Victorian patient transport assistance scheme
Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (09:50): I have been approached by many constituents who use the VPTAS system. As many in this room know, VPTAS stands for Victorian patient transport assistance scheme, which assists Victorians who need to travel more than 100 kilometres to visit a specialist medical practitioner. Patients need to pay for their trip and get reimbursed through the VPTAS system. What used to be a one- to two-month timeframe to be reimbursed has blown out to four months. It is disgraceful that the Victorian government is now using seriously ill Victorians to help prop up the state budget by slowing down the payment timeframe. Premier, the people who claim VPTAS are not being paid half a million dollars like you. They are on a modest income, and they rely on the rebate to pay their bills. I urge the Allan government to stop delaying these payments and show some respect to these Victorians.