Thursday, 12 May 2022

Health infrastructure

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (10:19): The Victorian budget will invest more than $12 billion to make patients priority one after the global pandemic placed health systems under unprecedented pressure. The pandemic repair plan will deliver more staff, better hospitals and first-class care, and I am delighted that Broadmeadows Hospital is a priority in the Victorian government’s investment to cut patient waiting lists.

The Andrews government is committed to ensuring every local community gets the health infrastructure they deserve. This budget invests $2.9 billion to build new hospitals and deliver upgrades to health services throughout Victoria. By expanding our emergency departments, adding more surgical beds for elective surgeries and increasing maternity care services this budget will ensure more Victorians get the best care available close to home, and that is critical. The Andrews government will deliver the $60 million for the new Broadmeadows Health Service Community Centre of Excellence—that is what we got in the last budget—and this is the first stage of revitalising Kangan Institute’s landmark campus in Broadmeadows, training the local people for the local jobs in the areas where we need them most. This is the next generation of migrant and refugee children coming through. They have got the incentive, they have got the drive, and this will help our entire health network, as the pandemic has exposed—because it stalks inequality, and this is where you need to build the future.