Thursday, 27 August 2026

 Gabrielle WILLIAMS (Dandenong – Minister for Education, Minister for Skills and Training, Minister for First Peoples, Minister for Women and Gender Equality) (09:38): Since coming to government, Labor has made record investment in health care to ensure that families in Melbourne’s south-east can access the services that they need closer to home. We have already opened Australia’s first heart hospital in the south-east, and works will soon commence on a redevelopment of Dandenong Hospital, which will deliver nine new operating theatres, a 16-bed intensive care unit and an upgraded day surgery admission space, among other things. This redevelopment will mean shorter wait times, more treatment capacity and access to high-quality care when and where people need it most. The new facilities will also improve working environments for our healthcare workers and create additional frontline healthcare jobs.

Only Labor governments invest in the services that Victorians rely on. Labor has rolled out the mental health and wellbeing locals to support Victorians through their toughest times. Urgent care clinics are operating across the state, including in Dandenong, making it easier for families to get care in non-emergency situations and for free. Smile Squad has been expanded, and now we are making sure that all Victorians can access the dental care they need for free through a commitment to 10 free dental clinics. You will never see Jess Wilson and her Liberal–One Nation coalition building or opening new hospitals. They will sell them off, they will sack workers and they will cut funding to health services, as they have always done. My community cannot afford that, and that is why Labor will keep fighting for working people.

The SPEAKER: I remind members about correct titles in the chamber.