Wednesday, 31 August 2022

 Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:44): (1960) My constituency question is for the Minister for Health. We heard this week that New South Wales and Victoria will work together to create a new GP clinic in Wodonga-Albury to take pressure off the failing hospital emergency system. I applaud the initiative. It should prove to be a much better class of tent than those pitched outside hospitals. However, given the enthusiasm on show from both the New South Wales and Victorian governments for joint health funding, it would have been the perfect opportunity to announce funding for our new, long-awaited hospital. More facilities in Northern Victoria are welcome. However, a community that is still waiting to see the master plan for the new hospital may well wonder if this is just an excuse to kick that can further down the road. The Wodonga-Albury area needs a new hospital; no amount of interim health half-measures will take that away. The ongoing failure to announce funding can only mean that the government does not support our new hospital. So I ask: Minister, is this clinic announcement just a cynical excuse to cover up the failure to commit to a new hospital for the north-east, or will you be announcing the new hospital for Albury-Wodonga before the election?