Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AMENDMENT (BEVERAGE CONTAINER DEPOSIT AND RECOVERY SCHEME) BILL
2011
Wednesday, 1 June 2011 COUNCIL 1635
In relation to various other aspects of the budget, this
government has gone a long way to ease cost of living
pressures for Victorians. We have had to do so in a
number of areas. I will refer to Mr Lenders’s
contribution to the debate on the budget papers. He
spoke about a number of issues. He again reminded the
house of his birthday in 1958 and recalled a number of
very successful Liberal governments over a number of
years; however, he fails to realise that Labor was in
power in this state for almost three decades.
He kept referring to the Monash railway link and asked
what the Liberal government is doing about that. It is
interesting that he can say the Liberals have done
nothing to fix that issue, particularly as Labor spent so
much time in office. I suggest that Labor did little to
deliver the Monash railway link either.
Hon. P. R. Hall — And it had plenty of opportunity
to do so.
Ms CROZIER — Absolutely — as I said, almost
three decades. Labor spent a lot of time in government
and completely ignored that issue that Mr Lenders now
seems to think is very important. He has raised it a
number of times in this house.
Mr Lenders also referred to an advertisement about
assisting families to reduce utility prices that was put
out by the previous opposition, now the government,
during the election campaign. Mr Lenders referred to a
number of people who are now members of this
Parliament, including the members for Evelyn and
Gembrook in the Assembly and a member for Eastern
Metropolitan Region in this place. I remind Mr Lenders
that what this government has done with this budget is
assist in a number of areas in relation to utility prices.
There is $382 million to extend energy concessions to
more than 815 000 families. I am sure a significant
number of those families in the lower house electorates
of Gembrook and Evelyn and the upper house
electorate of Eastern Metropolitan Region will be very
grateful for the concessions that have been extended to
them.
In relation to the advertisement to which he referred, I
think Mr Lenders can see that there has been significant
input from this budget to help ease cost of living
pressures for Victorian families. The budget has also
provided for a reduction in ambulance membership fees
that will assist families along with $445 million for
eligible households in relation to a year-round
electricity concession to enable water and sewerage
concessions to keep pace with the increased costs that
Victorian families are having to deal with.
This budget goes a long way towards delivering on
what the Victorian community said to us it needed in
the lead-up to last year’s election. It is a caring and
responsible budget, and it provides for a number of
significant investments in areas that have been
neglected over the past 11 years. This budget will go a
long way towards remedying the many problems we
found on coming to government. Those problems relate
to various portfolios and matters to which I have
already referred.
Some of the significant achievements of the budget
include finding $55 million to pay nurses over the
Christmas and New Year period, providing the money
for the IT system at the Royal Children’s Hospital that
had not been funded and providing $45 million for the
Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre — all
very worthwhile and necessary commitments but
commitments that were not made by the previous
government. The Baillieu government has had to pick
up the slack and fulfil those obligations.
With those few words I again congratulate the
Treasurer on the budget, and I know this government
will succeed in delivering on its promises and
commitments.
Debate adjourned on motion of Ms PULFORD
(Western Victoria).
Debate adjourned until later this day.
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
AMENDMENT (BEVERAGE CONTAINER
DEPOSIT AND RECOVERY SCHEME)
BILL 2011
Introduction and first reading
Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan)
introduced a bill for an act to amend the
Environment Protection Act 1970 to make further
provision for environmentally sustainable uses of
resources and best practices in waste management
by establishing a beverage container deposit scheme
to be administered by the Environment Protection
Authority and for other purposes.
Read first time.