Tuesday, 30 August 2022

 Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:07): I am delighted to rise to update the house and indeed all Victorians on ways in which the government is supporting our nurses and midwives. Over these last 2½ years our health professionals and indeed our whole public hospital team have demonstrated—some of us did not need to be reminded—to all Victorians that they are the best of us. Their skill level, their compassion, their courage and their character are just immense. It is amazing the job that they have done, the job that they did pre COVID and the job they will do in the years to come. But it is really important to acknowledge that they have been under significant pressure, and the biggest thing and the best way to say thank you is to give them an extra pair of helping hands. That is why this year’s budget had the recruitment and training of some 7000 additional healthcare workers; fully 5000 of those are nurses and midwives.

On Sunday I was very pleased to join with the Minister for Health and a number of nurses and midwives, who were very happy to receive the news that we will, in an Australian first, provide full scholarships for 10 000 undergraduate nurses—no HECS debt—provided they come and work in the Victorian public hospital system. There is funding to help enrolled nurses upgrade their skills to become registered nurses free of charge, and pathways for nurses to become specialists in oncology, in paediatrics and in intensive care. The list goes on and on: extra midwives, extra nurse practitioners, proper support—a comprehensive package. It is a package that not only says thank you but what it really says is this: if you are in year 11 or year 12 and you are thinking about nursing, now is the time to enrol. Now is the time to join the Victorian public hospital system. Be valued, be respected and get to do challenging but deeply rewarding work. Do not just have a job, do not just have a career, have a calling, and you can do that with legislated nurse-to-patient ratios. You can do that why? Because there is a Labor government in Victoria.