Portfolio — 12 July 2026

Building industry reform and consumer protection for homebuyers dominate the Bentleigh district's parliamentary window, with the Member for Bentleigh, the Minister for Housing and Building, driving a substantial legislative and regulatory agenda that attracted both government support and sharp Opposition criticism across the Assembly and in ministerial media releases.

In the Assembly, the Minister for Housing and Building moved to agree to Council amendments to building and plumbing legislation, framing the bill as part of a long-term program to rebuild industry confidence and protect Victorian homebuyers [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s285]. The centrepiece consumer protections — a first-resort home warranty scheme, rectification orders empowering consumers to compel repairs, and a roadmap toward decennial liability insurance — took effect on 1 July [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s285].

The Minister positioned these measures as a direct response to failures exemplified by the Porter Davis collapses, where last-resort insurance had left homebuyers unprotected.

A ministerial media release issued on 8 July detailed the scheme's early operational scale: more than 1,300 Notices of Cover issued in the first week, covering $445 million in building contracts [TA-260708-vicmed-c69b581ace68]. The Minister cited research estimating that defects in apartment buildings cost Victorians $453 million annually, and announced a mandatory developer bond scheme for apartment buildings to take effect 1 July 2027 [TA-260708-vicmed-c69b581ace68].

The same media release accused the Opposition of planning to defund the Building and Plumbing Commission as part of broader budget cuts — a framing that sets up a clear contrast heading into the next electoral cycle.

The building bill simultaneously generated a separate flashpoint. The Minister expressed regret in the Assembly that the Opposition and crossbench had weakened the government's proposed places of public entertainment permit system, stating the amended version would expose young people to bushfire risk and crowd crushes, and announcing the government would not accept those changes [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s285].

The Member for Caulfield, Mr Southwick, offered the Opposition's counter-case directly: that additions to construction costs and regulatory complexity — including engineering sign-offs on small structures and expanded POPE permit processes — burden small builders, event operators, schools and community organisations [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s286]. The Coalition declined to support the building bill, citing Housing Industry Association and Master Builders warnings that minimum financial requirements would have increased construction costs by up to 30 per cent [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s286].

The removal of those minimum financial requirements from the legislation was cited by the Member for Caulfield as evidence the government had acted without consulting industry.

Beyond the building legislation contest, Bentleigh featured in third-party references on two further fronts. The Attorney-General, Ms Kilkenny, cited approval of more than 55,000 new homes across Victoria in the prior 12 months — naming suburbs within the Bentleigh area — and accused the Coalition and One Nation of voting against government housing plans [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s219].

That invocation places Bentleigh within the government's broader housing supply argument. On a more contested note, the Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Ms Crozier, raised ongoing delays to the Bentleigh East ambulance station — first announced as a Labor election promise in 2018 — with the site remaining unopened after eight years and stated opening dates having been repeatedly pushed back [TA-260616-vichns-db6eb221750c:s087].

The Member for Benambra moved (leave refused) a motion condemning the Member for Bentleigh's failure to contact constituents through calls, door-knocking or conversation — a procedural attack the government blocked.

On the credit side of the ledger, the Member for Brunswick, Mr Batchelor, credited the Member for Bentleigh with securing significant school infrastructure investment across the district, including completion of a permanent new building at Cheltenham Secondary College to replace portable year 7 classrooms, prior capital works at Tucker Road and Valkstone primaries, STEM buildings at Ormond Primary School, and a new campus for McKinnon Secondary College [TA-260616-vichns-db6eb221750c:s076].

Across all three lanes, the dominant arc for Bentleigh is the same: the Minister for Housing and Building is prosecuting a consumer protection agenda in building and construction that is simultaneously his portfolio's legislative centrepiece and the district's most visible policy contribution — supported publicly by government colleagues, contested by the Opposition on cost and regulatory grounds, and now operational with measurable early uptake figures.

The ambulance station delay and the constituent-contact motion represent Opposition pressure points on service delivery and local engagement, but neither generated substantive Assembly debate in this window.