Mr PALLAS (Treasurer) — I rise to update the house on the status of enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations with public sector unions. The Andrews government is working closely with members of the Victorian public service to reach fair and equitable outcomes. This government supports public sector workers and will work cooperatively with all Victorians to secure their future prosperity. But today it is back to the future day. It is fitting that it comes the day after we learn that the Leader of the Opposition harkens to take us back to the 1950s. He is the Marty McFly of Victorian politics. It is a clear sign of a malfunctioning flux capacitor — —

Mr Clark — On a point of order, Speaker, I again draw your attention to the purposes of sessional order 7 about informing the house and the community of new government initiatives, projects and achievements. It is not in order for the Treasurer to spend his morning dreaming up smart alec quips across the chamber to engage in personal abuse. He should not be debating the issue. I ask you to bring him back to compliance.

The SPEAKER — Order! I do not uphold the point of order at this point. I ask the minister to come back to making his statement.

Mr PALLAS  (Treasurer)  — We are working to unwind the damage done to our services by the previous government, those who are nothing short of economic curmudgeons. We are investing in more firefighters and custody officers; we are protecting more vulnerable people in our community; we are building the infrastructure that Victorians need; and we are allowing growth in our expenditure to reach 3 per cent, unlike those opposite whose expenditure growth going forward was 2.5 per cent. But we did not hear from them what that would mean to the cuts to our services — to police, to firefighters, to the services that Victorians depended upon. Let us never forget that those opposite cut 4100 workers from the public service.

Today we hear from the ANZ Stateometer that Victoria and New South Wales are leading the growth of the nation. We are essentially growing the nation, growing the pie and growing the capacity to improve services.

Honourable members interjecting.

The SPEAKER — Order! The member for Malvern and the member for Hawthorn are warned.

Mr PALLAS — Those opposite deserted Victorians. We will honour our promises, we will improve services and we will grow the opportunities of this great state