Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Pakenham community hospital

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (22:41): (1223) My adjournment is for the Minister for Health, and tonight I rise to mark an important anniversary; however, it is not really a happy one. Yesterday was 28 October, and it marked the sixth anniversary since Labor promised to build a new hospital in Pakenham. Six years on and there is no hospital there, and there is not even the beginning of a hospital. There is a vacant site surrounded by fences which are failing to keep out graffiti and rubbish, and to be honest the vacant site where the hospital is supposed to be absolutely epitomises what 10 years of Labor government in Victoria looks like. There are empty buildings where businesses once were, and now they are covered in graffiti, where nothing is happening despite this government using its compulsory acquisition powers to force businesses out years ago. It is terrible. This is the modern Labor Party: all promises and no delivery. Minister, you and your government have failed, and these failures extend far beyond the Pakenham hospital. Minister, during your six years of inaction and since the promise of the community hospital, the Pakenham community and the population have grown. It has undertaken significant growth, and this growth is predicted to continue for decades. So, Minister, given the size and growth of the population in this area, when will this government finally provide the people of Pakenham with the health care that they require?