Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Elective surgery waiting lists

Mr ANGUS (Forest Hill) (12:35): The recent revelation of the extent of the elective surgery waiting lists being around 100 000 Victorians is clear evidence of the incompetence of the Victorian government. The fact that Victorians find themselves in this terrible position is a direct result of many years of Labor’s mismanagement of the health system. Given the current Premier has been either health minister or Premier for all but four of the last 15 years, it is clear to see where the responsibility for this mess lies. Victorians need a clear pathway out of their pain, and the Premier needs to address the root causes of the issues and not just give them lip-service, as he and his ministers regularly do.

With the COVID-19 double-vaccination rate for Victorians 12 years and older being almost 95 per cent, it is now time for the government to remove the vaccination mandates in Victoria. Doing this would allow countless Victorians to return to work. I am still being contacted regularly by constituents who for whatever reason either cannot or will not be vaccinated, telling me they have lost their jobs or are unable to work. Others are contacting me to say they are about to lose their jobs, as despite successfully working from home for almost two years they are now required to return to their office to work. The futility of this requirement is obvious given that we regularly see cases of COVID-19 in fully vaccinated environments, such as the AFL or indeed here at Parliament last sitting week. Given the extremely high vaccination rates, there is no need for this discrimination to continue, and I urge the government to remove this requirement. The crisis surrounding the ambulance service is continuing.