Premier's Speech Melbourne Assembly

Check Against Delivery

I want to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are gathered – the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation – and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

I want to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are gathered, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

I'm very proud to be part of the Party of land rights, the Apology and Treaty. One of the last things I did before I became Premier, as Education Minister, was to introduce into the Parliament a powerful piece of legislation to recognize our First Nations people as our first educators, first teachers, and first students.

I also want to congratulate the University of Melbourne and The Age for hosting Melbourne Assembly. This is an optimistic gathering of the best civic minds, at a time when the world needs optimism.

I was going to deliver a different speech today.

If you’ve read The Age this morning, you’ll have seen that, if re-elected, Labor will partner to build 25,000 new homes for first-home buyers across Victoria. I want to thank Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for partnering with Victoria on this nation-building project. It’s good to have a PM who backs Victoria.

This is a major announcement. But I can’t just talk about housing construction.

Not after 3.30PM on Monday afternoon. That was when Dr Helen Haines – the Federal Member for Indi; a humane, caring and intelligent Australian – was struck by a Toyota Landcruiser outside her electorate office in Wangaratta.

I have been in contact with Phil Haines, Helen's husband, and my thoughts are with her and her family. Police are investigating, charges have been laid, and there will be court proceedings today. As a consequence of that, I won't go into specifics, except to say I thank all the first responders for doing the job they did.

But there’s no doubt we have much to discuss here today, because, if you care about Victoria, now is the time for soul searching. Now is the time to stop and ask how we got here and where we are heading as a community because this moment of severe public violence directed at Dr Haines cannot be tolerated.

Look across online spaces. They are flooded with algorithm-driven violent language, and imagery. And that online hate is bleeding into the real world – and it is endangering our community.

We’re better than this. Much better.

Victoria is the birthplace of Australian democracy, and the first home of the Federal parliament. We are the birthplace of Australian artistic modernism, in a farmhouse called Heide on the banks of the Yarra. We are the birthplace of the greatest game in the world, the unique blend of Indigenous and public-school spirit that became Australian Rules football. And we are the capital of just about everything – from culture and multiculturalism to fashion and food to major events and manufacturing to learning and liveability. That’s why we were crowned the best city in the world by the Time Out 2026 Best Cities list.

This is a marvellous place, but we have serious issues to confront. And we need to start by going back to some of the guiding principles of our democracy, because Australia is an egalitarian country. A nation of equals. The land of the fair go.

I know that ideal has been tested in recent times. I know the divide between those who prosper and those who struggle has widened. I know many of us feel like we live in different countries because inequalities have increased between younger and older generations, inner and outer suburbs, regional and metropolitan cities.

That divide has been exacerbated by the shocks our city still feels after the pandemic, as well as rising interest rates and high costs-of-living. For some, the divide has been turned into social dislocation by online propaganda. And that social dislocation is polarizing our community – and turning people against each other.

That's why Government policies need to give working families a fair go – and bridge the social divide before it becomes too great. Many of you have heard me explain why we have invested in transport infrastructure – and built 12 new hospitals and 121 new schools and removed 96 level crossings.

You've heard me talk about the need to keep investing in education and the skills of our people. As Education Minister, I would often say the Education State is not just a slogan on our number plates. It’s a track record of investment. You can't be serious about the future of Victoria if you're not serious about education. To grow the state, you need to invest in education.

Our government has taken a new direction since I became Premier – tackling crime and safeguarding integrity, prioritizing investments in healthcare, education and innovation, and focusing on cost of living and delivering for working people.

The purpose of this new direction is growth. Growth in community health and safety. Growth in skills and jobs. Growth in sustainability and integrity. Growth in productivity and investment. Growth in every way that matters for the working families that give Victoria life.

I’m focusing on growth because opportunity gives people a fair chance to get ahead – and give their kids a running start at life. The need for growth is also why forums such as this are important – because we need to find ways to make the Victorian way of life accessible to everyone.

My point: growth equals opportunity and hope; and hope is the antidote to hate.

The challenge for government is to ensure everyone has a fair chance to share in that growth. And the challenge for us all – individually and collectively – is to resist those who seek to use hate and fear to divide and conquer our community.

I’m not saying we all need to agree all the time. My favourite podcast is The Rest Is Politics with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. Alaistair and Rory come from opposite sides of the political spectrum, and, every podcast, they disagree agreeably.

We can disagree. But the right to speak, the right to express your views, does need to come with respect. Respect for one another, respect for the law, respect for public servants – paramedics, nurses, firefighters, people that work at the checkouts at Kmart. Respect for everyone.

And we need to be wary of where a lack of respect can lead – whether it’s the scourge of domestic violence, or the misogyny directed at female politicians, or the murders of two respected Victoria Police officers in Porepunkah.

That’s why we must work together to give every Victorian every hope in a better future. As Dr Tim Read – the late Member for Brunswick, who sadly passed away last month – famously put it: ‘Politics is hope in motion.’

That brings me back to Dr Helen Haines. Dr Haines personifies hope in motion. She has spent her life in public service – delivering babies as a midwife, running a bush nursing hospital, practicing public health, and serving the people of Indi.

She has never stopped trying to stand up for her community with integrity, kindness and diligence. And that is why we cannot let this moment pass.

In conclusion, I want to share something with you. During the last federal election campaign, my family and I went on a regional road trip. And we stopped at Beechworth in the seat of Indi. And we visited Helen’s campaign office.

It was a campaign office like I've never visited before. First and foremost, the campaign office was in a pub. It even had a resident cockatoo. And it was probably the best campaign office I've ever seen.

What struck me at the time – other than the campaign office being in a pub and the cockatoo – was Helen’s popularity. She is universally admired – and, let me tell you, that is a rare achievement in politics.

That admiration is hard earned and greatly deserved because our nation and our state need Helen Haines. And that is why I look forward to visiting Helen’s campaign office again and seeing her return to health and the arms of her family and community.

Thank you.