Thursday, 16 November 2023

Ministers statements: Mulgrave electorate health funding

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:24): I rise to update the house on the Allan Labor government’s work to support the health and wellbeing of the people of Mulgrave. I note the Leader of the Opposition’s comments that the Labor Party has neglected Mulgrave for years. What a statement. I will tell you what the Leader of the Opposition neglected to mention. He neglected to mention we have delivered unprecedented investments to the people of Mulgrave and indeed right across the south-east. These include of course our $577 million heart hospital – Australia’s first heart hospital – and a Monash Medical Centre emergency department expansion with a specialist paediatric emergency area. Far from neglecting Mulgrave, we are pushing on with our commitment to further expanding Monash Medical Centre.

We are also delivering one of 20 of our women’s health clinics at Monash Health. But we are doing even more than that. We have delivered priority primary care centres at Monash Children’s and nearby Glen Waverley, which together have seen more than 15,000 presentations, and we are helping the people of Mulgrave access the primary care they need through our community pharmacy pilot, with participating pharmacies in Springvale, Noble Park and Wheelers Hill – what a list. They must have had a good member, and come Saturday, they are on track to have yet another.

I say this to the people of Mulgrave: if you want a hardworking person, a person who is committed to her community with runs on the board, then you need look no further than Eden Foster from Mulgrave. I look forward to her joining our government, joining the Allan Labor government that is continuing to deliver for the people of Mulgrave, because only Labor can be trusted to invest in the health care that all Victorians need, including those that live in Mulgrave.