Motion: No Confidence in Government

MOTION:

‘NO CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT’.

Tuesday, 28 June 2026

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (18:25):

I rise to speak on this no-confidence motion because not only do the Liberals and Nationals not have confidence in this government, but Victorians do not have confidence in this government, and Labor MPs proved today they do not have confidence in this government. They knifed their Premier, as their new Premier said, purely because of the polling. They have worked out that Victorians know it is time for change.

Victorians know they desperately need a change of Government. This motion allows it, and I call on every Member in this place to put their good conscience first in considering how they vote. This is your opportunity to represent your community. If you vote against this, you are voting to keep this Government – a Government that today imploded in a way that Victoria has never seen before.

Victoria has never seen two unelected Premiers put into office back to back. It has never happened before in the history of this state. In the weeks, some might say days, before people vote – it is only some three months before an election – Labor has installed a second unelected leader as Premier. I know, like Victorians know, you can change the face of this Government, but it is the same corrupt Labor Government. We know and Victorians know that the issues that matter to Victorians will not be fixed by changing the leader of this Government.

At every opportunity this Government could have fixed the crime crisis facing our State, and they have not. They have weakened the laws. They have opened the bail door. Only recently, last week, an offender alleged to be training as a terrorist was bailed in Victoria – terrorism bailed in Victoria – and the Federal Government has intervened to appeal against that decision. The national Government has said this bail system is broken, because it is. How often do we hear about a horrific crime because that person was on bail, let out and allowed to commit a further crime, hurt people, damage people, kill people because the bail laws are so weak, because this Government believes in giving people endless chances. Shame on them.

On behalf of Victorians, we know it is time for change. With corruption, this Government has not only presided over $15 billion of corrupted taxpayer money but knowingly allowed it. There is no question that this Government knew that corruption was occurring, that on taxpayer-funded worksites the most vile corruption was occurring. You can see organised crime have moved their headquarters into Victoria. It is the place to do business if you are organised crime on Government worksites. You wake up every day and see a firebombing on a business. These are hardworking people who put their time and money into trying to get ahead to provide a product and service, to open and put their shingle out, hang their shingle on the door, and they wake up to a firebombing because of the weak laws in terms of arson.

In most cases you are seeing the offenders, when caught, out on bail. Offenders are now so brazen they are joking about getting bail as they are being arrested.

How shameful to know that this Government has overseen the level of corruption that has occurred. It has been an affront and a shame to our great state. I have said before that when the former Premier found out about the level of corruption, did she say, ‘I want to get to the bottom of it’? No. Did she say, ‘I want to understand the depth of it’? No. She said, ‘I want to cover it up,’ and she talked it down. I suspect that is a very large part of the reason why her own party has knifed her, because they know that Victorians have had enough. Changing the face of their party is not going to change the future of Victoria. The only way to see a change in Victoria is to elect a new Government, and this motion is an opportunity for every Member of this place to call an election now. Effectively, if you vote for this motion, you are voting for an election – and Victorians want an election. You cannot hide it. You cannot spin your way out of it. Labor will vote against the motion, I suspect. It does not matter how eloquent any of our speeches are. They are, I suspect, going to vote against this motion because they want to keep this Government in place for another almost four months. But Victorians will get their say, and the longer Labor MPs cover up what they are doing, the angrier Victorians will be.

I have said it in this place for years: Victorians have worked it out. They have worked out this Premier. They have had enough of the crime. They have had enough of the corruption. They have had enough of the wasteful budget mismanagement. When you are $200 billion in debt, projected soon to be one in 10 dollars spent on that debt, Victorians say, ‘What am I paying tax bills for? Budget mismanagement and corruption – is that why I’m paying taxes?’ That is not good enough. It breaks the compact between Government and people, because at the end of the day, every taxpayer dollar has first been earned by a taxpayer through their hard work. You heard the new Premier say today that he wants to respect taxpayer dollars and then refuse to answer any questions on the Suburban Rail Loop or its costs. He said in this place he wanted, before making a decision, to take it through Cabinet – after holding a press conference where he announced five policies which had not gone through cabinet. You do not get it both ways, new Premier. No, Victorians know that a change in face is not a change in this corrupted Government. I have seen closely this happen before. I saw closely what happened with Gillard and Rudd. Victorians will work it out. I saw closely what happened in New South Wales with Minns and Keneally. All that happened was voters got angrier, and when they came to the ballot box, they had their baseball bats ready. That is what is going to happen in November because Victorians have had enough.

You know what Victorians want? Victorians want a safe state. They want a state that is cleaned up, don’t they? They want change. Desperately they want change. They want a fresh start, and that is what they will get. The Leader of the Opposition and I talk about this often, and I can see the passion in her eyes and the rest of the team’s eyes: we want to fix this State. The Liberals and Nationals, at our core, want to fix this state. The Government will throw whatever scare they can, but Victorians have worked it out. The Victorian community can know with certainty that under a Jess Wilson Liberal–National Government we will fix this state. We will clean it up, and it is about time for the good of the future of Victoria.