Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): Nobody needs reminding that we are facing a global pandemic. We are living it every day in the heartache of time spent away from family and friends, in the pressure felt by businesses unable to open as normal, in workers who have lost shifts, in parents sharing the makeshift home office with the kids doing remote schooling, in the anxious wait to see the daily numbers, in the little rituals we have all privately developed to keep at bay the emotional toll, in the masks that we don as we walk out the door. We are living this pandemic right here in Victoria, right here in Melbourne, and yet somehow, perplexingly, it still seems like for those opposite the pandemic is an abstract concept, as though across the world we have not seen this virulent, dangerous virus tear through communities. Almost 1 million dead, over 30 million infected, countless suffering serious prolonged symptoms that have taken them to the absolute brink, cities traumatised, healthcare workers stricken—these are not abstract concepts, they are lived realities. They are the devastating consequences that we as Victorians are doing everything we can to avoid.
Those opposite and their friends in the Murdoch media would have us believe that our state is in revolt. The truth of it is that Melburnians and Victorians are doing what we have always done—we are working together to get on with the job with dignity and resilience and compassion. Six and a half million Victorians have brought this curve down through sheer will and endurance. That is an incredible feat. But more than that, it belies the sensationalist tactics of those opposite.
They would have us believe the end is nigh. The truth is they would love nothing more than to see Victorians falter in our collective efforts against this virus. Do not forget, they are the party of Trump—a playbook where in devastation and misery there is political opportunity, where fear and division equate to electoral advantage. Every one of those members opposite knows full well that the worst consequences of this virus are avoided when we put the health of the community first. They all well know that the only way out of this pandemic is a cautious and steady road out—a road that we are already on—and we have seen regional Victoria take a significant step in that direction already this week. But that does not stop them at every opportunity trying to scuttle the efforts of Victorians.
The truth is Victoria is getting through this pandemic. We are getting through it despite those opposite. There is no doubt Victorians have suffered. As I said earlier, we are living this pandemic in a very real sense every day. In the Northcote electorate we are blessed to have a wonderful array of cafes and eateries, amazing artists and creatives and one of the largest live music scenes in Australia. Mum and dad retailers as well as manufacturers, they have all been hit hard.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! There has been some level of interjection during the grievance debate today, but I just ask members to keep those interjections to a level where I can hear the member speaking.
Ms THEOPHANOUS: Got them riled up.
They have all been hit hard by the social distancing required to beat this virus. There are casual workers, visa holders and international students who have been left behind in the federal government’s wage subsidies and supports. There are frontline workers who are living the day-to-day reality of the virus in our hospital system, and I have spoken before about the huge proportion of Northcote residents who work directly in hospitals in the CBD and the northern metro region. But there are also other workers, like cleaners, cooks, outreach volunteers, transport workers, educators and others, who have been feeling the pressure. And I have to give special mention to the VCE and VCAL students and their parents persevering through what must seem like the hardest year of their lives.
But I know my community. I know that through the noise of the shock jocks and the conspiracy theorists—and the Liberals who consort with them—the vast majority of my community are quietly determined to do what it takes to protect their families and loved ones and to get to the other side of this. I know this because of the many constituents that I have spoken to. I know this because of the conversations I have had with teachers, principals, parents and students and because of the emails from people who have never before found it necessary to contact their local MP for help. I know this because of the single mums stacking shelves or not working at all, the casual workers and freelancers, the children of residents in aged care. I know this because of the small business owners trying to put food on their own tables as well as keeping their staff on to make sure they are okay too. What strikes me about all these conversations—
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! I am going to warn the member for Bayswater, the member for Ringwood, the member for Ferntree Gully and the member for South-West Coast. If you want to have a shouting match with each other, you can take it outside. I need to be able to hear the member who is making the contribution.
Ms THEOPHANOUS: What strikes me in all these conversations that I have is the honesty and openness and the sense of a shared purpose. These are not the keyboard warriors that spew out vitriol. These are honest, hardworking people, and the most important thing we owe to our community is an honest conversation with them. This is hard. We are not done yet, but it will get better and there is hope.
The responsibility of government has never been more important, and I sit amongst a government led by a Premier that has well and truly shouldered the weight of that office, that has shown up every single day to speak to the Victorian people—a leader that has been driven by the best advice: the health advice. We have seen examples across the globe of other approaches, and I do not have to detail them because we have all seen the scenes of devastation and trauma on our TV screens. I, for one, am grateful that we are not in that position.
I cannot speak on this grievance motion without making particular mention of the Greek and Cypriot communities in Victoria. This is something deeply personal to me. Tragically it has been reported that of the 574 aged-care deaths in Victorian aged-care facilities, around 135 have been of Greek background. That is over 20 per cent of these deaths, despite the percentage of Greeks in the community making up about 4 per cent of the population in Victoria. We have been devastated by this: friends and family gone forever, hearts broken, loved ones grieving alone. None of the rituals that would normally bring our community together in comfort in times of tragedy have been able to happen. There are truly no words to describe the sense of loss we feel in this. But we are not the only ones. In our own community in Northcote the Ruckers Hill aged-care facility has been one of the worst hit facilities across the state, and that trauma is ongoing.
It has never been more clear than through this pandemic what it means to have governments that place fundamental value in our health and aged-care systems. Unfortunately it is also clear our federal government does not. As you know, the private aged-care system is federally funded and regulated. This system, fraught with vulnerabilities and inadequacies, has seen thousands contract the virus and hundreds lose their lives. For about three months we had a Prime Minister who allowed the health experts to be front and centre of the response to COVID-19. We had a Prime Minister who took the advice of Treasury officials and indeed the union movement and federal Labor, who understood that without a wage subsidy the economy would collapse. We had a Prime Minister who for a moment set aside the political game playing, and for a moment we had across all of the states and territories a decision-making mechanism that worked for Australians. Sadly we only had that Prime Minister in this country for a blip, and now he is gone and Scotty from marketing is back—the bloke who as the eastern seaboard burnt over summer sat in a Hawaiian shirt and said, ‘I don’t hold the hose’. The guy who has responsibility for funding and regulating the aged-care sector basically said, ‘If the news isn’t good, don’t ask me’.
The Prime Minister’s response to the staggering number of cases in federally regulated aged-care facilities has sure been on protection and safety—the safety of the minister for aged care and the protection of the government’s reputation. In my community the federal government would not even release the name of the aged-care facility that had been significantly affected by the virus until they were in the top 10 in terms of the number of cases. Why? Because that might not have made Scotty from marketing look particularly good. Was it any surprise then that the Prime Minister’s response when asked about the preparedness of aged care for coronavirus was, ‘Well, if there wasn’t an outbreak, there wouldn’t be a problem’. It is up there with Donald Trump’s ‘If we test less people, there won’t be as much virus’. What an affront to families who are now grieving.
Here in Victoria we passed laws to set in stone minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in state-run aged-care settings. These public facilities have seen nowhere near the number of cases—a handful even in proportionate terms. Two years ago the federal government was pushed to act to address the weaknesses in the system, and it started a royal commission. The royal commission released its interim report in October, titled Neglect. It found the federally regulated aged-care system fails to meet the needs of our older vulnerable citizens. It found staff were underpaid, overworked, undervalued and insufficiently trained. It found that with some exceptions most workers are doing their best in extremely trying circumstances.
When the virus hit, these facilities were nowhere near prepared, and even as the Prime Minister tries to shirk any responsibility, Victoria’s hospitals have been stepping up to assist. Our nurses are filling hundreds of shifts in aged care, and our public health teams are helping with infection control and clinical support. And we will continue to do everything in our power to care for and protect our older Victorians, because unlike those opposite or their friends in Canberra we do not leave Victorians behind for the sake of political expediency.
I grieve also for all of the people in my community that are being tested by this virus—tested by its effects on our mental health. My community has a high proportion of artists and creatives. It has a high proportion of hospitality workers, a high proportion of healthcare workers, a high proportion of women. So many of us have shouldered the burden emotionally of this pandemic, and that is why this government’s health response to the pandemic has been focused on not just physical health but mental health too. Speaking to the principal of Thornbury High just last week, the topic quickly moved to the wellbeing of students, and I was so heartened to hear of the value he placed on the government’s increased funding for mental health practitioners in schools.
All of the things that Labor stands for are now front and centre of the response needed to beat this virus and to our efforts to rebuild and recover—things like a robust social safety net, secure jobs and workers rights, a properly funded healthcare system, building infrastructure for the future and turning the dial on disadvantage. Evidence from around the world shows us that the best economic policy we can have is first and foremost making sure the health of our community is the priority. But we know we have to continue to support the Victorian economy and the Victorian community through this crisis. Already we have invested more than $13 billion to support businesses and workers, including putting $2 billion into our healthcare system to save lives. We know this has helped cushion the blow to the economy. Modelling shows us it has protected the equivalent of 81 000 full-time jobs.
In Northcote we have seen this investment in the form of much-needed grants and tax relief to our businesses, in rental subsidies to our most vulnerable tenants and in survival packages for our sports clubs and creative sector. It has also meant a fast-tracked and incredible $14.6 million to redevelop Preston South Primary School. We recently found out we are going to see investments in our retail precincts, with Gilbert Street and Oakover Road in Preston as well as High Street in Thornbury set to get a makeover to stimulate more business activity. Across our community the Working for Victoria program has generated over 100 new local jobs.
I know we still have a long way to go in terms of both response and recovery. It is going to require an enormous amount of coordination, rebuilding and reimagining the way that we do things. But this is also an opportunity, and I have no doubt that Victorians will grasp that opportunity with all the ingenuity and talent that makes us who we are. We will reform, we will create something new, we will recover and we will rebuild. We are not buying the opportunistic efforts of those opposite to drum up fear and confusion. We know what you are trying to do, and we are not buying it.
