Portfolio — 12 July 2026

The dominant discourse arc for Richmond across the 16–18 June sitting window was housing — its supply, safety, and the treatment of the most vulnerable residents — with the Member for Richmond, Ms de Vietri, driving the sharpest challenges to the government's public housing demolition program and drawing direct counter-argument from the Attorney-General and Labor members on the floor.

On public housing, the convergence across both own-member and third-party records is striking. Ms de Vietri accused the government of subjecting residents to bullying and harassment under the demolition and privatisation program, citing residents' accounts of persistent contact, pressure to execute documents without legal advice, and a parliamentary inquiry finding of significant coercive and misleading practices [TA-260616-vichns-9dec69d94dd9:s075].

The Greens followed by moving a referral to the Victorian Ombudsman to investigate the impact of demolishing all 44 high-rise public housing towers, citing inadequate relocation support, maintenance failures, particular vulnerability of elderly residents in the third tranche, and alleged disrespect in the announcement process [TA-260617-vichns-8c749065fc1c:s182].

Ms de Vietri announced the referral in the Assembly and called on the government to afford residents dignity, respect, and safe, affordable housing. Labor's response was direct and contested: the Attorney-General characterised the Ombudsman referral as manufactured fear and misinformation, while the government affirmed that no renter would be made homeless, rent settings would remain unchanged, tranche 3 residents would receive two years of support including a Hand in Hand buddy program, and all relocating residents held a guaranteed right of return to redeveloped towers [TA-260617-vichns-8c749065fc1c:s183].

Labor also cited approval of more than 55,000 new homes across Victoria in the past 12 months and rejected the Opposition's and One Nation's votes against housing legislation [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s219].

Beyond housing, Ms de Vietri raised the pending closure of Foley House — the Salvation Army's long-term accommodation and 24/7 support service for vulnerable men and residents with complex disabilities — moving that the Assembly note the closure and calling on the government to provide sustainable funding to prevent it [TA-260616-vichns-9dec69d94dd9:s036]. This sits alongside the housing demolition debate as a second front on vulnerable accommodation in the district.

On school funding, Ms de Vietri itemised $20 million in cuts across seven schools in Richmond, with individual schools facing reductions ranging from $231,000 to $5.1 million, and noted all 12 schools in the district would face cuts within seven years — part of $2.4 billion in statewide cuts. She grounded this in a Victorian Auditor-General report finding the Victorian School Building Authority lacks transparency, does not align recommendations with its own improvement strategies, and relies on informal undocumented processes including community pressure and political considerations.

On fast-tracked development, Ms de Vietri objected to the government's use of the Development Facilitation Program for a 24-storey storage facility in Burnley and a 12-storey development in Richmond without formal community consultation, and cited cases of approved developments being land-banked or commitments abandoned post-approval [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s352].

The absence of a government response to the planning objections in the debate records means only the Member's framing is documented on this instrument.

Ms de Vietri also called on the Premier for a moratorium on new artificial intelligence data centres, citing expected electricity and water consumption increases of more than threefold by 2030, projected energy price rises of 23 per cent by 2035, and environmental and employment impacts, and demanded guardrails covering environmental and water standards and protection of workers and creative rights [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s379].

On the Middle East, she moved that the Assembly note that Israeli strikes have killed at least four Palestinians in Gaza in a single incident and more than 990 since the October ceasefire, and called on the Victorian Government to ensure no weapons, parts or ammunition from Victoria fuel the conflict [TA-260618-vichns-682983134932:s021].

Across the third-party lane, the Assembly also heard the Coalition introduce legislation to amend the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Act 2011, requiring speedier tabling of IBAC reports and enabling government intervention in court applications it considers vexatious — framed as a response to the seven-year delay in release of the Operation Richmond report.

Mr Battin alleged that named public servants and ministers required examination in the Operation Richmond findings and characterised the report's non-release as part of a pattern of government obstruction [TA-260617-vichns-9fa22f0e851d:s045]. Labor's position on the bill's merits was not articulated in the debate records provided. Separately, Mr Davis, the Member for Glen Waverley, documented station-by-station Protective Services Officer coverage on the Glen Waverley line, identifying nine stations without PSO presence during daytime hours and a pattern of removals concentrated on the Southern Metro network [TA-260616-vichns-db6eb221750c:s156].

Ms de Vietri framed her contributions collectively as symptoms of government failure across housing, education, planning and environmental stewardship, arguing such failures create political space for far-right movements and that the Greens offer alternatives centred on public investment and corporate accountability.