Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

STATEMENTS ON REPORTS AND PAPERS
1656 COUNCIL Wednesday, 1 June 2011
between 1996 and 2004 and has added 400 jobs. Office
and commercial floor space increased by 10 932 square
metres between 2005 and 2009, which is an increase of
10 per cent. Between 2006 and 2010 the estimated
resident population increased by 800 or 20 per cent.
Patronage at Dandenong station has increased by 30 per
cent since 2006. In 2009, 91 per cent of residents
reported having a positive view of the area with access
to services as a key ‘like’. The number of residential
dwellings in central Dandenong increased by 500, or
27 per cent, since 2006, There was an almost sixfold
increase in high-density dwellings between 2004–05
and 2009–10, with the average unit price below the
Melbourne average.
The report also states that since Labor’s investment of
$290 million, a further $285 million of private sector
investment in central Dandenong has occurred against
the business case target of $1.17 billion across 16 years.
I am proud of the commitment we on this side of the
house have to Dandenong’s revitalisation, and I look
forward to further improvements building on a
dynamic, thriving, multicultural Dandenong in the
future.
Auditor-General: Early Childhood Development
Services — Access and Quality
Mrs KRONBERG (Eastern Metropolitan) — I rise
to make a statement on the Victorian Auditor-General’s
report of May 2011, Early Childhood Development
Services — Access and Quality. The Auditor-General
makes no bones about the fact that this audit reflects on
the practices and policies of the former Labor
government and does some benchmarking against
certain periods, especially the period 2005–06. The
audit also reflects that the identified trend is part of a
trend that had occurred in the five years prior to 2005.
What I have to say focuses on the previous
administration.
I am pleased to refer — and I think it needs to be
referred to at the outset — to some dialogue between
the Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development and the Municipal Association of
Victoria, representing the other important partner in the
delivery of early childhood development services such
as kindergartens and maternal and child health care.
Obviously those two bodies need to work
collaboratively as partners in planning and in the
delivery of early childhood services. In the past that
relationship had not been working as effectively as it
should have been, but now the Auditor-General tells us
the department has advised there will be a formal
evaluation, scheduled for August, to investigate
opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of the
partnership agreement. It will be to lift the game, to lift
the dialogue and to lift the watchfulness and oversight
of standards and service provision on the part of the
department. That is good news.
I am here to report, however, on the audit, and there are
elements of it that need to be put on the public record.
First and foremost the Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development is accountable for the
planning and provision of early childhood services, in
particular in the area of the provision of the universal
kindergarten access program. It is important to
underscore that word ‘universal’ in the context of this
audit report, because according to the audit, access to
kindergartens — and to maternal and child health
services — has been far from universal. Areas and
people have been disadvantaged, and people have not
been able to access this so-called universal service.
Part of the department’s brief is to provide enhanced
maternal and child health services for the vulnerable
and disadvantaged. That is actually specified; it is a
clear area where the department has accountability. The
department funds 1400 organisations, including local
councils, community organisations and private
providers. The monitoring is done through service
agreements. To plan effectively — and we all know the
importance of the need to plan — the department in the
first instance must have a sound understanding of the
demand for the services.
To my chagrin I have to report that once again in a
government department that was being run by a former
Labor government in this state the left hand did not
know what the right hand was doing. Government
services and taxpayers money have attempted to deliver
a quality regime and service that would respond to need
and demand when and where it existed, but in fact it
was another story with the former government,
involving the inflicting of a lot of suffering on the
people of this state, particularly new mothers, little
children and people from disadvantaged settings who
were sold short because the practices were so poor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT (Ms Crozier) —
Order! The member’s time has expired.
Auditor-General: Effectiveness of Small
Business Victoria’s Support Programs
Mr EIDEH (Western Metropolitan) — I rise to
speak on the Victorian Auditor-General 2011 report
Effectiveness of Small Business Victoria’s Support
Programs. This report means a little bit more to me
than it will to some others given the large number of
small businesses operating throughout my electorate,