Wednesday, 17 August 2022

 Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (09:41): Regional Victorians deserve their fair share and a health system that works. The Nationals and Liberals will fix Victoria’s health crisis. We have had eight long years of Labor’s mismanagement and neglect. Before the pandemic Daniel Andrews provided the lowest funding of any state in the nation’s history. Today surgery waitlists are at 87 000. Victorians are waiting in pain and in limbo for critical surgery. Seven out of 10 emergency calls to 000 are not being answered on time, and more than 35 people each and every day are stuck in emergency departments for more than 24 hours. Our first priority is to fix the health crisis. I congratulate Matthew Guy and Peter Walsh for this immense contribution to rebuilding Victoria’s health system and protecting us.

Our plans include shelving the $34 billion Cheltenham to Box Hill rail line and reprioritising every cent to Victorians and how they need it. This rail line is the most expensive and yet unscrutinised in Victoria’s history—indeed in Australia’s history. We will construct and upgrade hospitals across regional Victoria, including in West Gippsland. We will attract and retain staff in our health system, and we will have a regional infrastructure guarantee. Twenty-five per cent of the population deserve 25 per cent of the infrastructure spend. We will do it when we are elected on 26 November.