Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Wonthaggi Hospital

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (17:50): (183) My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, and the action that I seek is that he blocks any plans by the Labor government to cut the $290 million upgrade promised to the Wonthaggi Hospital. The Guardian reported on 17 April that due to the Labor government’s mismanagement of the state budget they are planning to make cuts in health and in infrastructure in the upcoming budget. Our health system is in crisis. Elective surgery waitlists have ballooned to over 80,000, it is nearly impossible to get a GP appointment in country Victoria and serious illnesses go undiagnosed and untreated, yet the Labor government thinks health and infrastructure are good places to make cuts.

Last election the Labor Party promised the people of Bass a $290 million redevelopment of the Wonthaggi Hospital, and now my constituents are very concerned that these critical upgrades promised by Daniel Andrews are going to be cut or swept under the carpet. Instead of cutting funding to health and infrastructure, why doesn’t the Treasurer consider making cuts to some of these areas? Maybe the $150 million the government spent on advertising in 2022, the $177 million that in the last year alone the government has spent on consultants or maybe the $760,000 the government spends for diversity officers for Ambulance Victoria rather than giving them the resources that they need. I urge the Treasurer to block any plans to break Labor’s promise to the people of Wonthaggi and to guarantee that we will get our $290 million redevelopment in this year’s budget.