Thursday, 20 March 2025

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (09:48): I had the privilege last week of officially opening two new Ambulance Victoria branches in Yarram and Paynesville with the incredible ambulance community officers, auxiliaries and paramedics who are so very well respected and do so much to keep our local community safe and well. These exciting new stations opened late last year. They are custom built with modern and safe features to support our paramedics and ensure the community has 24-hour access to support. Each of them includes a three-bay ambulance garage, two rest-and-recline areas, longer-term accommodation facilities, training facilities and a fully equipped kitchen. Very impressively, Yarram branch has supported its local community for over 100 years, helping its first patient in 1923. While being what you could call a more youthful branch, having only been formed in 2006, I want to acknowledge the Paynesville auxiliary group, who took the branch from an idea into a house and now to a fully-fledged station. A big congratulations to Ruth, Elizabeth, Alan, Frances, Judith, Linda, Michelle, Jamie, Kym, Jean, Alice, Lynette, Marilyn, Steph, Trixy and Uwe for their fundraising work, which has been instrumental in supporting the Paynesville branch over decades and is a true testament to staying the course. Yarram and Paynesville are just two of the nine branches that have been upgraded in Gippsland. We have also made upgrades at Morwell, Foster, Moe, Sale, Orbost, Traralgon and Warragul. Just last month we passed legislation so we can deliver Australia’s first-ever paramedic practitioners.