Tuesday, 2 June 2026

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (22:20): (2530) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health Infrastructure. The action I seek is for the minister to explain what has happened to the promised Armstrong Creek ambulance station, account for the discrepancy in project spending and provide a firm timeline for construction and completion.

Jaclyn Symes interjected.

Georgie CROZIER: Well, there is a bit in this, but I am putting it into context, Treasurer. Few projects better illustrate the gap between Labor’s election promises and Labor’s delivery than the Armstrong Creek ambulance station. The project was first promised before the 2022 election, with more than $30 million allocated to deliver a new ambulance station for one of Victoria’s fastest growing communities. In the 2023 budget the government formally funded the project and told local residents it would improve ambulance response times and better support paramedics across the Geelong region. Three years later, not a sod has been turned.

At the recent budget estimates hearings the minister and departmental officials revealed that the project remains mired in uncertainty. All they could confirm was that the first site has been discarded, a second site is challenging and now they are looking around. It was farcical. Do yourself a favour and read the transcript as the minister and her departmental head babble on about it. It was just quite extraordinary. When asked whether the station could be delivered by the end of the next financial year, they just went on about something else. They could not provide a guarantee. This is another episode of Yes Minister if ever there was one.

The people of Armstrong Creek and the surrounding areas of Geelong were led to believe this station was on its way. Instead the government is trying to work out where it will go. The latest budget papers have pushed completion back to 2028–29 and show that less than $1 million has been spent on a project allocated more than $30 million. We just asked the Treasurer in the committee stage here about that money, and still there were no answers on where on earth the money is. Even more concerning, there appears to be a discrepancy between what was reported as expenditure in previous budget papers and what is now recorded, raising questions about where some $2 million in previously reported spending has gone. For a government that never misses a photo opportunity when making a promise, it is remarkable how difficult it has become to find evidence of progress when it comes time to deliver. As my colleague in the other place Mr Riordan said during the budget hearings:

You could almost wallpaper this room with the amount of photos that Labor politicians took in front of promises –

for this community –

at the 2022 election.

It is time for the minister to come clean and tell the people of Armstrong Creek and the surrounding Geelong area when, or perhaps if, they can expect their ambulance station.