Thursday, 30 May 2024

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Mental health services

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:01): (549) My question is to the Minister for Mental Health. Minister, you have slashed spending on new mental health initiatives to just over one-tenth of the $1 billion the government expects to gouge from Victorian businesses via the mental health and wellbeing levy. Has the government given up on meeting its royal commission commitments?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:01): Absolutely not. I do take issue with the way you have framed your question, Ms Crozier, because the budget papers clearly show that output funding for the 2024–‍25 financial year is almost $3 billion, which is a historic high, and our government is proud of our record investment in mental health since the royal commission handed down its report in 2021. We have already invested $6 billion into many, many initiatives. On 90 per cent of the recommendations, we are underway with the work to implement those. We have record output funding in the budget, which is almost double what it was prior to the royal commission. I am on the public record, as is the Premier, that we are absolutely committed to continuing the reform journey and implementing every single one of the royal commission’s recommendations.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:02): Well, Minister, thank you for your response. Commissioner Alan Fels does not agree with you. He said that the budget ‘indicates a significant slowdown’ by the government on implementing its election promise to fulfil the recommendations of the royal commission. So which recommendations have you decided to drop as indicated by your budget cuts?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:03): We are not dropping any. I have just made it abundantly clear to the house that we will be implementing every single one of the recommendations contained in the report. I want to thank Professor Fels because he was one of the commissioners who was of course instrumental in setting out a very clear road map for the Victorian government to reform the mental health system and rebuild it from the ground up. So any notion that this government is doing anything other than pursuing those reforms with intent is an absolute fabrication by those opposite.