Wednesday, 31 July 2024

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (09:48): This Labor government is a government that is out of money, out of answers and out of touch. This is a government that was elected on an extensive list of promises that it subsequently abandoned, neglected, dumped or delayed. Whether it is the doubling of free kindergarten hours for four-year-olds – which was delayed – the airport rail link, the new Royal Melbourne Hospital or hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, this government has walked away from what they put to the electorate before the election.

It is not just these familiar ones that are in the media that have been dumped or delayed. In my region, Eastern Victoria Region, many promises made by this government have been abandoned, not started or walked away from. They promised Pakenham a new community hospital, which was meant to be started in 2018. They delayed it once again, and we know that it will not be delivered within the new timeline that they have given. The Phillip Island hospital is running behind. The upgrades to the Pakenham and Emerald colleges have not begun. San Remo Primary School has not received the funding it was promised, and there is still no money for stages 2 or 3 of the Wonthaggi Hospital upgrades. Does anyone take them seriously when they declare a billion-dollar surplus before the next election? As I said at the start of this, the government is out of money, out of answers, out of touch, and I will add another one: out of time.