Tuesday, 12 August 2025

Health system

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (13:59): ‘I just can’t afford to ask the questions about my health I should, and when I do I end up stuck in limbo waiting for specialist services’; ‘Teeth are bad and suffer from conditions that are easily treated through medication but just can’t afford the cost or time off work’; ‘Haven’t properly managed mental health issue as it’s been too expensive to continue to see a psychologist’: this is just a snapshot of what I have heard recently from countless people across my electorate. Communities across western Victoria are overwhelmingly struggling to access the health care they need when they need it.

In Victoria the cost of health care should not impact your quality of life, but for so, so many this is a reality. In fact in a recent survey of my electorate 90 per cent of people let me know that health services are too expensive. Bulk-billing GPs, psychologists and dental care were among the most common healthcare professionals that people had trouble accessing. This is basic health care. It is fundamental to wellbeing, physical and emotional, and the fact that the Allan Labor government continues to pour money into the grand prix, arms manufacturing and fossil fuel subsidies rather than ensuring that health services are affordable is completely bewildering. Overwhelmingly people want access to free dental, free GPs and more affordable mental health care. These are things that could be delivered through greater investment and expansion of community health centres, and it is about time this government delivered.