TRANSCRIPT:
I rise today to speak on the Financial Management Amendment (Gender Responsive Budgeting) Bill 2024, a bill that we do not oppose. 2024 marks the first time that the gender-responsive budgeting bill has been introduced as part of the government’s suite of budget bills. This follows an inquiry and recommendation from the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee. This bill introduces legislation mandating a statement on gender equality to be included in every future Victorian budget, and that is about it.
This is not something I have a problem with. However, I would prefer that debating this bill did not come at the expense of a more robust discussion about the budget itself. The concept of having a statement on gender equality in future budgets does raise some interesting points about how this government will justify the impact that this budget and the last nine disastrous budgets from the government are having on women in our state. For starters, this budget has seen $29 million in funding for family violence services cut at a time when women’s safety is a concern for every Victorian. Under this government breaches of family violence orders continue to be the most frequent criminal offence across much of the state, including in all six local government areas in the electorate of Euroa. Most towns in my region have rates of family violence incidents that are over double the state average. Improving the safety of women in our region is a priority that needs addressing urgently. Instead, we are seeing further cuts from this government.
In Benalla there were 300 offences recorded in the past year, and the family violence rate is nearly double the state average. In the Mitchell shire there were over 700 breaches of family violence orders, nearly double the next highest offence recorded. There was also a 14 per cent rise in family violence incidents in the last year, and the rate in Mitchell shire is nearly double the statewide average as well. It is the same situation in the Strathbogie, Greater Shepparton, Greater Bendigo and Campaspe local government areas.
Across the entire state there have been approximately 54,000 breaches of IVOs in the last year. Alongside call-outs every 6 minutes and a family violence arrest every 18 minutes, Victoria Police are engaging with 80 people who use family violence each and every day. These numbers are showing that we are in the midst of a family violence crisis. Despite these heartbreaking statistics, Seymour and Benalla do not have a dedicated physical point of contact for those experiencing family violence. There is no place to go. These are towns where family violence incidents outnumber all other criminal offences combined and make up 80 per cent of the local police’s work. When the floods hit Seymour in 2022 one of the few crisis accommodations available for women fleeing domestic violence was inundated and had to close for an entire year. Victims of family violence had no alternative but to flee to Shepparton, Wangaratta or Melbourne, out of their community and away from family, support and routine. All the while the perpetrator remained in the community. For these women, without adequate support or a home to go to, leaving is just as dangerous as staying.
In September 2022 the Victorian Law Reform Commission tabled a report on stalking, harassment and similar conduct which made 45 recommendations to address this conduct. During question time the Premier confirmed the Victorian Labor government had not yet provided a formal response to the report and was unable to say when this would occur.
In 2022 the Commonwealth government allocated $220 million to provide 500 frontline workers to support women and children experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence. Again, the Premier was unable to confirm how many of these critical workers had been employed in Victoria following revelations that just 17 had been employed nationwide. It sounds like spin.
Last week’s budget does not instill much confidence when it comes to improving the situation, with cuts made to child protection, family violence service delivery and women’s policy. No to Violence, a family violence not-for-profit, has already said the lack of support in this budget is a missed opportunity and that this budget fails to deliver. Our community does not want matching earrings and colour-coded outfits; we need genuine support and funding to address the issue. We need bail reform urgently – something that was once again raised with this government recently. We need support networks, we need dedicated local crisis locations, and we need to be heard.
In addition to this, Labor has flagged cuts to homeless and community housing services. By the end of 2025 the total number of social homes available will decrease from a target of 91,248 to a new 2025 target of 91,148. That is disgraceful. Meanwhile the housing waitlist continues to reach unimaginable levels, particularly for those trying to escape family violence. Data from last year’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing annual report shows the average wait time for public rental housing for people fleeing family violence was just under two years, up from 17 months the year before and 11 months the year prior. Can you imagine trying to flee family violence and having to wait two years for a home?
In addition to family violence, there have been cuts to women’s policy for the second consecutive year. We are seeing the result of a decade of financial mismanagement under Labor, with record taxes, record debt and now cuts to services that are critical to Victorian women. Child protection is also relevant in this area, with significant cuts to the tune of $140 million. At a time when Victoria’s child protection system is in crisis, with the commissioner for children and young people describing it as underfunded, under-resourced and not fit for purpose, this government has now all but abandoned vulnerable children in its care with these dramatic cuts. Under this budget, and Labor’s fifth minister in less than two years, the child protection system will continue in crisis mode, with vulnerable children and their families the victims of Labor’s cruel cuts to funding.
Women’s health is also set to suffer in this budget, with $207 million cut from public health, on top of millions cut from dental services, aged care, ambulance services, health workforce training and maternal and child health. These cuts are coming at a time when our healthcare providers can least afford them, with significantly delayed ambulance response times, out of control GP and surgery waitlists, exorbitant health taxes and a general lack of resourcing.
This budget, like many before it from this government, has failed women and failed families. Putting a statement on gender equality in their budget does not resolve this; rather, it will provide a new way for this government to justify funding cuts and inaction that hurts so many in our state. The government needs to update this year’s budget title from ‘Helping families’ to ‘Hurting families’, because that is the truth, because the Allan Labor government cannot manage money, and regional Victoria’s most vulnerable families are paying the price.
As an example, I want to draw your attention to one of the Allan Labor government’s major election commitments, which was a new childcare centre for Seymour. In a community that has been regarded as a childcare desert for nearly 30 years, this was a really, really crucially important investment. In this budget it looks like it is set to be axed, with funding for Labor’s new kindergarten and childcare rollout now taking a backseat due to a lack of forward thinking from this government. Seymour’s childcare centre was one of 50 initially planned for the state, but it would seem to be another broken promise. It was bad enough when Labor said it would take until 2028 for the new centre to open, deterring two not-for-profits and private investors from operating a centre in town. So many communities across our state, including several within the Euroa electorate, are set to remain without child care despite desperately needing it.
I recently held an online forum to discuss the accessibility and availability of both child care and kindergarten in the region with parents, educators, and childcare providers, support staff and administrators.
Those at the forum expressed concern over multiyear waitlists – a two-year waitlist in Seymour – a lack of staff, families needing to travel long distances and parents being unable to get back to work. Instead of making it easier, Labor’s attempted rollout of new childcare centres across the state has been a disaster. Child care for my region is only going backwards, and this government is single-handedly compounding the crisis. Time and time again they have shown they cannot manage money, they cannot manage a project and they cannot deliver accessible child care for our regional communities.