Wednesday, 17 June 2026

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Health, Minister for Water) (12:53): We know that the hours and days immediately after birth are critical for bonding, in particular between Mum and bub, and that is why the Allan Labor government is backing in our nurses and midwives to provide additional support and ensure that babies with additional needs can stay with Mum. Last week I had the great pleasure of joining the Premier, the ANMF secretary Maddy Harradence, nurses and midwives to announce the extension and expansion of the neonatal postnatal support nurse program. This pilot was introduced to provide registered nurse roles within postnatal wards to support midwifery staff in delivering care to newborns who require more support, and the hospitals already running these programs have reported really positive results, like fewer hospital readmissions of neonates and fewer complications like hypothermia and hypoglycaemia. It also means more support and more pathways into a really rewarding career in midwifery. As one of the participants at Barwon noted:

We don’t know how we worked before without them. The improved staff satisfaction speaks for itself.

Our $8.1 million investment boosts the program across the state to every level 6 maternity hospital and doubles its workforce from 32 to 65 nurses. We are also really pleased to welcome Victoria’s first chief midwife Elisa McDonald. She is an expert in her profession and will ensure that the voices and perspectives of midwives are embedded in our maternity work.

We have listened to our dedicated workforce and also to Victorian families and we are investing in these programs that make a difference because that is what Labor governments do. By contrast, the coalition, when they were in government, went to war with our nurses. They ran a campaign of cuts and closures and privatisations. Given the chance, they will do it again. They walked away from nurse-to-patient ratios. They did not care about safe systems of work. They opposed any meaningful increase to wages for people as part of enterprise negotiations, and they will continue to do that, because that is who they are.