parliament

State Parliament News (16 November 2020)

Last week was another sitting week of State Parliament which saw some key votes take place, contrasting the difference in values between the Andrews Labor Government and the Victorian Liberal Nationals.

Again, many of these issues don’t necessarily get reported in the media but I trust this information may be of interest to you and your family.

  • The Liberal Nationals won a battle to force amendments to the Justice Legislation Amendment (Supporting Victims and Other Matters) Bill 2020, which go some way to addressing fundamental injustices against families of victims of crime.

    The Liberal Nationals’ amendment to protect families of deceased sexual assault victims and allow them to speak out about their loved ones was passed 19 votes to 15. It should never have come to this vote, but – thanks to our amendments – victims of sexual assault and their families, will now not lose their voice. Only Labor MPs voted against this protection

  • The Victorian Parliament also voted on whether to support Victoria’s agricultural industries against the Chinese Communist Government trade blockades on our exports. Disgracefully, Labor (and others) voted against Victorian farmers, choosing to side with the Chinese Communist Government.

    I have said before Labor’s Belt and Road deal is all one-way traffic and I will not stand by while Daniel Andrews puts party and ego before Victoria’s interests. That is why a Michael O’Brien-led Liberal Nationals Government will end Labor’s Belt and Road deal with China.

  • Hidden deep in the Andrews Government’s Transport Legislation Amendment Bill 2020, which was debated last week, is an unfair and unnecessary tax on Victorians who choose to personalise their vehicles with customised number plates.

    The Liberal Nationals will oppose Labor’s new tax on customised number plates. It’s just another unfair tax from what is already the highest taxing government in Australia.

  • The Liberal Nationals voted against legislation that exposed native habitats to the risk of pollution and waste and increasing fire hazards and biosecurity risks for farmers, however the Parks and Crown Land Legislation Amendment Bill was passed with Labor using its numbers along with crossbench support.

    Over several months there has been growing community concern and opposition to Daniel Andrews’ proposal to allow unrestricted camping on licensed water frontages from environmental groups including Landcare and farmers who hold licenses and manage the land.

    Around 10,000 farming families who hold water frontage licenses with the State had not received any consultation from the Government, with Labor conceding it would only conduct consultation after the bill had passed. 

In Question Time:

  • I questioned Daniel Andrews on contradictory evidence provided by Labor witnesses to the corruption watchdog hearings last week.  Andrews had previously promised Victorians he had never discussed an individual planning matter with developer John Woodman and yet the evidence before Victoria’s corruption watchdog tells a different story. 

    called for IBAC to call the Premier and get him to answer questions under oath. Let’s hope he doesn’t have the same amnesia that he had before the Coate inquiry, because Victorians deserve the truth on any corruption matter.

  • Further to the Labor corruption questions, we exposed that the Andrews Labor Government has been caught out using probity auditors arranged by the Labor Party’s fundraising arm to monitor meetings between Labor Ministers and Labor donors, including property developers. 

    The standard practice is for non-political departmental probity advisers to attend meetings, however, we revealed the probity advisers were instead arranged and paid for by Labor’s fundraising arm Progressive Business.

  • Further questions were put to Child Protection Minister Luke Donnellan on the cuts to child protection staffing levels, with 71 child protection workers axed during the past financial year. 

  • Deputy Premier James Merlino refused to abandon Labor’s plans to build Victoria’s second drug injecting room near the Queen Victoria Market. The City of Melbourne, including the recently re-elected Lord Mayor, as well as local traders and local residents have opposed the proposed location of a drug injecting room.

    Despite also being directly asked by the Liberal Nationals to release details of other locations Labor is considering for new drug injecting rooms, Minister Merlino failed to come clean.  

This week the Victorian Liberal Nationals also rollout out further details on our COVID recovery plan to get Victoria Back to Work.  You may be interested in our plans for Sport and RecreationEnvironment and RecyclingAffordable ChildcareHousing AffordabilitySmall Business and Tourism.

To view the full plan, please visit https://www.michaelobrien.com.au/back-to-work-and-back-in-business/

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