Emma KEALY (Lowan) (16:32): I rise today to speak on the member for Brighton’s matter of public importance. Upon opening, I would like to take some of the rhetoric out of the debate that we have heard so far, because at the end of the day this is much more than political statements. It is much more than just the numbers which are in the budget papers. It is much more than just having a swipe at the government, at different ministers or at the Premier, because there has been a budget cut in black and white in the budget.
This is about the families and the individual Victorians who will suffer as a result of a budget that just applies more taxes, gives back less and less to the Victorian people and takes away the hopes and dreams of Victorians who want to aspire to do more and be rewarded for their hard work and their effort. That is something that we used to be proud of as Victorians and Australians – that if you work harder, you are rewarded for that effort. You get to retain that money in your pocket or in your business, and you get to make decisions about what you want to do for your own growth, for your family’s growth or for your business’s growth, to stimulate the economy and create more jobs. We are at a tipping point in Victoria where socialism is on full display after 21 of the past 25 years of a Labor government. What socialism means – and this is something I am hearing from very young people as well as older people in the Victorian community – is that the harder you work, the more taxes get taken out of your pocket and out of your business. This is money that is just going into the Labor government, and we do not get a choice about where that money is spent. We do not get it laid out before us before an election. What we hear during the budget is just spin and complete and utter rubbish about inputs and nothing about the outputs. It is never about the outcomes. It just shows time and time again that Victorians are paying the price for a Labor government that is addicted to taxes, is addicted to waste and does not hold itself to account because it is in total denial of the destruction it is applying to every single Victorian.
You talk about things that we would cut. We would cut taxes. We have already committed to cut five taxes. The Nationals and the Liberals will cut five taxes. We have committed to that. We will cut the waste. We will cut the corruption. Let us get back to governing for all Victorians and giving some of that choice back. There are a lot of people who are doing it very, very hard at the moment. There are people taking on multiple jobs. They are cutting back not just on the finer things in life on the food that they are buying because it is really expensive. Food prices have gone up 30 per cent under this term of Labor. It costs 30 per cent more to feed a family and to make sure that it is nutritious, and they are doing their best for their children. We see bills just going up and up and up. We have had a massive increase to power bills, a 22 per cent increase in power bills since 2021. Gas bills have increased by nearly 9 per cent. There has been a more than 30 per cent increase in people turning to Foodbank to help feed their families. We have got more than 1 million Victorian households in mortgage or rental stress, and yet this government want to talk about what they are delivering.
I thought it was absolutely revolting yesterday to hear the Minister for Health on a question which involved somebody who had died, who had bled out waiting for an ambulance, to include in her response that this is the dividend of what they are doing. Well, it is the dividend. We have got death and disaster and absolutely catastrophic failures right across this Labor government, who have completely lost their way. They are addicted to taxes. They are addicted to making sure that nobody has any transparency or understanding over where that money is going. They are not focused on outcomes to make sure Victorians are safe or to make sure that there are appropriate fire services over the summer. There has been a $200 million cut to emergency services, and yet what are we being told right across the state – we are going to have a $3 billion tax, and that that is going to deliver more funding to emergency services to fix these problems that have plagued the state of Victoria since there has been a Labor government in place. There is one solution and one thing that Victorians can do differently at the next election, and that is to vote 1 for the Nationals or Liberals in their seat in the lower house and in the upper house. That is the only way we can end this trail of destruction that Labor are leaving. I fear for my children’s future, and I hear this from other families right across the state. They think we are beyond a tipping point. We are heading to a debt bill of $200 billion – that is $200,000 million. This means that our children will be paying. It is not even our children. Very soon, in the next couple of years –
Members interjecting.
Emma KEALY: It will be generations. But in the next couple of years we are going to be spending $1.2 million each and every hour just on interest to the big banks. That is not delivering for any Victorian. It is just Victorians paying the price for a Labor government that is addicted to waste and that is not transparent. They are only interested in getting into their ministerial vehicles, living it up at different events and making sure that they are living the high life. Labor have lost touch entirely with the families that they say that they represent the best, the people who are struggling. The Labor members here have got no connection to the people who are doing it tough. I talk to them every day when I am out in the community. There are people who are really struggling. I talk to people who are in tears. They cannot make ends meet. Young people are saving up to buy a house but then realise that it is going to cost an absolute fortune; in fact 42 per cent of any home they buy is going to be made up of government taxes, which means that they cannot afford a home. They cannot afford to put curtains in the home. They cannot afford to landscape it. It has killed the Australian dream. This is why we are listening, and it is something that Labor have forgotten to do. They are just relying on the spin doctors, focus groups and what looks good and thinking about how they can line their own nests and get a donation back in return, rather than putting Victorian people first, and that is an utter disgrace.
I think the worst example of that is how the government have completely stuffed up the emergency services volunteer tax and caused so much mental anguish and grief for Victorians right across the state. It is a doubling of that tax for every single household, whether you are a renter or a home owner. It is a doubling of that tax for every single business in the state, which will just push up the cost of living and the cost of buying goods and services in the community – and it triples for farmers. We know through the drought support that this will be waived for just one year. Now, I might not have finished that crystal ball course, but I am guessing they are going to extend that for another 12 months because I do not think they want the first rate notice to be a couple of months out from an election with a big highlight on there from councils saying, ‘Labor’s great big new tax is going to hit here.’ They are not going to want to do it. So my little punt, my top tip for next year, is that that will be extended for another year.
While I am on drought support, I really do urge the government to get on with providing on-ground support for our farmers. The longer that you leave this, the higher grocery prices will get and the more farmers will leave the industry, and they are great farmers who are looking at selling up. We are losing so much breeding stock at the moment, and while we have got a taste of what could come in terms of farmer support, there is a lot more that could be put in place. We look at waiving water rates, fees and charges, and council rates. We can also look at further supports around cartage. I listened yesterday to Kevin from BlazeAid. Good on BlazeAid, who have come out and said that they are going to provide the freight subsidies. They are going to pay all the freight for fodder out of Queensland. And what Kevin said on Victorian Country Hour with Warwick Long yesterday was ‘If the government won’t do it, we will. BlazeAid will.’ I congratulate and I thank BlazeAid, because every single time there is a fire, they are in my community. They have just pulled out of Willaura.
And if I can mention Willaura for just one moment, I would like to congratulate Pete Sporton, not just because he is an amazing Collingwood supporter and makes the best vanilla slice in the state, but I saw on his window he has banned Jacinta Allan from his store. I commend him for doing that because he knows that he is standing with his community, he is standing with businesses, he is standing with his local firefighters and he is standing with every single Victorian that is paying the price for a Labor government that has completely lost its way and must not be re-elected in 2026, in just 527 days.