Thursday, 20 September 2018

 Ms HENNESSY (Altona—Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Health) (11:15): I rise to update the house on our government’s achievements in the health portfolio. I am very hopeful that this afternoon in the other place the Safe Patient Care (Nurse to Patient and Midwife to Patient Ratios) Amendment Bill 2018 will be debated, and if that passes that will be the 18th piece of reforming health legislation that has been passed in the health portfolio since coming to term.

I am exceptionally proud of the reforms and achievements of our government in the health portfolio. We absolutely are committed to improving and protecting the health and wellbeing of Victorians. Examples of this include safe access zones around termination clinics to stop women being harassed when they are accessing lawful health care; no jab, no play laws to protect our youngest and our most vulnerable from disease and the quacks that peddle antivaccination science; a new health complaints commissioner to crack down on dodgy practitioners and those that peddle horrific abuse, whether that is fake cancer cures or gay conversion therapy; the first laws to give access to medicinal cannabis to some of our sickest children; and, one of my proudest achievements, we were the first state in the nation to successfully pass voluntary assisted dying laws.

The contrast with the other side is very, very stark. On the one side we invest, we empower and we protect.

Honourable members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hawthorn will leave the chamber for the period of 1 hour.

Honourable member for Hawthorn withdrew from chamber.

Ms HENNESSY: Those opposite cut $1 billion out of the health system. They went to war with the health workforce. They disrespected our nurses and our paramedics. They delivered the worst elective surgery results on record.

Mr Clark: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister is now proceeding to debate issues rather than make a ministers statement. I ask you to bring her back to compliance with sessional orders.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. I ask the minister to come back to making a statement.

Ms HENNESSY: Of course that sits in stark contrast with having delivered the best ambulance response times on record, the lowest elective surgery wait lists, extraordinary investment — the highest level of investment in health capital across the state — the best vaccination rates across the state and the highest number of nurses and doctors employed in this state, all because Labor governments invest in health.