Tuesday, 20 June 2023

Ministers statements: healthcare workers

Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:06): I am delighted to –

A member: Apologise!

Daniel ANDREWS: There is nothing to apologise for. I defended the member for Northcote, an independent, proud woman. I defended the member for Northcote, and I will not be apologising for doing that, not for a moment. I defended the member for Northcote, and I always will, from your attacks, unwarranted as they are. I rise –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House! The house will come to order.

Daniel ANDREWS: Thank you very much, Speaker. I rise to update the house on our government’s efforts to recruit additional healthcare workers and to support those dedicated women and men right across our health system, whether it be with $270 million to push to recruit and train an extra 17,000 nurses and midwives, all the way through to providing additional support to our trainee doctors to move from hospital-based training into general practice – we know it so difficult and so challenging for families to find a bulk-billing doctor, particularly out of hours. Whether it is through $5000 sign-on bonuses for student nurses and midwives who graduate in 2022 and 2023 who then commit to work long term in the public system or whether it is through a whole range of other programs that come from listening to our workforce, respecting our workforce, valuing our workforce – well, not going to war with our workforce, as others did; nurses, ambos, the list goes on –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Malvern is warned.

Daniel ANDREWS: They were at war with them from day one of that miserable four-year period when they occupied these Treasury benches. We stand with our health workforce. We always have and we always will.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier knows better than to debate the question, and I would ask you to bring him back to the substance.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has concluded his answer.