Tuesday, 21 February 2023

 Jackson TAYLOR (Bayswater) (14:35): (29) The outer east deserves nothing less than world-class health care close to home, so alongside the new public aged care facility in Wantirna and our expansion of the Angliss beginning this year – major construction – the rebuild of Maroondah will mean that our community have access to all the care they need close to home. My constituency question is to the Minister for Health Infrastructure: what are the next steps for the promise we made to rebuild Maroondah Hospital – the new Queen Elizabeth II – from the ground up? We promised a Labor government would invest up to $1.05 billion in the new hospital, and that is exactly what we are going to do. The new hospital will include a new emergency department, new operating theatres, day procedure facilities, specialist care spaces and a new mental health hub. It will also feature an expanded medical imaging unit and two six-storey inpatient towers housing more than 200 extra beds. We have recruited and trained thousands of extra healthcare workers since coming to government; we will recruit and train 24,000 more. We have made nurse and midwifery degrees free, and we are building the health infrastructure the east not only needs but absolutely well and truly deserves.