Hansard debates

Mr CARBINES (Ivanhoe) (12:06:43) — I am pleased to follow the member for Bentleigh in relation to these matters and in particular the very disturbing commitment that has been made by the Liberal-Nationals coalition that they will undertake a cost audit if they return to the Treasury bench at the next election. We remember the sustainable government initiative under the Baillieu-Napthine governments, which was just a stalking horse and smokescreen for cuts. That is all it was. In particular it was cuts to services in my electorate. When we talk about a cost audit, it is not about just dollars and cents, as is often the case with the Liberal-Nationals when they are in government; it is the cost to families, it is the cost to communities and it is the cost to opportunities for people to be able to make a contribution.

Some of the very significant projects and programs that we have operating right now in the Ivanhoe electorate are providing the most exciting time for public servants to be engaged in government. There are great opportunities that people have been working for many years to deliver — projects that have been talked about for ever but never delivered — and the opportunities for the professional development and engagement of the public service here in Victoria on these projects is significant. The only threat to their opportunities to continue to put their expertise to good use for the people of Victoria is the cuts that have been foreshadowed by those opposite. We have seen that in particular in relation to the projects in my electorate. I just want to touch on a few of those but also to note that I represent an electorate that has a very significant proportion of people who work in the public service and the public sector. We have not only the Austin and Mercy hospitals in my electorate but the Warringal Private Hospital and the Austin repat facility as well. Many people who work in the Ivanhoe electorate are involved in health services, including as paramedics.

We also have a very significant range of public, private and independent schools and a significant number of people who live locally work in that sector. We have a very high proportion of public sector workers in the Ivanhoe electorate. they have a very big commitment to and stake in who governs Victoria because it affects their commitment and their ability to contribute to the community, to their families and to their livelihoods.

We on this side of the house put people to work and provide amazing opportunities for people who have devoted their working lives to the betterment of Victoria, to the place where they live and to the great opportunities that they have had on several projects. I will touch on some of those because they are also providing opportunities for young people to get into the workforce and retraining opportunities that we have seen with the automotive transition task force. Those programs are overseen by a member in the other place, the minister responsible for TAFE, who has been out to the Rosanna level crossing removal project. It is part of a $395 million upgrade of the Hurstbridge rail line to remove level crossings at both Grange Road in Alphington and Lower Plenty Road in Rosanna. The duplication of the Hurstbridge line between Heidelberg and Rosanna, another tunnel and another bridge are all part of the project.

We were out there with automotive workers who have transitioned across to the Level Crossing Removal Authority. We stood there with those workers, who were rubbished and belittled and had their careers destroyed by those people opposite when their federal counterparts in Canberra demolished the automotive industry. It is a Labor government, under the Premier, that has provided transitions to work on these projects and ensured those people were treated with respect and dignity and given opportunities to retrain. Now they are out there removing level crossings across Victoria, including at Rosanna. That is a tribute, I think, to the commitment that this side of the house makes to providing in very difficult circumstances — this is complicated work that requires great attention and a great level of purpose — those opportunities to people who could easily fall through the cracks.

It is not only that, but also in relation to our multicultural communities we are making sure they have apprenticeships, job opportunities and training opportunities. We are seeing that happen at both the Level Crossing Removal Authority and the north-east link project where we have had a range of meetings with Melbourne Polytechnic to provide opportunities to engage their people and students.

Right across my electorate we have school projects underway: the $11.5 million redevelopment at Viewbank College — my old school — which will be concluded next year, and at Rosanna Golf Links Primary School a nearly $7 million redevelopment will conclude next year. This is the school my daughter will be attending for prep next year. As a regional deaf facility, as a school that caters for some 550 students, it is the only school, after four long years, that the Baillieu-Napthine governments decided to put any money towards starting a redevelopment of, but of course they did that in the dying days of their term. What happened is we then came into office and had to increase the funding for the project because it had sat there collecting dust for so many years that it was undercosted and undervalued. We had to step in and get that right.

Can I say also that we work in partnership with the Catholic education sector. Just up the road we are contributing $3.5 million for 10 new classrooms for St Martin of Tours Primary School — another 500-plus students there — along with the Catholic Education Office and the local community. We have also allocated $2 million to start the project for extra classrooms at Ivanhoe Primary School. We have also completed a million-dollar master plan for Banyule Primary School, where there are over 650 students. The first part of the project to build the new gym is now underway. The master plan has been costed and we will be pursuing further funds for that in the next budget. For Olympic Village Primary School, a half-a-million-dollar master plan has been completed to build a new school at Olympic Village in West Heidelberg.

The only time you see Liberals in West Heidelberg is around election time, when they breeze through the mall and create a bit of a kerfuffle. You see that at about that time. That is what happens every four years. The only other time you see them, of course, is when they are cutting services and when they are selling off public housing to developers. We have seen that right across West Heidelberg during their time in government. What you see under our government at Altona Street, at Kokoda Street and at Tarakan Street is that we are opening new housing for people in my community.

We are committed to continuing that work. The community legal service in West Heidelberg, established in part by John Cain, the former Premier of Victoria and constituent of mine in the Ivanhoe electorate, had $200 000 allocated to it just last week by the Attorney-General to continue our work to meet demand. Unfortunately that is to represent families, particularly women, suffering from family violence. Continuing those projects is critical.

You put all of this at risk when you use as a stalking horse for cuts a cost audit, as has been announced by those opposite. But it is not, as I said, about the cost in dollar-and-cent terms; it is the cost to communities and families. It is the costs that are irreparable to generations of people when their government is not in their corner, investing in their livelihoods and investing in their opportunities.

Can I say also that today the Minister for Local Government and member for Kororoit was in Ivanhoe announcing a $750 000 capital grant for a new Ivanhoe library. The library has been there since the 1960s. There is no disability access. It is over three floors. This is a magnificent project that we need to work together on. These are the opportunities that the Andrews government is providing on the ground to local communities, and I am looking forward to seeing that project delivered, as a past chair of the Yarra Plenty Regional Library service.

For Fairy Hills Kindergarten there is a $350 000 capital grant to again provide access for people with disabilities. We have students starting there in 2019, but at the moment there is no disability access at Fairy Hills Kindergarten in East Ivanhoe. That $300 000 grant, announced by my colleague in the other place, Minister Mikakos, will see some further contributions from Banyule City Council, allowing us to provide accessibility for all at Fairy Hills Kindergarten. It is a really critical project.

But these things cannot happen unless there is a commitment from the government and a commitment from everyone in this place to invest in local communities. You do not get that when people are going home worried about their job. You do not get that when people are concerned about their families. You do not get people putting their hand in their pocket or volunteering in their community if they do not feel the government is supporting them as well. That is how you leverage other resourcing and commitments in the community. That is what we are committed to doing on this side of the house.

People need to understand, and I think they do, that if you are not in hi-vis and hard hats out in the Ivanhoe electorate, then you cannot move; you are just not involved. I would say to those opposite that the best they can do is drag someone from Kew to represent them at the next election. They can drive over the Chandler Highway bridge, a $110 million duplication that we have invested in that is providing jobs for people. I hope that candidate notices that when she drives across from Kew to learn something about the Ivanhoe electorate — the commitment of the people in the Ivanhoe electorate, the volunteers and the public sector workers and those people who make our place a great place to live. They have our backing.