Ringwood electorate funding
Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:52): (1536) Well, we are approaching a very interesting period, and that period of course is the budget. We are now some two months away from the next state budget here in Victoria, so it is an opportune time for me to raise on behalf of the local community in the Ringwood electorate a number of matters with the Treasurer. So my matters for the Treasurer are two specific matters, and my sincere hope is that the Treasurer in her considerations in the next eight weeks, because we have eight weeks now before the state budget is handed down, turns her mind to two aspects in particular. One of those aspects is in respect to the Maroondah Hospital. We all know that for way too long those opposite and previous governments, for that matter – that long ago, back in 2018 – have promised the people of Maroondah, Ringwood, Nunawading, Mitcham and further afield and nearby, including Warrandyte, Croydon, Wantirna and Bayswater, a new emergency department for children at Maroondah. Well, that was in 2018 – seven long years ago. Of course that never happened; it was never, ever delivered. Well, fast-forward to the last election, and 2022 came along and the government, those opposite, promised a new Maroondah Hospital at the Maroondah Hospital site. Well, sad to say, to this very day there has not been a single cent in any of the previous budgets or in the forward estimates for that new hospital. It is somewhat of a cruel hoax, and I am hoping that for this new Treasurer there is an opportunity for this government to turn a new leaf, to turn a new page and to include in the new budget significant money to ensure that the people of Maroondah have the hospital they deserve and the hospital they have waited very, very many years for.
In addition to that, I hope the Treasurer can also turn her mind to Marlborough Primary School. If we want our state schools to succeed, we must fund them, and there is no better example perhaps in the electorate of Ringwood than Marlborough. Marlborough is a beautiful school with a small school community, and unless we invest in it now; unless we are prepared to invest in new buildings and new facilities, some beautification work, some beautiful amenity that helps new parents as they drive past and look at and choose a school for their children; and unless it helps them select that school, then my great fear is that the school will not succeed. So when the Treasurer turns her mind to the budget and the many items in the budget this May I hope that she is looking for a line item for Marlborough Primary School at the very least. So for both Marlborough Primary School and Maroondah Hospital, if the Treasurer can turn her mind to both of those things and deliver both of those then I will be the first to praise her.