enable the Victorian Institute of Teaching to assure the quality and rigour of Initial Teacher Education pathway programs. We introduced the Learning Specialists role to provide a career pathway for our expert teachers who want to stay in the classroom and support other teachers to improve their practice. By the end of 2021, we will have expanded to every government school the highly successful Professional Learning Communities initiative. We have also made significant investments in the preparation and ongoing development of our school leaders in recognition of their impact on school and student improvement.

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This includes the Bastow Institute’s Unlocking Potential program, which provides tailored support to aspiring principals to develop their knowledge and capabilities for the role. But to achieve the Education State, we need to do more to increase the quality and impact of teaching and school leadership on educational outcomes. Functions of the Academy This Bill will deliver on this ambition by conferring on the Academy the following key functions: • provide specialised teaching and leadership excellence programs and professional learning pathways for exceptional teachers and school leaders • raise the calibre and status of the profession through the promotion of evidence-informed teaching practice • provide impartial, expert advice to the Minister for Education and the Department • partner with organisations, professional associations, and others to identify the needs of the profession and optimise the delivery of the Academy’s programs • publish guidance and resources for use by providers of professional learning, • evaluate the effectiveness and impact of its programs on school leadership teaching practice and student outcomes. The Academy has been designed in response to Victoria’s unique education system context and the changing and diverse needs of our teaching profession and students’ learning needs. Drawing on the latest evidence, the Academy will design and deliver specialised professional learning for Victorian school leaders and teachers to increase the effectiveness and impact of teaching and school leadership practice on student outcomes in every Victorian school. As an example, the Academy’s flagship Teaching Excellence Program will be a centre for excellence for Victoria’s highly accomplished teachers from all school sectors. Over the course of a year, the program will enable 500 of our most exceptional teachers to further extend their knowledge and practice in their chosen specialisation through access to contemporary research and best practice across key curriculum areas. As noted by the Victorian Auditor General’s report, the best available evidence shows that high-impact teacher professional learning is student-focussed, classroom-based, teacher-led and highly collaborative. And this will be the approach of the Teaching Excellence Program, which will further develop the expertise of this cohort of exceptional teachers to expand and deepen their discipline-based teaching expertise. Graduates of the Academy will be known as Academy Fellows. Academy Fellows will also be influential role models who will have an authoritative voice and be empowered to advocate for evidence-informed teaching practice, thereby playing a vital system leadership role in driving excellence in teaching and learning. A significant innovation of the program is that its most exceptional Academy Fellows will be eligible to take up specialist Master Teaching roles in the Academy leading the design and delivery of the Teaching Excellence Program, as enshrined in the Bill’s third objective ‘to provide a dedicated pathway for established exceptional teachers to contribute to school and system improvement’. Further to providing increased professional recognition and professional pathways, this approach will ensure that the knowledge and expertise of Victoria’s most exceptional teachers is used to build the expertise of the profession. It will also support existing Victorian Government efforts to retain the most exceptional Victorian teachers in our classrooms where they can make the greatest positive impact on student achievement. This is in keeping with research findings for achieving school system improvement: that teacher professional learning is most effective—and its impact on student learning greatest—when it is modelled and led by the most outstanding of the profession. The new Teaching Excellence Program will be delivered from the historic building located at 41 St Andrews Place, in the heart of the Treasury Reserve Precinct. This prestigious facility will showcase the high esteem in which the Victorian teaching profession is held in Victoria.

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This historic location is being modernised to specifically accommodate the Academy’s specialised professional learning programs, such as the Teaching Excellence Program, including adult flexible learning spaces and high-end technologies. Fundamental to the Academy’s success will be the integral connection between 41 St Andrews Place and seven new Regional Learning Centres throughout Victoria, which will ensure high-quality programs are accessible to teachers and school leaders in our rural and regional schools. This expansion of the Academy’s physical presence will address long-standing challenges in accessing high quality professional learning programs outside of metropolitan Melbourne which can also contribute to challenges in attracting teachers and school leaders. Further to its own specialised professional learning programs, the Bill provides for the Academy to deliver alone, or in collaboration with other world-leading tertiary institutions accredited qualifications. These programs will provide Victorian educators with access to world-leading, high-quality professional learning that is not currently available elsewhere, tailored to the specific needs of the Victorian teaching profession. A key feature of the Academy will be its approach to engaging and collaborating with a range of partners to identify the needs of the profession, and co-design and deliver programs that positively impact student outcomes. This will include working collaboratively with schools, professional associations, world-leading experts and tertiary institutions, and other professional learning providers and community organisations. This approach builds on the success of the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership in partnering with other world-leading providers, such as the University of Melbourne and the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the delivery of high-quality leadership programs. The Bill will enable the Academy to deliver a suite of other specialised functions that will be important for the effective design and delivery of its own professional learning programs. This includes the establishment of an Evaluation and Evidence Centre within the Academy to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of its programs on teacher practice and student outcomes. Drawing on this evidence, the Academy will publish guidance, resources and other materials for use by other providers to positively influence the quality of market-delivered programs, and support schools to select relevant, high-quality programs. The Academy will also have a public role in influencing and advocating for evidence-informed teaching and school leadership practice and professional learning programs, informed by its own research and evaluation findings. This enhanced public profile and dedicated focus on driving excellence in teaching and school leadership will raise the status of the entire teaching profession and promote public confidence in every Victorian school. It will also support efforts to attract and retain more diverse and highly skilled individuals to the teaching profession, which is vital for meeting the diverse needs of our communities and the future Victorian economy. Governance arrangements The Academy’s status as an independent statutory entity will attract leading national and international education experts to its Board, harnessing their knowledge to inform the Academy’s strategic directions and operations. The Academy’s independent seven-member Board will include a balanced range of school education and community interests which will support the Academy to meet the diverse professional learning needs of Victoria’s entire teaching profession. To this end, the Board will be responsible for providing expert, cross-sectoral advice on matters relating to teaching and professional practice, school leadership and professional learning. The Academy’s Board will have both advisory and decision-making responsibilities, and will be composed of: - the Secretary (or nominee) of the Department of Education and Training - at least two members from the non-government school sector representing Independent Schools Victoria and the Catholic Education Commission Victoria - the remaining members (including the Chairperson). The Chairperson will be appointed by the Governor-in-Council on the recommendation of the Minister. The Academy will be supported by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who will be directly employed by the Secretary of the Department.

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The CEO of the Academy will be accountable to: - the Board for all policy and operational matters, and - the Secretary of the Department for budget, personnel and other administrative matters. These arrangements balance the independence of the Academy’s strategic directions, policy and expert advice, with the desire to achieve operational efficiencies—and are in keeping with the arrangements of other education portfolio entities. Commencement and implementation It is intended that the Academy will be operational by 1 January 2022. Ahead of this date, significant establishment activities are underway to support the transition of the current Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership from the Department to the new statutory entity. This includes the imminent recruitment of the interim CEO and Board, implementation of a new organisational structure and governance arrangements, and the transition of existing staff from the Bastow Institute to the Academy ahead of the delivery of programs from Term 1, 2022. Conclusion There is wide recognition of the benefits of supporting a system-wide approach to the delivery of high-quality professional learning for teachers and school leaders that was not previously available, to deliver equity and excellence in learning for every Victorian student. The establishment of the proposed Academy will deliver those benefits. I commend the Bill to the House. Ms McLEISH (Eildon) (10:43): I move:

That the debate be adjourned. Motion agreed to and debate adjourned. Ordered that debate be adjourned for two weeks. Debate adjourned until Wednesday, 23 June. ENERGY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Statement of compatibility Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (10:44): In accordance with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 I table a statement of compatibility in relation to the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2021.

Opening paragraphs In accordance with section 28 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, (the ‘Charter’), I make this Statement of Compatibility with respect to the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 (the Bill). In my opinion, the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, as introduced to the Legislative Assembly, is compatible with human rights as set out in the Charter. I base my opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement. Overview The Bill is an omnibus bill that makes amendments to various energy Acts to: • facilitate the implementation of reforms to the national energy laws in Victoria relating to regulatory sandboxing, stand-alone power systems and civil penalties • enable declarations to be made for the purpose of extending the application of the National Gas Law in Victoria to the supply of other gases such as hydrogen or natural gas-hydrogen blends • enable regulations to be made in respect to setting Victorian energy efficiency scheme targets and to make further provision for the fixing of greenhouse gas reduction rates, and • make further provision for the enforcement of compliance with Orders made under section 16Y of the National Electricity (Victoria) Act 2005.

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Human Rights Issues Human rights protected by the Charter that are relevant to the Bill The Bill does not raise any human rights issues. Consideration of reasonable limitations—section 7(2) As the Bill does not engage any human rights protected by the Charter, it does not limit any human rights and therefore it is not necessary to consider section 7(2) of the Charter. Conclusion Accordingly, it is my view that the Bill is compatible with the human rights as set out in the Charter. The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Second reading Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (10:45): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time. I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard. Incorporated speech as follows: Victoria’s energy system is rapidly transitioning as Victoria pursues our legislated 2050 net-zero target. The nature of electricity generation in the grid is becoming highly distributed as large amounts of new zero- emissions generators come online, including rooftop solar. There are also increasing opportunities to harness renewable hydrogen to help reduce emissions in Victoria’s gas system. As the physical energy network changes, the regulatory framework must change to accommodate new technologies and ensure innovation is supported. This omnibus Bill amends the Electricity Industry Act 2000, the Gas Industry Act 2001, The National Electricity (Victoria) Act 2005 (NEVA), the National Gas (Victoria) Act 2008 (NGVA), the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Act 2007 (VEET Act) and the Essential Services Commission Act 2001 to support the energy transition in the following ways. Regulatory sandboxing The Bill introduces a power for the Essential Services Commission to grant trial waivers to energy businesses that will allow new and innovative trials to be conducted in Victoria. This may involve new models for how consumers buy and sell electricity into the grid, how resources such as batteries can be shared between neighbours and how a customer’s demand flexibility can be used to reduce their energy bills. Such trials will provide an important proving ground for technologies and models that could be rolled out in the future. The regulatory sandboxing framework to be established by the Bill compliments the sandboxing reforms being implemented at the national level. Accordingly, the ESC and Australian Energy Regulator (AER) will be able to closely collaborate to ensure Victoria is able to host innovative trial projects. Stand-alone power systems A new power will be inserted by the Bill to enable specified stand-alone power systems (SAPS) that are owned or operated by licensed electricity distributors to be declared as being part of the national electricity system. A SAPS can provide power to an individual property or a community without being connected to the main grid, as it includes its own generation capability, and may also include battery storage, near to the load centre. The use of SAPS can reduce costs associated with maintaining long runs of poles and wires to remote communities, improve reliability and increase resilience to bushfires and natural disasters. Renewable gas blending Victoria relies heavily on natural gas to provide residential and commercial heating. This contributes significantly to our greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve our greenhouse gas reduction targets, emissions associated with natural gas will need to be reduced. Renewable gases, such as hydrogen or biogas, present an opportunity to reduce emissions. These gases can be produced with renewable electricity, or from other renewable sources, and blended into the natural gas network, reducing the emissions associated with combustion of natural gas.

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The national gas regulatory framework, applied in Victoria by the NGVA, does not currently contemplate any artificially mixed gas, meaning the regulation of renewable gas blended into the natural gas supply is uncertain under the current arrangements. This Bill will introduce a power in the NGVA to enable the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change to declare that hydrogen for example, or any other gas, blended with natural gas constitutes ‘natural gas’ and consequentially falls under the national gas regulatory framework. There are other regulatory barriers that must still be addressed but this is an important first step towards establishing Victoria as a destination for renewable gas investment. This is an interim step until the national gas regulatory framework reforms with respect to renewable gases are developed and implemented. Victorian Energy Efficiency Target The Bill will allow the previously announced Victorian Energy Upgrades program targets for 2022 to 2025 to be implemented. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the targets could not be set last year. The proposed amendments clarify the timing requirements for the making of regulations and Orders under the VEET Act and provide a more flexible process. The program targets for 2022 to 2025 are projected to provide a net benefit to the Victorian economy of $4.9 billion over the next thirty years and are expected to deliver energy bill savings to households and businesses across Victoria. The amendments will also enable the continued operation of the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, which supports around 2,200 jobs annually. Civil penalties The national gas and electricity laws were recently amended to create a three tiered structure for civil penalties, with the highest tier enabling the issue of civil penalties of up to $10 million, three times the benefit gained from breaching the rules or 10 percent of annual turnover. Due to historic amendments to the NEVA, these changes in relation to electricity did not automatically apply in Victoria. The Bill amends the NEVA to remove an inconsistent provision to ensure that the full range of civil penalties for electricity established by the national framework apply in Victoria. This will give the AER the flexibility it needs to ensure the rules are followed. Enforcement of transmission orders under s 16Y of the NEVA The NEVA was amended in 2020 to create a power to expedite transmission projects. This power was used to establish the Victorian Big Battery and the associated System Integrity Protection Scheme. The battery will provide net benefits to consumers by increasing our ability to import electricity from NSW during days of peak demand over summer. The Bill proposes to provide a power for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change to apply to the Victorian Supreme Court for an injunction to enforce provisions of an Order made under section 16Y of the NEVA. This will provide an additional enforcement mechanism to ensure that, where necessary, Orders can be enforced expeditiously. The NEVA will retain the AER’s role as the responsible regulator for the transmission Orders. These reforms will help modernise Victoria’s electricity and gas legislation, protect consumers, drive down energy prices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I commend the Bill to the house. Mr ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (10:45): I move:

That the debate be adjourned. Motion agreed to and debate adjourned. Ordered that debate be adjourned for two weeks. Debate adjourned until Wednesday, 23 June.

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Business of the house ORDERS OF THE DAY Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (10:45): I move:

That the consideration of orders of the day, government business, 3 and 4, be postponed until later this day. Motion agreed to. Bills EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM AMENDMENT (PROTECTION OF SCHOOL COMMUNITIES) BILL 2021 Second reading Debate resumed on motion of Mr PALLAS: That this bill be now read a second time. Ms CRUGNALE (Bass) (10:46): When I left off yesterday I was speaking of the cultural and behavioural shifts being a very enormous task, but we know that they are possible. We have seen them in the TAC campaigns on drink driving and speeding and the Cancer Council campaigns on the dangers of sunburn and smoking. Family violence is no longer a taboo subject, and we know cultural and behavioural change can happen through education and a very clear message that some behaviours will be neither tolerated nor accepted in our community. We also know the dangers of denial and inaction, and the release of the 2020 Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey clearly indicates that the public are concerned with the current situation. The public knows that current measures are inadequate. We know the mental health consequences of bullying and harassment. We meet passionate teachers who have either left their chosen career or are thinking of leaving because of the intimidation, abuse and violence associated with their workplace. It is not okay to arrive at work, to be greeted by a verbally aggressive person hurling abusive comments in front of their kid and those nearby and then to have to regain one’s composure and teach that child for the rest of the day, dreading tomorrow and planning different ways of entering the school ground to avoid a repeat of the situation. This happens, and it is really not okay. This bill does not seek to vilify parents, and there are protections for them as well. Parents will have the right to an internal review and, if needed, an external review through VCAT. The school will also be required to ensure that parents have an ongoing involvement in their child’s education. Training is available to ensure our culturally and linguistically diverse community and people with disabilities are understood and treated with respect. We all know that people communicate differently, but violence is still violence. Orders include the requirement that a parent remain up to 25 metres from the school premises—close enough to ensure the child’s safety entering the school but far enough to protect the staff from verbal or photographic violence. The child and their education will not be forgotten, and this bill includes mechanisms to ensure that disruption to them is as minimal as possible. Protocols ensure that the parent may continue to communicate with the school and be informed about their education. Again, we all want the best for our children, and they must not be punished because of their parents’ actions. Rarely would a teacher be authorised to issue an order. Similarly, school councils will not have any role in decision-making around orders, and the orders will not be enforced by the police. Realistically this would be undertaken by the school principal through the secretariat, and the Department of Education and Training will be able to delegate other authorised people. Ministerial guidelines will provide decision-making guidance, and it will be mandatory for authorised persons to abide by these.

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In closing, my thanks go to all the people who have worked so hard creating this legislation, in particular the Australian Education Union, the Australian Principals Federation and the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals for protecting their members; the members of the Protective Schools Ministerial Taskforce, who made the recommendations; and also the Minister for Education, the Acting Premier. Thank you for making our workplaces safer. Mr HALSE (Ringwood) (10:49): It is always a delight to follow the member for Bass and the fine contributions she makes in this chamber. Can I say that I always welcome the opportunity to speak on a bill that demonstrates that the Victorian government is seeking to make the necessary reforms to address all factors of our education system to make sure that students and teachers have the best possible education that they can get and they deserve. I think that is a sentiment that would be echoed across this chamber and was echoed throughout the course of the debate yesterday and just this morning. In the case of this bill the measures that we are discussing are about safety—safety for staff, safety for parents, safety for school students and safety for all involved in the school community. It is a bill that gives appropriate but limited powers to decision-makers to issue school community safety orders, as a number of my colleagues have noted. These orders are to protect school staff and other members of the school community from parents, carers or other adults who engage in harmful, threatening or destructive behaviour on school grounds or other places where school activities occur, and we know that school activities occur across a whole range of premises during the course of a school curriculum and term. It is a response to a review in 2018, as a number of my colleagues have noted, into whether measures like those contained in this bill could play a part in addressing the problem of threatening conduct towards school staff and students. The bill confers powers on authorised persons to issue school community safety orders, as I have noted, to prohibit an adult person who is not a staff member or student of the school—I just want to detail the particulars before I go into some other matters—from entering, remaining on or being within a range of up to 25 metres of a school premises or being at any place where there is a school activity taking place; approaching, telephoning or otherwise contacting a staff member or members or causing a third person to engage in this conduct; using or communicating on a communication platform that is owned or controlled by or established in relation to the school; continuing to engage in threatening or disruptive conduct; or any other prescribed conduct. While I am sure we would agree that this is a commonsense bill—and that has been the tenor of the discussion over the last day and today as well— I am quite sure that anybody in this place would be wary of letting anyone who exhibits the above behaviours near their home, let alone the school that their children or their loved ones attend. I also note that the bill contains improved procedural fairness processes to benefit parents. The scheme is supported by robust and independent internal and external review processes. It authorises a person who is subject to a school community safety order to apply for an internal merit review of the order. This review must be undertaken by, for government schools, the Secretary of the Department of Education and Training or their delegate and, for non-government schools, a person nominated by the principal or the registered proprietor of the school. Existing legal avenues, as a number of my colleagues have noted, have proven to be largely inadequate in addressing the problem that this bill goes to: aggression at schools. Our current laws do not cover the range of behaviours that constitute this aggression, this threatening behaviour that schools must have the ability to act upon and act upon quite quickly. I also note that unlike other existing schemes, the bill proposed here properly balances the need to provide protection to school staff and other members of the school community from risks of harm with the need to acknowledge any relevant circumstances that may have caused or contributed to the behaviour or conduct that is causing harm. I do want to note in the last few minutes the contributions that members on this side of the chamber have made during the course of this bill debate. I want to firstly note that it is a delight to hear from so many educators on our side of the chamber—a number of members of the state Labor government who have been teachers formerly and have been trained as teachers; it is one of the noblest of professions. There is nothing more noble than to be an educator of young people, to provide an

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2003 education to them and to help in the facilitation of their journey through their education process. I note the member for Wendouree kicked off debate and made a number of important points about the dedication of teachers across Victoria, particularly in the context of the pandemic and the many challenges that our teaching community have faced and the work that they continue to do to rock up every day to provide education services to our local students. I note the comment from the member for Cranbourne, who focused on the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and also the mental health and wellbeing of students. On this point I would like to note that I had the privilege a number of weeks ago to join with the Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health, the member for Oakleigh, on a visit to Ringwood Secondary College, and we were taken through the school’s wellbeing centre and process. We were blown away by the proactive work of that school and its principal, Michael Phillips, and the structure that they had set up to help support students and staff members to make sure that they have a feeling of inclusion and that they are welcomed into the school and that issues of wellbeing are dealt with and taken seriously by the school. It goes to the recent focus of this government on improving mental health and the mental health services provided at schools across Victoria with the rollout of mental health practitioners in secondary schools. We were particularly impressed by the mental health practitioner that has been employed by Ringwood Secondary College, a mental health nurse, and the work that she is doing to make sure that students have the support that they need. This bill really is about making sure that those who work in that education environment have the confidence to go to those workplaces and feel safe and acquit their duties, their work, but also that school students do not have to bear the brunt of aggressive or threatening or disruptive behaviour from parents or other adults associated with pupils at particular schools. So I think this is a commonsense piece of legislation. It is one that will assist our schools and our school communities. I commend the minister for bringing it before the house and commend the bill to the house. Mr TAK (Clarinda) (10:59): It is great to follow the fine contribution by the member for Ringwood on this important bill. I am delighted to join to speak in support of the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021. This is a very important bill, one that focuses squarely on the safety of our school staff, students and children. The bill seeks to amend the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to expand the protection afforded to school staff, students and other members of the school community by establishing a scheme which empowers authorised persons such as school principals, senior departmental staff and registered proprietors of non- government schools to take action in response to certain harmful, threatening, abusive or disruptive behaviour engaged in sometimes by parents, carers and other persons on school grounds or other places where school activities are taking place. So it is a very important objective aimed at protecting staff, students and others. Related to this I would like to take this opportunity once again to say thank you to all the Clarinda students, teachers and parents for their efforts during the pandemic. I know that these few weeks have been particularly difficult for everyone, no matter their circumstances, and that remote learning has again been very challenging. So my sincere thanks to everyone for their patience and dedication during these restrictions and of course over the last year. Throughout the pandemic the greatest responsibility of the government has been public wellbeing, including the wellbeing of our students and school staff. That is why the government has always followed and will continue to follow the advice of the Victorian chief health officer. We know that schools play a key role in ensuring the virus does not spread, by limiting the numbers of people moving across the state—so again, a huge thank you to all the Clarinda students, parents and school staff for their hard work, determination and dedication during remote learning and during the pandemic in general. The government will continue to do everything that it can to support students’ mental health and wellbeing, identify those who need help catching up, extend those who have progressed and prepare them for successful transitions. I would like to quickly revisit the package of initiatives which ensure more students can receive more support, including through the Navigator program, Lookout and the mental health practitioners in

BILLS 2004 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 schools initiative. More information on all of the supports for students’ mental health is available from your school and can also be viewed online. Importantly, the package includes the rollout of the mental health practitioners initiative, which has been brought forward to be completed by the end of 2021. This is a $51.2 million initiative which provides funding to schools to recruit a mental health practitioner. It will see qualified mental health professionals on every government secondary school campus across the state, including psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and mental health nurses. Mental health practitioners offer counselling and early intervention services and coordinate support for students with complex needs, linking them with broader allied and community health services. All of Clarinda’s government secondary schools will receive between one and five days a week of support from a mental health practitioner, depending on their size and requirements. This builds on significant investment in student health and wellbeing initiatives in schools, including the Victorian anti-bullying and mental health initiative and the school-wide positive behaviour support program, as well as increased investment in allied health and nursing services. I am very proud of these investments and want to assure all of our parents in the Clarinda electorate that student health and wellbeing remains an utmost priority. The parent resources online on the Department of Education and Training website, particularly those around family health, have been really helpful for me and for my office. I encourage everyone to see what is available online. I will also take this opportunity to say if you have concerns about your child’s mental health, start by talking to your child’s school. They can help you access a range of supports offered by the department. Your family general practitioner is also a good person to talk to about your concerns. Returning to the substance of the bill, these amendments are about a different kind of school safety, but it is extremely important also. Namely, the bill responds to the recommendation of the Protective Schools Ministerial Taskforce on preventing and reducing violence and aggression in schools—that the Minister for Education consider the benefits and risks of legislative change to address threatening or aggressive conduct towards school staff along with other strategies to meet occupational health and safety obligations in schools. Like we heard in the fine contribution by the member for Ringwood earlier, violence and aggression are not acceptable in any workplace. I was appalled to read some of the statistics from the relevant 2019 La Trobe University study. For example, 57.8 per cent of teachers reported experiencing at least one incident of bullying and harassment from a parent, and over 80 per cent of the surveyed teachers had considered leaving their job due to the bullying and harassment that they faced. Parents aggression is more prevalent in primary school, where 62.9 per cent of teachers surveyed reported experiencing bullying or harassment from a parent, guardian or carer in the preceding nine to 12 months. Then further, in 2020, 30 per cent of the surveyed Victorian principals reported experiencing threats of violence and 21 per cent reported experiencing physical violence according to the Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey. This is extremely disappointing and completely unacceptable. So I am proud to see these amendments here today, which will introduce a new part into the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to enable authorised persons to make school community safety orders to prohibit an adult person who is not a staff member or student of the school from engaging in or continuing to engage in specified unacceptable behaviours, including prohibiting their attendance at a school or school-related place or engaging in the behaviour which resulted in the order being issued. In terms of enforcement if a person fails to comply with an order, the secretary of a government school or the proprietor of a non-government school may apply to the Magistrates Court for an order requiring compliance with the order, the imposition of a civil penalty of up to 60 penalty units, or any other order that the court considers to be appropriate. Lastly, in terms of consultation the government has undertaken targeted consultation with a range of stakeholders. This includes WorkSafe, teacher unions, school associations, Victoria Legal Aid, VCAT, the Magistrates Court, the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2005 parent associations, and organisations who represent people who may be the subject of orders. There was a broad range of support for this bill, and I am so very pleased to support this bill. These are important amendments about keeping our schools safe, and I commend the bill to the house. Mr STAIKOS (Bentleigh) (11:08): I rise to also contribute to the debate on the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021. I acknowledge the bipartisan support for what is a very important bill, and I will make a brief contribution as to why I think it is a very important bill. But I want to acknowledge the contribution of the member for Clarinda, particularly where he acknowledged the outstanding efforts of our teachers, our parents and our students during this latest period of remote learning over two weeks, which we hope will be over very soon. Of course, last year’s long period of remote learning took a lot of strength, it took a lot of patience and it took a lot of resilience, but indeed our school communities are resilient and our teachers have worked harder than ever. We have got very dedicated teachers in Victoria, and they made the experience as easy as it possibly could be, and we certainly thank them for that. This bill really is about maintaining safe school communities and giving our schools the necessary powers to ensure that they can maintain a safe environment for their staff, their students and their families. When you consider how big the school system is in Victoria—I think it is something like around a million school students—and if you add to that number their family members, that is a lot of Victorians. The vast majority of them, nearly all of them in fact, are really good people and demonstrate appropriate behaviour at school. The vast majority of those parents set a good example for their children, and that is how it should be. But there have been instances—and I have heard from various principals over the time that I have been in this place—where some petty disputes, some grievances, have over time escalated into some very menacing behaviour, into some unacceptable behaviour, into threats and at times into acts of violence. I was talking to one of my principals yesterday, and she was telling me about an experience where a parent actually climbed onto the principal’s desk. She was telling me that there was another experience that she recalled where two parents arrived at the school with the sole intention of committing a violent act against one of the assistant principals. These things are unacceptable, and it is in those circumstances that we really need the authorised officers, who in most cases will probably be the principals, to have the powers to be able to ban such people from entering the school grounds, because really it is about the safety of the principals themselves, their staff and their students. And because it is about the safety of their students and the school communities, I know the vast majority of parents support the measures in this bill. What this bill will do is of course deliver on a key recommendation of the Protective Schools Ministerial Taskforce of 2018. It will empower authorised persons such as school principals to issue school community safety orders to parents, carers and other people who engage in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour. The new laws will also allow schools to ban parents that engage in threatening or abusive communication through social media and other channels, and I am going to come back to social media in a moment. Schools will be able to impose requirements on the way parents, carers or other adult members of the school community interact with the school or school community, including stopping them from entering school grounds or other locations where school events are occurring if reasonably necessary. Schools must ensure people issued with the new orders are still able to communicate with the school, be informed about the child’s education and make arrangements to ensure the child’s attendance at the school and school activities. The changes build on existing legislation and will provide greater procedural fairness to parents, carers and other adult members of the school community, and this includes an internal merits review as well as an external review at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if the person does not agree with the outcome. If the person fails to comply with a school community safety order, an application can be made to the Magistrates Court for an order requiring compliance, a civil penalty of up to 60 penalty units or any other order that the court considers appropriate. Those really are reasonable

BILLS 2006 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 measures. As I said, when you are considering the safety and security of literally millions of Victorians, these measures are absolutely reasonable. I think it is fair to say over the last few years or so, certainly in the time I have been a member of Parliament, we have noticed the temperature has gone up in terms of a level of nastiness out there. We see it on social media, we see it in our email inboxes, we see it on the phones in our office and certainly as politicians we learn to put up with that. But once you talk to people in our school system, once you talk to principals, you begin to see that this sort of behaviour also does arise from time to time amongst our school principals. I am not a parent, but you do not need to be a parent to know that for parents the most important thing in their life is their children. So it stands to reason in some perhaps rare circumstances at schools that sometimes all perspective, all rationality, is thrown out the window. But that is no excuse for taking a grievance that should be able to be settled in a civil manner with the people charged with the responsibility of educating your child and then escalating that grievance into menacing behaviour or a violent act or abusive conduct. That is unacceptable, and that is what we are seeking to address in this bill. I recall very early on during my time in this place a number of parents from one particular school, which I will not name, coming to see me with a number of complaints about a particular staff member of that school. They literally came with binders full of information and evidence as to why their grievances carried weight. Then I also had other parents come to see me to give another perspective of that particular grievance. I am not going to go into too many details, but suffice it to say it was, I thought, very, very unedifying and did not really set a great example for the students at that school. We need to make sure that we are nipping those things in the bud and making sure that those grievances can be settled much earlier in the piece before they cause any lasting harm to any of the parties involved. On social media, I have always said that it can be used for good as well as evil, and we see in our local communities the good that social media can achieve in terms of achieving community action, getting people connected and getting people to work together. There is a lot of good. Well, I guess this is a debatable point, but I think the members of this house do a lot of good with their own social media accounts by informing the community of what they are doing, what their role entails and things that they are working on and achieving for their communities. But social media can also be used to stir up a lynch mob and to abuse and to bully and to intimidate. Unfortunately we see some of that in our school communities as well. Another principal once told me of a very horrible situation where one of their staff was defamed on a parent’s social media account. That is the sort of stuff we have got to put an end to. I think that the measures in this bill will go a long way to doing that, and I am very glad to see that these measures have bipartisan support and therefore will pass this Parliament. Once again I do want to thank and acknowledge all of our school communities across Victoria. They have done it tough. It has been a very, very difficult experience for them. They have risen to the challenge. Just last week I met on Zoom with a group of teachers from in and around my electorate, and when you sit down and talk to a teacher you really do get to know the level on which they go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day for their students. I do not think any teacher goes into it for the money. They go into it for the vocation. They go into it because they want to teach and they want to contribute to the wellbeing of the next generation. It is a noble profession. It is an admirable profession. They do need to be treated better and we always need to find ways of treating our teachers better. This bill is one of those ways. I commend the bill to the house, and I wish it a speedy passage. Mr HAMER (Box Hill) (11:18): I too rise to speak on the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021, and it is always a pleasure to follow the member for Bentleigh, who has an enormous pride in and has done an enormous amount of work for all of his schools in his local electorate and I am sure he will continue to bat for them and promote them in this house.

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The purpose of the bill, as has been described before, is that it is an unequivocal declaration that workplace bullying and harassment of education staff, including teachers, principals and aides, is not on. We as the Andrews government are investing heavily in providing the infrastructure that is needed to build the Education State, but we are also investing in the people who deliver their hard work and dedication to educating our children and our young adults. We all deserve to work and have a safe workplace. There is a range of legislation that has come into this house even just in the two-and-a-bit years that I have been here where we have talked about particularly the physical safety—improving the physical safety of workers in their workplaces—and also protection against bullying and harassment in the workplace, particularly from work colleagues. But I must say, looking at the broader society, my observations over the last couple of years are that I guess I have felt a little bit concerned about issues even down at the supermarket—some supermarkets, and including obviously unions such as the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, have needed to be much more open in their campaigns about not abusing staff. You would think it would be second nature, and it is second nature to most people in our community, but unfortunately some of this behaviour does occur, particularly in front-facing roles, customer-facing roles, in the healthcare system, in the retail sector and then of course in our education sector as well. As the member for Bentleigh identified, more than a million students are attending schools right across Victoria, and when you add all of the families connected with those schools it is a huge community. A huge percentage of the Victorian population has a connection with a school community, whether it is as a student, as a staff member or as a parent or close relative of one of those cohorts. Just reading some of the statistics about the aggression in our school system, a La Trobe University study surveyed Australian teachers on their experiences of bullying and harassment in a nine- to 12- month period during 2017–18 and found that over 80 per cent of those surveyed had considered leaving their job due to the bullying and harassment they faced, and over half reported this unacceptable behaviour coming from both students and parents. Another example is the findings of the 2020 Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, where 30 per cent of surveyed Victorian principals reported experiencing threats of violence and 21 per cent had actually experienced physical violence. Now, this is not to say that most people in the school community are acting in this way. My expectation is that the vast majority of parents are acting in a very responsible way. At the end of the day, all staff and all parents are after the same thing. They are wanting the best thing for their children. But sometimes there is a boundary that is crossed. Even in my own electorate and in my own time I have been told of a number of examples where individuals have been told to leave the premises or had a ban put on them from entering the school premises because of previous behaviours directed towards staff members. And there are other examples where there is concerted undermining of the efforts of principals or various individual staff members in terms of not being able to achieve what a particular parent or parent group might want to achieve. I think this is where this bill is really important. It does make provision for principals to be empowered to protect their staff, their students and their school community by expanding their current powers. In some of the cases that I mentioned you are reliant on a broader suite of legislation that is not really directed at the particular problem at hand. It could be either a trespass warning notice under the Summary Offences Act 1966, an intervention order under the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010 or a general criminal offence, if it indeed gets to that stage, under the Crimes Act 1958. Now, my understanding is that none of those pieces of legislation are specifically related to the situation within a school community. They have limited measures to afford procedural fairness to the person who is impacted, and my expectation is that because of the type of charge, they would often rely on it becoming more of a police matter before that action is taken, which obviously brings it to a much more complex level and makes it a much more complex case to be decided. So the powers that are going to be introduced as part of this bill certainly make the process a lot simpler and easier and provide that avenue for procedural fairness and review, but at the heart of it they make sure that the teaching staff and people

BILLS 2008 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 in our education system are protected and, most importantly, set an example to the students and the entire school community of how important it is to call out and prevent these issues from occurring. In the short time that I have left I do want to particularly acknowledge and thank all of the schools in the Box Hill electorate—the staff and the educators at those schools—for once again transitioning to remote learning over the last couple of weeks. They have put in an enormous effort not only over the last couple of weeks but over the last 12 to 18 months in transitioning from a traditional learning environment to a remote learning environment. It has certainly, obviously, had its challenges from a student perspective, from a staff perspective and from a parent perspective. I think that some of the incidents that we have seen may have been due to the difficulty and challenges that particularly parents at home may have faced. I have spoken to many principals who have been, I guess, receiving that feedback from parents. The way that they have been able to handle and manage it across many hundreds of families, keep all of those families informed and continue to run the education has been fantastic. Ms GREEN (Yan Yean) (11:28): It is with great pleasure that I follow on from my great friend the member for Box Hill, who always makes a considered contribution in this house, to join the debate on the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021. From when the Andrews Labor government was elected in 2014, we nailed our colours to the mast and we said that we would be the Education State. So this is just another piece of a great reform that makes our schools and our school communities the best places they can be. I am enormously proud of the work of all school communities, but I particularly want to give a shout- out to school principals, to the administrative and support staff and especially to our teachers, our tutors that are newly into the schools, our doctors in schools, our nurses in schools—we have psychologists and social workers in schools. They have always done a magnificent job, but there has never been a greater set of challenges than what has beset our school communities in the last 12 months. The member for Ringwood is nodding along there, and I did hear his great contribution before. Having represented growing communities for going on 19 years now, just like my friend the Minister for Child Protection, who is at the table, we have been around— Mr Donnellan: Old and worn out. Ms GREEN: He says he is old and worn out. He is always prone to exaggeration, but I am certainly not. I think those of us who represent growth communities are constantly energised by the new communities that come in. I know that he and the member for Narre Warren South and others of us, especially the member for Bass, who represents the most populated electorate in the state—over 70 000 electors call the Bass electorate home; the Yan Yean electorate has over 64 000 electors— understand that a new school is the most welcomed community infrastructure and asset for a new community. It is what grows and draws people together. It is where friendships are forged amongst the new staff. Just imagine what it is like with the opening of a new school. Not only do all the staff have to get to know each one of the children in the class but they have to get to know each one of the staff, because they are a brand new school. The faces you see at the gate of a brand new school—it is just the sight of the most unmitigated joy, and it really brings people together with friendships amongst the children, the staff and the parents. If there is a local cafe, shop or hairdresser nearby, you really see the excitement and the brightness on the faces in the bringing together of that community. There is the really good side, but then there is the minority of parents that can cause great distress to these school communities and in particular to our principals and our staff. I just do not get the impression that these sorts of things occurred when I was growing up. It was a long time ago. I think it would have been a very, very rare occurrence. There was a great deal of respect for our educators and the place they held in our community. Overall that is still the case. I heard the member for Altona in her contribution yesterday. She talked about the decline of civility in some parts of our community. Sometimes people just do not have the skills or use the skills at their disposal to go about problem resolution in a sensible and non-confrontational way. Sometimes it is just that those people are bereft of manners. We know through the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System that there

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2009 are a number of people in our community who otherwise would be extremely well mannered, but when they might be having an acute mental health episode they do not necessarily handle things in the way that they normally would—so it means that we need a system that protects. We have got to understand that the government of Victoria is one of the biggest employers in the state, but I am glad to see that this will have some impact in the non-government sector as well. These staff deserve a safe and healthy workplace. I mention new communities. It is often really the leaders in new communities that get very overloaded, particularly principals—wonderful principals like Jason McBean at Laurimar Primary School. Laurimar is in its 12th year now. Jason started there as the assistant principal and now is the principal. There are 1000 children there. That is a massive community that Jason and the school council lead there—and the magnificent staff. Then I look at Hazel Glen College up the road. They have over 3000 students, with Anthony Stockwell there. That is more than the population of Port Fairy, just in the number of students—then you add the parent body and the staff, and you are talking of a population that is probably heading towards that of Swan Hill that this principal, Anthony Stockwell, and his staff are having to deal with. Wallan Secondary, Whittlesea Secondary College and Diamond Valley College are all schools around the 600 to 800 mark. Mernda Primary School has 1000 students as well. Mernda Central College has over 2000 students this year, in only its fifth year of operation, and has year 12 students for the first time. At Mernda Park Primary School, Mary Ryan does a fantastic job. At Doreen Primary, one of the smaller schools, Glenn Simondson has been there forever and a day, and he is the go-to person—the principal. There is Diamond Creek Primary, Diamond Creek East, Yarrambat Primary, Upper Plenty Primary and Whittlesea Primary. Hurstbridge Primary—Chris Tatnall does an enormous job there. They are the leaders, but they should not have to be the arbiters of people’s bad behaviour. I am really glad that this proposal, amending the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, authorises persons to make school community safety orders and that these authorised persons are not automatically the principal. The principal should not have to be placed in this position, and the staff—the teaching staff, the business managers—should not have to be placed in this position. I am really glad that these measures will dovetail in with the outcomes of the mental health royal commission, and I am really proud that the Acting Premier is just doing an outstanding job at the moment not only as the Acting Premier but as the longstanding Minister for Education and also the Minister for Mental Health. Our schools are going to be really important in terms of the services that they are going to provide to support our communities, but we still need to do the right thing and protect the physical and mental health of their staff. I want to pay tribute to the working party that has come up with the safety at work for school staff communication strategy, which will make everyone aware of this. Look, I really call on parents. There are ways that you can resolve disputes, and you are really not helping your child if you show up with all guns blazing—I mean metaphorically. Really, let us try and be calmer and kinder to everyone in our community. We are all doing it tough. Every human being on the planet is doing it tough in the face of this pandemic. We have all got issues in our lives—you know, grandma is not well, dad might be in palliative care—and that can make it tough, but it can be the same for our staff as well. I am so proud that our Education State is not only putting our students first but putting our fantastic educators first by introducing this legislation. I commend everyone who has been involved. I commend the bill to the house, and I wish it speedy passage. Ms HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (11:38): I also rise to speak on the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021. I want to start with the Australian Principal Occupational, Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, and this says that 40 per cent of principals had reported that they had been exposed to threats of, or actual, physical violence from students and parents. This prompted a response from the Victorian Labor government to establish a ministerial task force on the issue of protective schools, and that allowed for extensive consultation to

BILLS 2010 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 discuss the issue of violence and bullying in schools against principals, teachers and staff and to look at the extent of the problem and ways to address it. This is how this bill started off in the early stages. When I think about the results of this survey of principals it is just such a shocking and terrible situation—that principals that are working very hard for our children, our kids, the next generation, to ensure that they have a really well rounded, fantastic education, which we know leads to much greater opportunities later in life, are the subject of bullying and threats and actual violence as well is just a terrible thought. Normally when I am talking in the chamber, I like to be talking about the great parts of our Education State, such as all the brand new schools that are being built in the Thomastown electorate, like Wollert East primary and Wollert East secondary. We have got Edgars Creek primary and secondary now up in the new growth area, as well as all the redevelopment of the older and established schools in the older parts of the electorate. I think in the last two budgets something like $80 million has been spent on redeveloping schools for the enjoyment of the teachers, staff and students that live in the local area. That is the good news about our education system, but the bill we are talking about today is, sadly, the bad part, where we see the terrible abuse that is going on in schools. We really need to do something to stop that and to make sure that, as everybody is entitled to, teachers, staff, students and principals all have a safe work environment and a work environment that is pleasant and people can enjoy rather than worrying about coming to work and what might happen. This bill that we are debating today arose from the evidence that there is a need to protect staff in schools, and of course this is only for a very small proportion of our society—the parents or students. It is not widespread, which is good, but we certainly need to do something to make sure all workplaces are safe. The state government is very committed to that, and this is why we are introducing the legislation that we are debating today. I will just go through in a bit of detail the aspects of the bill and what it does and then talk a little bit also about the safeguards, because of course we want to make sure that parents still have the right to make complaints and to raise concerns that they might have about the welfare or the education of their children or those that they are caring for. But that has to be balanced with the need to make sure that those complaints or issues that are raised proceed in a respectful way that is not threatening and does not make school staff feel unsafe because of the way that those complaints are presented. I suppose the fundamental part of the bill is that it is going to establish a school community safety order scheme, which will protect school staff, teachers and principals. This allows for a community safety order that prevents a parent or an individual—the offender or the perpetrator of the abuse or threats or whatever—from being able to attend the school or in fact to go to places where school activities may be undertaken. This community safety order, the immediate one, can last up to 14 days, and it is only authorised persons that are able to issue these orders. Under the definition in the act an authorised person is either a school principal; the Secretary of the Department of Education and Training; when it comes to non-government schools, the registered proprietor of a non-government school; or any person or class of persons that is nominated by the department’s secretary. The reason to have quite a widespread list of authorised persons of course is to make sure that there is no conflict of interest. For example, if a principal is subjected to the bullying themselves, then it may be another authorised officer that would seek to create or establish the school community safety order rather than the individual who is directly affected by it. As I think the member for Yan Yean was saying, we do not want to always put the principal or particular people within the school in the position where they have to initiate these orders. Sometimes it may be better coming from someone a little further removed. As I have said, the whole purpose of this legislation is to ensure that school staff have a right to a safe work environment and that they ought not be subjected to abuse, bullying, violence or threats of violence—and again, it is very sad that we have to implement such legislation as this, but we need to make sure that teachers, principals and school staff are all kept safe. Now, teachers and staff in schools

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2011 really should be revered rather than abused. They should be respected and they should be valued for the work that they do in teaching our children. They are often not just doing education roles but they are acting as role models and they are supporting the networks for things that go way beyond the scope of teaching. This is what we encourage in our schools and of school staff, teachers and principals, and we should be making sure that they are left to do that work without threats of abuse and intimidation. But in the cases when it happens, it cannot be ignored and we need to do something about it. There is of course current legislation around these matters, but it is not very flexible and also the threshold of criminality is much higher. And in some of these cases, while it may not be assault but is certainly threatening and bullying, there ought to be legislation like this that prevents that, whereas the current legislation, which is more within the realms of the police and criminal activity, really does not cater for what we have in the situations in schools—although there can be cases when that does happen, and in those cases it will be the police that are involved and it will be the criminal jurisdiction that will be used. As I mentioned earlier, there is the immediate school community safety order that is contained within this bill that we are debating. It talks about not being able to enter the school premises or come within 25 metres of the school premises or of a place where a school activity is taking place. Now, there has been concern noted by the government from parents groups and also some human rights organisations, and as a result of that consultation and the concerns that have been raised, there are a number of safeguards to be put on these community orders to ensure that parents can continue to raise concerns, make complaints and also be involved in the education of their children or those that they are caring for. There is a right of appeal—for example, an initial internal appeal and then after that an appeal through VCAT. There will be ministerial guidelines that will help schools operate in a consistent manner as well as ensuring that there is procedural fairness and the right to be heard and also embedding the fact that parents, even if they are subject to community orders, still have a right to have some involvement in the education of their children and have an interest and need to get reports from the schools. Ms HALL (Footscray) (11:48): I am very pleased to make a contribution to the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Protection of School Communities) Bill 2021. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of members who have worked themselves as educators in our public school system as well as in our independent and Catholic systems. It was great to hear yesterday the contribution of the member for Hawthorn. I always really enjoy listening to his reflections on his very long and distinguished career as a teacher and as a principal. I think in 2021 it is a time when as parents and as a community we have never had more respect for the work of teachers and what they do for our children. I know this just from this last week doing some homeschooling myself with my prep. We were commenting as a family that it is a tough job. We are indebted to the work of our teachers, and I know that that work last year in particular came into sharp focus for everyone as they were working from home and teaching their kids at home. There is nothing quite as interesting as watching a prep roll call take place on Webex. It has really been an amazing effort by all of our teachers, and I think the parents in the Footscray community are very proud of the work of our local teachers during COVID. I got involved in politics through my mother’s activism and work as a delegate for the Australian Education Union. My mum had a very lengthy career in the public education system. For 30 years she worked as a primary school teacher, during a time when there was a lot of change in the public education system. I remember my mum talking about respect in education and that throughout her career she had seen a decline in the respect that was extended from some parents to teachers. Teaching, in her view, used to feel like it was a noble profession, and towards the end of her career I think she experienced, as all teachers do unfortunately to some extent, bullying. This is something that this bill seeks to rectify. In many ways it is an OH&S bill, but it is also making sure that our schools are places where the work of our educators, who are fine public servants, is respected by school communities and by parents.

BILLS 2012 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

I think the Andrews Labor government is absolutely committed to making Victoria an Education State and elevating the work of our educators, whether it is through enhanced training—we have introduced a bill this week that goes to providing that additional support and training to teachers who are experts in their field and to helping elevate their work, and that is really exciting—or of course our investment in the bricks and mortar, the facilities that they work in and that our students learn in. This is one extra element, and I am pleased that it has extensive support from stakeholders who have been consulted in the process of preparing this bill. Protecting the occupational health and safety of our teachers is of the utmost importance. The bill will empower authorised persons, such as school principals, to issue what has been called a school community safety order to parents, carers and other people who engage in harmful, threatening or abusive behaviour. As many of my colleagues and those opposite have noted throughout this debate, unfortunately this is something that we hear from our school principals and our teachers and their union representatives—that increasingly the way some parents or carers interact with teachers is unacceptable and has an impact not just on that teacher. The will to turn up to school and continue with the very hard work that they do must be all the more difficult when there is a parent or a carer, who in essence is an important stakeholder, making that work all the more difficult. As I mentioned, it is bullying. So these new laws will allow schools to ban parents that engage in threatening or abusive communications through social media or other channels, and I know as a parent this is another really important element. You do sometimes unfortunately see things on social media where people provide commentary around the work of teachers at local schools. As politicians I think we expect a bit of personal commentary about our work performance on social media, but it is absolutely unacceptable for teachers to have to put up with that. If a person fails to comply with a school community safety order, an application can be made to the Magistrates Court for an order requiring compliance, a civil penalty of up to 60 penalty units or any other order that the court considers appropriate. The bill is part of a broader strategy to target the small minority of parents—and it is a small minority—carers and other members of school communities who engage in this sort of inappropriate behaviour. There has been targeted consultation, as I mentioned, with stakeholders including teachers unions, school associations, parent associations, Victoria Legal Aid, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Foundation House, the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Victorian Multicultural Commission. I think this bill is such an important step to elevating teaching as a profession in this state. As I mentioned, I know we all have so much respect for the work of our local teachers, especially after the year we have all been through with homeschooling. But this is something that is a disincentive to getting into the teaching profession, so I am really pleased to support this bill. No-one should be intimidated at work or at school, and the school communities are such a microcosm of our broader community. I know that the beautiful local school that my daughter attends is a place that is really inclusive and supportive, and I would be horrified if I heard that one of the wonderful teachers at that school experienced this sort of bullying. Calling it out is very important. So I am absolutely proud to be part of a government that is truly delivering an Education State, not just in Footscray but all across Melbourne and Victoria, and this is an important component of that suite of reforms. I wish it a speedy passage. Mr DONNELLAN (Narre Warren North—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers) (11:58): I move:

That the debate be now adjourned. Motion agreed to and debate adjourned. Ordered that debate be adjourned until later this day.

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2013

CHILD WELLBEING AND SAFETY (CHILD SAFE STANDARDS COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Second reading Debate resumed on motion of Mr DONNELLAN: That this bill be now read a second time. Ms KEALY (Lowan) (11:59): Child protection is so important. It is something that we are all judged upon—how we care for the most vulnerable in our community. We know unfortunately that some children are not able to get the very best start in life. In fact some children are born into scenarios that are dangerous for them, that put their safety at risk, and as a community we have an obligation to make sure that these children, above all, are cared for in a way that makes sure that they are kept safe and protected from harm—whether that is physical harm or being sexually abused or physically abused, and that they have the simple things like being fed and watered and having a roof over their heads. But keeping children safe is perhaps one of the most important jobs that we have got and particularly that the Victorian government has. Unfortunately child protection is in crisis in the state of Victoria. While we are talking about a really important bill today, the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021, which will bring in a number of important changes to legislation and improve the legislative framework around supporting children and protecting children, we cannot simply avert our eyes and say ‘This is the best that we can do in Victoria’. We cannot do that when we know that 65 children known to child protection died last year alone—65 lives lost. We are debating a bill which looks at putting a greater onus on 50 000 organisations around the state, but it exempts perhaps the one department that has been found over and over again to be negligent in its duties to protect vulnerable children. That is the government’s own department, which has been found time and time again to be doing the wrong thing—to be not putting the safety of children first, particularly vulnerable children. We had yet another story issued yesterday on the back of a horrific issue, a breach of confidentiality, which occurred two years ago where a paedophile accessed the client relationship information system for service providers, the child protection database. They then took that information and they accessed the records of 43 vulnerable children. They stalked a young boy, a 13-year-old, who they found on the list. They met with them at Flinders Street station. They took them to a hotel room and raped them. Yesterday we found that the department, in a gross act of negligence, had not informed those 43 children or their carers of that confidentiality breach, that a paedophile had accessed their personal information. There still remained 11 children that had not been informed, and even late yesterday the update was there were still six children who had not been informed of this gross breach of their confidentiality. Given that, in my understanding, the perpetrator is due for release relatively soon, we need to make sure these children are protected. The number one job of the department is to keep vulnerable children safe, and this bill does not address or strengthen this gross breach which occurred two years ago—the breach is still occurring today—and, more so, the fact that the department has continually lied to the oversight watchdogs around this matter. This is not good enough in Victoria. If we are going to bring changes around the child safe standards, let us make sure it is not just the 50 000 organisations. Let us include the department and make sure they are held to the same level of accountability. That is their job; it is what they are paid to do. The Minister for Child Protection is actually at the table today, and I am so thankful he is here because we need to do better. You need to do better. Children are dying on your watch. There are children who had their confidentiality breached by a paedophile two years ago, and the minister’s department still has not done its job. It is the minister’s job to enforce that, and you are not fit to hold your office if you cannot enforce that. I am so disgusted by this. I was absolutely heartbroken for those children because they deserve the government’s support. Two years ago this was known, and still two years later it has not been dealt with—and again in legislation today it is not being dealt with.

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I want to go to the elements of the bill and then I want to come back to some of the key issues we have got around protection of children in Victoria, because it is an absolute disgrace—an absolute disgrace. The main purpose of this bill is to amend the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 and the Education and Training Reform Act 2006—to amend the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act to increase monitoring and enforcement powers in relation to compliance with the child safe standards; to amend the ETR act to include requirements for relevant entities to comply with the standards and provide for monitoring and enforcement powers relating to the standards; and to amend the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act to provide for information collection, disclosure, use and reporting in relation to the new and amended provisions in the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act and the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. In particular the Child Welfare and Safety Act establishes principles for the wellbeing of children. It provides for the minister to make the standards and for the commissioner for children and young people and other regulatory bodies to monitor and enforce compliance by certain entities within the standards. The object of the standards is to support cultural change in organisations so that they embed child safety into everyday thinking and practice. The standards support organisations to be safer for children by requiring them to implement policies and procedures to prevent, respond to and report allegations of child abuse. Of course these standards, as I referred to in my opening remarks, are relevant to 50 000 organisations, and that is actually referred to in the minister’s own second-reading speech, which I will refer to now:

The overarching objective of the Child Safe Standards is to support cultural change in organisations so that they embed child safety into every day thinking and practice. They support organisations to be safer for children by requiring them to implement policies and procedures to prevent, respond to, and report allegations of child abuse. Again, I make my point. If we are holding 50 000 organisations across the state, private entities across the state, to ensure that they prevent, respond to and report allegations of child abuse, why is the department not acting on their own requirement in their own time? Why is the government not doing this? Why are they lying to the watchdogs? It does not make any difference in this legislation where the key issue is around protecting vulnerable children. It is not dealing with the negligence within the minister’s own department, and it is his responsibility at the end of the day. Again, I refer to the minister’s second-reading speech:

A comprehensive regulatory framework is required to ensure that organisations are supported to comply with the child safe standards by consciously and systematically creating conditions that prevent child abuse, promote child safety, and properly respond to allegations of child abuse. It is also required to address those organisations that fail to provide a safe environment for children and young people. The absolutely egregious nature of the words of the minister—he is trying to say that these organisations are the ones that are failing to provide a safe environment for children and young people when just yesterday his own department was found guilty of actually doing exactly what he is accusing everybody else of doing. Surely he must lead by example. Surely the minister should be out there when he has had two years notice to make sure that these confidential records of vulnerable children in Victoria that were accessed by a paedophile were responded to in an appropriate manner, let alone in a timely manner. We have still got six kids out there who have had their details accessed—we do not know how much detail this person has got, but a paedophile has accessed their data, these vulnerable children—and they do not even know. They do not even know that a paedophile has seen their files, and yet the minister is here putting in a bill and putting a second-reading speech forward to say, ‘Everybody else needs to do better, and this is what we really need to strive for’. Hey, Minister, do your job. Get your own people who report to you to do their job and to respond to child abuse and paedophiles accessing private and confidential data in an inappropriate way. Someone’s head should roll, and it should be the minister after two years. He is not fit to be in the job because he is not protecting children. Again, I go on with the ministers second-reading speech:

The initiatives in this bill are significant. They will support the 50,000 organisations required to comply with the Standards to make improvements to embed child safety into everyday thinking and practice. The Commission’s state-wide leadership role and the new functions for regulators will support the diverse range

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of Victorian entities that provide services to children and young people to comply with the Standards and promote consistent child safety outcomes across the State. Every single Labor backbencher gets up and reads exactly the same speech, which always happens on every bill. They have a very, very important job in this place. They have a very, very important job, and that is to explain why those child safe standards should only apply to the 50 000 organisations, private organisations, and why they should not apply to their own department. Why is it not good enough to hold the department to account for the complete negligence when it comes to protecting the information of vulnerable children that are in their care and they have knowledge of, particularly when the oversight was their fault? That is what I am asking for. I am asking for the department to be held to the same account as private organisations, and I have absolutely no objection to private organisations being held to account. In fact there is overwhelming community support and sector support for the amendments which are included within this bill. There is a requirement—and what has been called for by the sector is—to ensure that there are adequate resources for these organisations so that they can be compliant, so that they can make sure that they do put child welfare and wellbeing front and centre when they consider every action that they do and that there are clear and transparent reporting requirements within those organisations and then of course sufficient oversight. Recommendation 7 of the review of child safe standards was around governance and safety, and this is an essential element when it comes to what we do and how we do it in terms of what the department’s responsibility is. We did not see that—and we have not seen it. And now in Victoria we have just an absolutely shameful record when it comes to protecting vulnerable children. Last year 65 vulnerable children known to child protection died in just one year. Reports have found that the department was far too slow to act, and of course when there is any delay at all in intervening when there are reports of children who are at risk, they are left for additional days, weeks, months, even years in some circumstances, in dangerous environments that might put their welfare and safety at risk in terms of continuing to be sexually abused, neglected, physically abused, not supported, not sent to school and not fed properly. There can be many, many other elements which impact on their lives on an ongoing basis. We know the trauma that occurs in childhood can cause lifetime harms if there is not early intervention and it is not addressed. We found that out through the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. It was emphasised that unless we intervene early and provide that support to children and young adults, it makes it much, much harder to intervene and provide appropriate treatment or interventions later on in life. The report also found that children were put in placements with unfit carers, people who were not fit to do the job of raising these children. This was also exacerbated of course by lockdown, and Victoria is still under lockdown. Melbourne is under an extreme lockdown, but there are restrictions continuing across the state. And not having children able to access other supports in their lives, including their friends, the parents of their friends, teachers and other support workers at the school, is taking away important social supports for these children—people in whom they may have confidence to talk about what is going wrong at home and where they might need some additional support. And it is an opportunity for them to fly that red flag to say, ‘I’m being very poorly treated, and I need to be moved to a safer place. I need care’. And that has been taken away during the lockdown period. Something that is continually raised with me is that we have this myopic view of lockdowns and how we deal with the coronavirus pandemic—that it is only through the logic of ‘We stop the spread of the virus, and that will keep people safe’. But we have completely overlooked some of the other elements of lockdown and how we are not keeping people safe. The impacts on mental health are widely known, particularly youth mental health. Kids presenting for self-harm and suicide attempts have increased by over 50 per cent during lockdown. This is causing immense harm. So it is not just about keeping the community safe from coronavirus, it is maintaining people’s mental health and particularly that of our young people. We know family violence has dramatically increased during lockdowns. We are not prioritising the safety of those women and children. That must be a priority, and we need to shift this view that lockdown should be the first response. It should absolutely be the last response, because in itself it causes enormous harm to our people.

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There are far fewer staff working in child protection now than there were in previous years. In fact in 2019–20 there were 71 fewer staff than the year prior, so not only do we have this scenario where we have greater pressures on children who are vulnerable and in environments where they need intervention, care and support, but there are less people who are able to do so. So we need to make sure that we put those supports in there and have people on the front line. We do not need to build another great big bureaucracy where things are going on in big offices paid for by the department. We need the department to do its job, absolutely, but we need people on the front line and these kids to be able to get the support they need when they need it. We have seen horrific outcomes in regard to sexual assaults against children during the lockdown period. The Crime Statistics Agency has reported an 88 per cent increase in child sexual assaults. That is simply an abomination and a horrific reflection upon the government—an 88 per cent increase in sexual assaults on children last year. I cannot even fathom how there is not some sort of intervening inquiry or royal commission into the horrors that are happening to this very, very vulnerable group of children who we have such a great responsibility to protect. We know of reports of children being groomed and abducted from child protection facilities before being forced into paedophile prostitution rings. And as I have referred to, we now have revelations that the department itself—the government— has lied to two watchdogs during investigations regarding a paedophile accessing a confidential database of vulnerable children. The department lied to the commissioner for young people and the information commissioner by saying it had contacted all children who had been affected by this data and confidentiality breach when it simply had not done so. About a quarter of those children had not been contacted almost two years later. If we are going to put an increased onus of disclosure and reporting and accountability on private organisations, then let us actually be honest about where the problem is. We have got a massive problem within this government department. We have got a massive problem where we have got the government lying to the oversight watchdogs. That is not keeping children safe. That is not keeping children safe at all, and in fact it is resulting in horrific outcomes. As I have gone through today, the numbers are stark: 65 vulnerable children known to child protection died last year; an 88 per cent increase in child sexual assaults against children last year, as reported by the Crime Statistics Agency; and now a massive breach of confidential information about vulnerable children, which was not dealt with appropriately by the government department. And again, with the opportunity of this legislation before us today, it does not close out that loophole. I would like to give credit to the people who worked on the Betrayal of Trust report back in 2013. That was a harrowing committee to form part of. It was headed up by Ms Georgie Crozier of the other place; it was chaired by Georgie. But also someone who is a good friend of mine, David O’Brien, the former Nationals member for Western Victoria Region, was on that committee. I have spoken to Mr O’Brien on a number of occasions around his work on that committee, and there is no doubt that anybody who was involved in hearing those harrowing stories of abuse and neglect of children who suffered abuse by religious and other non-government organisations has certainly felt the impact of that and will continue to carry that with them until the end of time. I know from speaking to Ms Crozier and Mr O’Brien that certainly their belief is that it is one thing to be struck by the depths of abuse and the harm that was caused to vulnerable children but that is nothing compared to having that trauma and abuse inflicted on you. I know of a number of people within my electorate who identify as forgotten Australians or who have been victims of abuse within foster care or a care situation and the harm done to them, and while some of them have moved on with their life and worked through it, there are many who have not. There is no doubt that even the people who say they are working through it and getting on, once you start talking you hear of the trauma that they have been exposed to. For vulnerable kids in particular, who do not get a choice about which home they get born into and the environment that they are in, they often cannot leave that environment—they simply are not equipped to do so—and if they do leave, they are often homeless for either a short time or an extended period of time. These are the vulnerable

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2017 children that the department, the government, has an obligation to provide that safety net to, to provide that support and to provide everything that that young person needs to help them and ensure that they have the best possible opportunities in life. So often we get it right. These 50 000 organisations that were referred to so often are doing the right thing and they are bringing out the best in absolutely every child that they are involved with, but there are bad people out there who are sinister in their thoughts and actions and who must be weeded out. We need to support all of these organisations to make sure they are best equipped to identify these snakes who work within this sector, who actually target this sector because they see that it is an opportunity to work more closely with children and who are malicious and have intent about how they target and interact with children and prey on our most vulnerable. We need to support these organisations so that they can also do their best, because they want to make sure that they can continue their great work. It does not matter whether it is a sporting club, Scouts and Guides or those that work to directly support vulnerable children—they all want to be doing the very, very best they can to continue that support, leadership and mentorship and to provide these kids with additional life skills, leadership skills and teamwork skills as well. We want to be able to take all of the good they do and just try and do what we can to minimise the bad. That is why the child safe standards are fantastic. They do seek to achieve that. Any strengthening of those standards is of course extraordinarily welcome. We should be doing all we can to implement all the recommendations of the Betrayal of Trust report because it was tabled some time ago now—back in 2013. We do need to take those steps to make sure that our vulnerable children are protected, but importantly we need to make sure that this does not apply to a select few. It is just important, no matter whether it is in the public sector or the private sector, that we do all we can to keep the snakes out— that we keep out the people that are deliberately targeting the most vulnerable children in our community. Whatever we can do to do that, we must. I again call on the minister and other speakers on this bill—I think we will be debating the bill until the end of the day, so that gives many the opportunity to speak on this bill—to ensure that we have a commitment from the government today that these standards will be held in the highest regard by the department, as they will be for the 50 000 organisations that they will impact. We must ensure that we embed that priority of child safety into everyday thinking in every single organisation—not just in these 50 000 organisations but in every community. Whether it is in the private sector, whether it is in the everyday thinking in what we do in our communities, in our workplaces—it does not matter where it is—child safety must always be front of mind. I cannot see why there would be dissent in the government as to this being applied to the department itself. Additionally, if there are private organisations that are not compliant with this regulatory scheme—not disclosing the appropriate information, not following through on follow-up regulations within a timely manner or not being honest in their correspondence with the oversight watchdogs, including the Commission for Children and Young People and the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner—then there must be penalties associated with that. There must be. We lead as parliamentarians but particularly as the government. It is our job to lead by example, and when we see news reports as we did yesterday that the government is misleading and lying to commissioners who are responsible for the protection of children and information in Victoria, then it really does question the onus that other organisations have. If the government are not bothering to do it, then why should they? We must have honesty and transparency in every step of what we do, and the government, above all, has that obligation, particularly when it comes to vulnerable children. I cannot emphasise that deeply enough, and so I urge the government. Of course this bill will pass this chamber. It is welcomed in so many ways because the child safe standards are important, and they are important to make sure that we have the strongest possible safety net for vulnerable children, that they can access the best parts of life without having to be exposed to some of the worst elements and that they certainly are protected, particularly from sexual predators

BILLS 2018 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 but also from other physical harms and environmental harms in their own homes. I do ask that the government take some of their own advice, though, and that we do start to see a focus on child protection and that we do see a reversal of these horrific statistics around children dying when in child protection. We see these horrific reports of the department being slow to act when they hear reports of children in vulnerable settings not being followed up on or not visited or of the children not being removed from that dangerous environment. An extra day or a week or a month or a year in a dangerous environment can cause lifelong harms, and of course, as we have seen for 65 children, it has resulted in the loss of their life. They have no future. We need to make sure we have the frontline staff to provide support for these children, and if there are not enough staff, please recruit. We need to make sure we have better supports to protect children against sexual assault, because an 88 per cent increase in one single year is absolutely horrific. And we need to make sure that every single one of those young people who was sexually assaulted last year has appropriate supports around them to make sure that the impact of this trauma for the rest of their life is minimised so that they can live their best possible life in the best way that they can. Finally, we just need to make sure that everyone does the right thing. There are horrible people in the world who prey on vulnerable children, but by having protections, including the child safe standards, in place and commissioners, including the commissioner for children and young people, we make sure we protect those children. I certainly do give credit to everybody who is working so hard to protect vulnerable children and young people in our community. They need more support, though, because it is simply becoming a bigger issue, particularly as lockdowns extend. We need more resources and supports to make sure those child safe standards can be enforced appropriately and that we have more frontline staff to provide more support to child protection and vulnerable children so that we can give these vulnerable kids the best possible start in life and the start in life that they deserve. Ms HENNESSY (Altona) (12:29): I rise to speak in support of the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021, and I do so with certainly a great passion for the issue of the rights of children and young people. One of the most impactful or influential advocates that I have been exposed to in the course of my period of time as a parliamentarian is a woman called Leonie Sheedy, and Leonie Sheedy of course heads up an organisation called Care Leavers Australasia Network. CLAN has been at the forefront of advocacy on behalf of those children that were the victims of institutional sexual abuse and neglect over many decades that has been institutionally and systemically covered up. One of my great concerns in respect of the moments in time where we finally ride the wave of reform to try and move society’s standards and our laws into a more modern environment in a way that acknowledges some of the horrific, egregious and intergenerational abuse of the past is that we seem to have a moment in time, and then we move on pretty quickly. And that is not to undermine or to be disrespectful to the incredible work that many people in many parliaments of all political persuasions have done, but it is absolutely critical that if we are to learn the lessons of institutional and systemic abuse of children, we need to not move on too quickly, not just from the very important work that the Victorian Parliament did under the rubric of the Betrayal of Trust report but indeed the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. There is set out in the pages from that royal commission and in fact in a lot of the private testimony that was given, I think, one of the great condemnations of what our approach to children has been historically. I think we are a long way from not just reversing the impacts of that but us genuinely putting the interests of children as independent holders of rights at the centre of what we do from a legislative perspective but also from a cultural perspective. And I want to place on the record my extreme respect for the work of many of those victims for whom this is still unfinished business. I also know that we will continue to hear more of this through the truth-telling and the reconciliation processes in this state. And I do not stand here and pretend for one moment that the important reforms contained in this bill, as passionately as I support them, will address the still unacceptably wide gap between those that enjoy all the wonders of access to good social, economic, cultural and legal rights

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2019 and those that do not—those for whom we have not yet delivered and still continue to fail in delivering timely justice and support after the institutions in this country so desperately fail them. That is what we need to do. This reform is an important one, but I do not place upon it my expectations that it will right the many wrongs that have occurred. Having said that, there remain a range of royal commission recommendations, which the reforms contained in this bill partly go to. We do need to make sure that we are lifting what was known as mandatory reporting around holding a reasonable suspicion that a child was being abused, which was initially, in its early genesis, only applied to a particularly limited cohort of people. And what we have learned through the processes of royal commissions, inquiry after inquiry, where governments have got this wrong and where agencies have got this wrong, is that where people do not have a positive legal obligation, even when they are caught in that dilemma of not knowing if their instinct or if the evidence that is before them might indicate abuse, we are taking the precautionary principle in what our reporting obligation is. And essentially what we have seen over the last couple of decades is, at long last, the interests of children trumping a range of other interests and ensuring that we are learning the lessons from all of the times where people either knew something but did nothing about it or actively covered it up with institutional neglect and in many cases neglect by law-enforcement agencies. That has been the story again and again and again, and we have still got, I think, a long way to go. I do welcome these changes in terms of lifting and applying child safety reporting obligations and in trying to deal with some of the challenges that they bring. It is a legitimate issue and is sometimes used as an excuse by agencies, and that comes to the issue of whose responsibility it was to be the primary actor in responding to an issue. Issues such as information sharing are easy phrases to roll off the tongue. They are very difficult things to try and get embedded into how governments and agencies respond in practice. That is not to let anyone off the hook, but I do support us putting capital-P positive legal obligations on organisations in order to do that—because I think we have seen the consequences of what happens when we do not. But on improving both the clarity and the understanding of a reportable conduct scheme, what we did see was in place was that we had some mandatory reporting obligations on some particular cohorts and some other mandatory reportable obligations. We then saw things like reportable conduct obligations in respect of not necessarily public sector but publicly regulated cohorts amongst the health profession. Some of those people work in a public context; some work in a private context. So when you are looking at all of those things and you have got many legislative tools being used, some of them have not been able to achieve their purpose. What this particular amendment does is it tries to ensure that everybody has the same obligation and that we have that obligation as a reportable obligation to the commissioner for children and young people. Again, I do not think anyone in this Parliament would ever argue that the commissioner for children and young people is at all slack in doing their job. Each and every single person who has held those positions—or their equivalents—I think has always been a fierce advocate on behalf of the rights of children, as they should be. They have often held the mirror up to where agencies and governments and organisations and individuals have failed people. So I do support strengthening those reporting obligations. I do support the reduction of confusion around the regulations. I would like to see greater ambition right across this country in implementation of the unfulfilled royal commission recommendations, noting that many of those only apply to sexual abuse and not other forms of abuse of children—things like neglect and starvation, all of those things we know historically have happened and continue to happen to children. I cannot let this opportunity pass without commenting on what I think is another glaring and egregious form of abuse of children, and that is what we have seen unfold on Christmas Island in recent years. Again, I do not raise this to be a partisan point. I think of governments of all persuasions around how

BILLS 2020 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 children in mandatory detention offshore are without access or denied access to proper medical care. I think that is a form of child abuse that is in breach of this country’s obligations around the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and our other obligations around various refugee conventions. I note that Tharunicaa, an Australian citizen and an Australian child left on Christmas Island, denied access to the sorts of medical support that we would think of in a country that is wealthy and a country that brings a great deal of compassion and support to people’s rights to access health care, is sitting in a hospital being diagnosed with all sorts of preventable issues. It is a great stain on this country, and I hope for whatever force that needs to be brought to bear for a discretion to be exercised to right what is the wrong decision—and I get that they are really difficult decisions. I hope that the right decision is made and that that family is able to live where they rightfully ought be able to reside. I wish the bill a speedy passage through the house. Mr SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (12:39): I rise to make some comments on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021. Can I say at the outset that the opposition, as you have heard from our lead speaker, the member for Lowan, has said we are supporting this bill. We are supporting this bill because child safety should be the number one thing that we should be focused on doing, and anything that provides a safe environment for kids should be, for all of us, our priority. Unfortunately many of the things in the bill—which covers 50 000 organisations—are important but there are many things that are not covered in this bill that the government is absolutely failing in. They have failed when it comes to child protection. The word ‘protection’ should be a dead giveaway in terms of what the job of the department and the job of the Minister for Child Protection should be. It should be about protecting children. We have just seen time and time again an absolute failure by this government and by this minister when it comes to protecting children. To find that 65 children— 65 children—that had been known to child protection died last year in Victoria is an absolute disgrace. The fact that many of those children, as highlighted in reports, had several interventions, with lots of information known by the department, but were then neglected in terms of being able to do something about that shows the failure. We have seen recently the report by the commissioner for children and young people which talks about the many instances where the child protection authority was too slow in dealing with cases. The inquiry found that child protection was often focused on monitoring compliance rather than understanding and responding to parents. This is not what child protection should be about. It should not be about ticking a box. It should be ensuring that kids are safe. This is an absolute failure. When you read this report, it highlights the harrowing case of Baby M, who, despite five separate investigations by protection authorities, was left in the care of a relative with drug and domestic violence issues. The child died at just 15 months of age. That just should not be happening. The Coroners Court data reveals that SIDS, suicide, car accidents, suffocation, drugs and assault are the most common causes of death amongst these at-risk groups—as young as infants all the way through to 18-year-olds. The whistleblower who was responsible for a lot of the information, highlighting the complete failure of child protection, said that during the 111 days of lockdown, ‘We saw this activity surge. We saw kids reaching out for help. We saw that health being denied. We saw those children suffer, and we have seen these instances rise’. All of this is a failure. All of this is a complete failure. None of it is in the bill. This bill talks about, as I said, the 50 000 organisations and what we can do to ensure that there is more transparency in reporting. What should be in this bill is the responsibility of the department. What will the department be doing in terms of accountability in reporting and ensuring that they do their job and ultimately that the minister does his job? That is not what is happening. Can I say we have seen many, many instances. I wanted to commend, all the way back, the Betrayal of Trust report, which was done initially by the Liberal-Nationals government in the Baillieu days, with Georgie Crozier from the other house leading and chairing that committee along with many of

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2021 my other colleagues and those from the current government as well. That was a real line in the sand of some of the work that needed to be done. There have been lots of changes that have been done. I want to draw to your attention the Leifer case in my electorate as well. I know there have been a number of representations from both sides of Parliament, including again former Premier Ted Baillieu, who has followed this case very, very closely and has worked with Dassi Erlich and her sisters in getting Malka Leifer back. That extradition was a milestone. We have not seen an extradition like that before, where we had the former principal, Malka Leifer, extradited from Israel back here to now face those charges and for justice to be served. It is before the courts. I will not go any further on that other than to say the issue that those children faced is an issue that nobody deserves, and justice needs to be served. Could I also make mention particularly of a more recent situation. If you think you need any example of just how appalling the current minister and the government are when it comes to child protection, you do not have to go any further than looking at the revelations that were only revealed in the last few days about how the Labor government lied to two watchdogs during investigations into activities of a former social worker and a child rapist. They put vulnerable children at risk, and it should be the subject of a full inquiry. The rapist accessed data, including dates of birth, addresses and phone numbers from 43 children known to child protection before using this data to entrap and rape a 13- year-old boy. Now, it is just appalling to know that the government was actually lying here. As recently as six weeks ago 11 of these children and their families had not been contacted by the government, an obligation you would think would absolutely sit as first and foremost in terms of a government’s responsibility. They have neglected to keep those children safe, they have neglected to inform those families. The government has again failed. This again shows cover-ups and it shows that the government has failed. As I say, there were 65 deaths last year. We saw an 88 per cent increase in the sexual assault of children last year. These are numbers that do not lie, these are numbers that should never be happening and this again points to an absolute failure by this government. Could I just point to a last part that I wanted to raise today—in fact an email that came through only a few hours ago. It was addressed to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services and the Minister for Child Protection, and it was regarding working with children permits, dealing with the welfare of children. It was from a family member who saw their niece tragically killed—an eight-week-old baby girl, Amanda Terlato, who was brutally bashed to death by her mother in April 2012. Her sister was also brutally bashed. As recently as a few weeks back this mother held a working with children check. She currently holds a working with children check, despite representations from the family, trying to understand this. Here is a mother that killed her child and brutally damaged the other child; she now has a working with children check and is with one of the football cheer squads, out and about amongst children each and every day. That has been raised. It has been raised several times with the government and with the ministers, and there has been no response to Michelle Terlato about the tragedy of losing her niece. This family are completely shattered. They live with this each and every day, and they are not getting the answers that they deserve. We had thought that the government was serious about cleaning up some of this mess. Working with children checks are a really important mechanism to ensure we have the right people working with children. It is a fundamentally important element of how we can try and manage the right people. We have seen many of those vulnerable people being preyed upon by these perpetrators who deliberately go after children, and we have got to clean this stuff up. There has been an absolute failure. We do support this bill. As I said, it is an important step in the right direction. But let us clean up the department and let us clean up the mess. And most importantly let us put protection back in child protection and ensure our kids in Victoria are protected—that the most vulnerable are protected and the most vulnerable kids are able to be kept safe—because that is the obligation of any government. Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (12:49): It is a pleasure to rise on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021 this afternoon. I think

BILLS 2022 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 that everyone in this house agrees, and there is an old adage, that a measure of a community or a society is how it treats its most vulnerable, and I think we should probably include children in that adage, because indeed the way we treat our children or protect our children is a fair indicator of what kind of community we are now and will be in the future as well. So I am very pleased to stand up in this house and speak on any bill at all that is pushing the boundaries to ensure that we are protecting children more—protecting children from harm, whether it be in their homes or outside. We have had many a bill in this house where we have been debating issues like this, and I will bring up a couple of examples of that a little later, but there have been some quite impassioned speeches today. The question with me I guess sometimes is: where is that passion and commitment when we have other bills that do regard child safety as well? Children’s safety and the best interests of the child must be at the very centre of every organisation’s systematic capabilities, their policies and procedures, and indeed everyone who is working at organisations at the coalface must have this focus. This is somewhat of a culture issue, but I would definitely agree with the member for Altona that a legislative approach is not quite the stick but it does encourage people to know that kids have legal rights and people actually have legal responsibilities and duties of care as well—it makes it clear and it puts a line in the sand. This bill today actually does that as well, I believe. We have heard heartbreaking testimonies from many thousands of individuals who bravely told their stories to the 2013 Victorian parliamentary inquiry, which was the Betrayal of Trust inquiry. Over the six-and-a-bit years I have been in this Parliament I have heard many people speak from both sides of the house on this inquiry, and the impacts that it had on these people obviously were profound, to the point where I think even talking about this bill today brings back some of those memories. I think that is really important, because in this area if we are not getting better, we are getting worse—we are going backwards—so we need to be pushing all the time, every day, to ensure this happens. The McClellan Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse also showed that the harm and the cost to individuals and their families and the broader community were unacceptably high, but they were apparent and they were very obvious when a light was shone onto that area. Victoria has led the country in legislative protections for children and young people. We introduced mandatory child safety standards in 2017 and then reportable conduct schemes from 1 July 2017. Obviously in the education sector—being a former teacher myself—we have done a fair bit there with the Department of Education and Training, the Victorian Institute of Teaching and also legislation in this house to ensure we are protecting children. Indeed there was a bill before the house yesterday which related to that. In 2019 the Victorian government completed the review of the Victorian child safe standards. The purpose of the review was to ensure the regulatory scheme is as efficient and effective as possible. The review found strong support for commitment to the standards across Victoria’s diverse sectors and organisations. It also found that organisations that engage in a child-related workplace are acutely aware of the importance of providing a safe environment for children and young people and generally seek to do so. The current framework has provided a base for this to occur. However, the review also found that the regulatory framework is not fit for purpose and requires significant reform, and the review made 15 recommendations. Among them one was to improve the regulatory oversight and clarity of the regulator’s functions. Another was to provide regulators with a contemporary, graduated set of regulatory powers to monitor and enforce compliance with the standards. Another was to improve information sharing between regulators to allow regulators to coordinate regulatory activity and to share intelligence to better identify risks to children and young people and to inform educational activities. The other which pertains to this bill was to provide the Commission for Children and Young People with critical statewide leadership and capacity-building functions. So today this bill before us acts on those recommendations that I have spoken about, and it makes organisations safer for children and takes action to prevent child abuse by providing regulators of the

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2023 standards with a much broader range of contemporary monitoring and enforcement powers to promote compliance with the standards, which include enabling the commission and sector regulators to respond to less serious non-compliance by issuing official warnings or infringement notices while also being able to respond to more serious breaches by accepting enforceable undertakings, issuing compliance notices and seeking various remedies from a court, including criminal or civil penalties. The commission and sector regulators will also have the power to enter and inspect certain premises without an entity’s consent in limited circumstances—and I believe those limited circumstances require a warrant and are in business hours too. To ensure these powers are proportionate and appropriately targeted there are numerous safeguards—and those safeguards are there obviously for good reason, to provide balance, but where a regulator reasonably believes the act or the standards have been contravened, they can act. We are changing the way we facilitate improved information sharing between regulators as well, and we need to do that. We have heard that this needs to be clarified, and it is a bit of a grey area too, I think you would probably suggest by reading it. Now, the term ‘sector regulator’—we have got ‘sector regulators’ and ‘integrated sector regulators’ in this bill. Essentially a sector regulator will use the powers and tools in the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 to monitor and enforce compliance with the standards, and the integrated sector regulators will monitor and enforce compliance with the standards under the authorising act, being existing legislation that authorises them to regulate a sector. These reforms are fairly significant, and I think a long implementation period is proposed because of that. Sector regulators and the commission will be required to undertake significant organisational system changes to prepare for these new arrangements. They will have to basically comprehensively overhaul their compliance and enforcement frameworks and guidance materials as well to communicate these changes to the entities involved. In many cases they will also be required to recruit and train authorised officers to support this legislation. This bill will promote and enhance compliance with the standards in over 50 000 Victorian organisations and in doing so will protect children and young people from abuse. Now, going back to something I raised in the first minute of this speech, we have heard many compassionate speeches today committed to child safety—and I stand before the house today ready to be argued against and ridiculed if people disagree, but I will stand my ground on this. I see that passion and commitment now and today. What I did not see was that passion and that commitment when we were sitting here talking about another fairly controversial bill about ensuring that priests would report child abuse that was disclosed to them under confession. That still sticks with me, that debate. It was obviously very controversial, but if we are going to protect children it needs to be across the board—no excuses, no excuses ever. The other issue that was brought up by a previous speaker was that we have got children in offshore mandatory detention, one suffering pneumonia and all sorts of medical complications now. We are standing here today, and it is very ironic to be talking about improving protection for children when I think as an Australian that is my shame today—to see that report on the news and to see nothing being done about that, people ignoring it. These people have a right to medical aid, and they have a right to be brought into Australia, I believe, as well. It is quite shameful. The other thing I would like to raise, though, is not so much to do with this bill. But in the context of child protection we saw some pretty lowbrow politics yesterday, and I just wonder if anyone in the opposition actually thought about the impact that might have on the Premier’s children. I mean, does anyone in this house really think that it is acceptable to attack someone who has broken their back? Regardless of that, does anyone actually think about the fact that this person’s children are at home and this person’s wife is at home? It is amazing to see this kind of thing come out—and we will speak about it soon, but it is the bottom of the barrel. I commend this bill to the house. It is a great bill, and I commend it.

MEMBERS 2024 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Mr KENNEDY (Hawthorn) (12:59): Children and young people are often the most vulnerable in our society and deserve to be protected from harm. I am therefore proud to be part of a government that has been at the forefront of ensuring that children’s safety and the best interests of the child are at the very centre of an organisation’s operations. As will be seen, the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021 achieves this by further strengthening the current protections in place. The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Kilkenny): I will interrupt the member. It is 1 o’clock and time for our lunch break. The house will resume at 2.00 pm. Sitting suspended 1.00 pm until 2.01 pm. Business interrupted under resolution of house of 8 June. Mr M O’Brien: I seek to raise a point of order, Speaker, in relation to question time yesterday. I note that yesterday afternoon the acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services returned to the house to make a personal explanation in relation to an arguably misleading statement that he had made in response to a question I had asked during question time yesterday. I regret that I have to raise another concerning matter concerning the same minister. I asked the minister in the first questions of the question period yesterday in relation to some breaches of hotel quarantine. The audio of the answer the minister provided clearly says that he says that there were ‘no infection prevention and control breaches’ or ‘significant IPC breaches’ during the course of that person’s stay in our system. That is what the audio clearly says, and in fact the Leader of The Nationals and I heard that and noted to each other the comments that were made by the acting minister. When looking at Hansard today it in fact has been edited or doctored or changed and now only says:

… no significant infection prevention and control breaches … So the important point, Speaker, is that the minister’s clear comment that there had been ‘no IPC breaches’ had been edited out. Now, it is not appropriate for this minister or indeed for anyone else to edit a minister’s answer to have it be misleading. That is not what the minister said yesterday and, Speaker, I ask you to listen to the tape yourself and to watch the video, and if Hansard does not faithfully record the minister’s answer given in question time, I ask you to ensure that Hansard is corrected to reflect what the minister actually said rather than what he might have wanted it to say. The SPEAKER: Thank you for raising the point of order. I will consider the matter and report back to the house. Members MINISTER FOR PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE Absence Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:03): I rise to inform the house that today the Minister for Multicultural Affairs will answer questions for the portfolios of Aboriginal affairs, women and the prevention of family violence. Questions without notice and ministers statements COVID-19 Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): My question is to the acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Yesterday in question time the minister said there had been ‘no infection prevention and control breaches’ in hotel quarantine before editing himself and informing the house there had been ‘no significant breaches’. Today it was revealed that there have in fact been more than 51 breaches at just one hotel quarantine site, including 15 infection control violations. Why doesn’t the minister consider 51 breaches, including 15 infection control violations, significant?

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Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:05): So we have got a culture in COVID- 19 Quarantine Victoria of if you see something, you say something. And we know that in our hotel quarantine system it is really important that if people see something that is concerning or wrong, they should be able to express that and identify that. In our hotel quarantine system we have got the red zone, where residents reside, and then we have got the green zone. And in relation to these hotels, they were not built as quarantine facilities. That is exactly why we are pursuing an alternative quarantine facility, and so the issue here becomes that for some of these hotels, for example, you might have a person who inadvertently goes into a red lift rather than a green lift, or you might have somebody who walks into a stairwell when they should not, but that would be recorded as an infection prevention and control breach. So the issue here is that we are doing an investigation to find out what has occurred. We do not know whether the IPC breach occurred when the passenger left the plane to get onto the SkyBus. We do not know whether it occurred in the hotel system, either with a fellow patient or a staff member, and we do not know whether it happened when the patient was released. Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, even on the minister’s edited answer from yesterday he said there have been ‘no significant breaches’. If the minister is now saying he does not know the nature of the breaches, how can he say there were no significant breaches? Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! Without the assistance of government members! The Leader of the Opposition knows that is not a point of order. Mr PEARSON: So, look, so far we have not been able to identify any significant breaches that may have led to a transmission event, but again, these matters are ongoing, as you would expect. We only became aware of this being a correlation or a link on Monday, and the investigation is continuing. Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): Will the minister detail to the house what those 51 breaches, including 15 infection control violations, actually were? And if he is not able to do so now, will the minister agree to release that information publicly? Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:07): Well, no. No, I will not be releasing that publicly. Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! The minister is attempting to answer the question. Mr Wells interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business! Mr PEARSON: The investigation is underway. When we have the findings of that investigation, we will release that. But the point I would also make is we may never know why this transmission event occurred. Just look at New South Wales, when the— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the House! The Leader of the Opposition! And the Manager of Opposition Business! Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! Just before calling the Leader of The Nationals, I am not going to have members, even if they are sitting at the table, shouting across the table during question time. There is

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 2026 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 no need for people to make up for the lack of numbers in the chamber. People should behave themselves. I understand that there are passions in question time and people want to make points, but we have to do it according to the forms of the house. Mr Walsh: On a point of order, Speaker, on the issue of relevance, the question goes to the 51 breaches, including 15 infection control violations, not to the specific issue of the escape of delta from hotel quarantine. It is about the wider issues of a systemic issue there where there are constant breaches, and we ask the minister to come back to actually answering that question. The SPEAKER: Order! The minister is being relevant to the question. Mr PEARSON: As I said, we may never know. We know that in New South Wales the Barbeques Galore guy was connected to hotel quarantine. They were never able to find out the connection there, so we may never know. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: COVID-19 Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:09): Today I was pleased to be able to announce that from 11.59 pm tomorrow restrictions will be able to be eased in metropolitan Melbourne and further eased in regional Victoria. On the advice of the chief health officer, in metropolitan Melbourne the limits on reasons to leave your home will be removed. Public gatherings will be allowed with up to 10 people, children will be able to return to school, many Victorians will be able to return to work, retail will be able to reopen, and cafes and restaurants can welcome patrons with caps of 100 people for the venue and 50 indoors. Some important protective measures remain while we cautiously ease out of the lockdown restrictions. Private gatherings in the home cannot occur for now, and we are also asking people to stay local, with a limit of 25 kilometres for travel from the home, with some exceptions for work, education, care and getting a vaccine. Even with eased restrictions some businesses will not be able to open just yet, and that is why we will extend our support for closed businesses with a further $2000 top-up payment to a maximum of $7000. In regional Victoria there will be further easing, with visitors to the home possible of up to two adults and their dependents per day. Capacity limits will increase at places like restaurants, entertainment venues, community facilities and religious gatherings. Indoor sport, including gyms, will be able to reopen with careful limits on the number of people who can attend. Our ability to reopen on Friday is due to the huge efforts of all Victorians in following the rules and coming out and getting tested in record numbers. As we enter the winter months there is nothing more important than getting tested at the first sign of a cough or a sniffle, and if you are eligible to be vaccinated, then make a plan to do it today. We have been able to ease restrictions in Melbourne and further ease them in regional Victoria because of the exceptional efforts of all Victorians, and I want to put on record my thanks to them. COVID-19 Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is again to the acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Why hasn’t the government been using a QR code check- in system at the state’s COVID medical hotels? Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:11): The health hotels are obviously a very different proposition to COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, and the health hotel has determined that that is the best way they choose to manage their operations in relation to their staff. Bear in mind that in relation to the health hotels—if you test positive, that is where you go. And we are making sure that the health hotels are run in the most— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! Without the assistance of members on both sides of the chamber.

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Mr PEARSON: These are hospital settings, and they reflect the needs of the hospital. Members interjecting. Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): They are the highest risk environments, and they don’t even have QR codes. Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business is warned, the member for Euroa is warned, the Minister for Industry Support and Recovery is warned and the Leader of the House is warned. The Leader of the Opposition to ask a question, not to make commentary. Mr M O’BRIEN: Significant breaches of hotel quarantine are still occurring. Will the minister now commit to releasing the daily audits of hotel quarantine protocol compliance? Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:13): No, I will not. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: COVID-19 Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (14:13): I rise to update the house as to the current state of the global pandemic and this particular COVID-19 outbreak that Victoria is increasingly successfully managing. The reports that came in overnight indicated that we have just one new case in Victoria today, bringing the total number of cases linked to this outbreak to some 86. There are 68 active locally acquired cases, and that number is coming down as cases are progressively cleared as they recover. As we have seen, today’s extra case fits the pattern that we have seen in more recent times of primary close contacts of existing cases—in quarantine and without exposure sites—turning positive as part of the test, trace and isolate system that we have in place. I want to thank the many, many thousands—the many thousands—of people who, as primary close contacts, have gone through the process and are still going through the process indeed of quarantining and keeping themselves, their families, their workplaces and the wider Victorian community safe. And I also want to thank the test, trace and isolate contact-tracing teams who have managed so far over 7000 primary close contacts throughout this particular outbreak. They have done so through the several concentric rings of the case—the primary close contacts, the secondary close contacts—and have done so at the height of the arrangements for over 400 or indeed more exposure sites. The work that our contact-tracing teams and public health teams have put in place gave the government and the chief health officer the confidence for today’s opening-up announcement. (Time expired) COVID-19 Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): My question is to the Acting Premier. Labor’s lockdown has caused untold social and economic damage to Victoria and to the lives of millions of Victorians. Will the Acting Premier now commit to releasing all health advice on which the latest lockdown has been based? Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:15): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The Leader of the Opposition does not read statements from Ambulance Victoria and he clearly does not watch the press conference in which we are answering questions on public health advice. Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Nationals is warned. Mr MERLINO: So let me repeat what I said just moments ago at the press conference. We had conspiracy theories yesterday and we have got the peddling of myths today. Let me make it quite clear:

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 2028 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 the public health directives, which are made public, are the public health advice signed off by the chief health officer. We have got experts every day that are standing up for hours answering all sorts of questions in terms of the current situation with our response to the pandemic—the settings in Melbourne and the settings in regional Victoria, and why they are as they are. Professor Sutton, our chief health officer; Professor Cheng; the COVID-19 commander; and the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner—all standing up answering questions. In addition to that, in relation to the state of emergency, on a monthly basis there is a written report and a briefing to the Parliament—every month transparency in terms of how we are dealing with this pandemic. And what we will do on this side of the house, as a government, is respond based on the public health advice—not on the advice of those opposite, because if we followed the advice of those opposite— Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, I was not asking for the release of the government decisions; I was asking for the release of the public health advice on which they are based. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question. The Acting Premier has been relevant to the question. Mr MERLINO: Myths and conspiracy theories, hey? Trump-lite, that is what this bunch are— absolutely pathetic, conspiracies and myths. We could not be more transparent. Public health directions—if you want to read them, get on the website and read them. Our public health experts are answering questions every single day in quite significant detail and providing a report and briefings to this Parliament every single month. I completely and utterly reject the pathetic question from the Leader of the Opposition. Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! Without commentary from either side of the table. Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): This is about people’s lives. Weekend media reported a leak from inside the government’s crisis cabinet that last Wednesday Professor Sutton presented to a meeting of that crisis cabinet data and modelling on the latest COVID- 19 outbreak, ‘as he did on so many occasions last year’. In the interests of transparency, in the interests of Victorians who are suffering the consequences of these decisions, why won’t the government trust Victorians and release this data and modelling upon which these lockdown decisions are based? Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:20): What Victorians know and trust is that in the defeat of the second wave last year the government and all Victorians followed the public health advice of the chief health officer and his public health team. That is what got us through: trusting that advice and doing the right thing. If we followed those opposite, we would still be in lockdown from last year. The last thing we would do—and the Victorian community know this—or the last thing we should do is follow the advice of any of those opposite. Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! I am just going to repeat my warning to the chamber that people shouting across each side of the chamber during questions and answers is not appropriate. I do not normally sanction people who are at the table, but if people consistently shout across the table, they will be. We need to be able to hear the questions and the answers. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: BUSINESS SUPPORT Mr PAKULA (Keysborough—Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, Minister for Trade, Minister for Business Precincts, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Racing) (14:21): I rise to further update the house on the advice I provided yesterday on the support that the Andrews Labor government has provided to businesses affected by the global coronavirus pandemic.

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Today the Acting Premier announced a further $8.36 million extension to the business costs assistance program to support those businesses and sole traders still closed in metropolitan Melbourne due to circuit-breaker industry restrictions. That support will go to dance, ballet, music and swim schools, to gyms, to yoga studios and to some sporting associations, amongst others. Those businesses will be eligible for a further automatic top-up payment of $2000, which will bring the total support per business to $7000. We have already announced $492 million in support for small and medium-sized businesses, so this extension takes the support to over $500 million for this current period of circuit-breaker restrictions— that is $380 million for the business costs assistance program, $70 million for the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund and $32.2 million for the regional tourism support package, which includes 80 000 regional travel vouchers. That initial funding went to 90 000 businesses, including restaurants, cafes, event suppliers, tourism and accommodation and non-essential retailers. Today’s new extension will support 3600 businesses most affected by the ongoing restrictions, with grants, as I said, of up to $7000. I would also like to update the house on some other numbers. Since the opening of this program on Thursday there have been more than 69 000 applications to the business costs assistance program, and payments have started to flow. The Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund has received over 5500 applications in the same period, with that support already starting to flow. And the good news today— with restrictions easing, the continued high testing numbers and vaccination numbers and support for businesses and the community regarding QR codes—means that business can look forward to the future with confidence. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT POLICY Ms SHEED (Shepparton) (14:23): My question is to the Assistant Treasurer on behalf of the Independent member for Morwell. Many businesses in regional Victoria are currently doing it tough due to the current COVID lockdown rules, yet some of these same businesses are not eligible for the state government’s business costs assistance program. To make matters worse, we have seen some government departments and agencies centralising their services to the detriment of regional businesses—for example, dry-cleaning services for Fire Rescue Victoria and Ambulance Victoria personnel have recently been taken away from local businesses across regional Victoria. Assistant Treasurer, will you put a stop to the centralising of government services for the foreseeable future and allow government departments and agencies based in regional Victoria to purchase goods and services through their local regional businesses? Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:24): I appreciate the member for Shepparton asking this question because it is an important issue and we at all stages must try and strike the right balance and get it right. On the one hand when you are dealing with large procurement—and I think that the state government procures in the order of $32 billion worth of goods and services each year—it is important that we try to make sure that we are getting value for taxpayers, and that is why we have looked at having a more centralised approach to the procurement of those goods and services. In the particular case, if you are looking at, say, the question the member referred to in relation to laundry services, there is a need to ensure that in relation to the laundering of fire uniforms it is done in a safe way because we know, as a consequence of this government introducing those reforms in relation to presumptive rights, that uniforms can attract some very toxic chemicals and you want to make sure that they are cleaned and laundered in an appropriate way. But, look, we absolutely want to make sure that we have got a focus on ensuring that small and medium-sized enterprises and regional businesses have that opportunity to continue to bid for these sorts of opportunities. It is one of the reasons why we have been very clear as a government. We have got the social procurement framework. It is a framework that I have auspiced, along with Minister Pulford in the other place, to make sure that those smaller businesses have that opportunity as well. So

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 2030 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 it is a balancing act, but we do want to create those opportunities for SMEs as well and in regional communities, but we are committed to making sure that taxpayers get value for money. Ms SHEED (Shepparton) (14:26): I understand the Victorian Government Purchasing Board has a new, mandated state purchasing contracts policy that comes into effect from 1 July 2021. These purchasing contracts will contain a list of suppliers that are mandated to be used by government departments and agencies, including some in regional Victoria, for the use of non-construction procurement such as stationery, travel, professional services, recruitment and print. The Victorian Regional Chambers Alliance has raised concerns that the list will not contain any businesses from the region. So, Assistant Treasurer, the question is: will any regional or rural businesses be included on this mandated suppliers list from 1 July 2021, and if not, why not? Mr PEARSON (Essendon—Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:26): The Victorian Government Purchasing Board—we are expanding their remit to include more agencies to buy off those contracts, because again we want to drive those efficiencies and reforms. I would be delighted to offer the member a briefing about that and what opportunities it will present for regional businesses. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: VICTIMS OF CRIME Ms HUTCHINS (Sydenham—Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (14:27): I rise to update the house on how this government is listening to the voices and empowering victim-survivors of crime. Victim support services have been available throughout the COVID pandemic, and I am very proud that the hotline service was able to be stood up. We have also embarked on a landmark reform for both victim services and a financial assistance scheme. These reforms received a significant boost, quite a substantial boost, in the recent budget, which saw $64 million invested into victim support—the largest that we have seen. This will allow us to build a new financial assistance scheme and substantially cut the backlog that currently exists at the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal. It will continue our assistance so the most vulnerable witnesses are able to give evidence and participate in the court process. $54 million will begin the build of the new financial assistance scheme, and it will include a detailed service, including a victim recognition program—a first here in Australia—and a design for a new administrative scheme, which is the core proposition of the Victorian Law Reform Commission report on victim support, establishing Victoria’s first-ever victims legal service that will provide free legal service to those applying for financial assistance after a crime. This Parliament has already agreed to our bill that improves the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal, and this budget delivers the funding that is needed to recruit the tribunal officers across our system. Ten million dollars has also been allocated to continue the intermediaries program, which is a program that has made a difference for vulnerable Victorians, ensuring they can participate in the justice system. Thank you to all the victim- survivors who have given us their voices in working with us on these reforms. COVID-19 Mr RIORDAN (Polwarth) (14:29): My question this afternoon is for the Acting Premier. At 5.00 pm on Thursday last week the Victorian government announced that the COVID risk in Anglesea did not exist following the discovery of a false positive. For the three days following this announcement the government continued to send authorised officers and Australian Defence Force personnel to monitor those Anglesea residents who had wrongly been told to isolate. How can Victorians be confident that the government can manage real outbreaks of COVID when they cannot even get the basics right? Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:30): I thank the member for his question. What we have seen from the opposition is just continual attack— Members interjecting.

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Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the Acting Premier is debating the question. Question time is not an opportunity to debate the question nor to attack the opposition; it is to answer questions. The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The Acting Premier to come back to answering the question. Mr MERLINO: We have got 2500 people in our public health team doing incredible work in driving this outbreak to the ground, to the extent that today we were able to announce some significant easing of restrictions as we committed to do, as we promised to do and as we expected to do—further easing of restrictions in regional Victoria and important easing of restrictions in Melbourne because of the wonderful work of our 2500-strong public health team. Our contact tracers—and it is not just those on this side of the house or our own chief health officer who have talked about the wonderful work of our contact-tracing team; the national chief medical officer— Mr Riordan: On a point of order, Speaker, we have been a minute and a half and he has not mentioned Anglesea once. The people of Anglesea, who were in the middle of a crisis with a lot of panic, want to know why important state resources are being wasted on an issue— The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. Mr MERLINO: Our nation’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said what a great job our contact tracers are doing in response to this particular outbreak, and he is absolutely right. Now, in a situation where we have got thousands of primary close contacts—many thousands of primary close contacts— hundreds of exposure sites— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! I just ask the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party to stop interjecting across the table. Ms Ryan: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this question is not about contact tracing. It is about why the government continued to send resources for three days after the outbreak was declared not an outbreak. The SPEAKER: Order! I thank the member for her point of order. I heard the question. It was a broad question about confidence in the government’s approach to this, and the Acting Premier is being relevant to the question. Mr MERLINO: This is a question absolutely about contact tracing and the excellent work that our public health team is doing. In a situation where you have got thousands and thousands of primary close contacts and hundreds and hundreds of exposure sites, there are situations where you get a false positive or a false negative. Through an abundance of caution we drive each of these cases, each of these potential outbreaks, right to the ground. And whilst I am on my feet, unlike those opposite who want to take every opportunity to undermine public health— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! The Acting Premier will resume his seat. Mr Riordan: On a point of order, Speaker, 2½ minutes—he is attacking the opposition. The simple question was: how do you justify quarantine management three days after your own department declared it finished? The SPEAKER: Order! There is no need for the member for Polwarth to repeat the question, but I do ask the Acting Premier not to attack the opposition and to come back to answering the question. Mr MERLINO: We pursue every single case, every potential case, every exposure case, right through to the ground so we can get on top of this outbreak. What we have seen today with the advice

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS 2032 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 from public health is that we are winning this fight. Victorians are winning this fight, and that is despite the advice of those opposite. Mr RIORDAN (Polwarth) (14:34): The Anglesea lockdown cost the IGA $100 000 in lost trade and a $20 000 cleaning bill. It cost the bakery $5000 in lost stock, $7000 in lost trade and $2000 for cleaning. The newsagent lost $5000 in trade. These are just some of the costs incurred by that community through your lack of information. Will the government now fully compensate these businesses who lost thousands of dollars because the government did not act on a case it knew was a false positive? Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:34): I absolutely want to acknowledge to businesses, to families, to communities that this is a highly disruptive period. It has been for the last 16 months, and in particular this outbreak has been particularly difficult for businesses. And that is exactly why we have announced to date over half a billion dollars of business support. We were out a few days ago announcing support for our most vulnerable Victorians. We are doing our best to help all Victorians in regional Victoria or metropolitan Melbourne— Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the question goes to whether these small businesses will be compensated for the costs they incurred when they actually were not even a hotspot. In 27 seconds those small businesses deserve an answer from the Premier. The SPEAKER: Order! The Acting Premier is being relevant to the question. Mr MERLINO: Indeed, Speaker, I am going to the point of compensation for businesses and acknowledging how tough this is. But what we cannot do is ignore potential outbreaks. We have got to drive those right through to the ground so we can clear them and move forward, and that is exactly what we have been able to do. We are not through this yet, and that is why there are restrictions that will continue over the next week. Next Thursday night we hope to be in a position where we can announce even further easing of restrictions. MINISTERS STATEMENTS: ENERGY POLICY Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (14:36): I am very pleased to update the house on our government’s efforts to reduce power prices for Victorians who we know are doing it very tough. When we came to government in 2014 electricity prices were out of control in this state. Under the previous coalition government electricity bills increased by nearly 35 per cent. Gas and electricity disconnections also doubled, leaving vulnerable Victorians without access to power and heating. We committed to shifting the balance of power away from the big energy companies and putting it back in the hands of ordinary Victorians and businesses. Today I am really pleased to say that we are delivering on that promise. First, our renewable energy targets and investments in new renewable generation are driving wholesale electricity prices lower, while our Solar Homes program has meant that over 100 000 households can now afford to install solar panels. In the first quarter of this year Victoria recorded a record low wholesale price and the lowest anywhere in the national electricity market. Second, the reforms implemented as part of our energy fairness plan, including our default offer, fair price for power, made retail energy markets fairer and easier to understand. These combined efforts of new renewable energy capacity and the energy fairness plan have resulted in a significant decrease in household energy bills. The latest CPI data shows that electricity prices have fallen by 10 per cent just in the last year alone, the largest fall—again the largest fall—in the national electricity market by far. Retail prices are now at their lowest level since the September quarter in 2017, putting more money back in the pockets of Victorian families when they need it the most, and we will continue to side with Victorian energy users, making energy more affordable. Our $250 power saving bonus has already delivered immediate financial relief to

CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2033 nearly 200 000 households, and there is more to come. Our record on power prices is clear compared to those of the discredited opposition. If you let the market run rampant— (Time expired) Ms Britnell: On a point of order, Speaker, I have a few matters outstanding, and they are adjournment matter 5604 and question on notice 5894, both to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and question on notice 5881 to the Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy. I ask that those be followed up. The SPEAKER: I thank the member for raising those matters. I will follow those matters up. Constituency questions SOUTH-WEST COAST ELECTORATE Ms BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (14:38): (5891) My constituency question is to the Minister for Health, and I am seeking information about the rollout of Pfizer vaccinations to the state-run clinics in Warrnambool and Portland. I have been contacted by the CEO of a local disability service provider who says that upon speaking with his colleagues in the sector he estimates that only 10 per cent of the workforce in my region has received a COVID-19 vaccination. I have also had calls from other people eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, many of whom work in the aged-care sector, who have been told to travel to Geelong or Ballarat to get their shot. Minister, the federal government has announced that an extra 100 000 doses of Pfizer will be sent to Victoria over the coming weeks. I urge you to ensure a large number of these doses are sent to Warrnambool and Portland. We know that the state is responsible for distribution to state-run centres. You have ignored the south-west thus far, and you need to ensure that those new doses are not just added to the stockpile the Andrews government is keeping. Please give my constituents the respect they deserve. FOOTSCRAY ELECTORATE Ms HALL (Footscray) (14:40): (5892) Footscray has a long and deep connection with its Vietnamese community. For many Vietnamese Australians Footscray is the first home on Australian soil they ever knew. The Andrews Labor government has a proud history of supporting our Vietnamese community. Earlier this week I had the great honour of calling Bon Nguyen, the president of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, Victoria, to inform him of the VCA’s success in being awarded a grant of $40 000 to support carers’ wellbeing and mental health. My question is for the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Could the minister please provide the residents of Footscray with a summary of the financial aid and support that has been extended to the Vietnamese community in their work in the COVID recovery? GIPPSLAND SOUTH ELECTORATE Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:40): (5893) My question is to the Acting Premier. My question is on behalf of I think the vast majority of my constituents of Gippsland South, and I ask: why is regional Victoria still subject to restrictions? We have no cases now; we have had no cases. The only exposure sites in regional Victoria are from over two weeks ago, and there were no cases arising from those. There have been no cases and no exposure sites in Gippsland. For us, nothing has changed from COVID normal two and a half weeks ago. However, businesses are frustrated; they are hurting. Even under the eased restrictions from tomorrow night, many will still be limited in their trading. Others are dealing with the fallout of last week’s lockdown, including forgoing future bookings for accommodation. New South Wales, Queensland, WA—coalition and Labor states— have all had city lockdowns this year, but they did not impact regional areas. Put simply, Gippsland and regional Victoria should not be under any restrictions any— (Time expired) BASS ELECTORATE Ms CRUGNALE (Bass) (14:41): (5894) My question is to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events. Can the minister please update me on the recent $32.2 million regional tourism support package and how it will help the tourism sector in my electorate? Bass Coast is the second most

CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS 2034 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 tourism-reliant community in Australia. In 2019 we had 2.7 million visitors come to immerse themselves in nature and revel in all things local—from produce, wine, whales to music, adventure, sports and a myriad of major events. They spend around $578 million. Tourism accounted for around 4500 direct jobs and supported 1400 indirect jobs, totalling 46.8 per cent of the region’s employment. This sector has been very hard hit also by the cessation of international travel. Our world-famous penguin parade has lost around 75 per cent of their visitors, cruise ships are not coming in and major world events are cancelled. Minister, your continued support over this time is so appreciated. BRIGHTON ELECTORATE Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:42): (5895) Small businesses across my community are crying out ‘Enough is enough’. They are the human face of our economy. They are the mums and dads of our communities. They are our neighbours who have taken a risk to realise a dream. They deserve to flourish. Instead many are dying. Over the last year Labor has released four small business packages. The truth has been revealed: hardly any businesses were eligible. Twelve per cent of Victorian small businesses accessed round 1, 16 per cent round 2, 11 per cent round 3, and we know only 13 per cent are eligible for this current round. I say to Victorian small businesses: don’t you forget who shut you down. Don’t you forget it was the Premier, whose only life experience is working for the Labor Party, and a gang of cabinet ministers, who are all union officials or Labor staffers. Labor is not a party of diversity. Its gene pool is either Labor or union. I ask the Acting Premier: how many of the businesses in my community does this government anticipate will be shut down? PASCOE VALE ELECTORATE Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale) (14:43): (5896) My constituency question is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, and the question I ask is: what kind of savings and supports can businesses in my electorate access in looking to make the switch to renewable and more efficient energy resources, and also how can these supports help businesses save money whilst also contributing to our state’s renewable energy future? The Pascoe Vale electorate, our residents, businesses and services alike, care deeply about our environment and taking strong action on climate change. We know our state’s transition to renewable energy and our targets to get there are a pivotal part of this. I was pleased this week to see a local business in my electorate, coffee roaster and indoor plant nursery Selvatica, on Gaffney Street, Coburg, speak to Solar Victoria about the savings they have made installing solar panels. Chris, one of the owners at Selvatica, told Solar Victoria that previously she had seen a lot of the profit going to electricity bills. Chris also stated, in reference to having solar panels, that it is a much easier way to do business. I was so proud to see a local business as an example for businesses right across our state, having already installed and seen the benefit of solar. MILDURA ELECTORATE Ms CUPPER (Mildura) (14:44): (5897) My constituency question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the information I seek is in relation to the cost of sealing the Psyche Pumps road to make it safe and accessible all year round. The Psyche Pumps road is the only access point to the Victorian Murray River frontage between Red Cliffs and Bruce’s Bend near Mildura. Psyche Bend, as it is known, is a particularly beautiful part of the river and is a recreation hotspot for locals and tourists alike. Its signature feature is the historic Psyche Bend pumping station, which is a monument to our proud irrigation history. Thanks to the tireless work of volunteers, the pumps are operated during school holidays, public holidays and special occasions and are a major tourist drawcard. But despite the popularity of the bend, the 1.9-kilometre access road from Cureton Avenue is a dirt track which is slippery and dangerous at the best of times and virtually impassable during rain events. A preliminary engineers report from 2017 estimated the cost of an all-weather gravel road to be $300 000 and a bitumen seal at $160 000. Could the minister provide an updated cost estimate of the requested works to help guide the community’s advocacy?

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NARRE WARREN SOUTH ELECTORATE Mr MAAS (Narre Warren South) (14:46): (5898) My question is for the Minister for Community Sport regarding the recent announcement of funding for the upgrade of the Hampton Park Bowls Club in this year’s budget. Minister, could you provide further details on this upgrade and how it will benefit my constituents in Narre Warren South? I was very happy to see the Andrews government’s $530 000 provision towards this highly anticipated project, which will be a boost for our local sports and help keep everyone active. This investment adds to the government’s strong record on community sports infrastructure and will provide the club with a fantastic opportunity to grow its membership and serve the community. I would appreciate any further information on the upgrade of the Hampton Park Bowls Club and how it will assist my constituents. I look forward to sharing the minister’s response with my community. WARRANDYTE ELECTORATE Mr R SMITH (Warrandyte) (14:46): (5899) My question is for the Minister for Ambulance Services. The minister would be aware through my previous correspondence—which he finally answered after almost four months—that the Warrandyte electorate currently does not have a purpose- built ambulance station. The building of a station was touted by his predecessor as a future priority, yet the 2021–22 budget again failed to deliver any capital or planning money for the creation of a station. The minister’s response also appears to be telling my electorate that their access to this essential emergency service is not a priority. Given the current crisis engulfing the ambulance service, with waiting times blowing out to the worst times since 2015, I would have thought the creation of a new ambulance station would be part of this government’s agenda. I ask the minister: when can the residents in the Warrandyte electorate expect a purpose-built ambulance station to be constructed for their safety? BOX HILL ELECTORATE Mr HAMER (Box Hill) (14:47): (5900) My question is for the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Victorians have overwhelmingly answered the call and patiently waited in long queues to get vaccinated and do their bit in our fight to control the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 40 per cent of people vaccinated in Australia last week getting the jab in Victoria—including me. Victorian state-run vaccination sites are likely to deliver more than 140 000 doses this week and can scale up to do more. This far exceeds our usual weekly allocation of about 110 000 doses per week of both AstraZeneca and Pfizer. We know that language and other factors can sometimes be a barrier for people accessing health information, which is a challenge particularly relevant to the many communities that call Box Hill home. My question is: what measures are the government undertaking to encourage people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities like mine to receive the COVID-19 vaccine? This commitment will help ensure all Victorians have equal access to the health care they deserve. I look forward to the minister’s response. Mr R Smith: On a point of order, Speaker, could I ask you just to review the member for Narre Warren South’s contribution? Asking for an update seems to be out of the parameters that constituency questions are required to keep within. Ms Green: Straight to the big issues. The SPEAKER: Order! I will have a look at—no, no. Without interjections. Mr R Smith: There are actually rules, member for Yan Yean, and we are supposed to follow them. It is not a matter of going to the big issues, it is a matter of whether we actually stick to the rules. Ms Green interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I will have a look at Hansard and report back to the house.

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Bills CHILD WELLBEING AND SAFETY (CHILD SAFE STANDARDS COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Second reading Debate resumed. Mr KENNEDY (Hawthorn) (14:49): Over lunch the discussion was on the German philosopher Goethe, who said, ‘As knowledge grows, so does doubt’. I have sometimes observed that this is a problem for some of us here in this place—but nonetheless, let me just say there appears to be no doubt from the opposition regarding this particular bill. They recognise that it is important and worthwhile, and I think we can all be very pleased about that. However, it was disconcerting to hear the member for Lowan degenerate into very pessimistic, depressing words like ‘massive problems’, ‘shameful record’, ‘strangled by grimness’—well, no, that was my observation that it was strangled by grimness— ‘depression’, ‘building bureaucracy’, ‘much shaking of heads’ and ‘blaming the government’. The only good work that seemed to be identified was from Ms Georgie Crozier in the other place— standards are not held and so on. And then the member for Caulfield was again singing the praises of Ms Georgie Crozier but this time including Mr Ted Baillieu, who comes from Hawthorn—and only good comes from Hawthorn; that is true. So it was good to hear Ted Baillieu being quoted there. He threw in words like ‘absolute disgrace’, ‘absolute failure’, a few other absolutes, ‘many instances’ and so on and so forth. It was really unhelpful, I think, because we are wanting to go forward; we are not wanting to pick holes in the legislation. We know that with any sort of legislation there will always be slips; there will always be times when you think ‘No, that point was not covered there’ or ‘That’s not right’ and so on and so forth. There is no question about that, but it is just simply regurgitating these stories, important though they are—and these things cannot just be swept under the carpet. But let us not let them get in the way of good legislation and going forward. So these child safety standards, we will call them, were developed in response to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations and its Betrayal of Trust report, handed down in 2013. The standards are a vital response to the inquiry, which found that serious incidents of child abuse were happening in some of our most well-regarded and important institutions and organisations. The standards apply to over 50 000 organisations in Victoria providing services or facilities catering for or employing children or young people. Included in this number are government departments, schools, hospitals, child protection services, religious bodies, charities, youth organisations, councils and various private sector businesses. The standards became fully operative a few years ago now, on 1 January 2017, and assist organisations in preventing child abuse and improving responses to allegations of child abuse by ensuring cultural change and putting child safety at the forefront of operations. As part of its response to the federal government’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the government committed to reviewing the Victorian child safe standards scheme. This review, completed in 2019, found that there was strong support for and commitment to the standards across Victoria’s wideranging child protection sectors and organisations. Another important outcome of the review was that most organisations involved in child-related work became even more aware of how vital it is to provide a safe environment for children and young people and genuinely seek to do so. Despite widespread support for the standards, the review also found the regulatory framework in need of significant reform—and this is where we come in. The review made 15 recommendations, which were all accepted by the government in December 2019, and, as outlined in the second-reading speech, if I can just repeat them, because they are important, very important, they include:

 improve regulatory oversight and clarity of regulator’s functions

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 provide regulators with a contemporary, graduated set of regulatory powers to monitor and enforce compliance with the Standards  improve information sharing between regulators to allow regulators to coordinate regulatory activity and share intelligence, to better identify risks to children and young people and to inform educational activities— and then the fourth of these—

 provide the Commission for Children and Young People with critical state-wide leadership and capacity building functions. So what else does the bill do? The reforms outlined below are substantial and underline the government’s commitment to ensuring the highest possible standards are in place to protect children and young people from harm. They promote and enhance compliance with the child safe standards across approximately 50 000 Victorian organisations, including schools, hospitals and churches, which will make these places safer for children. The bill implements eight of the 15 recommendations of Victoria’s review requiring legislative amendment, with the remaining recommendations being implemented administratively or via a further legislative instrument. Watch this space. Another important aspect of the bill is the proposed amendments to the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005, which will (a) provide regulators of the standards with contemporary monitoring and enforcement powers, (b) include a mechanism clearly identifying the regulator for each sector that is subject to the standards and provide the Commission for Children and Young People with additional statewide leadership and capacity-building functions and (c) facilitate improved information sharing between regulators so that non-compliance with the standards can be more effectively and efficiently identified, thereby making organisations safer for children. Another finding of the 2019 review of the child safe standards scheme was that regulators of the standards should look to integrate the standards into their existing regulatory frameworks. To facilitate the standards being integrated into the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act, the bill also amends the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. The bill provides too the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority—the VRQA as we know it—with the necessary regulatory powers so other aspects, such as requirements for registration and approval, are enforced. The bill also amends the ETRA by introducing new powers to monitor and enforce compliance with the standard into Victoria’s existing regulatory framework for schools and other educational organisations, thereby ensuring the burden is reduced by having one regulatory framework instead of two. The government has consulted extensively with interested parties during the drafting of the bill. These include regulators of the standards, child advocacy groups and organisations subject to the standards, including sporting clubs, religious bodies, Aboriginal organisations, private businesses, disability service providers, peak representative bodies and councils. Further changes in the bill provide regulators with clear powers to monitor and enforce the standards. Regulators will provide information and advice to assist organisations in their understanding of their obligations to promote consistent child safety outcomes and to encourage child safety and wellbeing across a wide range of organisations. Regulators will also have a range of options to assist them in better tailoring their responses to risk—for example, by giving an official warning, where appropriate, instead of issuing an automatic fine or commencing a prosecution. This legislation is yet another very fine example of the government’s commitment to protect children and should be widely supported. Of particular importance is the groundbreaking intensive family preservation and reunification response with its focus on intervention and prevention, and Home Stretch, where 500 or so young people are being supported so they can stay at home with care and family. I commend the bill. Ms HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (14:58): I also rise to speak on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021. This is very important legislation as we continue to shape and mould and build and strengthen the protection of children in

BILLS 2038 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 society generally, I guess, and whether they are within an organisation or a club or a group that they are protected and kept safe. I notice that the member for Broadmeadows is in the chamber. The member for Broadmeadows and I were members of the parliamentary joint committee that conducted the inquiry with the Betrayal of Trust report a number of years ago. Of course this report with its recommendations, along with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, made a number of recommendations, and what we are talking about today, I guess, sort of does stem from reports like that. There have actually been reports even further back than that which seem to have been ignored. However, the most recent reports, that of the royal commission and the Betrayal of Trust report, had a number of recommendations which have been adopted. Not that long ago, I guess, in 2017 is when the government first introduced the critical mandatory child safe standards and reportable conduct scheme to ensure that organisations take responsibility for the children that they have in their care, that they do not turn a blind eye and that they should take all allegations or suspicions very seriously to ensure that children are kept safe. We of course know in the most shocking detail the awful abuse that children have been subjected to within organisations, many of them religious organisations, which is so devastating when the trust empowered in those organisations is as it was. The parents and families had that trust, and in many cases children were not believed even when they finally did come forward. But it is so good to see that now these claims of old abuse are believed and are taken seriously. And I note just recently a very large award was given, I think $3 million, to a person that was abused as a child. We do not say historical cases, because the abuse that children suffer as children is taken with them throughout their lives. So in no way can the outcomes or the devastation caused to families and children in any way be considered historical. It is in the moment. It is right now, even though the abuse may have been conducted many years ago. The Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021 that we are talking about today—to give a bit of context, the government committed to a review of the standards and the regulatory framework in response to the publication of the final report of the royal commission. There were 15 recommendations in this regulatory space, eight of which will be addressed in this legislation. The remaining recommendations—our government has committed to also implement them. This particular legislation deals with eight of those recommendations. When we look at the updating of the reforms of 2017, it is all about ensuring that organisations know exactly what they need to do but also making sure that they do exactly what they need to do and that there is proper regulation and oversight of it. I heard in earlier contributions from the opposition that there were some sorts of claims about standards only applying to organisations and that the sector itself is not covered by these changes or these regulations. That is just not true. They do apply to the department and child protection as a whole as well, as they do to organisations that are not government organisations. Also, it is ridiculous to say that there are any less child protection workers at the moment, because in fact the state Labor government has invested a lot of funds and looked into the child protection area, and an additional 1180 child protection practitioners have come into the system since 2014 when the Labor government was re-elected after the four long years of a Liberal government, when there was no real reform or progress in many of these things. The regulations that we are talking about in this legislation are very timely. We need them as a matter of urgency, and of course that is why we are dealing with them quite quickly. We are talking about 2019 when the review occurred, and now we are looking in early 2021 at having many of those recommendations put into practice and into law. Just broadly, the changes that are being introduced are mechanisms that clearly identify the regulator for each sector that is subject to the standards and provide the commissioner for children and young people with additional statewide leadership and capacity-building functions. We do not want organisations to be able to slip out of their obligations just because there is a lack of clarity around what sector they apply to and just on technicalities. That is always important when it comes to the law, but we want to make sure—and I guess that is a good example of where over time the law and society are always evolving. There are always things that are

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2039 picked up because of the nature of the way we go about our business and our work that may not have been accounted for when the legislation was originally adopted and drafted. It is also going to facilitate improved information sharing between regulators so that non-compliance with the standards can be more effectively and efficiently identified, therefore making organisations safer for children. As we know, we value privacy and we want to make sure that information about ourselves and about our organisations is, where needed, treated in a confidential way, but by the same token we do not want actions against children to hide behind this idea that various organisations cannot share information in order to make sure that children are protected to the highest possible standard. Therefore if there is an allegation or something has happened in one organisation, it is important that the regulators are able to know about that when looking at another allegation or case or action of an organisation and how they behave in another setting or place. The bill also amends the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to integrate the standards into that act and provide the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority with similar regulatory powers to enforce other aspects of the act. I know during the Betrayal of Trust inquiry this was quite a glaring problem, where the standards in the Victorian Institute of Teaching really had no reference in the education setting to how to use their standards and their regulatory framework to make sure or to reinforce standards so that children are kept in the safest way and that within the education institutions certain practices are adopted to ensure that children are safe. Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (15:08): Betrayal of Trust revealed a cover-up that killed. The investigation was into crime, not faith, but like the journey through Dante’s Inferno, the deeper the descent, the more horrific the crimes. The suffering blights people’s lives. Some people who survive are able to compartmentalise what has happened. Others lead blighted lives, and some cannot outrun the haunting shadows. The inquiry provided a blueprint for the national royal commission and insight for the community. The children were innocent. Their courage in testifying as adults was inspiring, and their fortitude remains humbling. There are still plenty of people fighting today to get justice, and the reality that we have come to understand is that the dark heart of sexual crimes against children has always been individuals and organisations getting away with the use and abuse of power. Survivors relied on Parliament to become the institution that did not fail them. Cultures of concealment were revealed, along with noble cause corruption—a misplaced loyalty to the reputation of an institution above justice to individuals. This is the third Parliament—the 57th, the 58th and now the 59th Parliament—that has stayed the journey and at least returned a measure of trust to people who had totally lost trust in institutions. I want to commend the Minister for Child Protection for bringing this legislation today because this extends the reach of scrutiny, accountability and compliance. Victoria’s child safe standards are a key response to that inquiry in 2013. The standards apply to more than 50 000 organisations in Victoria that provide services or facilities specifically for, or employ, children or young people. This includes government departments, schools, hospitals, child protection services, religious bodies, charities, youth organisations, councils and various private sector businesses. This is important to continue to extend the reach of accountability, compliance and scrutiny. I think it is really important in a time, as some other speakers have referred to, of hyper-partisanship, that one of the key focuses of the report was that we got beyond partisanship. I do want to acknowledge the previous speaker, the member for Thomastown; the member for Ferntree Gully, who is here as well; Georgie Crozier in the upper house, who was the chair; and two now ex-parliamentarians— David O’Brien from the National Party, who continued on as a lawyer pursuing justice for individuals, and I commend him for all he has done there; and Andrea Coote from the upper house as well. I had the humbling privilege to be the deputy chair of this inquiry as well. It is really when you meet the people, you find out what they have been through and you understand that the evil that men do lives

BILLS 2040 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 after them—that is the horror. This is part of an ongoing institutional response by the Victorian Parliament. That is significant, and it has returned a measure of trust. I want to take up, again, advocacy for a constituent, Wendy Dyckhoff. When she first came to the Victorian Parliament the enormity of bearing witness to the physical, psychological, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered as a ward of the state was unbearable. Fearful and overwhelmed, Wendy regressed to her childhood self—the little girl who was abused. She could not speak. She delivered a written submission so her story as a forgotten Australian could be recorded before the Parliament’s inquiry. She continues to fight today—and she has shown enormous courage—with her daughter Amber. They have given me permission to again raise their concerns before this Parliament because in December 2020 Wendy was diagnosed with emphysema and has a maximum life expectancy of two years. Her daughter Amber is requesting that she be appointed as Wendy’s primary carer. After a lifetime of institutionalisation, Amber is adamant that her mother deserves to be cared for by someone who loves her and understands Wendy’s complex history and has her best interests at the forefront of her caring. Both women cannot contemplate the likelihood of Wendy’s final years being spent in another institution—and that is the critical point. So I have written in good faith to the Honourable Linda Reynolds, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, requesting that a better accommodation can be made so that Amber can take care of her mum. We are hoping that we can pursue that and deliver at least that measure of justice when it is needed most. I think it is important that we continue the scrutiny on these issues to try and appreciate just what an impact it has. Just to give you an understanding of that, what Wendy said at the time was that her emotions and her voice were suppressed. She wandered through life as a shell of a person:

Emotionally, I was destroyed. I felt worthless. I was robbed of my soul. I wandered without purpose, like the living dead. On numerous times I attempted suicide because I felt death would have been better. I’m only now getting the acknowledgement that what was done to me was real and not a child’s vivid imagination. Only now am I getting the help and support I need, which is deeply appreciated. These are people who have gone through this horror. They were always innocent. They did not understand what was happening to them. They did not have the language to actually explain what had occurred. I think that is the point where we have to reach out in compassion, look at each individual case. I think it would be something that would be an outstanding result for Wendy and Amber if we were able to get the NDIS to be flexible enough to take care of the specifics of this case and many more. Obviously I am referencing Wendy because she is a constituent and all of my office know her very well, but it is for a whole host of other people. What we are trying to do is important. If you think about it now, there have been three different premiers. There was Ted Baillieu, there was Denis Napthine, the Premier and now the Acting Premier as well, so we do have a unity ticket. These are the issues where people look to us to be a parliamentarian. It is an important role. It is above politics. This is a case where I again reach out to Senator Reynolds and the NDIS just to see if they can be flexible, to see if they can give a measure of hope for the final days for someone whose life has been incredibly courageous. I think that what the government is doing in continuing to pursue these issues to change the culture—we have changed the law, we need to change the culture—is of the utmost importance, and I commend the bill to the house. Mr WAKELING (Ferntree Gully) (15:18): Certainly it is a pleasure to contribute to this debate on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021. I am very pleased to follow the member for Broadmeadows on this important bill, because as the member referred to in his contribution—and the member for Thomastown previous to that— the work that was done by the Family and Community Development Committee at that time, back in 2013, was probably some of the best work that this Parliament, that this house, has seen in terms of

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2041 bipartisanship and ensuring that the Parliament did whatever it could to take a very serious, important issue, which was dealing with the horrors associated with institutional child abuse, and to distil those contributions, both oral and contributed in writing. We had over 150 people, from memory, who presented to us, many in public but a lot who privately told us their stories. Some very harrowing tales were received by that committee. But an important driver of the committee members—all members from all sides of the Parliament— was to take their stories and ensure we could put in place a set of legislative changes, reforms, that would ensure that we could do one of two things: firstly, support those people who were the victims; but secondly, put in place child safe standards so that children into the future are better protected than children have been previously. And pleasingly we have seen a range of legislative reforms both by the former Napthine and Baillieu governments but also under the current government, which has certainly progressed the work of that committee. I remember at the time the committee was of the view that we needed to put in place standards that were workable, that could be seamless and were not cumbersome, and I think it would be fair to say that once we have bureaucracies involved these things become a bit bigger than what the committee members had envisaged. But we appreciate the fact that the various government departments and the work that they did had to put in place a series of legislative but operational reforms to ensure the child safe standards could be applied. It is important that we review that work. It is important that we take stock of the work that has been done in terms of the implementation of the recommendations of the Betrayal of Trust report and that we see what is working and what can be enhanced, because fundamentally the work of the committee was to take the evidence and to come up with a series of recommendations that could be implemented. We did not want to be producing a report that sat on a shelf with a series of recommendations that no government of either political persuasion was able to implement. We wanted changes that could be implemented and make a difference. I believe today we have made a difference and we will into the future, and for us as members of the committee, for us as legislators, we can have great faith that the work of the committee has achieved a lot. But it is important that the legislation before the house is undertaken to review the work that is being done, to ensure that it is meeting the needs of the recommendations and to ensure that it is meeting the needs of the Victorian community. Because for those victims who, through their tears, told us their harrowing tales, it did not matter about culture, it did not matter about religion and it did not matter about socio-economic outcomes. Victims of abuse had a very common story. Regardless of their age, they were still hurting then as they probably are now, and they live with that for years and decades. We took it upon ourselves to ensure that we wanted to produce a report that did justice, and through that we not only did justice for those victims but we also through the work of the Taskforce Sano had nearly 100 other cases dealt with during the course of the inquiry—people hearing of the evidence and then wishing to tell their stories and dealing with that through the criminal justice system. So given the work of the committee, given the recommendations of the committee, I am pleased to see that this bill before the house is continuing the work. We need to ensure that it is streamlined. We need to ensure that it can be implemented properly, but we need to ensure that it is protecting children. That is fundamentally what the driver of our report was, and that is the driver of this bill before the house. So I commend the bill before the house, and may we long into the future look back with great pride at the work of the committee, knowing that children are better served than they had been previously. Mr CARBINES (Ivanhoe) (15:24): On the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021, I am really pleased to be following in the footsteps of the members for Thomastown, Broadmeadows and Ferntree Gully and certainly their informed contributions of their experiences on the parliamentary committee, particularly around that work in November 2013 that culminated in the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations, aptly titled Betrayal of Trust, and of course the

BILLS 2042 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 government response that came in May 2014. That led to a number of changes in legislation, which bring us back again today to how we can further improve, after the government reviewed the workings of the legislation as it was applied, and also engage with so many community organisations—some 500-plus—who these regulatory instruments apply to. I just want to touch briefly on a couple of matters that were raised by the inquiry’s chair—going back to that work on the Betrayal of Trust report—Ms Crozier in the other place. I quote from the report, where she said:

We acknowledge those victims who were unable to participate in the Inquiry—who remain locked in silence, who found the re-telling of their experience too traumatic, or who have taken their lives as a consequence of their … lives being wracked with struggle and pain. She did touch on the point in that report’s foreword that the work that they had done was perhaps an opportunity to set a new benchmark for the protection of children here in Victoria. That was really, I suppose, the gauntlet the report threw down to the legislature. Part of the reason we come to this place again now is to look further at some of the changes that the government wants to make in relation to this legislation to give it greater robustness. I think I said ‘500’ earlier; of course the child safe standards apply to some 50 000 organisations— schools, hospitals, sporting clubs, youth organisations, private sector businesses and religious bodies. Certainly in my role as Parliamentary Secretary for Carers and Volunteers and in the volunteer sector you get a greater understanding too of the responsibilities and the roles, as we develop our Victorian volunteer strategy, and an understanding of how we can not only better support those who we entrust the care of our young people to—the voluntary organisations, for example—but also provide support and protections as well, in a lot of ways, for our volunteers who run those organisations to give them the strength and support to be able to do their jobs effectively, to call out inappropriate behaviour and to make sure that our community values are instilled in those organisations. While the pointy end of why people want to be involved in volunteering in organisations is to provide opportunities and leadership in the community and great opportunities—in particular for young people, as it applies to this legislation—it is also incumbent on us to provide those experiences for those people who want to show leadership in the community, to grow organisations and to be inclusive and engaging in providing opportunities for people that might not otherwise be there, to make it safe for them and make it understandable for them how they can play their role, to show great leadership and provide inclusive opportunities for all. So they are also some of the elements that we deal with in the community. Fortunately, the work that the Minister for Child Protection does also takes into account that work in child protection. I do know that there have been some very significant changes in the investment made and the work the government has done in relation to protecting young people in our community, and that includes the over 1180 additional child protection practitioners that have been employed here in Victoria since 2014. I want to commend those people, who devote their working lives to advocacy for and protection of vulnerable people and children in our community—the many people in the community whose lives have, for all manner of reasons, not followed the reasonable, fair and generous pathway that so many of us are fortunate enough to have had. The involvement and engagement of the state is critical in providing them with the strength and the opportunities to map out their life and give them confidence in how they can build a life and make a contribution to the community. The work of child protection practitioners, as the minister knows, given his mother was also someone who practised in that role for very many decades, is just critical and fundamental to the opportunities we want to provide to young people in the community. Much of the work that is outlined again here in this legislation is about picking up on a range of changes that we need to make to continue to strengthen and advance the interests and protection of young people. I do note also that a lot of the child safe standards are overseen of course by the commissioner for children and young people. One of the predecessors in that role was Bernie Geary. I want to

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2043 acknowledge his very significant lifelong contribution in the 3081 community—in West Heidelberg. He was really one of our first youth workers in the community in the work that he did at Banyule Community Health service. He is really one of the most highly regarded people in our community. The work that I know he did in his time as commissioner for children and young people—in effect the role was broadly established many years ago now—and the leadership that he showed and continues to show in his engagement and work for vulnerable communities right across the state is something that has been very significant. I know in the West Heidelberg community and across my electorate we are very proud of the ongoing advocacy and work and the legacy of his engagement and involvement in the lives of so many people. When he has the opportunity to return at different times to that community, there are so many who maintain their links and associations and through him and with his work have been enriched in their lives and been able to grow in our community. He is certainly someone who continues to be a strong advocate for vulnerable people in our state. Can I say also that part of the other work out of the Review of the Victorian Child Safe Standards, which was concluded in 2019, found that there was a very strong commitment to that work from many agencies. But we did find that there were some 15 recommendations that fall under some broad categories that needed to be addressed, meeting the statements that are in the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. It is critical to try and align with national standards where we can. I think you will find there is much legislation that this Parliament has dealt with and that our government has sought to align where possible. Often it has come about through our own leadership in a national sense around how we can improve the regulatory practices that apply to citizens across the state. Driving that work out of Victoria is something that I think we have done really significant work on. Aligning those national principles with our work is critical. Amending the act to clarify who is responsible for regulating the standards and those functions and amending the act to give regulators contemporary monitoring and enforcement powers and information-sharing powers is also critical as part of that work. There was some further work that needed to be done in this legislation with regard to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Of course we do know that that royal commission found that there were a couple of elements that we needed to deal with there, particularly around the critical role the government needs to play to ensure child-safe guardian schemes are effective and efficient. The reason I want to just fall back briefly on some of the work that we are doing with our volunteer strategy is it is also about a volunteer passport. Part of this, and where I think it aligns with some of this work, is to ensure that as people choose to volunteer in different organisations, those organisations are able to easily match online the work histories of people who want to volunteer, their working with children checks and their engagement in the community, and that in effect the volunteer passport can travel with an individual across Victoria. That is our greater goal in the work that we will do. It supports organisations in the work that they do so that they do not have to double up and get bogged down in lots of administrivia when people want to get to the pointy end of why they volunteer and the work that they do. It also provides a broader accountability mechanism that provides people with the opportunity to volunteer and have those demonstrated qualifications that we all need and how they work effectively in the community. I will just say, lastly on that, I know in surf lifesaving clubs—we have joined one recently—there is a great confidence that you also gain with the mechanisms and the processes that are in place to ensure that all those who become members and volunteers have working with children checks. With the engagement that is expected of all volunteers in member organisations to support and engage our young people there is also a very strong focus on the wellbeing and protection of young people and the obligations on those adults who choose to participate, and thankfully to volunteer, to make it all come together and work. So we have come a long way. I consider that these amendments again strengthen the very broad commitment that this Parliament has to protect vulnerable people and our young people in the community

BILLS 2044 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Mr SCOTT (Preston) (15:34): I rise to speak on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021. Before getting into the detail of the bill, I would like to reference briefly the work that was undertaken by the Family and Community Development Committee of the Parliament and the report on the inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations, which was tabled, as I understand, in November 2013, and rightly titled Betrayal of Trust. I think it is really important to touch upon the genesis of that committee’s work in changing the narrative not just here in Victoria but across Australia, because this was an area of public policy that far too often organisations, governments, important public institutions and religious organisations looked at as a problem from their own perspective in regard to their legal liabilities and risk management, but in fact the most important thing that needed to be done was to give a voice to those who had been victims of child sexual abuse. When we say ‘child sexual abuse’, I think that term cannot fully embody the rape, the sexual assault, the psychological abuse, the manipulation and the lifelong damage that is done to vulnerable children by trusted family members, in some cases, and in institutional settings by trusted persons holding positions of power over those children. So having examined this problem—then subsequently in this legislation but also in other legislation and other government interventions previously—the critical juncture occurred when the focus switched from the organisations and how they could protect themselves to the experience of those people who had been abused as children and the effects that that abuse had had on them. Giving justice to that experience became an imperative that was given a life that it always deserved but had sadly for too long not been given because the focus had been wrong. The problem needed to be inverted and the focus, quite rightly, needed to be on not just the experience of the children who had been abused and the damage inflicted upon them but protecting children in our society into the future. So I would like to commend all of those who were engaged in that work. I would like particularly to commend the witnesses who appeared. Of course not everyone who was abused could appear, as some had taken their lives and for many the damage was too great for them to appear and give evidence in a public forum like that. I have a personal memory of getting into a lift here in Parliament during the time of the hearings. I had not been paying attention to the schedule of the hearing, but I stepped into a lift of elderly people and I immediately knew that they were witnesses coming to that hearing. The damage that had been wrought on them was self-evident when you saw them and met them. The harrowing evidence that was given and the good work of members of this Parliament and previous Parliaments in that context—and of the staff of the committee—helped bring that testimony to light. But those experiences should never have happened. In fact it is incumbent on all of us to ensure, as much as we humanly can, that those experiences are not repeated into the future and that we learn the lessons of the misplaced loyalty to institutions over vulnerable human beings. The aberration of that behaviour should not be seen outside the context of the abrogation of responsibility that was undertaken and how people acted within organisations—those who were not perpetrators but who did not take appropriate action to stop those horrible abuses from occurring. Like many in this place—and I will not name the people—I know people who have been abused, and I know the devastating impact that has had on their life. They have chosen not to come forward and not to reveal it more generally, because it is a part of their life they wish to leave behind. I know people who have passed away never revealing to the world the abuse that they suffered. Turning to the bill and the detail of the bill itself, this is a bill that comes out of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which of course in itself came from the parliamentary committee’s work, which itself came from the terrible and harrowing experiences of Victorians who had suffered abuse. As part of the government’s response to that commission’s report, the government committed to reviewing the child safe standards. In 2019 that review was completed. The purpose of the review was to ensure the regulatory scheme was as efficient and effective as possible. It is not enough to just seek to do good. It is important in a Parliament to ensure that public institutions and—where regulated by the public in this case as well—private institutions meet the

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2045 community expectations that, quite rightly, have significantly changed in the period since the terrible, tragic history of child sexual abuse has become more publicly known. The review found that there was strong support for a commitment to the standards across the diverse sectors and organisations that work with children and that most organisations that engage in child- related work are acutely aware of the importance of providing a safe environment for children and young people. Of course the vast majority of people in such circumstances do so from a genuine position of a desire to keep those young children safe and well. However, the report did find that there are significant grounds for reform, and there were 15 recommendations made for reform that fall under three broad categories: amendments to align the standards with the national principles of child safety organisations; amendments to clarify who is responsible for regulating the standards and their functions; and amendments to give regulators contemporary monitoring and enforcement powers, including information sharing. I note that this, as I understand it, has broad support across the Parliament in terms of enacting this legislation. The reforms in the bill align with the key findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, including that oversight bodies are responsible for monitoring and enforcing standards, that regulators should take a responsive and risk-based approach to monitoring and compliance with the standards, that the existing regulatory framework should be used to monitor and enforce the standards where possible and that there should be a coordinated ongoing information exchange between regulators of the standards. The bill implements eight of the 15 recommendations of the review that I mentioned earlier, and the bill will provide regulators of the standards with contemporary monitoring and enforcement powers, promoting compliance and the ability to take action to address non-compliance, and include mechanisms to clearly identify the regulator for each sector which is subject to the standards. This will have the benefit of reducing the burden on entities, many of which currently deal with multiple regulators for the standards; improving information sharing between regulators—of course information sharing is required so that non-compliance with the standards can be more efficiently and effectively identified and addressed—and providing statewide capacity building and a leadership role for the Commission for Children and Young People, promoting consistent child safety outcomes across the sectors. I will not speak much longer, because the bill is largely of a technical nature, other than to say that there are many issues that come before the Parliament. But I think we can take the lesson that I alluded to when I first began my contribution—that wherever possible when dealing with a problem which has been either swept beneath the carpet or has been intractable, I think it is a useful exercise to invert a problem and to focus not on ourselves or on public institutions but on vulnerable members of our community, who are the ones whose care we are entrusted with, and to take the stories of their lives not as stories but as the lived reality which we must embrace when seeking to reform and improve public services to meet their needs. These lessons were too long in their implementation in the case of child sexual abuse, and I would implore all members to consider the lessons that we should take out of the public policy failings of decades, in this particular case, when considering other complex matters where there are those who have been voiceless for too long and those who are unable to be heard, because it is up to us to consider the weak and the powerless and to give them power and to give them a voice and to do justice to the needs of all across our community. This is an excellent bill, and I commend it to the house. Ms SULEYMAN (St Albans) (15:44): I am absolutely delighted to rise and speak after the member for Preston, who adequately contributed with those finishing remarks. I also rise to make a contribution on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021. We know, and we have heard through our speakers today, how important this legislation is. It is important for children, families and our communities. We know that child safety is everyone’s responsibility. We all play a part in this, and it is absolutely integral that we get child safety right from the beginning and that proper protections are in place for children across this state and across our communities. As a government we must make sure that child safety is effective, efficient and actually

BILLS 2046 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 works. When it comes to legislative protections for kids we lead the nation, but most importantly we make sure. Mandatory child safety standards, as we know, were introduced in January 2017 and of course a conduct scheme from 1 July 2017. With this additional bill we are strengthening our child safety measures and making sure they are implemented in full. As part of this bill the review found that there is strong support from stakeholders, with a commitment to the standards across the state’s diverse sectors and organisations. It also found that organisations engaged in child-related work are actively aware of the importance of providing a safe environment for children and young people and genuinely seek to do so, and there is no doubt that most organisations are committed to providing a safe environment. This shows that, throughout this state, through the process there were some good outcomes. The review also identified the current measures that clearly need to be reformed to align with the national principles for child safe organisations and, as I said, most importantly to strengthen regulation and the responsibility for the standards. This is exactly what this bill does today. It delivers on common sense, and more importantly it strengthens child safety in our state—and that is an absolute priority for us. Some of these changes include providing regulators of the standards with contemporary monitoring and enforcement powers and identifying the regulator for each sector, including reducing the burden on organisations. We know that some organisations that may be run by volunteers may not have the capacity, so it is important to reduce the burden and make sure we are identifying regulators for those sectors. Importantly, we are improving information sharing—that is absolutely critical to do—providing a statewide capacity building and leadership role for the Commission for Children and Young People and promoting consistent child safety outcomes across the sectors. As we know, our children are our most precious, and this bill will make sure that the right safety measures are in place to protect them. When it comes to child safety we know that our government is always ready to review and implement safety first. We have a strong history of making sure that the safety of our children continues to be a priority in our legislative frameworks and, as I mentioned, we previously pioneered the mandatory child safety standards. The child safe standards apply to around 50 000 organisations across the state, including our local schools, our hospitals and of course our active sporting clubs, who do a tremendous job each and every day. The standards are overseen by the Commission for Children and Young People. These organisations must comply with the standards, helping to support cultural change and more importantly creating a child safe environment and implementing the practices. These standards are being updated—and so they should be updated with time—to align with the national principles for child safe organisations. Additionally, we are putting in place a reportable conduct scheme, which requires organisations that supervise children to report on any form of allegation of child abuse to the commission, ensuring that it is appropriately investigated and acted upon. Our government is also expanding the groups of people and workers who are required by law to report a reasonable belief of child physical or sexual abuse to child protection authorities. This now includes people from religious ministries and also doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, counsellors, kindergarten teachers and many more. This is about expanding the sectors so that everybody is responsible for making and implementing these measures and of course other measures as well. We will always ensure that child safety is our absolute priority. I know how important these measures are because I recently had to renew my working with children check. It is so important to do so when you are dealing with children. I had the great pleasure in the last term of Parliament as part of the Anzac program to lead some young students to Greece as part of the Gallipoli delegation. It really was a great opportunity to engage with the young students. But it is also a responsibility, so I was very happy to be able to apply for a children’s check. I think that gives confidence to families and carers and grandparents that your young children are actually in an environment where every measure has been taken to protect the security and the safety of our kids.

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This legislation, again, as I said. strengthens the regulation of child safety standards and is yet another example of the Andrews Labor government’s commitment to our children. As we can see this year, the Andrews Labor government has invested an additional $4.2 billion towards the children and family system across the state, undertaking a significant transformation of the system. That includes over $400 million for early childhood education, and we know how critical early education is for our toddlers as they are starting their journey through life. We certainly know that we need to continue to deliver and invest in our children and, most importantly, put forward the blankets and the measures to protect the safety of our children. This legislation really does that. This is a pretty commonsense bill which strengthens child safety across our state, building on our history of achievements, as I said, and investing in our children. I want to thank the Minister for Child Protection for delivering these important and critical reforms. It is so important that child safety is our number one priority, and I know it certainly is through this legislation. This bill really does protect our children, and of course it makes it very clear for the sector in dealing with issues that may arise. It secures and makes sure that the commission can deal with complaints in a timely manner, and the reporting mechanisms are very clear. It really does make it much clearer, as I said, for organisations to supervise children, to provide that reporting mechanism, and if there is any form of questions these are appropriately investigated. Ms HALL (Footscray) (15:54): I am pleased to contribute to this important bill, and I would like to start my contribution by acknowledging the pain and suffering of victim-survivors of child abuse. As part of our great responsibility as legislators, I do not know that there is a more pressing and important task than ensuring we do everything within our power to ensure that protections are in place for the children of Victoria. I would like to also acknowledge some of the contributions from members today—the member for Broadmeadows, the member for Thomastown and the member for Ferntree Gully—who were all members of that committee back in 2013 whose important work has led us to this place through the Betrayal of Trust report from the joint committee. I suppose as a relatively new member of this place it is remarkable to see how the Parliament sometimes works in such a positive way. I think they have obviously created a very important legacy in that work. The member for Broadmeadows shared a fairly harrowing account of a constituent, Wendy, and outlined the lifetime of scars that Wendy has dealt with. It is very important whenever we are dealing with these matters that first and foremost children are believed. I think continuous improvement is our responsibility, to make sure that we do have workable regulations that organisations can deliver to ensure that the safety of children is paramount and that children have the best protections possible—that abuse is believed and is ultimately prevented. The member for Preston also made a really, I think, powerful contribution when he talked about the previous context of how child abuse was dealt with in the state—that these matters were dealt with by organisations themselves with their own processes and managed through a lens of their own priorities—and of course that is unacceptable. The focus was not on the rights and the needs of a child, as it should be. As with many of the contributions we have had today, there have also been people in my life who have been very damaged by the impact of child abuse, who have chosen not to tell their story but to just live with it—to live with a lifetime of trauma. Any prevention of child abuse that we can achieve through regulatory reform is incredibly valuable and pressing. Also, through my work with Victoria Police I saw the impact that investigating these crimes had on police and how devastating that could be—and traumatic. I often think about the impact on those colleagues. There is no task more important or pressing or urgent for us as legislators than to protect the voiceless. To go to the main aspects of this bill, of course they relate to reviews of the child safe standards, the standards that all organisations that provide services or facilities for children must comply with. There are over 50 000 such organisations—schools, hospitals, sports clubs, youth organisations and private sector businesses and religious bodies. I am very pleased that religious bodies are now also part of the reportable conduct scheme, which was, I think, a matter we dealt with last year in terms of mandatory

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2048 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 reporting and breaking the confessional seal. That is a very important aspect of our continuous improvement to child protections. The legislation we are debating today— The SPEAKER: Order! I just might interrupt the member for Footscray there. The time has come for me to interrupt business for the grievance debate. Business interrupted under resolution of house of 8 June. Grievance debate The SPEAKER: The question is:

That grievances be noted. COVID-19 Mr HODGETT (Croydon) (16:01): I grieve for all the students in Victorian schools who have had their education interrupted yet again as the government enforces a fourth lockdown, closing our schools and forcing children back into remote learning. I grieve for all the students who have had camps cancelled, music performances postponed or cancelled, school sports cancelled and so on. I grieve for the lost opportunities to enjoy the things that make life enjoyable, to make memories. I grieve for the students who have had their plans crushed yet again. I grieve for all the students who miss their friends, who find school an escape from violence at home or who are not coping alone at home. I grieve for all of you. Victorian schools should be open tomorrow, not Friday. Why will schools not be operating on Thursday? Why are we not prioritising education in this state? Why isn’t the Minister for Education championing kids’ education? Why is the Minister for Mental Health ignoring the enormous toll on our kids’ mental health due to the lockdowns? What is his plan for schools in Victoria and to support kids who are suffering and not coping with the stress, anxiety and loneliness of remote learning? As Victoria sits through yet another lockdown and students are once again forced to pivot to remote learning, I have to ask: what as a state are we trying to achieve with our kids education? Lockdowns are essential, we are told, to prevent the vulnerable for dying. They are an essential tool to keep our health system from being overwhelmed, we constantly hear. But I keep wondering: why isn’t keeping our students in school also considered essential? Why aren’t activities within a school, such as music ensembles, considered essential? I had a parent email me recently—and we have all had examples of parents emailing us about various matters during the lockdown—saying that their child’s school music concert had been cancelled for the second year in a row and that her child feels that there is no purpose in learning music anymore, given how quickly these things get cancelled. What are we doing to our kids when a child says, ‘There’s no purpose in learning music anymore’? Music and the arts are important, and here we have example after example where kids are feeling such despair. It is positive that years 11 and 12 are back in class and schools in regional Victoria are open. This was not the case last week, and you have got to ask what has changed. Why can’t we open all schools for all levels this week? We have got many families with children across different year levels, so their child in year 11 can go to school but their child in year 9 has to stay home—why? It makes no sense; it is illogical. This week, while we are in here, we have a situation where a year 11 or year 12 student can go to school but their younger sibling is considered too high a risk to attend the same school. How is risk being determined? This does not make sense. Why can we have people on building sites? Now, I am a supporter of building sites being open, so I am not for one minute suggesting that government close building sites, but if they can open, why not schools? We know that young people have got a very low risk of transmission compared to other cohorts of the population. The damage that is being done to our students by keeping them out of school is immense, and we need to get those children back into schools as soon as possible. Ms Thomas: And the teachers?

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Mr HODGETT: I will come to our plan for teachers. I am glad you raised that. The damage that has been done to our young people is extraordinary. They missed out on so much school last year. They missed school during February. We need to get them back into the class, back into face-to-face learning, as soon as possible. We are past 114 days—116 days at the moment, nearly two whole terms. It is not good enough. The other thing I am asking is: who is the government listening to? What experts? What advice? Because psychiatrists, GPs—everyone—are saying kids need to go back to school yesterday. So who are they listening to? Who are the medical experts saying that schools have to be closed? Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Professor Fiona Russell has bemoaned this latest lockdown, citing concerning figures regarding the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s research into our children’s mental health, yet this government chooses to ignore her research. What evidence is Brett Sutton, the chief health officer, listening to? Because Professor Fiona Russell from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute has put forward a traffic light system for keeping schools open—open, with closure as a very last resort. It is a green, yellow, orange and red system, where red is considered closure as a very last resort. Have they considered her advice, and if so, why are they discounting it? Now, I want to make a few comments on mental health and some of the disturbing statistics that we are hearing. Our current Acting Premier is both the Minister for Education and the Minister for Mental Health, and yet the majority of our schoolkids are still learning remotely. Why has he not prioritised children’s face-to-face education? We know that our children’s mental health is being negatively impacted, with GPs, psychologists and psychiatrists all reporting a dramatic increase in children and adolescent mental health issues and consultation. We know that there has been a 34 per cent increase in new eating disorder cases. We know there has been a 51 per cent increase in teens needing to be rushed to hospital after self-harming and suffering suicidal thoughts. We know that there has been a 49.9 per cent increase in the number of teens needing resuscitation and emergency care. We know that feelings of anxiety and feeling depressed are on the increase. Our children are suffering, yet this government is saying that the school lockdown is its only choice. Well, it is not. It is one of many choices, and so I say to this government: for the sake of our kids, make a different choice—make a different choice the next time there is a COVID outbreak and you are considering lockdown. There is a long line of research and literature that spells out the poor education and mental health outcomes for students from lockdowns. Professor Fiona Russell, as I have mentioned, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute group on Friday lamented her profound disappointment that schools were once again in lockdown. Her research has shown the overwhelming mental health impact of lockdowns: 51 per cent of school-aged children reported a decline in their emotional wellbeing due to remote learning compared with 27 per cent across all other states and territories. We know that schoolchildren’s mental health is suffering. They cannot get a booking at a psychiatrist, at a psychologist or at a mental health practitioner. We know kids’ levels of anxiety and depression are sky high. They are feeling anxious; they are feeling unhappy, depressed and worried about how their education future is going to look. They are worried about participating in sport and activities, knowing that things get cancelled so easily and quickly, and I refer back to that example of music, which gets cancelled and then children are in despair. Kids Helpline has reported an increase of 184 per cent in duty-of-care interventions. This is horrific, and you have got to ask: what are we doing to our children? Now I will come to some ideas that the government may wish to take on board. Last year we prioritised our vulnerable; this year it is time we prioritised our children. Parents are not teachers. They are doing their best, but it is incredibly difficult to teach their children whilst working from home or caring for sick relatives or indeed elderly parents. Our parents have not been trained to educate. Kids need to be with people who are trained to teach. This year the state government has committed to a tutor workforce to improve the learning gap created by its own months of long lockdown. This is not budgeted to be repeated in 2022, which highlights a flaw in the program. If tutors cannot help because of current lockdowns, how do the gaps from 2020 not become even bigger in 2021? The fundamental question we should be asking ourselves regarding lockdowns is this: how do we move from the vicious

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2050 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 cycle of learning gaps, missed educational opportunities and impacts on students’ mental health if face-to-face student education is not prioritised? In 2020 teachers had to pivot more than most other sectors. They had to restructure their lesson plans at a moment’s notice. They had to figure out how to teach content that was not necessarily designed for remote learning. They had to motivate, mentor and manage students who were either struggling with the concept of online learning or whose home environment did not support online learning. They have been our genuine educational warriors: brilliant in battle, hardened defenders of our children’s knowledge. Isn’t it time we considered their work as essential and committed to never again locking down schools? We have got a solution: vaccination. We need to prioritise vaccinating our teachers so that they can be kept safe in the classroom and our children can get back to face-to-face learning, plus all the other activities that they enjoy such as competitive indoor and outdoor sport, music ensembles including singing and blowing instruments, and all facets of classroom education. So here is my solution: why don’t we prioritise vaccinating students aged 12-plus and our teachers? This is the approach that Singapore is taking. The research is very positive as to the efficacy and safety of vaccinating those over 12, and the reality is that a solution to our lockdown education gap loop is within our grasp. Teachers should be given priority access in queues for vaccination. It is time we recognised teachers as essential workers with the same status as frontline workers and prioritised them for vaccination. I was pleased this morning to hear media reports that for our ambulance drivers, our paramedics, this is happening; they are able to be prioritised, they are able to jump the queue, in busy vaccination sessions. We are all for that. We are saying teachers should be given priority access in queues for vaccination also. It is time we recognised them as essential workers with the same status as frontline workers and prioritised them for vaccination. The benefits of a vaccinated student and teacher workforce would be immense. The improvement in students’ mental health, knowing that they would be spared from future lockdowns, would be substantial. In other words, the investment is well worth it. Teachers could plan the year knowing that interruptions would be minimal, school-assessed coursework would not be interrupted, exams could be planned for and sat, students in the performing arts who require cooperative participation either through ensembles or accompanists can be accommodated, science students can utilise labs and those in the creative arts can have access to arts facilities. Again, I go back to that example of music ensembles—the example that was given to me was the young daughter of the parents that spoke to me. She had studied all term. I think her assessment is worth about 18 per cent of the total of her assessment this year, and it looks like being cancelled. It is not something you can do online. It is not something you can do in a tutorial or something. It is so, so important when you have invested all that time in studying and wanting to be involved in the arts and music, and yet that is an example of where students cannot be. So we are saying students in the performing arts who require cooperative participation, either through those ensembles or accompanists, can be accommodated under this plan. Science students could utilise labs and those in the creative arts could have access to the arts facilities. Even parents could relax, no longer burdened with the demands of becoming proxy teachers while balancing working from home. In short, our education system would be able to do what it is functionally designed to do: provide face-to-face learning for all its students. Our students missed out on so much in 2020. Their education and mental health were severely compromised. Here we are again in 2021 with history on the precipice of being repeated. So as a vocal campaigner for face-to-face learning I have to ask: isn’t it time student education was considered essential? Kids need to go back to school. All facets of their education need to recommence as soon as possible, including sport and music ensembles. Their education and mental health are too important. To conclude, I did have a number of articles that I could have referenced. Time is against me, but these have all run in the last week with some damning and very disturbing statistics in these articles. Julie Szego in the Age article, ‘Children’s futures are on the line’, said:

As the impacts of life in lockdown mount, it is time for some urgency in making schools COVID-safe.

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Indeed, we had our Australian Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, do an opinion piece today, a well-written piece from the perspective of a parent, not a politician or an educator, about why closing our schools should be a last resort. The statistics that I referred to were in the Australian last weekend under ‘COVID lockdown trauma takes toll on teens’—and I implore all members of this place to have a look at those statistics; they were very, very concerning. Finally we had ‘Lessons still to be learnt on benefits of tutoring’—and I mentioned that in my contribution. Again, education and mental health are far too important. We need to get kids back in class. OPPOSITION PERFORMANCE Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional Development) (16:16): The member for Croydon’s contribution today has reminded me that no-one knows more about closing schools than the Liberal Party here in Victoria. I am reminded again that the last successful Liberal government closed 350 schools here in Victoria for good and that 7000 teachers were sacked when Kennett was in power here in Victoria. I rise today to grieve for the sordid state of the Liberal-National opposition here in Victoria, which is again letting regional and rural Victorians down. Rather than standing with regional and rural Victorians and supporting them through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, what we are seeing from those opposite are tawdry political stunts and a complete lack of leadership from the member for Malvern. In recent weeks the opposition has had the option of standing up for Victorians and joining the government to call for income support from the commonwealth. Instead they are calling on the federal government to cut funding to Victoria and transfer that funding to Western Australia or Queensland. This is the policy position of a member for Western Victoria in the other place, Mrs Bev McArthur—although it is a bit rich to call her a member for Western Victoria; better to call her the member against Victoria. The question the opposition needs to answer— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! One, I remind members to keep interjections to a level at which I can still hear the speaker. I am prepared to accept some interjections in this debate, but just so I can still hear the speaker. I also ask the minister not to reflect on members of the other place. Ms THOMAS: The question that the opposition need to answer here in this house is: what are they planning to cut from Victorian government spending, given this proposition that the commonwealth cuts our GST funding? Those opposite claim to be champions of regional Victoria, but regional and rural Victorians know better. Regional and rural Victorians know from bitter experience that when a Liberal-National government comes to power that means cuts and more cuts for regional Victoria. Mr Rowswell interjected. Ms THOMAS: I am glad to see the member for Sandringham in the house. I have got a few words to say about him and some of his ideas. Our government could not be any more different. In fact since coming to office our government has invested $30 billion in dedicated funding to the people of rural and regional Victoria—$30 billion. That is more than four times what was invested by those opposite when they were last in government, for those four years that they held government. We are here to support the people of rural and regional Victoria, and indeed this year’s budget has delivered $3.7 billion, once again for regional initiatives, on top of our COVID response budget in November 2020, which saw $8 billion. So let us be clear: it is only the Labor government that invests in rural and regional Victoria. We said that we would repair the damage from successive Liberal-Nationals governments who took the axe to regional rail, and we are. While The Nationals sit idly by and allow the Liberals to close regional rail lines, we open them. When you look at our funding to schools in rural and regional Victoria, we have invested more than $2 billion. I like to tell this story. When last the Liberals were in power, they invested just over $15 million in the whole of the Macedon electorate over four years. We have invested more than that

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2052 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 in two single schools: the Sunbury and Macedon Ranges Specialist School and Kyneton High School. It was an absolutely disgraceful effort from those on the other side. When it comes to road maintenance funding, on the other side they like to talk the big talk. But if we look at the facts, if we look at the budget papers, if we look at what really happens on the ground, we will see that when they were last in government we saw a 40 per cent drop in the funding that was allocated to regional roads. What we saw last week from a member for Western Victoria is what we can expect should those on the other side ever have the opportunity to sit on this side of the house. As the Leader of the Opposition was desperate to point out, that member for Western Victoria is not on his front bench. But the member for Ripon is, and what has the member for Ripon been up to? The Shadow Treasurer could be focusing on jobs and recovery, but no, she seems to be spending her time mining the depths of the worst parts of social media, giving a platform to conspiracy theorists and putting out shocking press releases that have frankly disgusted so many people across the state. If she had been doing her job, the member for Ripon would have noticed that in fact unemployment under the Andrews Labor government is almost 2 per cent lower in rural and regional Victoria than it was when those opposite were in government. You might wonder what the people of Victoria think about what the member for Ripon has been up to. I want to tell you that only yesterday I received a message from a dear family friend who happens to be a constituent of the member for Brighton. She told me that she had been on the phone that morning to the member for Brighton to express her absolute disgust at the behaviour of the member for Ripon and that she and her husband were absolutely appalled that the Liberal Party would sink to such depths. The member for Ripon is a senior member of the team. She is the Shadow Treasurer, and no-one for a minute believes it when the member for Malvern, the opposition leader, says he knows nothing. He did not know, he did not see, he did not read it—he knows nothing. The Shadow Treasurer put out a press release, and apparently no-one else knew about it. They are a shameless rabble on the other side, so busy fighting amongst themselves, doing whatever it takes to protect their own backs. They have no interest in coming together and presenting a credible opposition for the people of Victoria. I do just want to reflect a little bit on our government’s investments in the Ripon electorate. I have got to tell you that it has been really fabulous as Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Agriculture to visit Ripon on three occasions in the six months that I have been so privileged to hold the roles. To see what we are doing on the ground in this community is fantastic. Our budget of course delivered $10 million to upgrade and modernise St Arnaud Secondary College and almost $95 million to build a world-class hospital in Maryborough. This is absolutely brilliant news for the people of Ripon. Now, I have also had the opportunity to travel to St Arnaud to see where my department and Regional Development Victoria are investing in jobs at the Gilmac hay processing facility. Up to 17 jobs will be delivered there. I was in Stawell and visited the underground physics lab, which is an international partnership where they are using the Stawell goldmine, 1.5 kilometres underground, investigating dark matter—this is fantastic—and creating 43 jobs in regional Victoria and 79 ongoing roles. Last month I was in Maryborough, where we are investing $1.8 million to transform the historic railway station. So there are so many good things happening in the seat of Ripon, delivered by the Andrews Labor government, because we believe in rural and regional Victoria. Now, I note the member for Sandringham is in the house, and that is rather interesting because only recently I received a question on notice from the member for Sandringham and Shadow Minister for Fishing and Boating— A member: Have you answered it? Ms THOMAS: Yes, I have answered it indeed. The shadow minister—let us put aside the fact that the question should have been directed to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events—had the wrong minister. Let us leave that aside. But his question was about GoFish at Nagambie. From the question that he asked, I had to ask myself: does the member for Euroa know that the member for

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Sandringham is questioning the validity of this government investing in this magnificent event in Nagambie, a place I doubt that the member for Sandringham has been to? Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Speaker, that is a mischaracterisation of the question on notice I submitted for the government to respond to. The SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Ms THOMAS: Thank you very much, Speaker. Well, when the questions are: ‘How much money have you invested? What is the valuation of this event? How many big jobs are being delivered?’, what the member for Sandringham has is a plan to cut the funding, our government’s funding, to GoFish Nagambie. So I will be asking the member for— A member interjected. Ms THOMAS: Oh, it is waste, is it? Oh, so let me take that up: funding to support GoFish Nagambie, one of the biggest events in regional Victoria, is waste. Okay. Well, I will be interested to hear what the member for Euroa has to say about that. Can I also talk about biosecurity in regional Victoria. I want to focus a little bit at this point on the National Party and their failure to stand up to the Liberal Party time and time again. It is worth noting— Members interjecting. Ms THOMAS: Oh, I have been asked to focus on the Labor Party. Well, the Labor Party now has 18 members representing rural and regional Victoria. This is almost three times more than the National Party and it is more than the coalition government. When last they were in government the Leader of the National Party, the member for Murray Plains, sat by while the government cut funding to regional health, regional education and regional transport services. But let me tell you this: when the member for Murray Plains was the Minister for Agriculture he also cut funding for the eradication of fruit fly in this state. The member for Murray Plains made the decision that eradication was too hard and that they were not going to fund eradication anymore. That was a decision that was made in 2013 by the member for Murray Plains, who now joins us in the chamber. Having made that decision, you cannot go back. This Andrews Labor government is investing in the management of fruit fly, and this year it has put $6.4 million in new money towards the management of fruit fly to support our horticultural industries across the state. Mr Walsh interjected. Ms THOMAS: I have to say that the protestation from the member for Murray Plains suggesting that our government has cut funding is nothing short of a mistruth. Let us be clear: when it comes to representing the people of rural and regional Victoria, there is only one party that will deliver for those people, and that is the Labor Party, the Andrews Labor government. The Andrews Labor government is delivering to rural and regional Victoria like never before. And I might say, in my closing remarks, that the National Party would do well to spend their time advocating in the coalition party room for the people of rural and regional Victoria rather than their puerile antics of registering domain names and Facebook posts and so on in the names of their political opponents. How low can you go? Well, you can go so low that in fact you earn the wrath of a member for Northern Victoria in the other place, Ms Lovell, who, as was reported in the Age, said in an internal opposition group message that it was sad to see the National Party sink so low. As I started, I do grieve for the state of the Liberal-National parties here in this state. Victoria needs a credible opposition; it is essential to good government and good democracy. But here in Victoria we do not have that. We have a rabble on the other side in- fighting amongst themselves.

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COVID-19 Mr McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (16:31): Thank heavens that is over. Look, someone gets 15 minutes to talk about what they are doing in government and they spend about 10 of it talking about the opposition. Well, that is appalling. And it is appalling coming from the Minister for Agriculture. I grieve for regional Victoria, and I grieve for the way that we have been punished—punished because of Labor’s failure to manage COVID-19. The member before me just spoke about having 18 members in regional Victoria in the Labor Party. Well, why doesn’t she stand up for regional Victoria? She is part of that group, that cabinet, that is punishing regional Victoria. We all know that COVID is a global pandemic, and if it remains unchecked, well, it has disastrous effects on human health and local economies all around the world. Victoria has failed to protect regional communities for 15 months now—and it is not over yet. We have seen even this week more outbreaks, and it will be a long time before this finishes. Victoria has made monumental errors, and they have not learned from their mistakes. In fact they cannot even recall what they have done. They have not reached out for help; they have not asked others how to help. You have only got to look at New South Wales or Queensland or Tasmania—in fact any other state in Australia. If you look around, they have all done it better than Victoria has. Victoria will not ask for support—they just do not know any better; they are too arrogant. Let us look at the deaths in Australia from COVID: 910 in Australia, of which 820 were here in Victoria—that is, 90 per cent of Australia’s deaths from COVID come from Victoria. And they still cannot admit that there is anything wrong here: ‘Nothing to see here’. Why has regional Victoria been punished when regional Victoria is not in a COVID hotspot? Now, that is a question for the gang of eight, the ministers who systematically, methodically and individually could not recall what went wrong, could not recall who made the decisions. And to see the active COVID cases in the fourth lockdown up around 90, and basically all of those in metropolitan Melbourne—Victorian Labor just does not understand that locking down the entire state just makes recovery so much harder. International experts around the world—in fact over 6000 experts worldwide—universally have said that lockdowns are not the answer. A targeted approach is the way forward. This Andrews-Merlino-Allan government continues to fail Victoria and continues to roll out the same solutions to the same issues that failed before. Now, during world wars Australia did not send 100 per cent of their men and women to the battle. They kept their farmers and their manufacturing businesses going, keeping the home fronts burning while we fought the enemy abroad. Well, Victoria should have adopted the same policy. The regions are the engine room; they are the engine room for Victoria, and the government continues to close down regional Victoria and punish regional Victoria when that should not be the case. This week I spoke with a leading winery in the Ovens Valley, and they said, ‘Can you tell me what’s going to happen next week? We need to prepare. We need to order stock and food and supplies’. And I said, ‘No, sorry, I can’t’. Because there are no parameters. There are no rules for this government. They do not have a policy that says ‘When X happens, we’ll do Y’ or ‘When the numbers do this, we can do that’. So you can only imagine the frustration for some of our businesses. It does not matter whether you are a winery or a cinema. A cinema with four different cinemas in Wangaratta, which can hold nearly 200 people per cinema, can only have 50 in the whole building. Now, that is ridiculous. It is an absolute disgrace. People then go across the border and use the services over in New South Wales, and that is just another punishment to those local businesses in Wangaratta. I get the fact that some of these decisions are difficult when you have got postcodes with high community transmission and you have got active cases, but why do we need to shut down Swan Hill, Sale, Bairnsdale, Benalla, Horsham, Wodonga, Wangaratta and Mildura—Mildura, which is a 6-hour drive from the nearest COVID case? It is madness at best to shut down Mildura and our other regional towns. At worst it is creating more mental health issues and destroying livelihoods and families.

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The cap on numbers that are allowed into a business is absolutely ludicrous and it should not be used at all. In country Victoria, whether it is 50 people maximum or now 150 people maximum, it does not take into consideration any of the other features outside, whether it is more space, multiple rooms or the size of the building. Square-metre distancing is the only answer, but it takes common sense, and I am not sure we are going to get that from this government. It is fair, it is effective and it is responsible, three words that Victorian Labor do not understand—‘fair’, ‘effective’ and ‘responsible’. If they did, the hotel quarantine inquiry would have got some answers, but it was an embarrassment—$20 million to say they do not recall. Now, Tayler Hocking is a young fellow with a young business in Cobram. He owns a gymnasium. I speak to him regularly. At the moment, while his gym is closed, all his clients go 2 kilometres across the Murray River and exercise in Barooga. Now, this is disgraceful. He is a young fellow trying to start a business. He continues to get closed down for no reason. The disease is here in northern Victoria but it is not in southern New South Wales? It is absolutely absurd and it is illogical. If you have got a business in Echuca, an eatery or a pub with a cap of 50 patrons, you watch your customers walk 2 kilometres across the bridge to be free of the Victorian shackles. Sadly this is the fourth time regional Victoria has been punished due to the Andrews-Merlino-Allan government that has failed us again. I want to touch on some of the support grants. First and foremost, regional businesses are proactive. They just want to trade freely—they say ‘Just let us open up’—but if they are forced to close through the incompetence of the Victorian government again, they want fair and reasonable compensation, and that should be given. Support grants last year turned out to be an absolute farce, and that was shown by the Ombudsman—the tight criteria. Some said, ‘Because I am a sole trader, I don’t qualify’, some said, ‘Because I’m a partnership, I don’t qualify’—all these pitiful excuses. This $100 million package of support grants was supposed to be available; it turned out that only $12 million was taken up. This was an absolute con, and regional Victorians and regional Victorian businesses bore the brunt of that. Even after the Ombudsman exposed this treason against Victorian businesses, the Labor government are back to their old tricks again. With the latest lockdown for Victoria and the support grants, many businesses are phoning me and many of my colleagues are saying, ‘We’re not eligible. We don’t earn enough money’. The irony is they do not earn enough money because this government has closed them down for 200 days or more so they cannot do business, and now the government has got the gall to say, ‘You’re not earning enough money, so you’re not eligible for the grant’. How ridiculous is that? If you are a small business and you have been affected, you should be eligible. But the construction industry in Melbourne, it is not locked down. Melbourne’s Big Build blowout—well, that continues. Who authorised that the construction industry can keep working without a cap? Where is their 50-person limit per building site? Only Labor has double standards that suit itself. Regional Victorians and regional businesses have paid a price, a massive price, but we do not blame the pandemic for that. It is not the wild beast that leaps from tall buildings, but it is the incompetence of Labor, the stupidity of the Andrews government and the ineptitude of the contact-tracing team. No other government in the whole of Australia has failed its people like the Andrews-Merlino-Allan government. Victoria’s net debt is now unsustainable, and it demonstrates a catastrophic failure. Net debt back in 1987 was $9 billion, and it took 30 years to make it up to $21 billion—two-and-a-bit times. It only took 10 years for Labor to turn that $21 billion into a $156 billion debt. Their incompetence is overwhelming, and most of this was through waste and mismanagement. We do not blame COVID again. The federal government have done the heavy lifting. They have paid billions to this state, absolute billions, in fact the highest support per capita in Australia, but this government still wants to blame the federal government, and it is not their fault. It is the waste, mismanagement and incompetence that has got Victoria into the financially vulnerable position that it is in. Only Labor can be proud of the waste, mismanagement and incompetence. When Victorians suffer at the hands of Labor, the federal government kicks in again, like last week—$500 a week for those who normally

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2056 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 work 20-plus hours a week. It is not a king’s ransom, I know, but it beats the doughnuts that they are getting from the Andrews government. The Queen’s Birthday weekend coming up is the last hurrah for some of the businesses in our local communities before the winter hits—and for some it is the beginning, with the snow season. Regional Victoria has again geared up, and now they have lost the Melbourne tourism, whether it is the Rutherglen Winery Walkabout, the King Valley Weekend Fit for a King or the Glenrowan Trails, Tastings and Tales—and that is just a snapshot. They are all over regional Victoria. The ski season is opening up. They are all cancelled. Regional Victoria is closed to Melbourne, and they are going to lose massive income, these businesses who desperately need that income right now. A small caravan park owner told me two nights ago he bought the caravan park just out of Wangaratta in November 2019, pre-COVID, and settled it in April 2020 when, as you can remember, COVID had just begun. So he had no income history, but he was not eligible for any grants. He has been through lockdowns 1, 2, 3 and 4 and he has not made $75 000, so he is not eligible for this grant that has just become available. The Victorian government’s support is appalling, and now they have told him, ‘We’re closing down the long weekend, and you won’t have any customers’. He has just had all his customers cancel for the long weekend. So again, this is absolutely appalling. Labor just do not understand small business anywhere, let alone in regional Victoria. A camping and fishing shop operator in Bright—you can imagine what a productive little tourism hotspot Bright is— well, he is absolutely sick and tired of being shut down between fires, lockdowns and everything else. He just cannot believe it, and he is not eligible for the $2500. I was talking to Adam from the Milawa cheese factory last night. He said he is not eligible for the $2500. I am beginning to wonder who is eligible for the $2500. I think if we wrote a list, there would be more people ineligible than those who are eligible to take up the $2500. I am sick and tired of this government standing up to say, ‘We’re going to give out money for this’, or, ‘We’ve got a pot of money for that’. We really want to know how beneficial it was, who actually could qualify and who received the funds. This government has no idea how to manage business, and what is even worse than that is it simply does not care. If they did understand and they did care, regional Victoria would not have been thrown under the lockdown bus. The Andrews government’s incompetence and the government’s big, red bus—they have thrown everybody under it. We know it is only a 48-seater, that big bus that the Premier rides around in when he pretends he is from regional Victoria, but it has run over thousands of people. It certainly took a few of their own early on, it has taken our CFA volunteers and now it has taken thousands of regional businesses that have been thrown under that big, red bus. And the blame game just continues from Labor. They have got to stop this blame game because it does not do them any good at all. They keep punishing regional Victoria because they cannot handle the pressure, and if you cannot handle the pressure, get out of the kitchen. Regional Victoria cannot sustain lockdown 5 or 6. It would break many more businesses and many more communities if this happens. Victorian Labor must get out of Melbourne and truly understand the 25 per cent of the population that lives in the regions. They are hurting, they are vulnerable and they are at grave risk. When New South Wales shuts down, they localise postcode areas, small sections, and they let the rest of the New South Wales economy continue. If only we had Gladys instead of the three stooges; if only we could take the gang of eight and trade them for Gladys. Well, this is not over, and it is far from over, because COVID will be around for years to come. But unless the Victorian government learns from its mistakes, which it has not done to date, we can expect more of the same. And what remains to be seen is what the bureaucrats do in Melbourne when they shut down regional businesses, they take away their income and then they do not support them. Well, what happens when the bureaucrats are still sitting on their salaries? If their salaries were cut in half or taken away, I wonder whether they would be thinking differently. We have lost droves of casual employees that have gone to New South Wales and Queensland since lockdown 3. They simply cannot afford to stay in Victoria. When you are a casual staff person it is

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2057 like a game of roulette. You just do not know when you are going to lose your job or you are going to lose a shift. And they have got bills to pay as well. It is not just regional business, it is casual staff as well. As I say, it is like a game of roulette, and you do not blame them for going elsewhere where it is a more secure economy. We talk about mental health needs, and we talk about them for good reason. All over Victoria, whether in metropolitan Melbourne or regional Victoria, the mental health needs are increasing, but the Andrews government has not considered the far-reaching implications that every lockdown has and what it does for mental health. We have got classes in hydrotherapy, dance classes, indoor swimming and all these other activities that help people’s mental health and physical wellbeing, and they have all been closed down. Regional communities—some of them do not even have tourism, but they just want to look after each other. Small communities are like a big family. They just want to support each other, and they cannot even do that. Whether you live in Cohuna, Golden Beach, Wycheproof, Lakes Entrance, Katamatite or the Highlands—it does not matter where you live in those communities—you have got to get a chance to do business, and if you do not get a chance to do business, at least get the compensation. LIBERAL-NATIONALS COALITION Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (16:46): I do not revel in rising to grieve about the state of the Victorian Liberal-National coalition this afternoon, but while Victorians are sacrificing to protect our state and our nation—staying home, getting tested, getting vaccinated and doing the right thing—there is some white noise in the background that certainly needs our attention, if just for a few minutes, as a bit of a marker in history of what not to do. It is true what they say: crises do bring out the best and the worst in people, and I am proud to have seen so much of my community and all of Victoria rise to this challenge. But this unprecedented pandemic has exposed the Liberals’ and the Nationals’ embarrassing core. While our government and our community have faced this crisis with grit and determination to see it through, the opposition has done nothing but undermine our community’s resilience every single day, undermine the health messaging every single day and undermine our health heroes every single day. You would think some of them have found a PhD in their bottom drawer. They are absolutely becoming commentators on professors with PhDs and on our chief health officer as well. I think the best measure of any party globally is how they act, whether in government or in opposition, during a crisis, whether that be a world war or whether that be the virus crisis we have got now, and it is how they face that test. The truth is that our Victorian Liberals and Nationals have faced that test and they have failed appallingly. The level of misinformation and attacks has just escalated. Now, it has always been in the DNA, and it is not a new issue, but the level of personal attacks and the grubby politics that is being played, although established in the Liberal Party, have only escalated, and we need to call it out. Here are some well-known examples. If you would like to support what these people have done, please do. Please stand up, let us hear it. Take, for example, the well-known member in the other place that recently published a meme on Facebook asking ‘Where should the Chinese rocket land?’. He left us to choose who the rocket would land on and kill: (a) a Muslim commentator, (b) an Indigenous politician; or (c) a Victorian Premier. Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Speaker, as a relatively new student of the standing orders I refer to standing order 118, referring to imputations and personal reflections:

Imputations of improper motives and personal reflections on … members of the … Council are disorderly other than by substantive motion. I would ask you to counsel the member for Frankston in relation to his current contribution and keep a watchful eye on his contribution in that regard.

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2058 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Mr EDBROOKE: On the point of order, Speaker, I have not actually identified another member, and there is no imputation here. Mr Taylor: Further on the point of order, Speaker, could the member for the back-left seat in Parliament not make interjections with his mask off? Mr Angus: On the point of order, Speaker, I rise to support the member for Sandringham and his point of order in terms of casting aspersions on other members of the other place. The SPEAKER: Order! I was listening carefully. The member for Frankston has not done that. It is a timely reminder, though. Mr EDBROOKE: You are absolute jokers. Another member in the other place posted a terrible, disgusting edited picture of the Premier labelled ‘If 2020 was a person’. I think that insulted almost every reasonable person in Victoria, especially if you have a disability. This is the modern Liberal Party. This is what is acceptable in the Liberal Party. We have people in that party openly talking to lockdown sceptics, COVID sceptics and vaccine deniers like it is something normal, when it is not. The Leader of the Opposition does nothing about it. He wants us to believe that his out-of-control members are not inciting violence, are not inciting this aggression in our community, and I say that is rubbish. When he was not— The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Frankston will resume his seat. Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Speaker, on that occasion the member for Frankston did specifically reference a member of this chamber, being the Leader of the Opposition, and suggested that the Leader of the Opposition was acting in an improper way or had improper motives, which is exactly what standing order 118 refers to. Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr Rowswell: I also have the right, Speaker, as I understand it, to be heard in silence. So I would ask you to counsel the member for Frankston in relation to his most recent contribution. The SPEAKER: Order! I do not uphold the point of order. The member for Frankston is sailing close to the wind, but he has not transgressed that standing order. Mr EDBROOKE: Then we have other members in this house, this place. When this member was not calling for Bass to be eradicated, he was putting pictures of government ministers and our department officials on ‘catch or kill’ cards. If people over there do not know what a catch or kill card is, they are something that was introduced during the Vietnam War, and during the invasion of Iraq they were used again. They were basically used by the US military to identify interrogation and terrorism suspects, and they would have permission to catch or kill them. It is like the modern-day version of a ‘dead or alive’ poster. Once again it is the party opposite that would lead us to believe that it is okay to have public images of MPs in this house on a product or a medium designed by its very nature to incite violence and kill someone. If that is not inciting violence, I do not know what is. It is low, low politics. These cards actually request that action. The Minister for Police and Emergency Services was also attacked by the Liberal opposition. This is how low they can go. But there was a lot of egg on faces I think when it came out how complicated and how serious that minister’s health issue was. We have seen this obsession from a member in the other house with the Premier. We have seen it come out again with members advertising hats on Facebook. When the rest of us were thinking about how we are going to deal with COVID, thinking about how we put food on the table, the focus of the opposition was to make a hat that said ‘Make Victoria Dan free again’. And then we have got these rubbish questions about helicopter flights and wine from people who are apparently credible sources. If the measure of a political party is what they

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2059 do during a deadly crisis, these people have failed at every turn, and they have learned nothing because yesterday they dug deeper. I do not know whose idea it was to invent conspiracy theories and put them on their platform, but they did it yesterday. I actually thought to myself that some young Liberal staffer was going to be fired for this, that they were going to be fired for this because this disaster slipped through. And I was wrong because yesterday the Shadow Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition actually owned this media release that went out. It is the lowest they have gone. The Premier broke his back, for God’s sake. He broke his back. He is lucky to be walking. This is the Premier that got us through the fires and then travelled with us through COVID, and we have got this disgusting, bottom-of-the-barrel politics, and that is how it is being viewed publicly. It is disgusting—people have told me. The Premier stood up in front of a camera answering all the questions that were put to him for the public’s viewing for 134 days. You are effectively targeting this man and his family while he heals and goes through this painful rehab. I have got to ask: who in this house thinks it is appropriate to target and attack someone at home who is going through rehab with their family? Was any thought given to the welfare of the Premier’s children or his family? Was any thought given? The guy’s back was broken and he is being relentlessly attacked. Was there any thought given to the Premier’s wife and her role in this—supporting her family, supporting her husband? She has dealt amazingly— Members interjecting. The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Eltham is warned. The member for Brighton can leave the chamber for the period of 1 hour. Member for Brighton withdrew from chamber. The SPEAKER: I warn members. There has been some low level of interjection in here which I am prepared to accept, but I am not going to have people shouting across the chamber so that the speaker cannot be heard. Mr EDBROOKE: Thank you. I mean, do you really think the question on all Victorians’ minds is what happened to the Premier? Did he fall down the steps? I think it might be: when can I get vaccinated? When can I go back to work? That is what people are thinking right now. Can you imagine what injured workers or in fact any workers thought yesterday when they saw that? They thought, ‘Jeez, if I get injured, this mob, if they get into government, are going to interrogate every one of us’. I was not at all impressed with AV being brought into it. Ambulance Victoria brought out a media release, with permission from the Premier, and even when that came out we had another conspiracy theorist from the opposition say that that was not accurate and it was possible that AV could have been involved in some turn of events. I mean, they have undermined the health response at every step. They have offended almost everybody. The question has to be: what is their goal? What are they actually doing? I think they are a national disgrace now. Even the South Australian opposition leader came out in a recent statement and noted that he wants to ‘fight for each other, not against each other’:

… unlike in Victoria, as Opposition Leader I’m here to support the government, not undermine it. You could say that only a mother could love them, but even Peta Credlin came out last week and rated their electoral chances as ‘a snowball’s chance in the proverbial’. Crikey described the opposition leader as:

… a presence in the public mind akin to that of a Mr Whippy van that always seems to be— The SPEAKER: Order! The member knows he is not to reflect on other members of this place. Mr EDBROOKE: Look, Speaker, if you need a laugh, all you need to think about is the fact that during a crisis—an international crisis—these guys opposite decided to actually have a spill. In what

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2060 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 can only be described as a look-at-me moment, when everybody else is trying to get on and deal with COVID, they orchestrate a failed spill. Nobody cared. It was just like a sick joke. Nobody cared, and it is an example of how bad these people are. There is a big difference between being part of the checks and balances of Parliament and actually being a bunch of people that just act like they have lost the plot. Victoria is and will remain a beacon of how strong leadership and a smart community can overcome a catastrophe. But will everyone understand at the time we have to take these measures? No. As we have seen in the US, the time you take these measures and the time everyone is convinced are two different things, and it is too late. That is the nature of this new COVID virus threat. But people do understand that we do keep their grandparents, their sisters, their parents, their brothers alive and not out on the street waiting for a collapsed health system. Do people understand that when COVID is out of control people die and people end up in body bags? Yes, they do, and that is evidenced by people waiting 4 hours to get vaccinated, 50 000 people getting tested, 20 000 people in a day getting vaccinated—taking the government’s advice. I think history will show that one of the lowest points of this Liberal-Nationals coalition is right now. They are a mere shell of the party they once were. But I mean, who knows? We might see a new low tomorrow with some more conspiracy theories. I have to say this with exception—and I say it with exception because there are some decent people on that side of the house, but I assume they are very embarrassed about what is happening at the moment: this, without a doubt, is the nastiest, the stupidest, most moronic opposition in the nation right now. They would have more credibility now if they just hibernated for 18 months. It is one thing to dream that you can be an alternative government— Mr Angus: On a point of order, Speaker, you have warned the member many, many times not to reflect on members on this side, under standing order 118, and he just called us moronic. I take personal offence at that and I am sure my colleagues would as well, so I ask you to either make sure he adheres to your warning or sit him down. The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. It was not a personal reflection. The member for Frankston is to remember that appropriate language should be used in the chamber, though. Mr EDBROOKE: You are an exception, member for Forest Hill. I mentioned that. It is definitely one thing to dream that you could be an alternative government with lazy, stupid and frankly dangerous politics, and we have seen that. But the most they do every day is just get up and show us how much they have got this unhealthy obsession with the Premier, and then they undermine the health response to this deadly disease. It is quite another thing, though, to be part of a government which displays trust in our health professionals—our health team—and has sound decision-making capability and the strong leadership required to make hard but indeed correct calls to get us through Victoria’s time of need. I think those opposite know that they are a long way from meeting that expectation—a long way—and the Liberal-National coalition has a long way to go before they can get respect out of this community. Two years ago we would have thought that no-one would ever see a lockdown and we would not be in a race to get vaccinated, but we need to look at the reality, and the reality is that right now we could be going through what Thailand is going through and what India is going through. All it takes is for our health system to collapse, and then the capability of the government and the community to actually deal with the COVID virus pandemic is lost. We are close to that, and we have taken the measures to ensure that we are putting our community first. Does everyone agree with that? No. Can you explain how this works to everybody? No. But that is part of government. That is part of good leadership, and that is why we are standing on this side of the house—and we are about to exit another lockdown. I am proud of what this government has done, but I do grieve for the Liberal-National coalition.

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2061

COVID-19 Ms VALLENCE (Evelyn) (17:01): While those on the other side seek to make this a very political event, I would like to talk about real Victorians—Victorians outside of this chamber. I grieve for the young Victorians—our children, our teenagers and our young adults. The Andrews–Merlino Labor government risks creating a lost generation as a result of these lockdowns, as a result of their failures to responsibly and proportionately manage the COVID response here in Victoria. The second-wave lockdowns that we saw for months and months and months on end last year and the repeated snap lockdowns that we are seeing this year are disrupting education, forcing kids out of the classroom, forcing kids away from social activities and community sports and of course decimating jobs in industries that young people traditionally work in: in events, in tourism, in retail, in hospitality and in fitness. Young Victorians are facing long-term unemployment, setbacks in their education, mental health challenges and an increased risk of suicide, and this last aspect is most troubling for those young Victorians and those families who have young Victorians experiencing suicidal ideation and making attempts at suicide. It is a shame that this government continues its narrow strategy of blanket lockdowns in the face of this. Jobs have been decimated and youth unemployment in Victoria has reached levels not seen in Victoria for decades. The ABS reported that youth unemployment in Victoria reached 18.2 per cent last October, and the April figures show the youth unemployment rate in Victoria is sitting at 12.3 per cent, which is still well above the national average of 10.8 per cent and the New South Wales average of 10.1 per cent. But of course these latest figures, as high as they are, came before this current devastating fourth lockdown here in Victoria. I grieve for the thousands more young Victorians— often casual workers—that have been stood down. These young Victorians have been stood down over these past few weeks because this government let COVID breach its hotel quarantine yet again. It has demonstrated yet again its failed and flawed approach to effectively and proportionately manage infection outbreaks in our community. We have a youth jobs crisis here in Victoria, and that is plain to see, yet the Labor government continues this blanket, disproportionate approach of statewide or metropolitan-wide lockdowns, restricting the types of businesses that employ these young people. We see young people being employed in gyms, wedding venues, hospitality, events and tourism, yet these jobs are the ones that have been decimated, and these jobs are the ones that this government has no plan to address, no plan to attack. Many of these businesses have been forced to close not only for these last two weeks in lockdown, but they have been forced to close for good. They have been struggling to keep their heads above water, but many of these businesses have been forced to close for good. I am sure that all members in this chamber have received countless emails and calls from businesses who employ these young people who have just not been able to get across the line. If these businesses have closed for good, it means that they will not be able to employ our young Victorians. Now, when Labor throws Victoria into lockdown again and again it fails to realise the enormous, unfair and disproportionate burden that it has on the mental health of all Victorians and particularly on our children, our teenagers and our young adults. It is utterly devastating, completely devastating, completely saddening, I think, for all of us to see the recent reports into the trauma of the government’s COVID lockdowns on our young people and the soaring numbers of children and teenagers self- harming, battling suicidal thoughts, attempting suicide and suffering eating disorders. The new Kids Helpline data reveals a catastrophic spike—a 44 per cent increase in suicide attempts just in the last six months. Experts in the field attribute this not only to the recent lockdowns but to the months and months of lockdowns last year, to disrupted education, to limits to social activity and social interaction, face-to-face interaction and to the limits to the job prospects of these young Victorians. Kids Helpline has also reported a staggering 184 per cent increase in interventions of all types for Victorians aged five to 25—at five years of age they are doing interventions. Now, there is a huge spike in young people attempting suicide or having suicidal thoughts but also child abuse, because with the lockdowns comes immense pressure on families, and child abuse is one

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2062 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 of those very unfortunate situations that arise in that pressure cooker when people are kept and forced to be locked in their houses. Of course, we know that last year the government’s blanket approach was locking Victorians and young people in their homes for 23 hours a day, with 8.00 pm curfews and them only allowed out for short periods of exercise, with huge anxiety across our community. These statistics are heartbreaking, and they are absolutely not okay. They are happening because of the actions and inactions of this government, the decisions that this government is taking. Victoria now being in its fourth lockdown, and the Andrews-Merlino government says that it always follows the health advice. We hear this multiple times a day—that this government says it is following the health advice, but it is simply not true, because it is only following some or a narrow amount of health advice from its appointed health officer. Its appointed chief health officer has narrow advice around managing infection outbreaks. What they are failing to do and what they are ignoring is the health advice and medical advice from GPs, from experts in the mental health field, from experts in youth and childhood mental health and wellbeing. That is what they are ignoring right here, and it is just devastating to see. They are even ignoring the advice recently from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute about keeping schools open. They are ignoring the pleas of families of children with a disability, who have been forced to stay away from the wonderful supports provided by special departmental schools—so many families in my community. I have the Yarra Ranges Special Developmental School in my community, which does a fantastic job. But of course this government has forced that school to close and those students to stay at home. Families are contacting me and telling me of their anguish at seeing their children regress. Their children are regressing because they are away from school. They are not getting the therapies or the help or the social interactions that are so integral to their development and wellbeing. Special developmental schools must be classed as essential, and I call on this government to class them as essential for any potential future lockdowns. The mere fact that they have them closed and do not see that these are essential and do not see these kids with special needs and disabilities as essential is a shame on them. And they must be classed as essential to ensure that these vulnerable kids with special needs are not left behind. The Acting Premier, the Premier, this Labor government: please stop failing our young people. Stop failing them. Your government is risking creating a lost generation. I grieve for young Victorians, indeed all Victorians, when this Labor government continue to have inconsistencies in their rules and restrictions. From this Friday the Labor government will allow people to go out and get tattoos and nails done. Now, lest there be any doubt, I have nothing against these businesses whatsoever. But it certainly does leave Victorians scratching their heads, wondering why, when you can get tattoos or your nails done, you cannot go to dance schools and why you cannot go to a gym or a fitness centre. Why are dance schools and fitness centres still being forced to be kept shut by this Labor government? It beggars belief. It makes no sense. Where is the public health advice that dictates this? Where is the public health advice that is informing this government to keep health and fitness centres and gyms shut, to keep dance schools shut? There were 6.8 million gym visits across Victoria in the last eight months since November 2020, and zero cases of COVID have been linked to gym and fitness centres. Now, I think the chief health officer and the Labor government have got this absolutely wrong. There seems to be no empirical evidence in the current context to support keeping these businesses shut. If the government says it relies on public health advice, then make it public. Make it public, not just for the gyms and the dance schools but for every decision they are making. If they do not release this health advice, then they seem to be hiding something; that is what Victorians are telling me. These arbitrary rules by the government make no sense. And again, in regional Victoria I understand that you can now go to a brothel but you cannot go to a dance school. It makes absolutely no sense. It is not good enough for the Acting Premier. I heard the Acting Premier today say that the public health advice that he is relying on is public insofar as it is the direction documents, which are the rules that they are telling Victorians they have to abide by and that they are basing on health advice. Well,

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2063 those directions are not the health advice. Those directions are the government’s decisions about and interpretations of the health advice. So still he is spinning and not being transparent and accountable to Victorians. If you have public health advice, make it public. It is pretty simple. Similarly I grieve for Victorians in terms of inconsistent messages. The government says that everyone should get vaccinated, but I note that the government has only started a vaccination program for the frontline paramedics just today. To have left them behind, again, is terrible. I grieve for Victorian families and businesses who in less than a month’s time will be slugged with massive tax increases by this taxing government, as we just saw in the state budget recently. We have just had the government lock us down, lock the community down again, not long after having handed down its hugely taxing budget. Again, when the government run out of money, they come after yours. They are increasing payroll taxes, they are increasing stamp duty, they are increasing land taxes and they are increasing landfill levy. Even those Victorians who want to do their bit to help with tackling climate change— they are taxing those Victorians who want to buy electric vehicles. It makes no sense. The recent state budget, again, shows that this government really have hugely stuffed up the management of their budget. Their budget has blown out all over the place, and they want to tax Victorians $6 billion more at the worst possible time. We have just had another lockdown, businesses are closed, people are struggling and in less than a month’s time taxes are going to be increased by up to the tune of $6 billion for Victorians at the worst possible time. They cannot use COVID as an excuse to cover up their woeful financial mismanagement. We just see that they are gouging more and more money from hardworking Victorians. And this budget has blown out so badly—a $22 billion blowout in the government’s major projects. You see the Melbourne Metro Tunnel and the West Gate Tunnel plagued with legal disputation that this government cannot manage. I mean, two years in with the West Gate Tunnel Project the government has not even managed to turn any soil. It has not dug a grain of soil, and it has seen that budget blow out by billions and billions of dollars—a $22 billion blowout in major projects in the state budget—and the government wants to tax Victorians more in order to plug the gaps. I grieve for Victorians all across the state but particularly out in the west and the northern suburbs, because this government wants to dump toxic soil on communities, on the doorsteps of schools and homes, in Sunbury, Bulla, Ravenhall and Bacchus Marsh, because the government has no plan for the West Gate Tunnel and the Melbourne Metro Tunnel. They have this toxic soil mess, and their toxic taxing Treasurer is trying to find a way out—to tax Victorians more and to dump toxic soil on the doorsteps of Victorians. It is simply not good enough, and I grieve for all of those impacted. LIBERAL PARTY PERFORMANCE Ms WARD (Eltham) (17:16): There are a number of reasons why I grieve for the Liberal Party, but I have to tell you one of the most depressing and distressing grievances that I have for the Liberal Party is the fact that even though we are 18 months into a global pandemic, they still do not actually understand how this virus works and they still do not actually understand the pandemic. They still do not understand how a virus works. Now, it was interesting to hear the member who just spoke talk about gyms, and she cherrypicked dates here. She spoke about November last year. What she failed to actually disclose is the fact that there were 27 transmissions in gyms during the second wave last year. However, that is not worth mentioning when we are actually talking about things. Never let the facts— Mr J Bull interjected. Ms WARD: Exactly right, member for Sunbury—never let the science get in the way of a fear campaign. Ms Vallence: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I just think in terms of misleading the house, if we are talking about facts, the second wave happened because of the failures—

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2064 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Dimopoulos): That is misleading the house. There is no point of order. Ms WARD: I really do hope that we do not go down the path of frivolous interjections, which those opposite like to engage in so often. They really cannot help themselves. They cannot come up and present with a standing order. They would rather just get up and try and interrupt somebody speaking, because they do not want genuine debate. They do not want an actual conversation. They do not want to work towards creating something good and better. All they want to do is dwell in fear and desperation. They are a deluge of despair, of darkness, of terror, because that is the only way they know how to govern and that is the only way they think they are capable of getting votes. They have done this for decades, but the worst way they have done it is in the last few years. We have seen this with their fear campaign on African gangs that went nowhere. Their own report revealed after the 2018 election that it was a campaign about nothing that did not resonate with people, because they did not believe their fear tactics. And I hate to tell those opposite that all of the terrors and the horrors that they are projecting now do not resonate with people. It just upsets them. It hurts them. It makes them uncomfortable, and it makes them not want to vote for them. I can tell you, they do not want to vote for a party that would rather govern through fear than good policy. So I join with my colleagues in grieving for the Liberal Party, or what is left of the Liberal Party. They are a shell of their former selves. We in the Labor Party have our important speeches, and indeed we have got many. We have got Keating’s Redfern speech. We have so many good speeches within our party, but it is Ben Chifley’s Light on the Hill that resonates most with us, I think. Chifley said:

I try to think of the labour movement, not as putting an extra sixpence into somebody’s pocket, or making somebody Prime Minister or Premier, but as a movement bringing something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people. We have a great objective—the light on the hill—which we aim to reach by working the betterment of mankind not only here but anywhere we may give a helping hand. And that comes to the core of why we are in the Labor Party and what it is that we believe in and the policy work that we do. Now, the Liberals have one defining speech of which I am aware—one they forgot until Judith Brett’s book in 1992 but which they and commentators now often turn to, time and time again—and that is Robert Menzies’s famous Forgotten People speech. In this speech Menzies defines the middle class and reveals them as a group in a country which has been forgotten by policymakers. Menzies says:

Let me first define it by exclusion. I exclude at one end of the scale the rich and powerful: those who control great funds and enterprises, and are as a rule able to protect themselves—though it must be said that in a political sense they have as a rule shown neither comprehension nor competence. But I exclude them because, in most material difficulties, the rich can look after themselves. Well, it would be great if the modern Liberal Party believed that too, because I can tell you that all the modern Liberal Party are interested in is the rich that can look after themselves. All they are interested in is feathering the nests of those who do not actually need any help at all. This is the group in our community to which the Liberals seem to pander the most. In fact it seems to be the group to which the Liberals are beholden—their friends in high places, those Menzies believed could look after themselves. Menzies also said:

I do not believe that the real life of this nation is to be found either in great luxury hotels and the petty gossip of so-called fashionable suburbs … And I suspect he might have been thinking of Brighton when he was thinking of that. Yet today’s modern Liberals seem determined to listen to not only petty gossip but also dangerous gossip—the tinfoil-hat wearers who run their own after-dark sessions on social media, working their hardest to demonise and demean anyone who disagrees with them on Facebook. We see quite an amazing shopping list of demands from the Shadow Treasurer regarding how the Premier injured himself, going so far as to ask whether the police were called. I would think that the Shadow Treasurer would be of the view that calling the police for every person who falls down stairs would be an unusual waste

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2065 of police resources. But no, that would be okay apparently. So why did the Shadow Treasurer go down this path of acting on salacious and hurtful gossip peppered across social media pages about a severely injured man—a man very badly injured, a man who could have lost the ability to walk? He was only millimetres away from that terrible accident. The Leader of the Opposition can continue to excuse behaviour by his team by declaring they are not on his leadership team. However, it is also important to recognise bad behaviour. Now, he might want to excuse the bizarre tweet by a member for Western Victoria Region around us being prohibited from having some GST because we wanted relief payment. Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I again draw your attention to standing order 118 referring to imputations and personal reflections. It reads:

Imputations of improper motives and personal reflections on … a number of entities, including

… members of the Assembly or the Council are disorderly other than by substantive motion. I would ask you to monitor the contribution of the member and perhaps guide her away from overstepping that standing order. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Dimopoulos): There is no point of order. I have not seen any imputation. But I think everybody is aware of the standing order. Ms WARD: It is not unusual to be patronised by male members of the Liberal Party in this place, and in fact in this state. That member for Western Metropolitan Region—I find her tweet quite odd. I thought it was very odd to ask that Victoria not be given additional funding by the federal government. Now, there is also the question about what the Leader of the Opposition is doing about a fake Time magazine cover that another upper house member— Mr Morris: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I think the member was actually referring to another member. That member for Western Metropolitan Region— Ms Ward: I didn’t name anyone, David. I’m going to a different thing. Mr Morris: You identified Western Metropolitan Region with the tweet that you were referring to. You may wish to consider that, or you may find a privileges appearance, that is all. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Dimopoulos): I do not see a point of order, but nonetheless the member for Eltham may continue. Ms WARD: Thank you for your respectful advice, member for Mornington. What is the Leader of the Opposition doing about the fake Time magazine cover that another upper house member has on their Facebook page at the moment showing the arrest of the President of China—an event that has not occurred and is indeed fake news? It is one thing to demand that the commonwealth reduce funding to Victoria by withholding the GST, but it is another to actually engage in fake news. Our public health experts are working incredibly hard to fight against this virus. They are working day and night, and I do not think that there can be harder working people in this state. Yet we have got those opposite who think it is a game, who think it is a sport to go after these people and who think it is a sport to undermine the work that these people are doing, the incredibly valuable work that these people are doing and the life-saving work that these people are doing. It is just atrocious to think that this is a game, that this is where you can score political points through trying to create fear when instead you should be showing leadership and showing people how to live in this state in a pandemic, to know what to expect, to recognise that the future cannot be predicted and to recognise that things can go wrong because that is what happens in a global pandemic. Instead it is about instilling fear. It is about preying on people’s existing anxieties. It is about making them feel worse because you think

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2066 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 it will give you political gain, and that is shameful. That is absolutely shameful, and I grieve for what this opposition has become. They have attacked the chief health officer, the deputy CHO and our hardworking contact tracers, who are tracking thousands of contacts and are on the front line of the fight to bring this thing to ground. These people have been contacting thousands of people across this city and state, asking them where they have been, who they have been with and to stay home. They have kept pace with this virus, this incredibly fast-spreading virus, and were able to contain thousands of people. There were 400-odd sites across this city as first points of contact. They traced all of that. They did a phenomenal job, and those opposite cannot actually say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for the work that you have done. Thank you for working so hard to keep us safe. Thank you for ensuring that this will only have to be a two- week lockdown when it could have been so much worse. Thank you for the work that you have done’. They do not have the grace to do that. They do not have the compassion or kindness to do that. All they have is base populism, where they think that they can get a political advantage out of making people afraid. They did it with the CFA. They do it with everything they can, anything that spurs rage on social media. These people basically do policy by Facebook: ‘If it gets a response on Facebook, then it must be good and we’ll run with it’. That is their policy zone. That is the Star Chamber of their thoughts on policy. That is where they get it from: Facebook. That is as good as it gets, and it is shameful that that is as good as it gets for them. They are trying to erode faith in those who are working hardest to protect us. They want people to be afraid of the advice that they get from the chief health officer, and that is shameful. They should be restating that advice. A member: We don’t know what the advice is; you won’t release it. Ms WARD: And to say that you do not get that advice is also ridiculous. This person stands up every other day—and if it is not him, it is the second in charge—talking about this, explaining what is going on and answering every question that the media comes up with for more than an hour. Now, I would have thought that the relationship between the opposition and journalists was such that they could have had any question they wanted. In fact they have had members of the Liberal Party stand up and ask questions of the chief health officer, of the Premier and of the Minister for Health, and if they are still not getting the answers that they want, maybe they are not asking the right questions, because maybe they have not done their homework, because guess what? Facebook is not a deep dive. Facebook does not give you all the information that you need. Facebook is not actually research. If you really want to go down the road of QAnon conspiracy theories and use that in your policies as well, you are on a hiding to nothing. You are going to go nowhere, and you are going to get nothing, because that is what you deserve. Flirting with QAnon and with the anti-vax conspiracy theorists is just bizarre. It is bad. It is harmful. And you are not only harming your own electoral chances; you are harming the people of this state, and you should be ashamed of that. You cannot cherrypick the health advice to suit a political agenda. That leads to devastation. Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, the member who is speaking needs to address their remarks through the Chair and is currently, in their contribution, reflecting upon the Chair. I would ask you to bring her back to order. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Dimopoulos): Thank you, member for Sandringham. I remind the member for Eltham to direct her contribution through the Chair. Ms WARD: Thank you for your advice, Acting Speaker. Again, I go back to my earlier point about encouraging those opposite to not engage in frivolous points of order when I am speaking through you. We have also seen how quickly this virus can spread, even with countries that have been managing well such as Thailand and Taiwan. You cannot undermine the expertise and knowledge of our health officials. Every time you do that you spread fear and disinformation. Every time you play to the QAnon and anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists, you damage this state, you add to the confusion and you add to

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2067 the reluctance around vaccinations. You should be ashamed of engaging in that activity. You hurt when you engage in that activity. You hurt, and that is what we are seeing with this opposition. We do not see them work with us or their friends in Canberra. We do not see that at all. They were not here when we pushed for income support. They were not there when we pushed for a fit-for-purpose quarantine facility. They were not there when we pushed for a larger vaccine rollout in this state. All they were there for was themselves, and that was all they were interested in. They were on Facebook looking for their next policy and looking for their next conspiracy theories so that they could drum up more fear and concern in this state. They are not interested in keeping people safe at all. They are not interested in following the science. They are interested in following their own base political needs, and that is shameful. Where were they helping to put pressure on the federal government to roll out vaccines for aged-care residents and their carers? They were lost. They were MIA. Oh no, that is right, they were at home on the couch on Facebook trying to find their next policy. They were not there looking after people in aged care. They were not there looking after anyone in their communities. They were not helping people rebuild. No, they were just trying to instil fear because that is all they know how to do. COVID-19 Mr RIORDAN (Polwarth) (17:31): What an appalling show from the government this afternoon. To think that on an important debate such as the grievance debate, where we could actually expect to see the government of the day raise some of the real issues that I am sure they have had come across their desks, through their offices, in recent months and over the last 18 months, but no, we actually saw the government of the day spend its 2 hours critiquing the next government of Victoria. What an absolute waste and a sham this government has proven to be. Because of their complete lack of commitment to Victorians, because of their complete lack of empathy, because of their complete inability to understand the hurt and the heartache that they are causing in this community that they say they represent, I am this afternoon going to read just some of the thousands of emails I have received. So, for Hansard, for the quiet people out there, for the people that this government continues to forget, for the people in small business, those people that have been working their guts out for years but this government does not deem a big-enough business to warrant supporting during their lockdowns, there are businesses that beyond this Friday will still be closed; they still will not be able to operate, both here in metro and out in the country. Those businesses, those families, that have put their livelihoods on the line to employ people, to stimulate the economy, to provide important services that once made Victoria great, this government continues to turn their back on. To not even comprehend that a business that may be turning over in excess of $100 000 a week, if you shut it down and only pay them $2000 and think that is okay, is not okay. Some of the feedback I have had, for example, I will quote from. This is from Damian. Damian says:

The people making these decisions to continue lockdown and unreasonable restrictions are paid extremely well and probably have a decent amount of savings to fall back on. What they fail to understand is that not everyone lives that way. Many people live week to week. Many people will have used any savings they had during last years lockdown. So there is absolutely nothing to fall back on. Many people, we ordinary folk, cannot afford to simply not get paid for TWO WEEKS— and we learn there will be weeks yet to come for so many small businesses and people who operate at that level. How will they pay for their utilities? For their Internet that their kids need to school at home? How will these ordinary masses decide whether to feed their family or heat their homes? And you are going to bargain with the Federal Government? And bring it up at Cabinet? That’s no help to people who can’t eat today—let alone next week.

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2068 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

James Merlino, Brett Sutton and Martin Foley need to leave their ivory tower, and take a walk through some of the local shopping strips where every second shop is closed. They need to talk to organisations who are actually feeding families. This continued stress on ordinary families is one of the reasons that mental health services are stretched to the limit. Maybe talk to Beyond Blue about how many calls they are taking? The reasons for the calls. Mr Scott: On a point of order, Speaker, the member has made reference to members of this house not using their correct titles. Mr RIORDAN: I am quoting. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Dimopoulos): Order! Thank you, member for Preston. I remind the member to refer to people by their proper titles. Mr RIORDAN:

This continued lockdown strategy is unrealistic and will leave many Victorians in absolute and utter despair. And the fact that the football can go ahead, just adds further insult. I quote from Luke:

Why won’t they release the data to back up any of their claims. The people deserve to see it, if there is any. My family has lost both incomes with no support available. We still have to pay our rent, rent for my wife’s shop etc etc. This has got to stop. I quote from Prue, Bree and Leanne from my electorate in Colac:

i’m writing in response to the most recent round of business closures and hoping you may shed some light on how every business locally can open (except a small few indoor). We totally understand it is the Public Health Officer’s decision, we are struggling to understand the logic. So much contradiction in the current rules, children can sit in a classroom, indoors but can’t have a party or play here. Adults can sit in Cafes with 50 other people but can’t sit here and eat lunch. Adults can gamble in settings but we cannot provide children with an outlet in these cold months. Being that our building would be one of the largest, open to the public, space cannot be considered an issue. And the fact that we survived an outbreak in our own Community, should be taken into consideration. I would estimate 99% of our clientele are from Regional Vic, if not our own community and are aged 12 and under. I would love the State Government to hear us, know that we are struggling, know that this is our busiest time of year and what we generally earn in these colder months sustains our business into the future. I would love them to know the funding that has been offered to us does not cover 2 months rent, does not cover what we have lost/will lose. … But we are valid, we generate so much happiness to children, we support a lot of local events and we work so hard to make sure we are offering the best we can. I have always tried so hard to leave emotion out of these conversations, it’s about business and finance after all, but when your blood, sweat and tears is continually pushed down how is it not emotional, not incredibly personal? We call on the Government to not exclude us from reopening this long weekend, we contact trace, we can cap our numbers. We ask for your help. I finish, with the understanding that there are hundreds of other issues and topics more important than ours, we know we are lucky and should be grateful for the many things that have been given to us to help us survive … BUT sometimes it’s nice to be heard, it helps our mental health to be heard and we thank you so much … for hearing us. Another one:

The Victorian Government need to hang their heads in shame for the way they have handled the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria. They have failed their citizens, they have lied and ruined the lives and livelihoods of so many due to their incompetence. Yet not one member of the Victorian Government accepts any responsibility but rather shifts blame/responsibility to others. I’m sad and I’m almost embarrassed to be a Victorian—we are the laughing stock of the nation. Victorians deserve better!!

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2069

Jackie says:

Lockdowns kill people. You can’t lock a state down and force people out of work. Many of us are now stuck at home with no pay and no end in sight. I work in aged care as a beauty therapist. My job is not essential, but it should be. The health of residents nails are extremely important. We see all kinds of nail issues that need addressing, but it’s also very important for the residents mental well-being having us there to talk to. I was out of paid work last year for 8 months. This cannot continue. We need to follow NSW. They know what to do. Our government is useless and should be replaced with a fresh new team, not appointed by Daniel Andréws, as he seems to pick ‘friends’ and not the most qualified for the job. Why do we always need to lockdown a whole state, we should have just locked down the hot spot suburbs. If this was done straight away, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Bradley says:

Really sick of the fear mongering to justify themselves. The numbers just aren’t backing up what they say. Brett Sutton has sold out his profession to an inept government. And Sally says:

Who are the experts they are listening to? Are they here in Australia where we have little research or overseas where massive research has been done? Why are they unable to only lock down the affected areas as NSW does? Why are the journalists … going along with whatever the Government says … Why aren’t more politicians standing up for Victoria’s rights? Kerry says:

This is a so wrong to tell business and people they cannot go to work. The mental health crisis this is creating, the kids affected by not going to school. Let us assess our own risks. This cannot continue we MUST learn to live with it like we have with every other virus. Pat writes:

Sick of the incompetence of the Andrew.,s govt. Wasted projects, not delivered on time, Money blow outs everywhere, 800 people died … untrained security guards hired to keep vic safe, sourced from his union mates. I could go on, but this is terrible stuff. Money thrown around, awarding themselves a pay rise as small businesses go bust. How much more to say, am furious. We had a beautiful state & apart from everything else, I am expected to wear a mask when I take my dog for a walk on absolutely deserted beach at Apollo Bay, Shops are all closed here, it’s like a ghost town. Rhonda writes:

We need better planning and far better handling of the outbreaks. Looking at NSW our systems have continuously failed by comparison. We cannot have any faith in our decision makers. They appear to be sensationalising the issues to cover their incompetence. People need to feel secure but still E able to earn a living and be able to pay their rent/mortgages and buy food etc. Margaret emailed me:

We have seen the decline in our grandchildren’s education. One of them has DS and had only just started back with OT, Speech and physio, and it’s stopped again, she is 5. The Andrews Government have taken all hope, they make facts up to fit their narrative. I have never felt so low before. And this from an old friend and a Labor supporter—or he was:

Please send me a Liberal Membership form. This hybrid return is a disaster. Year 11 and 12 last lockdown included any year 10s doing a Year 11 VCE Subject.

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2070 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

There is now a directive that under no circumstances can Year 10s return to onsite learning until Friday June 11. I have Year 11 Exams next week that Year 10s are excluded from. Bloody joke!! ‘I am feeling total despair’, says Jacqueline:

… for … Victoria right now. I am so angry that we are still responding to case numbers in the same way we did early last year. Yet each time we lock down the rules change and the goal posts are moved. We are in a constant state of uncertainty. Uncertain about the basis on which decisions are being made, uncertain about what restrictions are in place, uncertain about when our freedoms will be returned. We are not living in a democracy. What is happening in our state is a horrendous abuse of power at the expense of people’s livelihoods and sanity. I am sick to death of the political games. I am sick of the fear mongering. We need real leadership to restore our human rights in this state so we can get on with living! The world is still spinning. We must learn to live WITH this. Stephen says:

This sledge hammer approach is just ridiculous. At this rate we are going to have continued bi monthly lockdowns for the next 2 years. The government need to give us clear pathways out of this absolute mess of a state Elisha writes:

We need to learn to live with this virus I know it a serious flu, but honestly as a business owner it’s killing my business my family. Our kids are paying for this. It makes me so worried to think what our children’s future money wise is going to be. The schooling of our children we can not keep doing this to them. We live 2021 surly we have a better way to live then how we are. I’d love the reporters to report how many suicides … deaths … cancer deaths, drug deaths there has been in this time of covid as been around. Let’s get the “real” statistics out. Also on another note a payment 6 weeks after the shit down is not going to help us we need the payment now … We have bills to pay this week we have wages to pay this week we have bread to put on the table. We can’t not wait for this payment to come through the government needs to have there shit together and have payments like this set ready to go “incase” we they lock us down again. As you can tell, I’m over covid we need normal back. This is just a taste of what the members of the opposition are getting. All of us are getting it. I cannot believe that the government of the day, the people that say they represent Victorians, are not getting these types of heartfelt emails. And what is their response to that? They tell us what they did last year. They tell us how much money they give as a whole. They do not think for a minute what that means. They say that they are going to be there to back small business and support families, and yet they are not. How can any member of the government who seriously cares about people in this state stand in front of the TV cameras and say, ‘We’re giving you $2000, but we’re shutting your business down for three weeks or four weeks or indefinitely’; or even worse, as we have seen today, ‘No end in sight for some areas’—because the government’s plan does not exist. I grieve—I grieve deeply—for the people of Victoria at this time, with a government so incapable of setting a direction and being honest and forthright and incapable of supporting Victorians properly.

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2071

OPPOSITION PERFORMANCE Mr FREGON (Mount Waverley) (17:46): Well, where do I start? I grieve also for the state of our opposition, but only so much so because my parents are lifelong conservative voters. Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, in relation to standing order 110, relating to irrelevant material or tedious repetition, I note that this is the fourth government speaker who has grieved for the same subject matter, being the Liberal Party or the state opposition, and I would ask you to pay close attention to the contribution of the member, as the Chair may— The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Dimopoulos): Thank you. There is no point of order. Thank you for your advice. Mr FREGON: Thank you, Acting Speaker. So as I was saying, my parents have been conservative voters for all of their lives. My father ran a small business, a chemist shop, for all of his life, as I have said before in this house. As much as I could try and convince them that this side of this bench is a much better choice, I do not think I will have a go. I think if I was preselected for Ferntree Gully, I reckon Mum would support me. Dad? Yes, he probably would, but it would be tough. Now, I grieve for the opposition because—and I agree with the member for Eltham—the state of the debate, as we have seen over the last number of years, has declined, and it has declined to what is almost a tribal Carlton versus Collingwood, Victoria Park, 1975, stoush. Mr Morris interjected. Mr FREGON: Well, I am not going to choose Carlton or Collingwood. I think the member for Eildon and I are both Hawthorn supporters, and we will not get into that. So what can we do about this? On our side of the bench, if you take the pandemic as an example, we try and explain. We have got the Premier, the Acting Premier, the chief health officer, the deputy chief health officer and every minister on a relevant basis, who day after day after day try and explain to the Victorian public, the Victorian people, about the viral mess that this world is living in that we are trying to suppress. And this is a national strategy—that we try and suppress this thing out of our state. Now, we hear a lot of examples of people who are doing it very, very tough, and there is no shortage of those examples. As a government we are supporting those people, and obviously we have to draw lines in that support. We can honestly and openly debate where those lines are drawn—that is what this house is for—but when we start debating the actual health advice, when we start debating what our doctors are saying, we start getting into very dangerous and farcical territory. Now, my son Sam, our youngest, was born with a defect in the—and I am not going to know the medical terms there—tube that went from one of his kidneys to his bladder. The amazing medical people that we have in our state spotted this in utero, and they said, ‘This might be a bit of an issue. The kidney’s not working as much as possible. We’re going to have to keep an eye on this’. So obviously as expecting parents Bec and I were pretty worried about this. But, okay, you trust in your health professionals, because that is what they do, that is what they are trained to do and that is what they spend their lives being trained to do—to give you that advice. So we said, ‘What do we do?’. He said, ‘Nothing yet. We wait until Sam is born. It might clear up, it might not’. Well, sure enough, Sam was born and the X-ray or whatever it was showed he had a kink in this tube. So at six weeks old little Sammy went into surgery. Obviously this was fairly troubling for us as new parents, but again, we trusted the health advice. I will give a shout-out to Dr Kimber out there. When we talked to him we said, ‘You know, this is really scary’. He went, ‘Oh, look, I do two or three a day’. Our doctors, our health professionals, our nurses and our ambulance drivers do this for a living. If we do not trust them, if we sow the seeds of doubt on a daily basis, it takes longer and longer to bring that trust back. If you sow fear and discord as a mantra, I would argue very strongly on behalf of my parents that you are changing the very nature of your group. And if you go down those rabbit holes, it is very,

GRIEVANCE DEBATE 2072 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 very hard to dig yourselves out because you have got a lot of other rabbits with you and they will not let you go. To make my point on this, on Monday there was a press release from the opposition that I and others thought just went a little bit too far into la-la land, so I would like to make a personal disclosure on that note. In 2012 I was walking out of my front door. It had just started raining. I was carrying two garbage bags. I put my front foot on the little porch step, it slipped and I fell. When I landed I noticed that my leg was going this way and my foot was going 90 degrees the other way, and I had broken my leg. Now, I was not overly impressed with this, as you can imagine. Can I just point out that on that day in 2012 I did not take a photo of the stairs— A member: What about a video? Mr FREGON: I did not have a video of the stairs either. Ms Ward: Did you ring the police? Mr FREGON: I did not call the police. I did not need to. I did call the ambulance, because I trusted our first responders. Can I just say also that today is Thank a First Responder Day and give a huge shout-out to our first responders. The two women who came to support me while I was lying there feeling a bit sorry for myself were fantastic. You could not have asked for more. They got me into the bus, and they said, ‘All right. We’re going to take you to hospital. We’ll take you to this hospital. They do legs’. Now, at no point during that exchange with the ambulance drivers did I say, ‘Well, can you show me the health advice, please?’. I was pretty sure I had just got it, so it was okay. They gave me the green stick. I do not know if anyone has had the green stick, but if you break a leg, the green stick is very handy. Ms Ward: Yep. That’s a painful leg. Mr FREGON: Yes. I had eight-odd weeks of not being able to move anywhere. Then I was in a moon boot, I think, for another four or five weeks after that. Ms Ward: Did you give press conferences? Mr FREGON: I did not give any press conferences and I did not need to actually ask the ambulance to release any of the details from where I had dropped in my house. That is how ludicrous it has got—that we are even supposing that there is some conspiracy, not just with the public figure, who apparently is meant to disclose everything that ever happens to them in their life, which again is ludicrous, but also with everyone else connected to the incident who are somehow involved according to some magical mystery ride of the consciousness of people who I cannot understand. I will also point out in my public disclosure that my grandfather’s name is Lindsay, and so is my son’s. I do not know if that is relevant. Ms Ward: What does that mean? Mr FREGON: I do not know, but that is where we have gone. I have heard a little bit about business today from some of the members of the opposition. And look, everyone has the right in this place, when they are standing in this place, to say what they think, and they should say what they think. I do not know if members have seen the Mitchell and Webb skit where they go, ‘Don’t know much? Don’t worry about it. Send it to “What I reckon” at the BBC’. It is like everyone can have a go. Someone says the sky is falling, someone else says it is not. Great, what a debate that is. But everyone has the right to say what they want when we are in this place. I have heard members from the other side, and I am not going to point out individuals because it does not matter. If one member from the other side or from our side is saying it, it is a collective effort. We do not always say the right things on this side or the other side. And if you do not say the right thing,

GRIEVANCE DEBATE Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2073 you cop it and you fix it. I think we saw a minister do that today, correct something that slightly needed to be corrected. That is a good thing. I have done it myself in this house. What I find hard to accept is when I am told, sitting here and being looked at, that no-one on this side of the house understands small business. I think to myself, ‘Now, hang on a second, I know this one’. I ran a small business for 20 years. I was in the corporate world for 10 years before that. I reckon I might know. Is it easy being in small business right now? No, it is desperately hard, and I get emails, similar to other members, showing how hard it is. And it is heartbreaking for some of these people. But if you look around the world to countries where they have not contained the virus, it is not better, it is worse. The strategy that is taken up by the national cabinet on suppression works. When we are locked down, like we are right now, it is bitterly hard on many people. And to all the people in my district and the whole of Victoria that are finding it very tough, I am so sorry it is happening. We are sorry it is happening, but we must contain this thing and get rid of it, because that is the way out for you to get back to making your business profitable. We have seen that by how quickly we bounce back. Even the Shadow Treasurer accepted that we had snapped back, in her wonderful interview with Raf Epstein on 774. We understand, but you have to draw the line somewhere. We hear a lot that our brothers and sisters to the north in New South Wales are the gold standard in all things. Fair enough. What did they do? With the Northern Beaches, what was their business support? Well, it was a $3000 grant for the three weeks, I believe. And we have heard a lot today about the cap of $75 000 being in our structures. If I look through the list for eligibility for New South Wales support during the Northern Beaches lockdown, I see ‘have an annual turnover of more than 75 000’. It is the same. And this is part of what happens with the debate when you are just arguing against everything and for the thing that you think is better. Even though there might be similarities, you just skip those. And that is fine. You are trying to make your point, and you have got every right to make your point. But if your point does not make sense, people will wake up to it. The Leader of the Opposition has a thankless job, and it does not matter if you are federal, state or whatever. I have sympathy for the person who is in opposition during a pandemic—not a whole heap of sympathy but, you know, a little bit. But the conduct of a person who is potentially putting themselves up to be leader of this state should be equivalent to being the leader of this state, and I personally do not believe this is what we are seeing. I think recent events in the opposition would say that there might be a few others who think that too. Now that is for you guys, not for me, and good luck. But I— Mr T Smith: Guys and girls. Mr FREGON: Well, guys and girls—it is just a collective, member for Kew. Sorry I had to explain that to you. In closing, if I think about the many people in the same situation as my parents, who are lifelong conservative voters, I see them looking at Sky, Murdoch and the debate coming from the opposition, and I see them getting sad and angry and dispirited. So I think we will continue to try to explain, we will continue to try and help and we will do our best. But what we end up with is the simple fact that you cannot be liberal with Victorians. Question agreed to.

BILLS 2074 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Bills CHILD WELLBEING AND SAFETY (CHILD SAFE STANDARDS COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Second reading Debate resumed. Ms HUTCHINS (Sydenham—Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (18:01): I rise to speak on the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Child Safe Standards Compliance and Enforcement) Amendment Bill 2021. As many other speakers have said in this house on this bill, protecting children is paramount for any good government, and this legislation is designed to prevent the pain and trauma caused by child abuse and to make sure that if it does occur, it is reported and dealt with properly, not swept under the carpet. It is our responsibility as lawmakers in this state to make laws that protect our children, and that is what this is about. Child abuse is immensely harmful to those victim-survivors who have experienced it, and it can impact far beyond the immediate years after the event happens. It can stretch far into their lives— into adulthood and beyond. As Minister for Victim Support, I see many victim-survivors carrying the pain of their experiences for many years afterwards. Whilst I have been impressed by the strength and resilience of so many victim advocates that I have met with, I see those who speak to me about their experiences, and any good government should try to prevent people from becoming victims of child abuse in the first place. As Minister for Youth Justice, I see there are many young people that come into contact with the justice system who have experienced trauma and violence in their lives. Whilst this does not always explain or excuse the offending that they have undertaken, we should do everything we can to reduce the risk factors that push them towards offending, the root cause of their offending. We should do everything we can to take these risk factors away and keep children safe. I am proud to serve in a government which introduced the child safe standards scheme, which this bill will continue to improve. These standards help to protect children in Victoria through settings and standards across organisations that provide services and facilities for children. They must comply with these standards. They are wide reaching, and there are over 50 000 such organisations—schools, hospitals, sports clubs, youth clubs, businesses and religious bodies, just to name a few. This scheme came about as a result of the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations, commonly known as the Betrayal of Trust inquiry, which was handed down in this place in 2013, and I want to thank the members of this place who sat on that inquiry and all of the staff. This was a really heartbreaking read, and the inquiry found serious incidences of child abuse in some of our most trusted and important institutions and organisations in this state. Many children across our state suffered needlessly at the hands of their abusers, and the child safe standards scheme was one of the first steps taken to try and prevent this abuse of power from happening within these institutions ever again. As well as the child safe standards scheme, which we are debating today, the reportable conduct scheme also came from this inquiry. The two schemes work closely together, mutually strengthening each other to keep Victoria’s children safe. In 2019 through the reportable conduct scheme this government expanded the group of people and workers who are required by law to report a reasonable belief of a child physically or sexually being abused and to actually inform authorities of what they know. It now includes people in religious ministries as well as doctors, nurses, teachers, police, counsellors, kindergarten teachers and others. This was a landmark change—to make it a crime for those in those professions to fail to report, including those in religious ministries. I have had the unfortunate opportunity of meeting with a range of constituents over the years who have confided in me as an MP around previous cases of sexual abuse that they were aware of in their childhood, that they were aware of years before bringing their concerns to me as their local MP, not

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2075 knowing where to turn and not knowing if they could report these incidences and these acts of terror against children, and in some cases against themselves as children, or whether in fact they could report them so many years later. I was proud to be able to offer support and to work with some of those constituents who had those experiences and who wanted to report that crime. In some cases those who were abused were no longer with us, but it was important that these crimes were reported, and I supported those constituents in being able to do that in a highly confidential way. This legislation we are debating today has its origins in a review we conducted into the child safe standards scheme, which was completed in 2019, and it is important to note that this review found strong support for and commitment to the standards across Victoria. Organisations that work with children are acutely aware of their obligation to support a safer environment for children and young people and of the impacts that safety has on a child’s ability to grow and develop. I have seen many examples of organisations working with children and young people across our state who uphold these values, and the passion and expertise of their workforce is extremely impressive. Before moving on to discuss the changes I would like to thank those workers who support Victoria’s children across so many different avenues of society—in our public sector, in the private sector and in volunteer roles; I thank them all—in whatever way, particularly those who have also been through the challenges that this pandemic has brought forward. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the regulatory scheme was as efficient and effective a scheme as possible, and the changes in this bill will support those organisations that have to comply with these standards. The bill will approve and embed child safety into everyday thinking and everyday practice. This bill will enact many of the recommendations that the review made to protect Victoria’s children and make it a robust scheme. There were 15 recommendations, and eight of them are being enacted under this act. To do this the provisions of the bill will provide child safe standards regulators with monitoring and enforcement powers. The bill will also introduce a mechanism to clarify identity and the regulator for each sector that is subject to the standards and to make the scheme simpler. It will also improve information sharing between regulators, which is extremely important in child safety, and it will also provide a statewide capacity-building and leadership role for the Commission for Children and Young People, promoting consistent child safety outcomes across the sector. That is extremely important. The bill also helps ensure that there are no regulatory gaps and makes provisions for the Commission for Children and Young People to be the default regulator for any sector not allocated a regulator. Victorians can feel assured that the changes in this bill have been underpinned by extensive consultation and continue to grow the standards in this sector. I have previously noted to the house, in replying to the November 2020 budget, around the investments of the Home Stretch program—one of the best funding decisions that this government has ever made—and that is the historical and impressive program that will extend its support for children in out-of-home care through to the age of 21. In the youth justice sector this is going to make a huge difference. We know that many kids tend to leave care in Victoria between the ages of 16 and 18, and they become homeless, they become disengaged and they become very challenged in their day-to-day life. It is hard enough for any young person to build an independent adult life with all the supports around them. To be out on their own only makes them more vulnerable to becoming victims themselves or in fact connecting with the justice system and causing crimes due to the poverty or the homelessness that they are experiencing. I am proud to say that this government is investing in that program in particular, but we are investing across the whole youth justice system to ensure that children and young people get a better life. Through these sorts of changes and this bill, children will be better protected in our day-to-day lives. I commend the bill to the house. Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (18:11): I move:

That the debate now be adjourned.

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Motion agreed to and debate adjourned. Ordered that debate be adjourned until later this day. OFFSHORE PETROLEUM AND GREENHOUSE GAS STORAGE (CROSS-BOUNDARY GREENHOUSE GAS TITLES AND OTHER MATTERS) AMENDMENT BILL 2021 Second reading Debate resumed on motion of Mr PALLAS: That this bill be now read a second time. Mr T SMITH (Kew) (18:12): I rise to speak on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Cross-boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2021. In so doing I express the opposition’s support for this technical but important piece of legislation, largely because it mirrors a piece of federal legislation that was introduced by the federal coalition in December 2019 and passed in the federal Parliament with Labor’s support in 2020. I am advised by the federal government that this bill presented to the Victorian government does indeed mirror the federal legislation, and for those reasons alone I have no hesitation in supporting it. But there are some important policy matters that the legislation covers, which I will outline in my remarks this evening. Keith Pitt, the federal Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, remarked that it will strengthen protections for the environment, the industry and the Australian government taxpayers— that is the federal legislation, which the Victorian legislation is seeking to replicate. The bill amends the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010 to support the framework for cross-boundary greenhouse gas storage in the commonwealth’s Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006, which was amended in 2020. These amendments essentially have sought to allow effective title administration and regulation of the greenhouse storage formation that straddles the boundary between state waters, Northern Territory coastal waters and commonwealth waters. These amendments also enable the unification of adjacent commonwealth greenhouse gas titles where the holder of the titles has reasonable grounds to suspect that there is a geological formation that straddles the two title areas. Upon the granting of the title, the title area becomes commonwealth waters for all purposes of this act, but this could only happen with the consent of the relevant state, which is why we have this bill before us this evening. The bill will result in strengthening the powers of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority during an oil pollution emergency originating in commonwealth waters. In current commonwealth and state offshore greenhouse gas storage legislation, the injection and storage of a greenhouse gas into a storage formation, usually deep saline aquifers or depleted oil or gas fields, is only permitted when the formation is wholly situated in the relevant title area. This ensures the formation in its entirety can be effectively regulated, taking into account the movement of an injected greenhouse gas through the formation. It is considered more efficient and effective than a formation being covered by a single title to ensure that the titleholder is solely responsible for injection and storage operations, monitoring and, in the long term, closure of the site. Decisions regarding the granting, reviewing and imposition of conditions on cross-boundary titles will be made by a cross-boundary authority consisting of the commonwealth and Victorian ministers. The bill will enable the Victorian minister to make the required decisions under the commonwealth act, supported by information sharing, delegation and administrative provisions. As these titles will all be granted under the commonwealth act, the Victorian coastal waters that form part of the relevant title will be taken to be commonwealth waters for the duration of that title. Those areas will be managed under the commonwealth act for the duration of the title and will revert to regulation under the Victorian act when the title expires. There is great relevance for CarbonNet in this legislation. Australia’s abundant natural resources mean it could be one of the first countries to create a hydrogen export industry, helping to generate a

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2077 significant number of Australian jobs and lay the foundations for a new hydrogen industry. This bill aims to help realise this opportunity for Australia. The federal coalition government has invested $96 million in the CarbonNet project, which is investigating the potential for establishing a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage network in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria. CarbonNet has commenced its stage 3 work program, which includes drilling and appraisal, obtaining a declaration of storage and an injection licence and finding a commercial structure and financial model to attract private sector investment and confirm interest in operating a CCS service. CarbonNet’s preferred storage site overlaps both commonwealth and state greenhouse gas titles. This bill provides the mechanism to regulate the likely storage formation that straddles state and commonwealth boundaries. CarbonNet is progressing its work looking at CO2 storage. In January 2020 the first appraisal was completed at the prospective CO2 storage site, Pelican, off the shore of South Gippsland. Commercial-scale hydrogen production from brown coal requires CCS infrastructure such as that being investigated by CarbonNet at the Pelican site. The recently announced Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy highlights the economic opportunity the hydrogen export industry presents for both Victoria and indeed Australia. The CarbonNet project will facilitate the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project, which aims to produce hydrogen from brown coal resources and requires suitable carbon capture and storage resources. This is the cheapest way to produce clean hydrogen. The government has invested $50 million in the world-first $500 million Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project aimed at producing hydrogen from brown coal in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and liquefying and transporting hydrogen to Japan. The HESC is a world-first pilot project aiming to safely produce and transport clean hydrogen from Victoria to Japan, and this is a very important project that I note has support from both the commonwealth and the Victorian governments. The Victorian government has funded this initiative to the tune of $50 million; the commonwealth, $50 million as well, along with the Japanese government at $166 million. HESC presents an opportunity for Australia to establish a new hydrogen export industry and develop its own domestic hydrogen supply by using the Latrobe Valley’s abundant brown coal reserves. It provides the potential for new jobs based on brown coal in the Latrobe Valley. On 11 December 2019 Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the lead HESC consortium partner, launched the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier in Kobe, Japan, and the Australian chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, was in Kobe to mark the achievement of that project’s milestone. The pilot project will inform the feasibility of constructing a commercial plant, and a final investment decision is slated for approximately 2025. Successful carbon capture and storage will be a necessary condition for the pilot project to progress to full commercial scale, which is a huge opportunity for both Victoria and indeed the nation. This bill, as I said at the outset, is a technical piece of legislation but is legislation that has bipartisan support and support in both the federal Parliament and indeed this state Parliament. It is an important piece of legislation that will hopefully see greater investment in carbon capture and storage and interrelated industries off the shores of South Gippsland and indeed in parts of the Latrobe Valley. I am very supportive of this piece of legislation. I know that the members for Gippsland South and Gippsland East have a great interest in this. I know the member for Gippsland South will be speaking on this piece of legislation later, and he too is supportive of it. In conclusion, it is a technical piece of legislation that has our support, and hopefully it has a speedy passage through this place and indeed the other place. Ms GREEN (Yan Yean) (18:21): It gives me great pleasure to join the debate on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Cross-boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2021. I wonder if there is a competition for the longest title of a bill. It might make it. As the leading speaker from the opposition said, this is a fairly straightforward piece of legislation, but it is an important one. It removes legislative barriers to greenhouse gas storage for offshore geological formations which straddle the Victorian and commonwealth maritime boundary, benefiting in particular the CarbonNet project, the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project and other future

BILLS 2078 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 commercial projects. The bill delivers the rather rare double act of both reducing carbon emissions from atmosphere and also facilitating economic activity in jobs, particularly in our regional areas. I know that I will be joined by some other members on this side of the house, in particular the member for South Barwon. Until recently the member for South Barwon was, like me, on the Environment and Planning Committee of the Assembly. We have been holding public hearings on how communities are tackling climate change, and that includes community members, farmers, local governments and community groups and the ideas that they are pursuing, really with a view to future job generation. I think that it is things like this that the community are really excited about. It might seem like a dry piece of legislation, but the future energy mix is incredibly important to regional communities and particularly communities like Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley that have been the heart of oil and gas and electricity generation since this state was established as a colony and then beyond. It has been a very difficult time since the 1990s for our friends in Gippsland and particularly in the Latrobe Valley because of the decline in coal. Let us not forget that initially it was the sell-off of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, the job losses that occurred from that and the disaggregation of electricity supply, generation and retail in this state that first led to that job decline which has caused long-term and generational change in those communities and a lot of fear. Then with the advancing of climate change and the push from many in the community, and this is a worldwide thing, to move away from fossil fuels and particularly coal generation—there is now a movement against gas and certainly a movement against oil—I think this is something that is really going to benefit in particular the CarbonNet project, known as Pelican. That is something that is a rare double act that is being facilitated. So with this development, the CarbonNet project off the Victorian coast of Gippsland, CarbonNet is unable currently to progress to the next stage of project approvals because its preferred offshore storage site straddles commonwealth and Victorian waters, and the Victorian act requires a storage formation to be contained wholly within a single assessment permit area. The cross-boundary title framework would resolve this issue. The preferred storage site, as I mentioned, is called Pelican, located off Gippsland’s beautiful, beautiful Ninety Mile Beach. The Victorian government have been national leaders in setting and meeting ambitious climate change targets. Our record speaks for itself. Carbon capture and storage will further facilitate a reduction in carbon emissions while simultaneously facilitating economic activity and investment in our state— not just in Gippsland, as important as that is, but across the state. What the bill does is it makes the cross-boundary title framework developed between Victoria and the commonwealth over a number of years operational by enabling Victoria’s participation in a new cross- boundary authority. The authority can deem any area of Victorian waters to be regulated under commonwealth legislation for the purpose of greenhouse gas title and storage operations, including the granting of greenhouse gas pipeline licences. The area within the cross-boundary title area remains under Victorian jurisdiction for all other purposes, and Victorian environmental legislation, such as the Environment Effects Act 1978, continues to apply. Our legislation complements the commonwealth act and allows Victorian waters to be part of commonwealth waters for the purpose of this bill, and the commonwealth will manage the cross-boundary title. I want to commend the work of our newest Minister for Resources in this state, a member for Northern Victoria in the other place who also has the Attorney-General portfolio. Having her first set of portfolios being agriculture and regional development and retaining her resources portfolio I think is really important for a regional MP like Ms Symes, the minister. I think that in her time in regional development—and I had the privilege of working alongside her as her parliamentary secretary—she gained a real understanding of how important legislation such as this is. She succeeded a very good resources minister too in the Treasurer, who speaks on these matters in this place. As he noted in his second-reading contribution, the bill amends the Victorian Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010 to enable the Victorian minister to make decisions as part of the cross-boundary authority as permitted or required under the commonwealth act; it supports the Victorian minister’s

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2079 participation in the cross-boundary authority by inserting or amending appropriate information sharing, delegation and other administrative provisions; it permits the cross-boundary authority to deem an area in Victorian offshore waters to be commonwealth waters, to be regulated under commonwealth legislation, for the express and limited purpose of greenhouse gas title and greenhouse gas storage regulation; it ensures the area within the cross-boundary title remains under Victorian jurisdiction for all other purposes and that other state interests in that area, such as petroleum resources and fishing rights, are unaffected, and that all other Victorian legislation continues to apply; it provides pendency for Victorian greenhouse gas titles while they transition to greenhouse gas cross-boundary titles; and it inserts new definitions and makes technical and consequential amendments to the Victorian act so that it fully supports and recognises the new cross-boundary title framework. All of the work that we do in this economic space is about generating jobs for Victorians. While I am talking about jobs, I do want to refer to Australia’s oldest trade union, the Australian Workers Union. I have been a member of the Australian Workers Union for many decades now, as are many other members of my family and others, mainly in the rural industries, in shearing et cetera. The AWU have made a sterling effort in keeping their workers safe in this industry, as well as the other unions that have worked in the Latrobe Valley. So everything that we do in the economic space is about growing the pie and growing jobs for Victorians and for the next generation of young people, who are really afraid of what climate change is going to bring. They are scared for their economic future and they are scared for their environmental future, but I think with well-considered legislation like this we can deliver both those outcomes in that we can reduce greenhouse gases and we can improve our climate change targets but we can also see that we will have a great new energy industry that can continue giving stability to industries that really need it—our manufacturing sectors but also looking at transportation, because hydrogen, particularly in regional areas, is something that is really being looked to by the transport sector and will make big changes in job generation in regional Victoria. I commend this bill to the house. I thank the officers that have worked on it and the ministers who have worked on this piece of legislation. I commend it to the house. Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (18:31): I am also pleased to rise to speak on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Cross-boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2021, and it is always nice to get up and speak on a bipartisan bill. This is one that certainly I support. As the previous speakers have said, in essence this is a technical bill which basically deals with the issue that we have crossover boundaries in our maritime boundaries between states and the commonwealth, and this bill really facilitates the CarbonNet project, which potentially facilitates the hydrogen from brown coal project in the Latrobe Valley. To do so we need to utilise carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the CarbonNet project, which will be off the coast of Golden Beach in my electorate of Gippsland South, and into a geological structure known as the Pelican site, which, as the bill is all about, actually crosses between both Victorian and commonwealth waters. So this bill is about facilitating that happening across the two jurisdictions. The Pelican site is one of many in Victoria, particularly in Bass Strait and in Gippsland, which has been identified as probably the best and most prospective for carbon capture and storage in the world. Ironically enough, often carbon capture and storage is proposed where it could be used to basically pump carbon back underground into previously mined wells for oil and gas. Ironically enough, Pelican actually was not an oil and gas field, but it is a very, very good geological structure, as I understand it, to capture carbon. I want to talk a little bit about that. There are potentially very big benefits for the Latrobe Valley, for Gippsland and for my electorate of Gippsland South if the CarbonNet project and the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project go ahead. That is otherwise known as HESC, the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project. When I say ‘if it goes ahead’, it is going ahead. The trial is actually happening now. The first hydrogen has been produced. Whether it goes to commercial stage or not is another thing. Now, there are many people out there who say, ‘This is a waste. Why are we perpetuating fossil fuels? Why are we looking at hydrogen from brown coal?’. ‘It’s not going to be feasible’, I hear quite

BILLS 2080 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 a bit. Well, this Victorian government has put $50 million into it. The commonwealth government under the Liberals and Nationals has put $50 million in, but more importantly the Japanese government and a number of big hitters in Japanese industry have put another $400 million into it, and I am talking companies like Kawasaki Heavy Industries, J-Power, Sumitomo and many others who are involved, and at the Japanese end Royal Dutch Shell. This is not small bickies. This is not some pie-in-the-sky idea. These guys have serious investments involved in this. So I do hope that it will be successful and it will go on to commercialisation down the track. When it comes to the opposition to what would be blue hydrogen if it can be stored underground through CCS, I really do not understand why. There are people who say, ‘We just can’t use fossil fuels’. If the issue with fossil fuels is the emission of greenhouse gases, and it is, then what does it matter if we are using coal and capturing those emissions, that carbon? As I understand it, in the process of creating hydrogen from brown coal you capture and separate the carbon anyway. So it is then just a matter of what you do with it, and what we do with it in this case is ideally the CarbonNet project. So you would be pumping it from a project in the Latrobe Valley, probably at Loy Yang, where the HESC project is currently at its pilot stage, through a pipe down to Golden Beach and into the Pelican site, where it would be safely stored for millions of years. I really do not understand the argument that says, ‘We shouldn’t be doing this’. If it is about climate change, and it is, and if it is about reducing emissions, this can provide us secure energy and it can actually ensure that we are removing those emissions as well. Unfortunately it is too expensive to retrofit our power stations—we are talking sort of $10 billion to retrofit the power stations—so that is not going to happen. Let us put that misnomer to bed, but it could be a huge opportunity for new industry if we can get this carbon capture and storage up and going. More importantly, if we are able to develop a hydrogen industry in the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland, there are great opportunities for us with green hydrogen as well—that is, hydrogen that is produced from renewable energies through electrolysis. So the opportunities there to build the skills, the infrastructure and the technology for a hydrogen industry in Gippsland and in Victoria are really good. Further to that—and I am getting ahead of us a bit here—then you could potentially see hydrogen replacing natural gas. We could actually be switching our natural gas power stations over to green or blue hydrogen. We could be switching our supplies to our households and our industry across to hydrogen in the long term, so these are things that can be done. And on CCS more broadly, people say it is untried, it is untested. Well, for heaven’s sake, if we only ever did things that have been tried and tested, then we would never do anything. But it is also not true. There are currently 19 operational CCS projects around the world. There are another four under construction, and there are 28 further under development, and indeed one of the biggest carbon capture and storage projects is actually right here in Australia. It is the Gorgon project off the North West Shelf, which is going to be capturing the carbon from the gas project up there and pumping it back underground. In addition, Victoria actually already has a good record on this. We have been working on the Otway demonstration project through the CO2CRC. It has been going for 10 years now and has successfully captured 65 000 tonnes of naturally occurring carbon and pumped it underground, and it is now up to stage 3. That carbon has been safely sequestered in existing formations underground and has proven that it can be done, and CarbonNet, I guess, is the next extension of that. So I think it is important to acknowledge that CCS is being done. It is being done in Australia. It is being done commercially in Australia. It is being done scientifically in Australia, and the CarbonNet project can actually take it to commercialisation here in Victoria as well. And just finally on the climate change element of this, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change itself says that if we are going to meet the targets that we have set under the Paris agreement and what we need to do as a globe to get climate change under control, we will need CCS. It will have to be a part of our armoury in doing so. There is concern, naturally enough, in my electorate and in Golden Beach about what this will mean. Unfortunately I think there have been some outside forces that have tried to stir up opposition to this simply because it will ultimately involve the use of fossil fuels. And

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2081 so I understand that people will be concerned, but as far as what will be seen in Golden Beach or along the Ninety Mile Beach, you will not even see it. It will be a pipeline. It will ultimately go under the dunes in the vicinity of Golden Beach. It will go out about 3 kilometres, I think it is, offshore, under the sea, underground, and you will not see it. And people say, ‘Oh, you know, but it destroys the Ninety Mile Beach’. It does no such thing, and I remind people that there are already at least seven oil and gas pipelines that cross the Ninety Mile Beach from the Bass Strait oil and gas fields up to Longford and then off to Victoria and the rest of the nation. There will be, I believe, great opportunities for us, including at Golden Beach, with this. CarbonNet had some false starts in terms of consultation with the community and in terms of some of the preparatory work that went underway there. The seismic testing certainly did cause some angst, and I think CarbonNet has probably got that back on track. I understand the angst that that did cause in the area, but this actually could be a great opportunity. We have opportunities in renewable energy coming in Gippsland. There is a proposed 500-megawatt solar farm in my electorate of Gippsland South, just south of Sale, that would be the biggest in the state, and their intention in the longer term is also to move to producing green hydrogen as well. That is again probably ambitious and a bit of a way down the track, but that is part of that whole supply chain, that whole industry and technology development that could be quite good for Victoria and for my electorate and the neighbouring electorates as well. There is a significant regulatory regime. Not only in this legislation but in terms of the geology, in terms of the safety of it. There is a significant amount of work already underway to test the baseline for the geology and hydrogeology of the region to ensure that it will be safe going forward and it can be monitored and tested. This is a straightforward piece of legislation, but it is potentially opening up a huge industry for Victoria and particularly for my area, and I certainly look forward to seeing its development. I commend the bill to the house, and I hope that both CarbonNet and the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain will be able to proceed to full commercial opportunities for both our energy future and for jobs in our region. Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (18:41): I rise very happily to make a contribution on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Cross-boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2021, and it is actually fantastic to follow the member for Gippsland South. Before he leaves today I just want to, via an introduction to this bill, put on the record that the member might actually remember this is not the first time this has happened in the Latrobe Valley. We had a Japanese project for many years. Mr D O’Brien: BCLV. Mr EDBROOKE: Yes. Brown coal to liquid oil I think it was. I was just looking up an article. It was way back in 1989, August, and people in the house today might reflect on the fact that around that time we had a few oil crises due to some issues between the States and the Arab states as well. And there were some people getting— Mr D O’Brien: The United States you mean. Mr EDBROOKE: The United States and the Arab states. Thank you for the correction. I think that there was some stress about oil supplies and prices. In the end liquefying brown coal was seen as too expensive where it might have cost $40 a barrel versus $20, but it was an option, and it was Japanese technology. I remember in those years, as a kid, we had a very multicultural community down in the Latrobe Valley, but having a bunch of Japanese kids coming over just made our day. It was amazing. It is not the first time this has happened, and I fully support what is going on. I actually did not know it was Golden Beach, but I am familiar with that area. I heard the member for Gippsland South talking about how that pipeline goes through Ninety Mile Beach. As someone who formerly worked at Longford for a number of years, I can support the fact that if you are worried about this pipeline, you

BILLS 2082 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 will need to be worried about the pipelines have been there for about 30 years now coming from the Kingfisher A and Kingfisher B platforms out there and the flares and all that kind of thing. This is a fantastic bill because essentially what it does is introduce Victorian state legislation to enable, along with the federal legislation, this project to occur. And I want to talk a little bit about what it is at the moment, because I get pretty excited about this stuff—this engineering, this technology and the fact that we are actually doing it in Victoria. A lot of the time I hear about these things and, you know, in the back of my mind I always think, ‘Well, if not us, why not? Why aren’t we doing this? Why aren’t we testing these things? Why aren’t we the people that are doing it?’. As I said, the primary purpose of this bill is to enable the commonwealth government-led cross- boundary title regime to operate, and that will benefit us in that it enables the storage of greenhouse gases in the formations that straddle the Victorian and commonwealth boundaries in this maritime area. The bill removes a legislative barrier to the CarbonNet project, which is dependent on this legislation. CarbonNet of course is a Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project, and with that will come many future projects hopefully. The commonwealth and Victorian governments have each invested $50 million into the $500 million HESC pilot program in partnership with the Japanese government and a consortium of Japanese companies. I was just looking at an article before that tells me that Kawasaki Heavy Industries aims to deliver a ship called the Suiso Frontier by June, and that will be getting ready for the 9000-kilometre journey to take that hydrogen gas all the way to Japan. Japan is where it will be unloaded and stored before being distributed to power generation in Japan and for fuelling hydrogen cell cars. We hear a lot about renewable energy. We hear a lot about Elon Musk. We hear a lot about Tesla and using electricity to drive cars. But it has been I guess well tested and is well known now that hydrogen is a cleaner source of fuel to run cars, and that is what they aim to do in Japan. Just flipping around for a little bit, we also have heard mention of I guess the one percenters—I do not mean that in the legal sense—the people that will throw the baby out with the bathwater if they get to 99 per cent and they do not get what they want. There will be some people, and there are some people, in the Latrobe Valley who do not like that we are using brown coal again. To them I would say this is a great project. It is embracing renewable energy. This is the direction we should go. As previous speakers have said, the Japanese companies involved in this, the federal government and the state government are not embracing this on a whim. This actually works, and I will go through some media statements that support this project as well. Essentially what we are doing here is brown coal—prehistoric plant remains—is mined down in the valley. It is put into a gasifier in the Latrobe Valley, which I have just heard is Loy Yang, I think, and it is partially combusted with oxygen, producing a gas containing primarily CO2 and H2. Steam is added to that reaction where the carbon monoxide and hydrogen react, additional hydrogen and carbon dioxide are created, which in turn are separated so you have just got the hydrogen there and the carbon separated. Further, those two elements are separated even more. Obviously the carbon is stored in the natural underground basins. While we have heard it already occurs in other places, it will occur just off Golden Beach and Ninety Mile Beach, and that hydrogen gas is transported by road to a liquefaction facility where it will be cooled to minus 253 degrees Celsius, reducing its volume by 1/800, which I believe is done under pressure. The hydrogen is then loaded onto Suiso Frontier, a purpose-built liquefied hydrogen carrier, and shipped those 9000 kilometres to Japan, where it is unloaded and used for their power generation in their grid, for their vehicles and for many other industries that use hydrogen. There will be some people who obviously are not happy they have not got 100 per cent of what they want, but this is the nation and this is Victoria moving towards that new economy as well. The number of jobs that this creates along that chain is very positive, especially for the Latrobe Valley, who of course have been going through a fairly difficult transition where we have seen our brown coal power

BILLS Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2083 plants basically descaled and closed down. That is happening worldwide because of projects like this, so it is great that we are getting in on it. Obviously this CarbonNet project will lead to a commercial-scale carbon transportation and storage system which is going to be set up, hopefully, and this would allow our own state to decarbonise its manufacturing industrial base and attract high-growth clean industries of the future. Both the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain and CarbonNet projects would provide significant economic development opportunities for Victoria, safeguard existing jobs where we need them and provide for new employment opportunity during our COVID recovery, which of course will take some time. I think some Victorians are very one-eyed with electric cars. Hydrogen is also there. It is also an option that we should be looking into, and when I look and see what Japan are doing, certainly we can go a long way. There are some absolute brains over there doing great things, and it is amazing to be part of it. Obviously there has been some consultation at various levels. There has been some consultation that has basically occurred again, and I hope people are a little bit more comfortable with the project after that. But we have Jeremy Stone, a director of the Australian subsidiary of J-Power, who was quoted in a media release entitled ‘Brown coal’s Cinderella tale’. He said that clean hydrogen presents a massive commercial opportunity, and I believe he is right. Also John Andrews, a professor at RMIT University, said that:

Electric vehicles have certainly been ahead of hydrogen ones in terms of development and adoption but I think hydrogen is catching up due to advances in high-pressure hydrogen gas storage fuel tanks, fuel cell technology and hydrogen production from renewable energy. Indeed if you go to an Australian Geographic shop right now, you will actually be able to find a little toy. It is a model car where through electrolysis you can create your own hydrogen and run your toy car off that. Also this technology is essentially used in a slightly different manner around people’s homes in their salt chlorination pools, where electrolysis basically runs through a solution of salt and water and creates hydrogen and chlorine. It is great to be standing here today knowing that we are embracing this technology. It is the future. Change is very hard. We know that change is very hard for people. We know that some people will not be satisfied until they get 100 per cent their way, but I endorse this entirely from my perspective. I commend the bill to the house. Mr MORRIS (Mornington) (18:51): It is a pleasure to rise and actually support a bill, which does not happen very often as we know. But I think this is one of those rare examples where parties of different colours and even across different jurisdictions have come to a common point. I know there will be no opposition to this bill from either of the major parties. I am not sure whether there is going to be any opposition from any of the other parties, but if there is, they have certainly missed the debate. I am definitely a strong supporter of the federal system. I am also a strong supporter of the principle of subsidiarity, but of course that is a slightly different matter. But one of the consequences of a federal system is that we do have this multiplicity of structures. One of the challenges that we have, and we have it in common with the United States, is that we have this system of state waters or coastal waters that run out to the 3-nautical mile limit, or 5.5 kilometres, and then we get to the territorial sea, which runs out to the 12-nautical mile limit. Of course this is not about the area of the sea or the water column but of the seabed and the geological structures underneath it, and managing to cross and utilise a geological structure that transcends those boundaries is the subject of this bill. The other important aspect of this bill is that it is about utilising carbon capture and storage—and utilising carbon capture and storage where a suitable site exists. The member for Gippsland South talked extensively about the appropriateness of the site and so on, but carbon capture and storage is also an important opportunity, an important option, in terms of our journey towards a carbon- constrained environment and hopefully to a zero-carbon future. Carbon capture and storage is a tool that can assist to get us there. Since I was first elected and in fact long before—but certainly since I was first elected—I have argued that climate change is real and I have argued that climate change is anthropogenic. My focus has always been on solutions. In fact if we go back to 2008—and you would

BILLS 2084 Legislative Assembly Wednesday, 9 June 2021 remember, Speaker, the house sat at Churchill—we debated not the original legislation in terms of this bill but complementary legislation at that sitting. I think probably it is fair to say that the application of carbon capture and storage has evolved since that time. The practical application of it, the purpose of it, is different, but the nature of the beast is exactly the same—‘beast’ is probably not the right word to use at the moment in the context of other debates. But at the sitting in the Latrobe Valley the government largely talked about the way carbon capture and storage gave us an opportunity to continue to utilise brown coal, and the debate again and again talked about the significant resource we of course have in the Latrobe Valley and talked about 500 years of use or whatever. I noted in the debate that we were talking about pipelines, and I think there had been a convention of the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association just before that sitting. The point was made that the Latrobe Valley was an ideal location because it had these geological structures close to the point of emission whereas other states do not. In Queensland I think it is 500 kilometres away; in South Australia and New South Wales it is considerably further. So the emphasis was on continuing to utilise brown coal. We then talked about the essential requirement to get the framework right and, as I mentioned, we talked again and again about the abundance of brown coal and the importance of it to the state’s economy. The intervening 12 years of course have seen rapid advancement in the field of renewables, and I think even the most optimistic, probably, at that time would not have seen how rapid that advancement would be. So the question now is no longer if we can get to a renewable-run energy system; the question is how quickly. But carbon capture and storage still has a very important role to play, and that is why this bill is important. Perhaps that role is not as central as we expected in 2008, but it is important in terms of the transition. Cheap, reliable energy is a bedrock requirement for any economy. It is as much a requirement now as it was when the State Electricity Commission of Victoria first began operations in the Latrobe Valley about a century ago. Unfortunately we are not yet at the point where 100 per cent renewables will provide that cheap and reliable source, particularly reliability but also price. Prices are continuing to fall, and that trend, as expertise develops and as capacity is added, is going to continue. Storage opportunities will also expand. Network reliability will improve. We are moving in the right direction as a state and internationally, but we are not there yet and I doubt very much if we will be there in the time frame that we would like to be, because we need to cut emissions rapidly and we need to cut emissions more rapidly than current technology allows. Now, I know there are some who would argue that we should abolish all fossil fuel based systems tomorrow, that we should not engage in carbon capture and storage and that we should simply rely on wind power, on solar power and on those options. But the fact is we are not there yet, and we are not going to be there for a considerable period. Until the storage equation is solved in some way, whether it be pumped hydro or whether it be Mr Musk’s major batteries, we need other ways of bridging that gap. If you care about jobs and if you care about people, then you know we have to have these transitional measures in place. Carbon capture and storage is a real opportunity to make that transition—to get to where we want to go, to get to a zero-carbon economy and to do so in a way that is not only safe, cost effective and reliable but particularly makes an economic contribution to the region and to the state. As I think the member for Frankston mentioned, there are plenty of jobs attached to this opportunity as well. So this is a rare example, as I said, of parties of different colours—different jurisdictions even—being in accord on this particular issue, but I think it is an excellent opportunity. It is a shame, perhaps, that it has taken as long as it did to get to there— (Time expired) Business interrupted under sessional orders.

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Adjournment The SPEAKER: The question is:

That the house now adjourns. SCHOOL CHAPLAINCY SERVICES Mr HODGETT (Croydon) (19:00): (5901) I rise today on the adjournment debate to raise a matter with the Minister for Education. The action I seek is for the minister to increase funding for chaplaincy services so that all Victorian school communities have the opportunity to receive the benefit and the support of school chaplains. School chaplains provide an essential service in supporting the emotional and mental wellbeing of students and represent an integral part of the school community. During the first half of 2020 the number of students receiving ongoing support from a chaplain increased to 66 per cent. The need for school chaplains is more prevalent than ever, with Victorian students facing increased hardship over missing the equivalent of two whole terms of normal face-to-face schooling. Teachers are going above and beyond to make sure that students are still learning, and parents are juggling between their jobs and supporting their children through the homeschooling process. But despite all of this hard work, it is irrefutable that children have suffered from the numerous lockdowns and disruptions. The government needs to take action to address the mental health impacts of these four lockdowns and increase funding for school chaplains to support our students. Chaplains not only provide services to students but they assist and support the wider school community. During 2020, chaplains also supported staff and parents through 53 300 conversations with teachers who felt overstretched and parents who were anxious about how to navigate their own and their children’s changed circumstances. It is clear that chaplaincy services are vital to all members of the school community. While it is a great initiative, the commonwealth-funded National School Chaplaincy Program only provides funding for less than one-third of Victorian schools. Given that mental health struggles are a concern for students and teachers alike, I ask that the Victorian government provide additional funding to ensure that the remaining two-thirds of Victorian schools, approximately 1600, can provide chaplaincy services to the many who are struggling. In Western Australia the government has pledged $21.8 million to enable every government school to purchase chaplaincy services. Given the strain that our school communities in Victoria have been under as a result of four lockdowns, it is essential that we follow in Western Australia’s steps. Chaplains are a unique and integral part of their school’s wellbeing team. Their work includes ensuring that students are connected and engaged and supporting students who are struggling with their mental health or experiencing other personal challenges. Some chaplains have been delivering care packages with food hampers to families during lockdown. The work of chaplains is multifaceted. The support they provide is immeasurable, and they are valued by students, teachers and parents alike. Minister, I encourage you to provide funding in addition to the National School Chaplaincy Program. The nearly 1600 Victorian schools that do not receive funding from the national program should be supported by the Victorian government so that all Victorian students can benefit from the guidance of school chaplains. WATTLE PARK FACILITY UPGRADES Mr FOWLES (Burwood) (19:03): (5902) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, and the action I seek is for the minister to visit Wattle Park in my electorate of Burwood to discuss the recent announcement of $500 000 in the 2020–21 budget to deliver a master plan for Wattle Park. Wattle Park is adored and visited by thousands of local residents each year. I have spoken many times in this house about this oasis in the east: a picturesque pocket of bushland amongst the bustle of the vibrant inner eastern suburbs. We are so very lucky to have this parkland right on our doorsteps, but unfortunately this asset simply does not meet community standards anymore. With pathways falling into disrepair and tired visitor facilities, change has been needed and, thanks to the Andrews Labor government, I am proud that that change is happening.

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In 2018 at the election I stood with the Premier and committed to invest $4.3 million for a new running track and playground for Wattle Park. We funded this commitment in the 2019 budget after I was elected. In budget 2020 there was another win for Wattle Park, with a slice of the $52 million urban parks package, which will see visitor facility upgrades for the park. These investments will transform Wattle Park, delivering a Tan-style running track, a brand new state-of-the-art playscape and refreshed visitor facilities for locals as well as those coming to enjoy the park from further afield. Stage 2 of community consultation on the running track and playground is set to begin in the coming months, and I encourage the entire community to help shape the future of this project and indeed the future of Wattle Park. As a government we know that our relationship with open space is changing. I have heard that through my work on the Environment and Planning Committee and I hear it every day from my constituents. Melbourne is growing and becoming denser. Participation rates in community sport are soaring. The utilisation of public space is at an all-time high—all of which mean Wattle Park is becoming even more important for our community. We need to plan for Wattle Park’s future, which is why I am so proud the Andrews government is investing $500 000 into the Wattle Park master plan as part of that 2020–21 budget. It means as a government we are not just committed to investing in Wattle Park today but we are committed to seeing Wattle Park meet community expectations for many, many years to come. This $500 000 master plan is a massive win for our community, and its significance cannot be understated. The master plan will create a clear path forward for this much-loved environmental asset, making sure it delivers for all of the diverse groups that use it, whether runners and joggers, local families, heritage groups, the fantastic Friends of Wattle Park, golfers or cyclists, now and decades from now. I look forward to the minister’s response to my invitation and hope she can join me in the heart of my Burwood electorate to discuss this outstanding news and everything it means for my community. COVID-19 Ms RYAN (Euroa) (19:05): (5903) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Acting Premier, and the action I am seeking is that he return regional Victoria to COVID normal and release the data and modelling that are supposed to underpin the government’s decisions on restrictions. We have no cases in regional Victoria. Last year we were told that the government had developed a road map with rolling case averages, which was supposed to give the community a degree of certainty about restrictions and guide those decisions. This year we are being told that it is a day-by-day proposition. How can it possibly be both? The government cannot tell us when spectators can return in numbers to country football and netball, for example, yet the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events has said that he has absolute confidence that the AFL Grand Final will be played at the MCG. Under the restrictions outlined for regional Victoria—and this is a doozy—you cannot have more than 10 kids in a group playing indoor sport but you can have 50 people in a brothel. You can have two and a half times the number of people in a brothel that you can have gathering for a child’s party in an outdoor park. Explain that one. It is not unreasonable to raise legitimate questions about the government’s decision-making. The government needs to provide the data and the modelling it says underpin its restrictions. When millions of Victorians have been locked down, when businesses have been forced to shut their doors and when the mental health of Victorians—and children in particular—has been put on the line, it is not too much to ask the government to be more transparent about those decisions. I want to highlight the toll this is having on people in my region. Sherri McDonald owns Anytime Fitness in Benalla. She says she felt beaten when the government decided not to open up gyms:

The government grants do not even cover our operating expenses for a weekly shutdown let alone a longer time period. We need proof that gyms are hotspots for the virus. We have QR codes, hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, antibacterial spray … to protect not just staff but members. Put simply the government is killing small business.

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Where is the modelling that says gyms are a greater risk? I asked for that months ago, but all we get from the government is ‘Trust us’. In Seymour Billy-Jo Royle says she is on the verge of closing her Black Cat Dance Studios as a consequence of the lockdowns and restrictions. She is worried about the future of her business and the children who missed out because the government decided that 10 children could attend a creative arts studio but it was too great a risk for 10 children to attend a dance studio. Pubs, clubs and cafes will not be able to return to a profitable position with the current density limits that are in place. Regional communities need certainty and they need transparency. BROADMEADOWS ELECTORATE YOUTH SERVICES Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (19:09): (5904) My request is to the Minister for Suburban Development. The action I seek is for the minister to provide a report on the benefits of the Youth Central project in Broadmeadows. This is part of a collaborative strategy to revitalise Broadmeadows and to provide greater opportunities in life. It is also part of the youth foyers, which break the cycle of homelessness by providing 16- to 24-year-olds with safe and secure accommodation on campus for two years while they study for a career. This allows young people access to education and training while helping them develop independent living skills. Mr Wynne: And a pathway. Mr McGUIRE: And a pathway, as the Minister for Housing, at the table, rightly knows and understands—and also in his role as the Minister for Planning. We have got a new cooperative model happening in Broadmeadows. We have got Hume City Council at the table looking to make a contribution, to partner with the Victorian government. We have had a landmark $60 million investment from the Victorian government in Kangan Institute and an MOU with Northern Hospital as well to get nursing careers and a whole host of new careers where they are needed, and that has been a fantastic result from the last budget. This initiative adds to the whole proposition—and further investment of $3.38 million in the Victorian state budget for 2019–20 in response to youth homelessness in Broadmeadows. This was for operating costs for staff and a 40-bed youth foyer operated by Launch Housing at Kangan Institute in Broadmeadows. So here is how we are bringing it all together. I think it would be remiss of me not to actually acknowledge the minister at the table, the Minister for Housing, on this, because where we are looking to get to is the Big Housing Build—$5.3 billion, the biggest investment ever not just for a state, for our entire nation. This is the opportunity. We are bringing in a military-like model, if you like—all of our forces to the point—and we are dealing with Homes Victoria to try and get them to see how we can make this happen in Broadmeadows, and it will extend social and affordable housing. And this is critical. This is absolutely critical to give people a better chance in life, connect them to lifelong skills, jobs, learning and a career, and help them deny that miser fate. SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT Mr ANGUS (Forest Hill) (19:12): (5905) I raise a matter of importance for the attention of the Minister for Small Business in the other place. The action I seek is for the minister to provide small businesses in Victoria the additional financial support that they urgently need as a result of the compulsory closures forced upon them and to advise me when this is being done. Following yet another forced lockdown—Victoria’s fourth, again due to the failures of the Andrews Labor government to properly manage the COVID-19 situation—many small businesses are now on their knees. They have been to date largely unsupported by the state government and, most recently, specifically excluded from any relief offered by the government. With businesses having a turnover of less than $75 000 left out of recent state government announcements, many small business operators now feel completely abandoned and are in desperate need of support. Of course the best support any business can receive is to be released from lockdown and allowed to trade.

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I have been contacted in the last few days by several small business operators within the Forest Hill district, all desperate for assistance. They are representative of tens of thousands of small businesses throughout the state all brought to their knees by this government. For example, the operator of a myotherapy practice wrote to me and noted how she had been working tirelessly seven days a week to try and recover from last year’s lockdown, only to be closed down again with no clear pathway forward. Being ineligible for government assistance as a small business operator, she has been left in a truly desperate situation. Another Forest Hill small business operator who contacted me is a physiotherapist. The operator of this business now finds himself in financial difficulties as a result of the extended lockdown last year and the repeated lockdowns again this year. He is ineligible for government assistance and is desperate for financial assistance to get him through. The third Forest Hill small business person who contacted me in the last few days is a massage therapist. This operator noted she has been closed for 33 of the past 65 weeks due to the government’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 situation and thus unable to earn an income. She was not required to be registered for GST and thus missed out on the most recent round of government support. Without a clear plan from the government these and countless other small businesses are left in a completely untenable position, never knowing when the next lockdown will come. I call on the minister to provide the desperately needed financial support to small businesses that have been unable to access any assistance to date. I urge the Minister for Small Business to provide a favourable response to this request. BRENTWOOD PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL Mr MAAS (Narre Warren South) (19:14): (5906) The matter I wish to raise is for the attention of the Minister for Education, and it concerns Brentwood Park Primary School. The action that I seek is that the minister provide any further information on the school’s upgrade works as announced in the state budget 2021–22. I was so pleased to see that $3.46 million has been allocated to Brentwood Park Primary School, which is a really terrific local school that serves our community under the leadership of principal Jim Bell. The school’s management team have been advocating for an upgrade to the school’s facilities for some time. As our area continues to grow it is imperative that we invest in local infrastructure across the electorate, and this announcement adds to previous investments at Hampton Park Secondary College, Heritage College, Narre Warren South P–12 College and Strathaird Primary School. This Victorian government will continue to build the Education State and support schools like Brentwood Park Primary as they teach current and future generations and set them up for the rest of their lives. Our students, staff and teachers deserve the best facilities and learning environments to support them as they strive to reach their true potential. I would appreciate it if the minister could provide any further information and a time line on the planned upgrade works for Brentwood Park Primary School. I look forward to sharing that response with my community. FLOOD PLAIN HARVESTING Ms CUPPER (Mildura) (19:16): (5907) My adjournment is for the acting Minister for Water, and the action that I seek is for the acting minister to visit Mildura to explain to my community what the Andrews government is doing to challenge the practice of flood plain harvesting in the northern part of the basin. A river is not a river without its flood plains, and when those flood plains are dammed so that the water cannot reach the river, the system is rigged. When water is artificially held back in the north, there is less water for our farmers in the south, our permanent water holders receive smaller allocations and the price of temporary water is pushed up. Our farmers are already nervous about the potential impact of reforms to the intervalley trade rules. They are concerned about the potential for these changes to limit water availability at times of peak demand and increase competition in what is an already crowded water market. Against this backdrop, the continued practice of flood plain

ADJOURNMENT Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2089 harvesting, often undertaken by deep-pocketed corporate farmers who can afford the massive engineering costs, is salt in the wounds of our honest and hardworking family farmers. To make matters worse the New South Wales coalition government has actively supported this practice—even claiming it was legal when it simply was not—failing to uphold its own rules for the exclusive benefit of an elite few. I wonder why the New South Wales government would do that. My cross-border colleague Helen Dalton has been fighting for a public water register so that potential conflicts of interest can be identified and challenged, but her attempts have been aggressively thwarted every time by the New South Wales coalition government. The river may have 99 problems, but flood plain harvesting is the biggest and most flagrant, most selfish problem of all. And the New South Wales government is acting with impunity. Diplomacy has been tried and has failed. My community wants to know what your government is doing to pressure your New South Wales counterparts to end this unfair practice for good. STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE CRANBOURNE UNIT Ms RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (19:18): (5908) My adjournment is to the acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and the action I seek is that the acting minister update me on our government’s progress on acquiring land for a new SES facility to serve Cranbourne. Cranbourne is an electorate with a rapidly growing population, and more and more houses are being built every day. The Cranbourne area is currently being served by the VICSES Narre Warren unit. As my colleague would know, the Narre Warren unit is one of the busiest units in the state, with 856 requests for assistance last year and 725 this year to date. That is why this is such a top priority. Essential emergency services such as this are very welcome during this period of growth and development. Not only do the SES do the hard and important work that they are known for, they also work to respond to different crises in these communities. I know there is a commitment to a joint approach between state government, local government—in this case the City of Casey—and the Bunurong Land Council. This ensures government considers the cultural heritage of Indigenous stakeholders in the project and speaks to our commitment to self-determination and the authority of Indigenous leaders. I do not mean to bore you with news of the weather in Cranbourne, but these early winter season storms and high winds have stretched the Narre Warren SES unit—it is responding to water damage, fallen trees and blocked gutters from Narre Warren all the way down to the south of Casey, including Cranbourne. The weather today is quite inclement, so I wish them well and am grateful for their service. I would also like to acknowledge and say with great pride that I note the Narre Warren unit was recently involved in supporting our famous Sikh Volunteers Australia with food distribution for people in need this week. The people of Cranbourne would very much welcome a visit from either the minister or his parliamentary secretary as part of this update. I look forward to his response. MORNINGTON PENINSULA Mr MORRIS (Mornington) (19:20): (5909) I am pleased to raise a matter for the Acting Premier this evening, and the action I seek from the Acting Premier is that he take all actions necessary to reclassify the Mornington Peninsula as a regional area and to do so as a matter of urgency. As many will know, I have been talking about this issue for a very long time, initially from a planning perspective. I have long had concerns about including the peninsula in the metropolitan area for planning purposes. I think it was the Bracks government in the early 2000s that moved it from Western Port to the metropolitan area. The Mornington Peninsula Localised Planning Statement was an effort to rectify the issue from a planning perspective, but the pandemic has really made the issue front and centre as far as the community is concerned more broadly. Until that, the reality was that most people who live on the peninsula thought we were regional in any case.

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I have written directly to the Premier twice on this issue and not had an acknowledgement. I have also raised it four times in Parliament—this will be the fifth time. I had one response from the Premier the last time I raised it, and it was a bit like question time: he circled all around the issue but did not actually go to the nub of the question. I got lots of words about COVID but not much about the actual regional status of the Mornington Peninsula. There are a range of practical issues which time really does not permit me to go into, but the fact is we have got water on three sides. In fact the peninsula only became a part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ metropolitan borders for Melbourne as a bureaucratic convenience. If you think it is not country, try getting something delivered—you certainly pay for the privilege. When you say it is metropolitan, they just laugh at you and say, ‘We’ll have your money anyway, thank you very much’. It is an issue that has been going on for quite some time. Seventy per cent of the peninsula landmass is outside of the urban growth boundary, and we all hope that is the way it stays. If the Minister for Planning at the table does not proceed with the transitional provisions for the green wedge, then I think we will be delighted with that too. I did want to just comment on a point that has been peddled certainly by the member for Nepean, but I have heard it from others as well, that suggests that should we cease to be part of the metropolitan area, the green wedge is up for grabs and could all be subdivided. That is complete and utter nonsense—I am sure the minister at the table agrees with me—but that is the story that has been peddled. I ask the Acting Premier to act to resolve this historic injustice with all dispatch. The SPEAKER: That is the totality of the adjournment items tonight; there is one being incorporated by a member as per the sitting arrangements motion. I ask the minister at the table to respond to the matters that have been raised by honourable members. Following matter incorporated in accordance with resolution of house of 8 June: WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH Mr McGHIE (Melton) (5910)

My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Workplace Safety and the Minister for Early Childhood, Ingrid Stitt, MP, in the other place. My question relates to the portfolio responsibility of workplace safety. We know that mental health is presenting serious challenges for thousands of people across Victoria and indeed in my electorate of Melton. We also know that attitudes are shifting; however, we still see a lot of harm done, particularly in workplaces—whether it’s increased stress or as a result of the pandemic. Can the minister please update me on what the Andrews Labor government is doing to ensure that workplace mental health injuries are treated with the same seriousness as physical injuries? RESPONSES Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing) (19:23): The member for Croydon raised a matter for the Minister for Education seeking financial support for the school chaplains program to be further rolled out. I will make sure the minister is aware of that. The member for Burwood raised a matter for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change seeking that the minister come out and speak to his community around the $500 000 which has been allocated for master planning at the beautiful Wattle Park precinct, a fantastic asset for that community. The member for Euroa raised a matter for the Acting Premier seeking the release of data on COVID advice that the government has relied upon in terms of its very important work of protecting our community. Whilst it was raised in Parliament and I think the Acting Premier was very clear, I shall again put that matter before him. The member for Broadmeadows raised a matter for the Minister for Suburban Development seeking a report on the Youth Central project in Broadmeadows and the broader excellent work that is being done by the member in that community around bringing together, frankly, all of the support services

ADJOURNMENT Wednesday, 9 June 2021 Legislative Assembly 2091 for change. Central to that of course is safe, affordable and secure housing, and I thank the member for his continued advocacy in that area. The member for Forest Hill has raised a matter for the Minister for Small Business seeking financial support for small businesses in his area. Many of them are sole traders who have really found issues around the COVID lockdown very challenging, and I will make sure the minister is aware of that. The member for Narre Warren South raised a matter for the Minister for Education in relation to Brentwood Park Primary School and a wonderful commitment of $3.46 million, I think it was, for the school upgrade program there and no doubt seeking progress on how that work will be rolled out. I will make sure that the Acting Premier and education minister is aware of that. The member for Mildura—and this is the first time I must say I have ever had this question remotely put to me— A member interjected. Mr WYNNE: Where is she? Is she there or what? Does she come back on again or what? I do not know what goes on. A member: She’s gone home. Mr WYNNE: She has gone? Had enough? Righto. It is a matter for me, as the acting Minister for Water, seeking the support of the Victorian government to stop flood plain harvesting in her region. I will not go into a lengthy conversation about this, but I am very familiar with this now, as the acting Minister for Water. It is incumbent upon me—and I know, Speaker, we are going off to look at the rugby and we are going to support somebody or another; I am not sure who it is—just to acknowledge of course again the wonderful leadership of my colleague the member for Bellarine. Of course I am in regular contact with her. She is making slow but steady progress, and she will return to her, frankly, national leadership role that she has played in water—quite extraordinary. In relation to the flood plain harvesting, Victoria remains absolutely opposed to it, because if you are flood plain harvesting, it is water that is not going to other communities, and we know the impact of that. It has been only recently that I have written to New South Wales to again express our concerns, as the member for Mildura rightly knows, on what has become a very significant practice in New South Wales. It largely remains unfettered. We do not support it and we will not support it. The member for Cranbourne raised a matter for the acting Minister for Police and Emergency Services, seeking further advice in relation to an SES facility to be constructed in her area. Finally, the member for Mornington raised a matter for the Acting Premier in relation to— Mr Morris: Reclassifying Mornington Peninsula as local. Mr WYNNE: Could not have said it better. We are done, but who are we supposed to support tonight? The SPEAKER: It is your call. Mr WYNNE: My call? Well, I think it is New South Wales. Are we backing New South Wales? A member: No! Anyone but. Queensland! Mr WYNNE: That is it, Speaker. We are done. Good luck to both of them, and I hope it is a good game. The SPEAKER: Thank you very much for that response, Minister. The house now stands adjourned. House adjourned 7.28 pm.