Motion - Government Business Program

MOTION

‘GOVERNMENT BUSINESS PROGRAM’.

Tuesday, 29 August 2023.

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:29):

I thank the Leader of the House – the widely liked Leader of the House. I have been reading the internal assessments of each of the Deputy Premier candidates to be – the widely liked Leader of the House.

In relation to the Government Business Program, the Coalition will not be supporting the Government Business Program this week and let me speak to why.

The Government Business Program this week deals with two Bills, four sledge motions and the Budget take-note motion. For the House’s information, so far 26 Members of this place have spoken on the Budget take-note motion – 26 out of the 87 Members you would assume would want to speak on the Budget take-note motion, which means that 61 Members have not had an opportunity to speak.

It is extraordinary to think that the Government has only provided just over a quarter of the Members of this place an opportunity to speak on their own Budget. I have never seen anything like that, and I am sure nobody else in this Chamber has seen a Government guillotine its own Budget, and that is what is happening on Thursday.

On Thursday this government is so ashamed of its Budget it is going to guillotine debate on it. I was thinking about reading through the full list of every Member who has not had an opportunity, but I will save the house from that full list. Suffice to say, 61 Members have not had that opportunity, and I am sure as a look across to the other side of the Chamber I see a lot of long faces looking down at their feet who have not had an opportunity yet to speak on the Budget. I understand your dismay at the government gagging your opportunity, guillotining your opportunity –

The SPEAKER: Order! Through the chair.

James NEWBURY: Guillotining – I am sorry, Speaker – the opportunity of Members, because I know on this side of the Chamber how much our Members wanted to speak on what the Government has not provided to our communities.

On that point, can I say how much this side of the Chamber is looking forward to welcoming the new member for Warrandyte into this place as soon as that opportunity arises. We are looking forward so much to welcoming Nicole Werner into this place. The result on the weekend shows how strongly the community endorses the new Member for Warrandyte as a voice for this place.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, I am not sure how retaining a Member in a one-horse race relates to the government business program.

The SPEAKER: Relevance is your –

Mary-Anne Thomas: It is irrelevant.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will come back to the government business program.

James NEWBURY: I understand why the Government would be hiding from that result. We look forward so much to welcoming the new Member for Warrandyte into this place. I know that Nicole is in the building today, and we welcome her so much. I know that the whole team welcomes her into this building.

But the Coalition will be opposing the Government Business Program because it has become clear to all that the Government has completely misused the way that this Chamber should operate – four sledge motions are being dealt with this week.

I mean, it is now embarrassing. It is embarrassing that the Government has so mismanaged the Chamber. They are gagging their own Members from speaking on the Budget. I mean, if you were sitting on Labor’s backbench – I can understand why they are briefing away, because they want an opportunity to speak on the Budget as we do, and we have not had that opportunity.

So, we will not be supporting the Government Business Program. Again, it pains me to ask the Government through the Leader of the House – as I read, the wellliked Leader of the House – to manage the house in a way that Victorians would expect, to talk about the things that Victorians want us to be talking about, to provide time to do that and to do it in a way that Victorians want. So, the coalition on that basis will be opposing the Government Business Program.