Thursday, 30 October 2025

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (23:21): (2073) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Health, and the action that I am seeking is an update on the new Cranbourne community hospital and how it will be providing more support for people in the south-east community.

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Michael GALEA: I am not sure why you do not support community hospitals, Ms Crozier, but they are indeed a fantastic thing. The new Cranbourne community hospital is already providing dialysis, pharmacy, pathology and adult mental health services, and in the coming weeks and months it will include aged care, youth and family services, youth mental health services, dental, audiology and ophthalmology services.

Ann-Marie Hermans interjected.

Michael GALEA: I am not sure why you are complaining, Mrs Hermans. It is a great new community hospital in our local community. It has been open for several weeks. I note your notice of motion from earlier in the week, but it has actually already opened. It is already providing fantastic services to our local community. It is great to see the advocacy of the hardworking member for Cranbourne in helping to see this through to completion. I know Mr Tarlamis and I are both very excited about what this means for our community and the services it provides for the community.

Ann-Marie Hermans interjected.

Michael GALEA: I hear Mrs Hermans saying that there is no hospital. It is there. It is standing. It is on Berwick-Cranbourne Road, the extension of Sladen Street. You can even go there yourself, Mrs Hermans, and see it. It is in your electorate. You can go and have a look yourself. I encourage you to do so and check out the amazing services that Monash Health are providing in this community hospital that is providing community and local health services.

In doing so, it is also helping to alleviate the pressure on neighbouring hospitals, including Casey Hospital – I am very excited to see the upcoming major upgrade to its emergency room as well. Of course on the other side you have got the new Frankston Hospital – Peninsula University Hospital, soon to be called – the $1.1 billion investment, the largest single hospital investment outside of inner Melbourne in this state’s history. It is a very exciting project. People in Cranbourne will have Casey to one side upgraded, and they will have the brand new Peninsula University Hospital to the other side. For those local community-based healthcare services, they will have the Cranbourne community hospital.

It is disappointing that the Liberals cannot seem to support this policy or indeed see that we need to provide different levels of care, whether it is tertiary and acute-level hospitals, whether it is community hospitals, whether it is urgent care clinics or the virtual emergency department as well – another very important service that members of the opposition do not seem to either know about or care about. I do not know, but people I have spoken to in the community who have used the VED have found it to be incredibly useful as well. Cranbourne is a very exciting hospital to see open, this new community hospital, and one of many, many initiatives that we are providing to support the healthcare needs of people in Cranbourne and the south-east.