Wednesday, 31 July 2024

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (10:22): Communities in and around Mansfield, Alexandra and Yea are incredibly worried about the threat of hospital amalgamations and what it will mean for them. The communities got active, with each town holding a rally and arranging a petition. The Alexandra petition has more than 3000 signatures; petitions in Yea collected over 4570; and the Mansfield community did an amazing job, collecting over 7700 signatures. These are small towns with long and historical connections with their hospital. They want health services delivered locally. They want decisions made locally. They want local jobs, and they want their hospitals to survive.

Congratulations to Linda and Ian Davis, along with Caolan O’Connor from the Alexandra traders and tourism association, who drove the rally and the petition. So many small businesses in Marysville, Eildon, Thornton, Buxton and Taggerty did their bit to support the petition. In Yea, Jan and Neil Beer put in an enormous effort holding a rally and getting the petition moving. They were everywhere, making the most of opportunities. Only a handful of the thousands asked elected not to sign the petition. We saw the general practitioners in Mansfield take the bull by the horns. They took out a full-page ad in the Mansfield Courier and had more than 2000 people attend an outdoor rally, complete with the MAD Orchestra, and they worked diligently with the community to get signatures.

The Allan Labor government cannot manage money and they cannot manage major projects, and it is Victorians who are paying the price. This money that was lost on CFMEU projects could have been used to help our hospitals.