Northern Victoria Region
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:50): My question is for the Minister for Health. Mitchell shire is Victoria’s fastest growing municipality. Its current population of around 61,000 is projected to grow to 176,000 by 2041. Seymour is one of Victoria’s most disadvantaged communities, with a socio-economic disadvantage score that places it in the bottom 3 per cent of the state, a suicide rate 150 per cent of Victoria’s average and family violence rates three times the statewide average. One in three children are not completing year 12, and one in five homes are not connected to the internet. The council alongside service providers have worked to develop the Seymour Community Wellbeing Hub to provide the desperately needed health and wellbeing services. The federal government has funded this project, while not a single cent has been provided by the state government. Will the minister provide the remaining funds?