Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Ambulance services

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): My question is to the Premier. A woman from the Premier’s electorate with extreme abdominal pain was recently told that an ambulance would take 5 hours to respond to her request for help and that taking a taxi to hospital would be quicker. The Premier has claimed the government provided extra funds to Bendigo ambulance services so that locals ‘get the care they need, when they need it’. Why can’t Victorians get an ambulance when they need it?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:19): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I understand the shadow cabinet had a nice day out in Bendigo last week. I hope you enjoyed travelling on that duplicated Calder Highway funded by the Labor government, seeing the new Bendigo Hospital and the schools that have been upgraded. The Leader of the Opposition asked about ambulances. He asked about ambulances –

Cindy McLeish: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is clearly not being relevant to the question asked and is deliberately doing so, and I ask you to bring her back to the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was about to answer the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: The Leader of the Opposition asked about ambulances and investment in health care, and I hope when the Leader of the Opposition was in Bendigo he had the opportunity to see the brand new ambulance stations that have been built in recent years at a number of locations across Bendigo – Epsom, Strathdale – and the work that is being done in central Bendigo, Speaker, that I know you know so well.

I make these points because it takes a sustained investment in our ambulance services to support our hardworking paramedics to deliver services to the local communities. As I said to this house yesterday, since we have come to office we have had to repair the relationship with our hardworking paramedics. We did not go to war with our hardworking paramedics, and we have invested an extra $2 billion in our hardworking –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is clearly debating the question. The constituent of the Premier deserves a response.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question that was asked.

Jacinta ALLAN: I was referring to the $2 billion of additional investment that we have made in our ambulance services, and we have made this investment so that we can continue to provide support for our hardworking paramedics. As we know – and the Minister for Health knows this very well – up until the pandemic we had the best response times on record, and that took that sustained effort. And coming out of the pandemic we have continued to work hard to support our paramedics by bringing in paramedic practitioners and dedicated training programs, and last week we saw that the latest data is showing ongoing improvements on the other side of the pandemic. This might not be news that the Leader of the Opposition wants to hear. We know, Speaker, in large busy communities like ours that we represent that coming out of the pandemic there are pressures on our hospital system, pressures on our ambulance services.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House! Leader of the Opposition, I would ask you to cease interjecting across the table.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will come to order. I have asked the Leader of the Opposition repeatedly to cease interjecting across the table.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order. This is unacceptable. Leader of the Opposition, your microphone is off, and you think that no-one can hear you interjecting across the table. We can hear you interjecting across the table. I have ruled that you do not do it many times, and you continue to ignore my rulings. I would ask you again to cease interjecting across the table when ministers and members are on their feet.

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, seeking your clarification, on a number of occasions my colleagues and I have raised points of relevance. You have upheld many of those points of relevance. It is a concern for my colleagues and me; we are asking questions for people like Jess and others. We just want the truth, and we do not get it. You have upheld –

The SPEAKER: That is a completely different point of order to what I was just referring to, Leader of the Opposition. If you wish to discuss this matter, I will speak to you after question time in my office.

Jacinta ALLAN: As I was saying, the latest data shows that we are seeing improvements in our ambulance services. We do know that there is more work to do, which is why we will continue to support our paramedics. We will not run around with fake ambulances like those opposite have done. We will support them so we can continue to provide the support our communities need from their ambulance services.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): Productivity Commission data shows Victoria employs more paramedics than any other state, yet Victoria’s median statewide ambulance response time was worse than Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. When will the Premier fix Victoria’s ambulance crisis?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:25): Let me say this to our hardworking paramedics: we respect and support the work that you do. We are proud to have employed more paramedics. We are proud to be partnering with Victoria University on a dedicated training program to bring more paramedics into Victorian ambulance services. Given they go out every single day to support and deliver quality health care to our community, they do not deserve the imputation that we are seeing from the Leader of the Opposition about the quality of care they deliver to our community. We will support them.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, imputations are unparliamentary, and I would ask you to ask the Premier to cease it.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has concluded her answer.