Tuesday, 7 March 2023

 Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:05): I am delighted to update the house on activities at Maryborough District Health Service. I was very, very pleased to be there with the Labor member for Ripon on Friday. It was one of my most memorable visits to Maryborough, and I have visited that proud community many times, but for some reason this visit was special, to be there with the newly elected member for Ripon to officially declare open the student accommodation attached to Maryborough District Health Service, which means literally thousands of clinical placement days will be able to be undertaken at that amazing health service, one that not only supports Maryborough but the broader district as well. So many smaller communities look to Maryborough for the health services that they need.

All health services are fundamentally questions of workforce – have you got the right staff in the right place with the right skills – and central to that of course is educating the next generation of clinical staff. We met with a number of nurses, allied health professionals and one particular medical student, a Deakin student who had been an engineer and is now becoming a doctor. He is spending the next full 12 months bonded to Maryborough District Health Service, and instead of taking up a private rental that might not be fit for purpose in town, he has got dedicated accommodation. What we know is that if you train in regional Victoria, you are much more likely to work in regional Victoria. So this is fully open – 20 rooms, an outstanding outcome – and to the builders and architects, to the tradespeople and to the management and staff at Maryborough District Health Service, congratulations, well done, a great effort. It is not the only project underway at that great health service. The $100 million redevelopment of the hospital is coming along quite nicely and will be coming out of the ground very soon. Only Labor invests in regional health care. We do not close hospitals, we rebuild them.

Members interjecting.

Daniel ANDREWS: We do not close hospitals, we rebuild them. Unlike others – very loud now, not so loud when you are around the cabinet table.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Polwarth is warned.