Motion: Government Business Program

MOTION

‘GOVERNMENT BUSINESS PROGRAM’.

Tuesday, 20 February 2024.

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:53):

The opposition will be opposing the Government Business Program, primarily because again the Coalition went to the Government and asked if we could consider in detail one of the Bills that is being proposed for the House to consider this week, and the Government declined the opportunity to consider that Bill in detail.

Thinking through the last three terms, each term the Government has agreed to one opportunity of consideration in detail in each four-year period, and we saw last year the Government agreed to consideration in detail on the WorkCover Bill after I went to the Minister directly. In this instance of asking for consideration in detail, the government declined. So, I would say that it is unfortunate that the Ministers do not feel that they have the capacity to debate a Bill in a consideration-in-detail stage, and I understand why they feel they do not have that capacity.

Mary-Anne Thomas: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order, as was previously raised by the Manager of Opposition Business, again, this is a narrow procedural motion. It is not an opportunity to attack members of the Government, and I ask you to bring the member back to speaking on the procedural matter.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Points of order need to be succinct, as was mentioned earlier. There is no point of order.

James NEWBURY: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The Coalition will be opposing the Government Business Program. The Leader of the House spoke to the Bills that are being considered this week. Picking up the points that were raised, the Leader of the House spoke to the climate change legislation and the importance of secure energy supply. I can assure you, having seen the biggest blackout in our State’s history last week, that is absolutely an important matter for this House to consider. So, we agree entirely with the Leader of the House that there should be a fulsome debate on secure energy supply. The fact that we have just seen the biggest blackout in our State’s history means it is an important opportunity to talk about the capacity to deliver energy and the capacity for our system to work into the future, because these matters are serious, and this Bill will be an opportunity to do that.

Secondly, the Leader of the House spoke about the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Early Childhood Employment Powers) Bill 2024 and the early learning centres that will be delivered as part of that package. The Leader of the House spoke about the locations of the centres, and I do note that 10 per cent of those centres are in Liberal electorates and 60 per cent are in Labor electorates. So, when the Leader of the House talks to the way that they pork-barrel, it is an important opportunity to talk about the locations, because we need to do so much better. We need to ensure that these services are available to young families. I am sure the entire house agrees that we need to ensure that we have these services available to our families, to our kids, but of course I note, as the Leader of the House did, the locations where, just like school funding, pork-barrelling is absolutely rife within this Government.

Finally, in relation to the Firearms and Control of Weapons (Machetes) Amendment Bill 2024, which the Leader of the House spoke to, the Coalition does note that the Government has taken up the Opposition’s call for action in this space, looking at the debate that occurred only some 20 minutes ago. Community safety is something that the Coalition is deeply concerned about. The reduction in police numbers year on year – 3 per cent down in the last year, 5 per cent over the last two years – and 43 stations having their hours cut significantly are concerns. So, in terms of the Bill more specifically, the Coalition did propose amendments, which the Labor Party has picked up, which we accept, but we will be opposing the business program.