Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. I hope that you will be as glowing about my comments as those of the previous speaker, Deputy Speaker. It's always wonderful to know that we have an impartial chair in these sessions. I'm really disappointed that this motion has not been withdrawn. I actually expected better from the member for Mallee. This motion is out of date. I accept that it was first tabled on 26 October and things have changed in Victoria. It is also just a political attack. It only attacks the Victorian state government. Nowhere in this motion does it attack the South Australian government or the New South Wales government, who actually closed the borders to Victorians. The New South Wales government closed the border to Victoria; the South Australian government closed the border to Victoria. That's what created so many issues, heartbreak and hurt in border communities like Mildura and Wodonga. You cannot put the actions of other state governments on the Victorian government, with no help from the federal government, mind you. Their app didn't work. We heard both previous speakers from the government attack the Victorian Labor government for the lack of contact tracing. What did the federal government's app do? It may have helped in 14 contacts. We were told by the Prime Minister that, if you download the app, you'll be able to go to the pub. That didn't happen. We were told by the Prime Minister that, if you download the app, borders will open. It didn't happen because the app didn't work.

This motion doesn't acknowledge any fault on behalf of their own government or the lack of what they did. What their government did was start to cut JobKeeper before our businesses reopened. That is what has put people out of work. This government is winding back support before we're through the health crisis. If this government did what the Victorian government did in their budget last week and announce massive investment, that would help every business try to save every job that they can. But there's no mention of that in this motion. No, instead it is just an attack on the Victorian government. It's an attack on people.

I'm a regional MP. The ring of steel was just below my electorate, and my people in my community were thankful for it. They were thankful because it was about controlling the virus where it was in Melbourne. People in my electorate overwhelmingly felt empathy for people in Melbourne. They felt sorry and they felt guilty. There was almost this guilt that we had that we still had life relatively normal. Our construction businesses did not close, Our hospitality businesses were able to do takeaway in the peak. Yes, it was hard and, yes, we have lost jobs. But we have lost jobs in my electorate because this government did not extend JobKeeper to the university sector. We have lost jobs in my electorate, not because of the Victorian shutdown for a health reasons; we have lost jobs because this government did not extend JobKeeper to people who are here on a temporary work visa. We lost jobs in my electorate and all throughout Victoria because this government did not extend JobKeeper to people who are casuals.

How dare people come here and put forward motions criticising a state government for responding to a health crisis that got Victoria through it. What was the alternative? They're not epidemiologists. What was the alternative—that we end up like the UK, that we end up like France or we end up like the US? That is what happens when you don't have infection control in place. I acknowledge that it was tough and I know that people in my community have done it tough, like every other Victorian. But most of them stand shoulder to shoulder with the outcome. We are now COVID free. We did it the hard way and we did it the long way, but we got there and now we're on the path to recovery.

That is why it is disappointing that this motion was not withdrawn and replaced with a motion that recognised what Victorians did and the leadership of Dan Andrews and the Victorian government—because they did it against opposition from this government—this government who have refused to work with Dan Andrews, refused to work with the Victorian people and have not backed businesses. We have already lost jobs because they wouldn't extend JobKeeper once. Will they do it now? We will lose more jobs if they do not help sectors like the arts sector, like the hospitality sector and like the university sector. How many more jobs do we have to lose before the government acts?

Regional Victorians are backing in the Victorian plan. It is disappointing that the regional Liberal and National MPs in this place are not backing in the plan. Get behind regional Victorians and get behind the plan. Support these businesses to grow, support them to recover and give them back JobKeeper until we are through this recession. They are simple things that this government can do.

See this speech in context