Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Health system

Mr J BULL (Sunbury) (16:43): I grieve for the people of Victoria if those opposite are to come to power and have responsibility for the health portfolio, because all we will continue to see are cuts, chaos and closures. Let us never forget that in their time, from 2010 to 2014, those opposite oversaw continued cuts, continued chaos and continued closures. Of course we know if they have the opportunity to do so again, that is exactly what they will do.

My honourable friends on this side of the house, and I think the vast majority of Victorians, know and understand that despite the best attempts, the desperate attempts and indeed the shameful attempts by those opposite, it is this government, the Andrews Labor government, that will continue to invest in our healthcare workforce, in our healthcare infrastructure and in making sure that we are always supporting those that support our local communities and our health care each and every single hour of every single day right throughout the year. We know that the global pandemic had a massive, significant impact on our healthcare workforce. It was a sledgehammer to what was our incredible healthcare workforce. But at each and every opportunity, through the very tough and challenging and most difficult times of COVID, it was this government that stood with our healthcare workforce each and every day and stood with local communities and people right across the state.

We know that it is the Andrews Labor government that invests in our nurses. We know that it is the Andrews Labor government that invests in our ambos, in our call takers—in our massive healthcare workforce. In my contribution this evening I want to touch on not just the incredibly important and significant large-scale investments that this government has been able to deliver for our healthcare workforce but also our healthcare infrastructure right across the state, and just over the last couple of weeks there have been some critical announcements and investments that have been made, particularly one within the growing communities in the north, which I will come to, but some others as well.

I believe, and I think Victorians know and understand, this government is about doing what matters. It is about putting patients first. It is about not playing cheap political games and making stunts in here to scare local communities, to put fear into people, but is indeed about supporting our ambos, our nurses—our healthcare workforce—and that is exactly what we are getting on with doing. We know that hospitals do not treat patients; it is nurses, it is midwives and it is doctors, and since coming into office we have made significant investments—investments like the Monash Children’s and the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital. But we have also recruited over 22 000 additional healthcare workers. We are building on this investment through our $270 million healthcare workforce package, which I mentioned earlier, and since 2014 our investments in our healthcare system total more than $158 billion. This is an extraordinary investment.

Compare and contrast that to the $1 billion in cuts that were delivered by those opposite between 2010 and 2014. Unfortunately I will not have the opportunity, nor the time, to go into some of the decisions that were made by the former miserly Morrison government, but when it comes to health care in this state Victorians know and understand that it is the Andrews Labor government that gets on and delivers these important investments. That is the Wonthaggi Hospital, a $115 million expansion which was delivered, the upgraded emergency department to treat an additional 26 000 emergency patients each year and the very recent and contemporary commitment of $250 million for the second stage of works. We know that $1.05 billion for the Maroondah Hospital was recently announced. Once complete, this new hospital will deliver a new emergency department, new operating theatres, specialised care, allied health, day procedure facilities, an expanded medical imaging unit and two six-storey inpatient towers with over 200 additional beds. Construction on the project is expected to start in 2025—2500 jobs, a significant investment. It is complemented by our extraordinary investments in TAFE and our massive rebuild of the entire TAFE sector—some outstanding opportunities to provide TAFE to those who deserve an opportunity to go on, to retrain, but may be limited by their financial means. This is why free TAFE is so important, and it complements this announcement and many other announcements for those wanting to get new skills and new opportunities in life.

The list is very long. I did mention the investment in the growing north. I note that the minister at the table, the member for Yuroke, is someone who is acutely aware of growth. New residents are moving into our growing community each and every day, and what we know and understand is that we need to make sure we are providing infrastructure for growth communities, ones such as mine but also right across the north, in the west and in the south-east, and that is why I was really pleased to see such a significant announcement, more than $1 billion in a combined announcement for both the Austin but critically in the north the Northern Hospital. That is a significant investment, over $1 billion, at the Northern; $770 million to $855 million of investment will make sure that there is the delivery of a new emergency department, with up to 70 treatment spaces as well as a new tower for inpatients, with more than 100 beds. This continues to build upon a really large pipeline of projects and initiatives that have been made possible in the eight years we have had the opportunity to be on the Treasury benches, to be in government.

Unfortunately what is so often lacking in this conversation, in this debate, are the facts. It is this government that has in each and every budget and at each and every opportunity made significant investments in health. We know there are big challenges within the healthcare sector, we know that COVID has placed extreme pressure on the healthcare workforce and we know that, because of growth—this was present before the pandemic but was exacerbated by the pandemic—we need to continue to invest. The $12 billion health repair plan is a significant and large-scale investment in our healthcare workforce. One significant announcement made just recently is our paramedic practitioners. The $12 billion health infrastructure investment for building the facilities Victoria needs is important, but we also need to make sure we are supporting the workforce. That is why we have listened to our paramedics about how we can deliver better care across the healthcare system. In an Australian first, we will create the new position of paramedic practitioner in our ambulance service, ensuring that sick and injured Victorians can be treated faster. This is about using best practice. It is about making sure that we are supporting our paramedics to have the skills, to have the qualifications and to be able to make decisions on the road to treat and provide urgent care to patients who need it and to eliminate that need for the trip to the hospital for many patients.

I know, Deputy Speaker, that you are someone who is also very passionate about local health care within your community, but what we know is that right across the state—whether it is in the growing communities that I mentioned earlier; whether it is, as mentioned today by the former Minister for Planning, our terrific hospital precinct within the CBD; or whether it is in rural and regional Victoria—we will make sure that we are providing all of that support, all of those services. It is incredibly important.

With only 6 minutes to go I am not going to attempt to rattle through all of the investments that we have made within the healthcare portfolio, but I do want to touch on a couple: $250 million for the Monash Children’s Hospital, which was opened in 2017; $200 million for the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital; $1.5 billion, a historic investment, for the Footscray Hospital; $900 million for the new tertiary hospital in Melton, just next door to my home in my electorate; $500 million to deliver the Barwon women’s and children’s hospital; and $236 million for the Casey and Werribee Mercy hospitals. I know that the member for Frankston is here and that he has spoken at length about the importance of the $562 million expansion of the Frankston Hospital. He has done significant work in that.

Mr Edbrooke interjected.

Mr J BULL: $1.1 billion—amazing, member for Frankston. And the work, the advocacy, the support just continues, so it is terrific.

I talked about rural and regional Victoria. There is also the expansion of the Ballarat Base Hospital, $230 million for the redevelopment of Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton, funding for additional upgrades at Latrobe Regional Hospital and an increase across the board of $300 million for the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund. In health infrastructure there are more than 100 projects under construction. We know that that pipeline needs to continue. As we come through COVID, as we are on the back of the pandemic, we know that the population of this state will continue to grow, and that is why we need to keep investing, we need to keep working with local communities and we need to keep working with experts in the field, with the department, with community healthcare workers, with nurses, with ambos and with doctors to ensure that we are providing the very best care that we can.

We know that those small funding programs, some of the smaller initiatives that have been allocated across the last eight years, are at more than $1 billion, so more life-saving equipment for hospitals and funding for upgrades and improvements to our healthcare services. There is $35 million for the medical equipment replacement program and $25 million for the Metropolitan Health Infrastructure Fund. With all of that work and significant investment in health infrastructure but, critically importantly, also within the healthcare workforce we are providing our healthcare workforce with not only terrific infrastructure but also training and skills to perform the very tough and very challenging role that we know they do each and every day. This is a government that will continue to work with all in our community to support health within our state.

In a previous contribution on a very similar matter in the house I spoke about my view around our understanding, our conversation if you like, with the community and having an honest conversation about the practical challenges, the extraordinary challenges, that COVID has placed on each and every one of us in this state, on all states and territories right across the country and indeed across the globe. As I said in my previous contribution, nobody saw the pandemic coming, and if they did, I am sure nobody would have thought that many of the experiences that we have all shared would have been as tough, hard and challenging as they have been. But what we have sought to do, both through the pandemic and of course through the investments that I have outlined today, is make sure that we are continuing to work with the healthcare workforce, making significant investments at each and every opportunity and actually being a government that works with science and invests in medical research and innovation. That is something that I am particularly proud of. I know as Parliamentary Secretary for Health and as a member of this government that we will continue to put patients first. We will continue to do what matters.

But what I have alluded to and what is incredibly important is that we listen to science, we trust the experts and we value the incredible contribution and sacrifice that our healthcare workers make each and every day. Members on this side of the house, I believe, are very focused on ensuring that those investments are delivered within local communities and that each and every time somebody requires that additional support we are ensuring that we are working as hard as we possibly can with those local communities—no matter where you live, no matter your background.

One of the things that I have spoken about in this house, and I know that other members have as well, is that notion around universal health care and making sure that it should not be your credit card or your Medicare card that determines your ability to get support. Of course we know that there was a time in this state and in this country when that was not the case. Thankfully we are a country that supports universal health care, but we know that that is something that must be protected; that is something that must be defended.

We will continue as an Andrews Labor government to work with all of those right across our community, go back to science, work with the experts and ensure that we are working with the department, with community health, with local communities, and of course with all of those that experience health challenges right across the state so that we have the opportunity to be the healthiest community we can possibly be. This is a terrific opportunity as we recover from the pandemic to work with our community and to think about new and innovative ways to transform health care in this state. The former health minister, the member for Albert Park, spoke about that yesterday, and I proudly commend— (Time expired)