Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Ministers statements: regional healthcare workforce

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:42): I rise to update the house on the Allan Labor government’s ongoing work to support our regional healthcare workforce. Victorians know that unlike those opposite, who went to war with our nurses and ambos, on this side of the place we have backed both those workforces in and we have grown that workforce by 40 per cent. Now we are building more homes in the regions to continue this growth.

Healthcare workers are not immune to some of the challenges of finding an affordable house to live in, and that is why the Allan Labor government has stepped in. The Regional Worker Accommodation Fund is supporting health services to deliver accommodation for workers and their families. This is a huge boost for regional Victoria, with 10 health services set to deliver housing, including in Wonthaggi, Colac, Timboon, Omeo, Bairnsdale, Hopetoun, Shepparton, Wangaratta, Kyabram and Kerang. And there is more. The $790 million Regional Health Infrastructure Fund has already delivered more housing and more upgraded worker housing in Castlemaine, Maryborough, Mallee Track, Robinvale, Seymour, Boort and Swan Hill, with even more projects in the planning stage.

While we are busy delivering record funding to support our healthcare workforce and delivering record funding into our health system, those on the other side of the place are too busy recording one another. And as for their housing policy, I am sure an eight-year-old could write one for them that would be better than their existing one, if they have one.