In Parliament

Motion - Government Business Program

MOTION

‘GOVERNMENT BUSINESS PROGRAM’.

Tuesday, 30 May 2023.

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (10:12):

I move:

That the government business program proposed by the Leader of the House be amended by – omitting the words ‘7.00 pm on 30 May’ in paragraph (1) and replacing them with ‘5.00 pm on 31 May’; and omitting paragraph (2).

Victoria is now aware that this Parliament is in chaos and the Government have lost control of their management of this place. It has been exposed for all Victorians to see.

All Victorians now know that the Government has not got the capacity to manage this place. But what is worse, not only have they lost capacity to manage this place, they are ramming through the most deadly Bills we have seen in this place – absolutely outrageous Bills – and we do not even know what is in them. We do not even know what is being proposed.

Victorians do not know what is being proposed in this place because our Government has not introduced the Bills. The taxation Bills, which are about to rip the guts out of schools in Victoria, absolutely attack schools in this place –

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, the Member for Brighton is both anticipating debate and also saying things that are absolutely untrue – misleading the house – so I ask you to call him back to the narrow procedural debate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! That is a matter of debate.

James NEWBURY: On the point of order, Deputy Speaker, I moved in my Amendment that the House omit paragraph 2, part of which relates to the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2023.

I was speaking directly to the State Taxation Bill, and the reason for the paragraph to be omitted. It is a tax on schools, a tax that is going to crush our schools and non-government schools, and I have every right to refer to the Amendment that I have proposed.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

James NEWBURY: This Government is proposing to ram through Bills in this place this week in a way we have never seen before – in a way that every Victorian should be concerned about. We will have a short couple of hours of debate on one of the biggest spends this State has ever seen – certainly the biggest debt this State has ever seen. We are going to have a couple of short hours of debate on those
Bills, and the Government is introducing a guillotine to kill debate on these important Bills. Then they have proposed a Government Business Program that speaks to Bills tomorrow that have not been introduced into this place. What an outrageous line in the sand to draw – that the Government will now be debating bills that Victorians have not seen. The reason why the Opposition is proposing to omit those Bills from the government program this week is because Victorians have not seen them.

One of those Bills is the State Taxation Bill, with a new tax on rental properties, a new tax on schools, an outrageous tax on our kids, an outrageous attack on our kids, a new tax that was not even spoken about by this government – they did not even refer to it on Budget Day – that is going to rip the guts out of non-government schools.

Every Member on that side of the Chamber should be ashamed of breaking apart a tax principle that has stood in this nation for almost a century. It is attacking non-government schools. I can see how quiet the government Members are now, because they are ashamed of a new tax on non-government schools ripping open a century-long principle to stop a tax on non-government schools.

This Parliament should be ashamed. This Government should be ashamed to be proposing to ram through a Budget with almost no debate. When will the Opposition be allowed an opportunity to speak on the Budget in reply? Who knows? They will not even tell us.

We will oppose the business program, and we will be seeking to stop the Government from ramming through these outrageous measures that every Victorian should be worried about. This Parliament is in chaos.