Cohealth
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:19): My question is to the Premier. The clock is ticking for community health. Public pressure has forced a temporary reprieve to keep Cohealth GP services in Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington open until July. But if Cohealth does not receive confirmation of a long-term sustainable funding solution by the end of April, it has said it has no choice but to start winding up its services and permanently close its Collingwood facility. These clinics provide free wraparound health care to over 12,500 people, many of whom would otherwise have no affordable alternative. Premier, will your government deliver funding before the April deadline so that these clinics are not forced to close?
Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Women) (14:20): Thank you, Premier, and I thank the member for Richmond for her question. As the member for Richmond well knows, right now the Victorian government is working with the federal government. We are undertaking a review of Cohealth in order to understand what led to the decision that the Cohealth board made. We are all committed to ensuring that Cohealth can continue to deliver a full suite of community health services to people at its various sites. But it is premature to be seeking an answer given that the independent review has not yet been finalised.
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:21): Thank you to the minister. The review was handed down on Monday, and while it may be new, the problem certainly is not. Regardless of what the review contains, the patients and the staff deserve certainty and we cannot afford to lose our Cohealth services. Community health relies on state funding for infrastructure and service delivery, and right now they are facing closure. If the Allan Labor government can pull out $400 million for a corporate stand at the grand prix, it can afford 1 per cent of that for our community health centres. Infrastructure for community health centres is clearly a state responsibility, and the Collingwood centre is crumbling after years of government neglect. The government has ample evidence – years of budget requests. Is this Labor government going to stand by while Collingwood loses its community health centre?
The SPEAKER: Member for Richmond, was your question still to the Premier or was it to the Minister for Health?
Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Women) (14:22): I reject the premise of the question. The review has not yet been finalised, and the government, once it is finalised, will consider the findings of that review. But I do remind the member, as I have done on a number of occasions, that the issue at hand at Cohealth went to the provision of primary care services and they of course are funded by the Commonwealth government through Medicare. But of course our government is absolutely committed to our independent community health service system. It is why we support them in the work that they do right across the state.
Gabrielle de Vietri: On a point of order on relevance, Speaker, the question was about health infrastructure, not primary care.
Mary-Anne THOMAS: Again, as I have already indicated, once that review is complete and has been received by government, it will be assessed by both the state and federal governments.