Wednesday, 23 September 2026

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (17:07): I rise to make a statement on a petition tabled yesterday bearing 2295 signatures calling for a new public hospital in Tarneit by 2030. This is a petition that addresses the future of some of Victoria’s fastest growing communities in Wyndham and Tarneit and their access to public health care. It is a request that government planning catch up with reality. Wyndham is not a community that might grow one day; it is growing right now, faster than almost anywhere else in the state, and the health system has to grow with it.

Wyndham is now home to around 337,000 people – bigger than the City of Greater Geelong – and is projected to reach approximately 500,000 people by 2040. Think about what that means in practical terms. That is close to doubling the size of an average regional city in less than two decades, all within the boundaries of a single municipality. The expansion of health infrastructure is currently not keeping pace with the growth of the population. Wyndham City Council’s 2025 health status assessment found that Wyndham had just 298 public hospital beds. That is 0.88 beds per 1000 people, compared with 2.23 beds per 1000 across Victoria. The same report estimates the municipality currently needs around 797 public hospital beds, increasing to more than 1200 by 2046. They have identified inadequate hospital infrastructure and capacity as a significant challenge for the community. These figures tell us something very important: we cannot plan tomorrow’s health system using yesterday’s population.

The growth in Tarneit is particularly significant. Tarneit’s population was estimated at 69,268 in 2024. It is projected to reach 87,080 by 2030, over 112,000 by 2040 and 125,000 by 2046 – an increase of around 81 per cent in just 22 years. Yet Wyndham city’s own health assessment identifies Tarneit, Truganina, Manor Lakes and Wyndham Vale as areas where health infrastructure is lagging behind population growth, with residents needing to travel outside their suburbs and sometimes outside Wyndham to access health services. What this means is that for a young family with a sick child, for an older resident managing a health condition or for anyone facing a medical emergency it is a distance that is not only an inconvenience but also a significant health risk. We recognise the investment already being made at the Werribee Mercy Hospital. The emergency department will increase treatment spaces from 33 to 67 and is designed to accommodate an extra 25,000 emergency presentations every year. We welcome that investment, but we must also be honest about what it means. An expanded emergency department is not the same as a new public hospital. A growing municipality needs not just emergency care but inpatient beds, maternity services, paediatric services, mental health care, surgery, diagnostics, specialist services and allied health – and I could go on. It needs births to happen close to home. It needs surgery waiting lists that reflect local demand. It needs mental health support that patients can reach without a lengthy commute at a time when they are least able to make one. And it needs these services to be geographically accessible with appropriate public transport infrastructure in place and delivered in the communities that are growing the fastest.

That is why over 2000 signatories – paper signatories, and in just three weeks, mind you – are calling for a clear planning and funding pathway for a public hospital in Tarneit, with a goal of delivery by 2030. This is not about replacing or upgrading Werribee Mercy Hospital, it is about complementing Werribee Mercy, expanding the public health network and planning for the future population of Wyndham. We cannot wait until Tarneit has 125,000 residents before we start planning the health infrastructure required to serve them. Planning must start now. The people of Tarneit deserve healthcare infrastructure that matches the size, growth and needs of their community. Health care is a right, not a luxury. I commend this petition to the house.