Wednesday, 19 November 2025

 Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (11:11): It is time for the committee report of fortune. Again today, similar to last week, I am doing the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2025–26 budget estimates. Let us see what I will talk about as my first subject. The Department of Health – that is a good one. It is no secret, and I talk about this often, that when we talk about the Department of Health and the public health system, there is a critical underfunding for infrastructure. I love these reports that come out. Every year they are just another way for the government to give themselves a pat on the back and say how well they are doing. Meanwhile those of us that can think for ourselves go, ‘That’s just simply not true.’

I have been saying in this chamber for three years now – the member for Narracan also illustrated the same thing – that critical health infrastructure investment is needed, particularly in the regions. 350 beds are what the Mildura Base Public Hospital has. We desperately need another 30, at a minimum. I had another email the other day about people waiting in emergency departments for over 24 hours. At the last election the Nationals and the Liberals made a commitment of $750 million. With the state of the finances – the interest repayments and the debt levels – I have been saying, ‘You know what, as a bare minimum 30 beds are what we need.’ Thankfully, in all honesty, the administration at the Mildura Base Public Hospital have taken the initiative themselves, outside of their scope, and gone, ‘You know what, we actually need to move outpatient services off this campus to free up some administration, free up some room, and actually put extra beds in’ – because they simply cannot have people dying in hallways anymore. They are sick of it. The hardworking staff in that hospital should not have to deal with that on a weekly basis.

Next subject – let us see what I will bring up this time. No, that is health again; I was obviously very fixated on that. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Housing – how are those targets going? Again, the level of delusion that comes from the other side with regard to every subject in this report is simply mind-blowing. It is almost like – I do not want to use the word ‘cult’, but that is what it is like – if someone says something, everyone believes it and nods along and goes, ‘Yes, that’s right,’ when the reality on the ground is it is simply not true.

We have got people sleeping rough in tiny towns and regional centres like we have never seen before. Thankfully, in Mildura we actually have an organisation – and I sent them a shout-out yesterday – the Mallee Accommodation and Support Program, affectionately known as MASP. This is an organisation that was brought together as an amalgamation of three different organisations back in the 1990s, because there were a group of people dedicated to housing, in particular, youth, men and families trying to escape family violence. This is a community organisation that has brought together all of these needs, recognised the needs. It is a community-led solution, which is what we actually need – community-led, not data-led, because you can make data sing any way you want it to. MASP do such an amazing job. We have just opened another six units, called Doug’s Place, which will house those that are currently sleeping on the streets. They are just remarkable in the work that they are doing.

I say this all the time to the government: there are organisations already doing remarkable community-led work in every space. But MASP are doing it on the ground and literally going out and housing those that are sleeping rough, that do not have a home, that do not have a roof over their head, that need the extra wraparound support services, instead of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing often working in silos alongside one another. I have run out of time; I could go for another half an hour.