Portfolio — 28 August 2026

The Member for Ivanhoe, Mr Carbines, dominated the Assembly's closing days of the sitting window in his capacity as Leader of the House, managing a compressed legislative program across six bills while simultaneously steering procedural motions on matters of solemnity and parliamentary tribute. The breadth of his portfolio responsibilities — spanning police, community safety, victims, racing, medical research, major events, economic development, and artificial intelligence — is reflected in both his Assembly conduct and his ministerial media record, together presenting a dense and varied public record for the district.

The most significant procedural act of the window was Mr Carbines moving to restrict speaking rights on the parliamentary apology to victims of historical child sexual abuse in Victorian government schools, confining contributions to the Premier and Leader of the Opposition at 15 minutes each [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s002]. In the same context, he invoked the Operation Richmond report, characterising the documented behaviour as outrageous and intolerable and stating that integrity is non-negotiable under a Carroll Labor government [TA-260813-vichns-ff06af361824:s014].

The apology sits alongside his motion enabling a minute's silence on 26 August 2026 for Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, killed in the line of duty at Porepunkah on 26 August 2025 [TA-260825-vichns-1f0d21d52e31:s012] — a moment that intersects directly with his portfolio as Minister for Police.

On legislation, Mr Carbines moved a business program to complete six bills by 5 pm on 27 August 2026 [TA-260825-vichns-1f0d21d52e31:s015]. The most contested in framing was the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters) Bill 2026, which he described as establishing a standalone criminal offence of coercive control and abolishing good character references at sentencing — stating plainly that the 'good bloke' defence will be eliminated [TA-260825-vichns-1f0d21d52e31:s017].

The Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Amendment Bill 2026 carried explicit historical framing: Mr Carbines described it as restoring workplace rights to Victoria Police members removed during the Kennett Liberal government, directly linking his police and industrial relations portfolios. The Workplace Legislation Amendment (Accident Compensation and Other Matters) Bill 2026 and the Education and Training Reform Amendment (Apprenticeships, Traineeships, Schools and Other Matters) Bill 2026 were described as delivering fair compensation for injured workers and strengthened protections for apprentices and trainees respectively.

Mr Carbines also moved to allow valedictory speeches for the members for Ringwood, Macedon, and Bayswater, and paid tribute in the Assembly to former member for Brunswick, Jane Garrett, connecting her inaugural speech on living values and dignity to his own observation of her conduct as a fellow member of the class of 2010 and Law Reform Committee colleague [TA-260813-vichns-ff06af361824:s015].

Across his ministerial media releases, the same window shows Mr Carbines active on four distinct fronts. On medical research, he announced $2 million in new grants under the mRNA Victoria Pipeline Program, which has invested $34 million across 65 research projects since 2021 [TA-260809-vicmed-85fa77573675]. Victoria's position as host to 30 per cent of national clinical trial sites — and the only jurisdiction globally where both Moderna and BioNTech have established research, development and manufacturing operations — was cited to support Melbourne's claim as a global hub for the sector.

On major events, Mr Carbines promoted Melbourne's NFL regular season game on 11 September 2026, positioning the city as the first in the world to host a tennis Grand Slam, a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and an NFL regular season game in the same calendar year [TA-260811-vicmed-f72547336520]. The Jonas Brothers were confirmed as the halftime headliner, with the show reaching audiences across more than 200 countries.

SportNXT, the annual global sports summit running 7–9 September and immediately preceding the game, will feature more than 75 speakers from organisations including the Rams, the 49ers, the AFL, Cricket Australia, Chelsea Football Club, and Disney [TA-260825-vicmed-3ccb116da3e8]. He also announced Melbourne as host of the inaugural Asia Pacific edition of Money20/20 Australia — the world's leading fintech event — on 15–17 February 2028 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre [TA-260825-vicmed-bf1c3b43a27c], spanning his economic development and major events responsibilities.

On racing governance, legislation passed Parliament to establish the Racing Integrity Commission Victoria, absorbing the functions of both the Racing Integrity Commissioner and the Victorian Racing Integrity Board into a single, streamlined structure [TA-260826-vicmed-0d6e53292189]. Mr Carbines noted the racing industry contributes $5.5 billion annually to Victoria's economy and sustains 33,500 full-time equivalent jobs, with close to half of that economic contribution generated in regional Victoria — a figure that underscores the industry's reach well beyond metropolitan areas.