Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Ambulance services

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:01): My question is to the Premier. Twenty-one Victorians have lost their lives over the last six months due to the ambulance crisis in this state. I asked the Minister for Health at estimates, who refused, and so today I ask the Premier: will the Premier say sorry to the families of those Victorians who have tragically died because of the crisis in the health system that he runs?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:02): I thank the member for Brighton for his question. A couple of points: firstly, with the greatest of respect, it is not for the member for Brighton or any member of this house to determine the cause of death of any Victorian. That is rightly and appropriately a matter for the coroner, and the coroner has not concluded that work in order to make the conclusion that the member for Brighton has made. I will not speculate on what might motivate the member for Brighton to draw those conclusions. He asked a serious question, and that is the first point in my answer, and it is appropriate to make that point. It is not for the member for Brighton or any member opposite or any member on this side of the house to make those determinations.

A member interjected.

Mr ANDREWS: There is an interjection: ‘Well, what about Ambulance Victoria?’. They do not make those determinations either. They are not the coroner.

Mr Pearson: You would reckon they would know that.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, you would think that some might know that. They do not. In any event, in terms of any Victorian who has been let down by a system under enormous pressure, under unprecedented pressure and stress of the sheer volume of calls, to anyone let down by the system, of course I offer my apology as the leader of the government—absolutely I do. But it is not just words, it is not just sentiments; it is about actions. It is about action and investment. That is why we—

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, one can only imagine if COVID had hit in 2015, when we had the worst ambulance response times on record, by choice. They chose to have the worst ambulance response times ever. One can only imagine. The key point—

Mr R Smith: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, like their leader I can see the backbench is willing to make a political point when we are talking about families who have died under the watch of this government. We are not talking about 2015. We are talking about the people who have died under the watch of this government, and the Premier and those behind him—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Warrandyte will resume his seat. That is not a point of order.

Mr ANDREWS: I am certain that there are some who do not want to talk about 2015. They do not want to talk about 2015 or 16 or 17 or 18 or 19 because in that period of time we went from the worst ambulance response times to the very best ambulance response times. So we repaired the damage done by choice by those opposite, and we will repair the damage that this pandemic has done to our health system. That is why there is a massive boost—hundreds of extra call takers and dispatchers to deal with thousands of extra calls; hundreds and thousands of additional ambulance employees, paramedics and others, to deal with unprecedented demand. Of course I take responsibility. I offer an apology, but more than words and far, far more than cheap politics, we will get on and repair the damage the pandemic has done, just as we got on and repaired the damage that you did to this system.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I would ask members not to refer to ‘you’; that is a reflection on the Chair.

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:06): The daughter of Stewart Grant, who died waiting for an ambulance, has said:

The state government has blood on its hands because they are spending more money on investigations instead of putting money into the system.

Will the Premier meet the Grant family and say sorry for his government’s failure that cost their father his life?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:06): With the greatest of respect to the Grant family, I am uncertain whether the coroner has concluded the work that the coroner must do in relation to this matter.

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, they can scoff all they want, but we are not going to have a situation where the member for Brighton determines the cause of death of anyone. That is not a matter for politicians, it is a matter for those who are properly trained under a well-established process. With the greatest of respect, it is simply wrong to assert that the government has not invested like no other government in ambulance services. It is simply wrong to suggest that. It is appropriate to investigate, it is appropriate to understand and then learn from every individual case, every error, every instance where the system has not met the rightful expectations of Victorians. That is called continuous improvements. It is in stark contrast to continuous cutbacks.