Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a reason why Liberal Victorian members and National Victorian members in this House continue to stand up pleading for Victorians to continue to support them in the state election, and to return the Napthine government. There is a reason—it is because so many people in Victoria are calling them out, and are ready to vote them out. In yesterday's Age, the headline reads, 'Denis Napthine under fire from small business owners'. Small-business owners are now coming out against this government:

Premier Denis Napthine is facing a $1 million anti-government advertising campaign from small business groups and real estate agents that could undermine the state government's run-up to the election.

The Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) and the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) have placed anti-Liberal advertisements in newspapers in every marginal seat in the state, calling on small business owners to "vote them out".

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On Tuesday, real estate agents will erect the first of several thousand signs that accuse the Napthine Government of costing Victoria 60,000 jobs since it was elected.

This is what is happening in the state of Victoria. Even their own are saying they cannot believe what is going on: a senior Liberal figure has said, 'Ever heard of a Liberal government that had James Packer, Lloyd Williams, shopkeepers and real estate agents actively campaigning against it?' But it is out there. It does not matter what you say in this House. It does not matter what the Victorian Liberals and Nationals say. They are on the countdown to the end of this terrible, shocking government in Victoria.