Thursday, 19 February 2026

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (10:14): There are too many hospitals that remain cash-strapped under the Allan Labor government, and it is very, very concerning for the communities that have these hospitals in their areas. Corryong Health has $0, West Wimmera Health, $0; Hesse Rural Health, $500,000 in reserve; Omeo District Health, $600,000; Beechworth Health Service, $700,000; Mansfield District Health, $1 million; and Kerang District Health, $1 million.

Now, they may sound a lot of figures, the million dollars, but the zero figure is very concerning, and this is what happens when you mismanage the budget. What that means for those hospitals and health services is that they cannot pay their bills and they cannot pay their staff. This is what Labor has intended to do – squeeze them of cash, and then they are forced to amalgamate. It was always a slow squeeze, and it is working according to the government’s plan. But it is disgraceful because it is jobs and it is people not being able to access the health service that they need within their community. Yet again we have got hospitals with no reserves and the annual reports where the government took out the cash reserves, which were always reported, the lack of transparency. Meanwhile, $15 billion of taxpayer money has gone in to line the pockets of bikies and criminals under the watch of this government, and they refuse to acknowledge it. They deflect, they deny and then they gaslight – (Time expired)