Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (15:49): Today I rise to make a contribution on the Statute Law Revision Bill 2024. It has been interesting to see the broad range of contributions in the chamber today. The purpose of the bill, as we know, is to revise the statute law of Victoria, for which the bill makes minor amendments to a number of acts to correct grammatical and typographical errors, to update references and for other similar purposes. This is a regular mechanism that is used for reviewing the state’s statute books, and it is required to ensure that Victoria’s statutes continue to remain clear, relevant and accurate for Victorians. The bill corrects typographical errors in various acts, such as the Building Act 1993, the Forests Act 1958, the Gas Industry Act 2001, the Heritage Act 2017 and the Major Transport Projects Facilitation Act 2009.
The bill also repeals several definitions in the Road Safety Act 1986. Whilst we refer to the Road Safety Act, I thought I would also reference just some of the issues happening within my electorate in regard to road safety. In the past few weeks there has been a very strong focus in my electorate regarding road safety and the alarming increase in road fatalities. As a state we are experiencing the highest death toll in 15 years. I met with RoadSafe Goulburn Valley for a roundtable discussion recently and they raised many concerns, including the alarming death toll, the appalling state of our roads and the substantial cuts to road safety programs. In fact Labor has cut, as we know, a staggering $230 million from road safety programs, and there has been a 45 per cent reduction in our road maintenance since 2020. I acknowledge the Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety in the chamber, and I also acknowledge the hard work that the shadow minister has been doing, particularly across regional electorates. Unsafe roads continue to be a major issue regarding road safety, with dangerous potholes and crumbling, deteriorating roads.
I put a call out to my constituents recently to share the locations of the worst roads that they have experienced, and the response was overwhelming. The response from Brad, a local, was ‘there are too many to mention’. He also shared that he had hit a pothole and had to pay for a new rim and tyre and then another tyre in another incident. Brad said this cost him over $700 and thank goodness for Foodbank at the Shepparton community house. Vehicle damage is impacting many, causing added financial stress. We are seeing speed reduction signs up as a warning that you are coming up to a pothole, and signs have been up for months, with no work progressing. The Murchison-Tatura Road is a classic example, with signage being up since May last year. This is a major truck route and has been raised as one of the most deteriorating roads in my electorate. There is a responsibility from the government to be fair and equitable with road maintenance and road maintenance funding.
In addition the bill repeals mistakenly duplicated items in the tables in sections 56 and 56B of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Act 2007. Whilst we are talking about energy efficiency, we witnessed more than 500,000 homes and businesses without power, with some up to today with no power, following recent storm events. Victorians are struggling to pay record power bills, and there has been a 25 per cent increase in power costs this past year alone. The cost of living is having a significant impact on people’s lives and Victorians are facing another tough year, all because Labor does not have a plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Furthermore, the bill updates the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 to reflect a change to the definition of ‘building practitioner’ in the Building Act 1993 made by the Building Legislation Amendment Act 2023. Home building in Victoria has dropped to its lowest rate in almost three decades. The ambitious target of 80,000 houses per year for the next 10 years must be allocated fairly. We have a housing crisis, and my electorate has one of the highest rates of homelessness across the state. We have 2335 people on the housing waiting list, and we are trying to attract professionals to our region to fill the much-needed range of skill shortages. GV Health have 500 advertised positions, but how do we get people to the region when there is no housing?
Just this past week I was contacted by a constituent who has been living in a shed for nine years – a shed on a block – following a fire in the rental property where she was renting. This property is now leaking; it has holes and just last week she had the entrance of snakes into the building. These are pensioners, and they are people that need desperate help when it comes to housing. I also want to acknowledge a local organisation, People Supporting People, and Azem and his team, who I volunteer for when I can and who are helping the homeless and doing all that they can to provide sleeping bags, clothing and food – a job that should not be theirs.
The Heritage Act 2017 is also included on the list, and it is worth acknowledging the importance of preserving our heritage and history. Over the years we have seen many heritage buildings lost. We have also seen the perseverance of people in actually knocking down buildings, so we need to make sure that we preserve heritage and history. The Major Transport Projects Facilitation Act 2009 is also listed. I have raised many times in the chamber the Shepparton bypass, a project that the state government committed $10.2 million to in the business case back in the 2017–18 budget and a further $1 million in the 2023–24 budget. The state government must stay committed to this project. This is a major project for our region, with over 25 per cent of the state’s trucks registered in the Greater Shepparton region. It is extraordinary that we have to keep fighting for this bypass.
As a result of the bill making minor and technical amendments to various acts by updating references and correcting typographical errors, the bill serves its broader purpose. Whilst I could go and talk about grammatical errors and some extra commas being added, I think I will finish my contribution there, and I commend the bill to the house.