TRANSCRIPT:
I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the member for Northcote’s matter of public importance today, although I wholeheartedly disagree with her premise and believe it is completely inappropriate following today’s behaviour. After witnessing the behaviour of the Premier earlier today and her willingness to stand with a former Labor MP who allegedly mistreated women and staff, this matter of public importance is offensive towards every Victorian woman. This follows Labor enabling the misogynistic and thuggish behaviour of the CFMEU and Labor MPs offering personal support towards someone convicted of domestic violence offences. So let us call this what it is – an attempt to win female votes while at the same time treating women like ignorant fools who are not aware of the harm this government has caused to them and their families.
When it comes to health care it is difficult to understand the delusion that this government shows. Simply put, health care in our state is in trouble, and there is no ignoring that. It is only getting worse. If we just look at women’s health, the situation is not better. Under this government we have seen public IVF services and hospital budgets slashed. We have seen a blatant lack of support for child and maternal health services, particularly in our regional communities. This government is content to leave Victorian women to languish on waitlists for vital surgeries and is forcing hospital mergers that are set to have a significant impact on the ability for people to access health care locally. This is a government hell-bent on destroying what was once heralded as one of the best healthcare systems in the world, evident in the prestigious 2015 King’s Fund report.
Labor talks a big game when it comes to health, but the reality is that its savage budget cuts and forced savings have devastated and will devastate Victoria’s public health services and have an impact on Victorian women’s health. This hypocrisy was on full display in this year’s budget, cruelly slashing vital programs for women and babies. The early childhood sector was cut by $79 million; wellbeing supports for school kids were cut by $34 million; child protection was cut by $141 million; family violence services were cut by $29 million; and women’s policy was cut, following a further cut the year prior, by $3 million on the previous year. What will this mean? Bed and ward closures, service closures, further cuts to elective planned surgery, slashed breast screening services, closure of dialysis units, staff cuts and worsening health outcomes for all Victorian women.
Despite hyping up its public IVF program, the future of the service is in doubt. There is no funding for overall service delivery listed beyond 2025–26, and only a small amount is being provided for public fertility care at present. Without funding security and certainty, thousands of Victorian women may be unable to realise their dreams of motherhood. These issues extend to maternal and perinatal health care too. We heard from the member for South-West Coast that 2.2 per cent of mothers in public hospitals are facing unplanned readmission within 28 days of discharge, partly due to mothers being forced out of hospitals too quickly after giving birth. I am standing proof of that after being discharged 6 hours after my previous birth from the Northern Hospital, resulting in mastitis two days later. On top of this, the rate of unplanned newborn readmissions remains higher than before COVID. Almost 29 per cent of women in public hospitals feel they are not involved as much as they want to be in decisions about their perinatal care.
These are the facts, and it is not just me saying this or the member for South-West Coast. On one of the Premier’s Facebook posts this week women across the state made their voices clear. I am going to directly quote from the Premier’s Facebook page:
People are suffering because of your poor decisions and you ignore them …
Another said:
Ignored. Dismissed. Gaslit.
And:
Exactly what you are doing to regional Victorians and their Hospitals.
I recently attended a community meeting in Seymour where more than 120 local residents shared similar frustrations about the possibility of hospital mergers. The Seymour community feels like they have been kept in the dark about the future of their beloved local health service, and they are not the only ones. Regional communities have some questions that should be answered about what mergers will mean for their jobs or their ability to access local health care. I have expressed these concerns in a letter to the Minister for Health and the board of the hospital and raised some of the questions that were asked during this meeting. It was clear just how important an issue this is for all of those in our community, and they do not feel supported when it comes to health care under this government.
While some of the information revealed was quite distressing, it was incredible to see the level of care our community has for our local health services. Our hospitals are a source of pride for our towns and must be given the proper support that they deserve. This is an issue that will, sadly, impact many of our communities across regional Victoria, and I have encouraged other towns in the region to make their voices heard to make sure that our local services are kept local and out of the hands of this government.
In the letter I wrote I questioned whether the Seymour Health board were even informed of the level of financial deficit of these metro hospitals or the staffing loss at these hospitals. To assume the priority of services or staff would flow back to a regional hospital from a major metropolitan hospital under immense pressure would be commercially naive. You can listen to your own community too. It is our local community who will pay the ultimate price. Replacing the community voice by moving local boards to larger hubs is not in our best interest, instead adding another level of bureaucracy for our community to access what it truly needs when it comes to health care.
The review of the Victorian health system was reinforced by the prestigious King’s Fund in 2015, commissioned, might I say, by the Department of Health. Now do your research. It stated Victoria had a well-understood governance model that gives boards running health services at a local level considerable autonomy, with a statewide framework of priorities. The report said Victorian health services had a culture of innovation, agility, a freedom to govern, all underpinned by a culture of organisational stability. All of this is under threat should these mergers happen. To go against these objective facts proves the Allan Labor government cannot manage our health system and does not care for regional women.
Mental health is another area that this government has brutally and cruelly ignored, with some of Victoria’s most vulnerable women being left without crucial support. The Allan Labor government deferred the establishment of 35 local mental health and wellbeing hubs, many in regional communities.
This decision makes a mockery of the mental health levy, which was supposed to fix this failed system. The levy imposed on employers has been in place since 1 January 2022, but it is clear the funds are being used elsewhere to plug the gaps in this debt-riddled budget. Year after year Labor make promises to support Victorians, only to quietly turn their backs, allowing our mental health system to decline further.
The Allan Labor government must prioritise consultation with the mental health sector rather than relying on political rhetoric. Having spoken with the sector at length, I was told of closures, long waitlists, an inability to make referrals and no handover between services for patients. When a local service in Broadford was forced to close its doors, nearby options were unable to take on their referrals, leaving vulnerable locals without a single low-cost option for counselling in the region. On the day we met, two ambulances were ramped out the front of a GP clinic on suicide watch. With a lack of bulk-billing options, many were simply unable to find mental health care that they could afford.
This government cannot manage money and it cannot manage a project, and regional women and their health are paying the ultimate price.