Statute Law Revision Bill 2011

I rise to speak on the Statute Law Revision Bill 2011. At first glance, and I am sure I am not alone, this bill may seem laborious and quite mundane to people, but that is not the case. This is a very important bill. On closer inspection it seeks to clear out a whole range of various elements that have been left behind and will in fact clean up and sharpen 112 acts of Parliament. This bill clearly demonstrates that the government has energy, commitment and enthusiasm -- as a coalition government does -- and that it is getting on with the job, fixing the problems and building the future.

The second aspect of the bill I will be talking on tonight is the importance of good grammar and accuracy and the wider educational implications of that, which I am sure many members of the Parliament, and I am sure members of this side of the house, are concerned about.

I will start by talking about the many acts that have been passed by both sides of the Parliament over many years. I would like to refer to some of these acts. This bill covers a wide variety of legislation, and many a debate has taken place in this chamber on the some 112 pieces of legislation it covers, on topics as diverse as firearms, indigenous affairs, water, wildlife, racing, health and even the millennium bug. Who would have thought that in 1999 we would pass a bill on the millennium bug?

The Kennett government passed a significant amount of legislation. As we look at this bill we can see how wide-ranging the government's reforms were during this important point in history when the Kennett government was getting on with the job. An example of such legislation is the Fair Trading Act 1999.

This is a great example of the Kennett government's philosophy in that it combined and replaced four different acts with one act.

It streamlined the legislation and did away with much of the red tape that gets in the way of so many small businesses and allowed them to get on with doing what they do well. This is something of which we on this side are very proud. With many of us having small business backgrounds, we like to reduce red tape. We like to take every opportunity to give businesses a hand up so they can provide employment for the future and contribute to the great state of Victoria.

Over the last six months I and my government colleagues have talked a great deal about the failures of the previous government, including its lack in investment in infrastructure. We have heard over many years that one thing the Kennett coalition government was very proud of was its investment in infrastructure. This investment was planned, costed and implemented. One example is CityLink.

It is a vital artery of our city's roads that would not have been built without the financial management and forward thinking of Jeff Kennett and former Treasurer Alan Stockdale. We have heard many times from the opposition that it was part of many of the important initiatives which the coalition has taken credit for by cutting the ribbon on after we won government. CityLink shows that it goes both ways. We did the investment and planning, but guess which government opened it? It was not the coalition government. The Labor Party took credit for the great foresight of the Kennett government.

If you look forward, you see developments like Federation Square, the Melbourne Museum and Docklands. These are significant pieces of infrastructure and significant parts of Victoria that we on this side of the house take great credit for. We take credit for the vision and foresight, and we take credit that we did not have the budget blow-outs of the last 11 years under Labor.

I am glad the member for Altona took a point of order, because she has obviously taken no notice of the contents of this bill.

If you look at item 59 in schedule 1 of the bill, which amends the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Act 1996, you will see that it refers to some great infrastructure that the Kennett government invested in. We are tidying the act up so that it reads clean and shows detail and great foresight. If you look at the convention centre we built, which has become part of our city's international appeal, we acted to ensure that it was financially secure and properly managed. That thousands of visitors come to Victoria, use this fine facility, take part in activities in Melbourne and contribute financially to the state is a great credit to people on this side of the house, to the foresight and vision of Jeff Kennett, Alan Stockdale and the former coalition government. Coalition governments save and plan for the future, but Labor governments spend, waste and mismanage. They always look for others to clean up after them, which we have been destined to do by taking over in this term of government. Item 96 amends the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010, which was passed by the former government.

Given the importance of the legalities of this bill -- and I ask the opposition to take note, because we are talking about the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010; I am sure opposition members are very concerned about that -- we must ensure that the language is clear when we talk about it. This bill is very important. There are some 112 acts that are mentioned; they are important acts we need to fix.

We have talked about grammar. The Premier has demonstrated recently how a change to grammar can have a huge effect. An initiative of the previous government that has had strong bipartisan support is the Premiers' reading challenge. By moving the apostrophe from before the 's' to after it, the reading challenge becomes more inclusive, and the wider community gains a sense of belonging. How important it is. It shows again how we on this side of the house can be inclusive and share the love with those on all sides of the house.

When it comes to grammar and fixing little idiosyncrasies, this side of the house is showing great leadership, because we want to ensure that young people are doing the same in terms of literacy and numeracy, which are important elements of our educational institutions. We are doing it in this chamber and in the Parliament. We are ensuring that we are tidying up some important provisions of these 112 acts of Parliament that I have outlined tonight. We are getting on with the job once again. We are building the future. It is these tiny little things that make a big, huge difference to the people of Victoria.