Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Ministers statements: mental health funding

Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:38): I rise to update the house about how the Andrews government is getting on with delivering on all of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. The Andrews government has made significant inroads into the reform of our state’s mental health and wellbeing services, with work underway on more than 85 per cent of the 74 recommendations. This is the first year of a 10-year reform, a complete rebuild. This work has already delivered over 1000 extra jobs in the mental health workforce, backed by the Labor government’s, as the Treasurer said, record $3.8 billion investment—the largest single mental health investment in Australia’s history.

But there is a range of views on mental health funding. There are those in our community who have always opposed sustainably funding mental health as recommended by the royal commission—opposed when the interim report was released in 2019, opposed when we introduced legislation, opposed after this royal commission recommendation was legislated—but now desperately deny it, saying that this was all ‘before it became law’ and, ‘We’ve been quite clear we’ll retain it’. Even though well after it became law, in fact eight months later, when asked, ‘Can you categorically say the mental health levy will be gone if you’re elected?’ the response was, ‘Yes’. The Shadow Minister for Mental Health was standing right next door. The same people who for more than two years opposed sustainably funding mental health now say they will not repeal the legislation ‘even though we’d like to’. The Leader of the Opposition is damned by his own words—‘even though we’d like to’. Only the Andrews Labor government can be trusted to deliver a sustainably funded mental health system. Those opposite would cut it mercilessly.

Ms Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, again—this is the seventh time I have raised this point of order, seven times—constituency question 5994, asked 194 days ago, to the Minister for Health. I have raised this point of order seven times. Obviously the Andrews Labor government and the Minister for Health clearly do not care about the community in the Yarra Ranges. If you could, please ask him to follow up and provide a response for my constituents to question 5994.