I too rise to speak on this motion and speak against this motion put forward by the opposition today. I am quite overwhelmed because I do not know where to start or who to start with. The type of nonsense that has been coming from those opposite this afternoon has been quite extraordinary, and I do find it amusing. I always have a laugh; I always find it amusing. It started there with the member for Sandringham, and I am so glad you have come back in the chamber, member for Sandringham, because you will like this one. You always give me the giggles. I am always impressed by your performances; you give it a great go. I sat there confused in the beginning as to why the Leader of the Opposition was not leading this matter of public importance as the first speaker and speaking for 15 minutes about this grand plan that he has for Victoria. That was not why I was laughing, member for Sandringham. I was laughing because I love hearing Libs talk about their values and how passionately they feel about them. They always talk about the people who have money in their back pocket and how those people deserve a fair go, and they do deserve a fair go. But that is where the plan stops and that is where the member for Sandringham stopped. They never talk about the rest of Victoria that may not have a couple of dollars in their back pocket and what their plan is for them. I have heard none of that today.
I listened to the member for Kew give her contribution this afternoon. I know that asking a question during question time can always be quite daunting. I think it was the Premier who responded to the member for Kew on this about a question of interest and debt and expenditure. The Premier responded with what expenditure in this state has been spent on, and I am going to remind you here this afternoon about what it has been spent on. It has been spent on our level crossings, and I am sure someone will shout out how many we are going to do and how many we are up to so far. I cannot keep count. There are so many. Victorians’ money has been spent on removing those level crossings. The Werribee line is going to be level crossing free. I always like to throw in that little bit with the western suburbs – level crossing free.
[Interjection]
You say Melton is going to be level crossing free. That expenditure has been on things like –
[Interjection]
I am looking around for the member for Gippsland South, who I think has left. He would be used to me saying, ‘Shh!’ See how quickly it gets quiet in here? Victorians’ taxpayers money has been spent on things like the West Gate Tunnel. That will open next year, 2025. Member for Brighton, I hope that you will have your GPS on and that you are one of the first ones to drive across. That will cut travel times by at least 20 minutes for westies – that is 40 minutes.
You guys talked about $40 billion of debt – or interest – and this will cut 40 minutes at least per day for westies travelling.
Let me keep talking about this expenditure. We are also spending money, yes, on the Metro Tunnel. That is going to open in 2025. That will benefit every single one of the folks living here in Victoria. That is an extraordinary project, an extraordinary investment in Victoria’s growing population and predicted future population, which will be the size of London’s in years to come. That is about building for our future. This is not just small stuff that has to be done. We are also doing that. The member for Kew also talked about how there is no money for school upgrades. Well, schools are being upgraded in my electorate. A lot of them, I have to say, have already been done, and there are still more underway. I was at Sunshine Primary School recently with the Premier and the Minister for Children to celebrate $11 million to completely transform one of the oldest schools in the western suburbs into a first-class facility where kids will get a world-class education. Right next door, well and truly under construction and well underway to open its doors for term one in 2025, is Sunshine Primary School kindergarten. A kindergarten – who would have thought? That is one of 50 onsite kindergartens that we are building at our primary schools – one of 50. So do not talk about taxpayers money not being spent on things in this state; that is absolute nonsense. There is the $1.8 billion western roads upgrade program, which upgraded many of the country roads in one of the fast-growing corridors in this state and this country, inside my electorate. The expenditure has been spent on stuff that matters.
The member for Murray Plains, the Leader of the Nationals, ended his contribution by saying that we are a government that has run out of plans. Well, I have to say, and I am going to say it – and I know everyone behind me will think, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s right; I told you so’ – in case the Leader of the Nationals missed it, we have made major announcements every day this week about housing and how we are going to tackle Victoria’s housing crisis. Maybe he missed that. That is not, as he was saying, a government that has no plans for the future. We are not stopping there. We have made announcements today about renters.
Obviously the Leader of the Nationals needs to get back to reading the Herald Sun or whatever newspaper he gets his information from to understand that we are a government that is making announcements each and every single day. But we do not just make them for folks in a particular part of town, folks who have a particular amount of money in their bank accounts or folks who come from a particular postcode; we are a government that is interested in governing for all Victorians. I would say to the Leader of the Opposition and those opposite: that is why you sit on that side of the chamber and that is why we sit on this side. It is a little story I like to tell on election day about what you believe in, the society that you want to raise your children in. Do you want a government that is going to govern for all Victorians and fight for a fairer, more equitable Victoria, or do you want folks that are just interested in how much money they have in their bank account?
[Interjection]
Apologies, member for Nepean. It is just that that the member for Sandringham is busy doing something else.
[Interection]
Thank you, member for Kororoit. The member for Kororoit would know that her electorate has benefited immensely from the type of infrastructure that Victorian taxpayers money has been spent on. There is not one punter on the street that you could stop that could not name one project that this government has undertaken that they have benefited from, and for folks in the western suburbs, it is going to be the West Gate Tunnel. That is one of my favourite projects.
In the short time I have got left I am not going to go through the full list of things that we have invested in, but what I will say, which has not been mentioned in this place and I cannot finish my contribution without pointing out, is the budget is in the position it is in as a result of really tough decisions – and I was around for those tough decisions – that our government made four years ago when we faced one of the greatest challenges to our state in our history.
A once-in-a-generation global pandemic came onto the scene, and our government chose to do the right thing: it chose to prioritise saving lives, protecting jobs and supporting local businesses, supporting those local businesses that those opposite continue to talk about time and time again in this place as though they are the only ones that support and represent those businesses.
I still remember those times and the debates we had in this place. I like to think it is blurry and far away, as it may seem now, but I remember the daily press conferences, and I remember the enormous sense of pride I felt when Victorians banded together, did the right thing and kicked COVID out of Victoria. For two years we fought this thing while Victorians put their community first, got vaccinated and did the right thing to get things back to normal. We supported local businesses who were doing it tough, and yes, it did cost a lot of money. The amount of times we have talked about that here in this place and being in the position we are in and our four-step plan to get out of it, and those opposite deny it as though it never happened.
There are a lot of deniers here in this place. Member for Nepean, you were not here and maybe you did not hear them – there were a lot of deniers on your side of the house when it came to the COVID pandemic. But the Treasurer has worked tirelessly to get things back on track, and I would ask those opposite to start telling the truth about stuff. Stop fearmongering in our community about this situation. That is really why you are sitting on that side and not this side of house. This is a ridiculous motion to bring up at this time, this week, to debate as an MPI topic, and I strongly speak against it.
