TRANSCRIPT:
That is a hard act to follow. It is with great privilege that I can finally rise today to speak on this motion brought forward by the Minister for Health. This is a motion that boasts about the government’s efforts to help Victorians starting or growing their family and in the critical early years of their children’s lives. I do often find myself talking about how disappointing it is to hear Labor members boast about a thriving health system while regional Victoria is still doing it so tough. As Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health, this is an issue that I have raised in Parliament on multiple occasions. Sadly, the efforts of this government have simply not been enough to provide good outcomes for regional Victorian families. Every Victorian family, irrespective of where they live, deserves quality health care. This is a fundamental right, and it should not be seen as a luxury.
Our hospitals are underfunded, ambulance response times are absolutely appalling and the barriers to accessing mental health services are pretty extreme. These barriers, including the high costs and long waitlists, are disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable in our communities. Our community-owned hospitals have begged the government for support yet continue to be ignored by minister after minister. Maternity care is one area that perhaps suffers the most in regional areas. The critical lack of resources in our regional communities is very genuinely putting lives at risk. While I have my own personal experience with this, I know I am not alone. Regional maternity care is personal for me; nearly five years ago my hospital lacked the resources to provide a safe birth for my son Arthur.
When I was elected to this role I vowed to leave a better legacy for young people and future generations of this electorate so that my children and yours can choose to live in regional communities without disadvantage. Speaking up on motions like this gives us the opportunity. After my own experience I became a community adviser working to improve health and safety outcomes for patients at a local hospital under extreme pressure from population growth and negligent government support. Devastatingly, I have had countless conversations with women just like me: women like Ellen from Nagambie and Meg from Heathcote. Meg had the first baby born at her local hospital in 30 years. She initially presented at a larger regional hospital in labour but was turned away because they were too busy. Meg and her baby almost died at her local hospital because they simply did not have the equipment needed to appropriately care for them. There are too many horror stories about unsafe births, unsuitable facilities and our local hospitals simply not being able to provide maternity services.
Every aspect of regional Victoria’s health system is deteriorating. Extensive ambulance wait times and out-of-control surgery waitlists are also of major concern. People are waiting for urgent medical attention with their lives hanging in the balance for upwards of 25 minutes before help arrives. I have heard stories from my constituents of the wait time reaching 2 hours, with absolutely devastating consequences. Under questioning from the Liberals and Nationals during Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearings Department of Health officials confirmed nearly 1400 Victorians were removed from the elective surgery waitlist because they died during 2022–23, 20 Victorians died due to Ambulance Victoria’s failure across 24 months to June 2023 and nearly 19,000 taxi trips were used to transport Victorian patients because an ambulance was not available. On top of the blown-out ambulance wait times, our hospitals are gasping under the mounting strain. Our category 1 surgery waitlist, the most urgent there is, ballooned by 45 per cent in just three months. These are people’s families, loved ones and children suffering. We have seen cuts of up to 15 per cent to our grassroots and preventative services, including programs to address chronic illnesses and contributing factors such as smoking, vaping, unhealthy eating and physical inactivity. So rather than boasting, this government must step up and ensure that our communities and all the people in them are safe and make sure that our healthcare providers can operate effectively, because at the moment neither of those things are guaranteed.
While on this motion it is important to address this government’s claims that they are improving the critical early years of children’s lives. Our child care continues to be an issue plaguing our regional communities – and I sound like a broken record. A survey I recently organised really highlighted the dire state of child care in the region, with responses from all over the electorate sharing their concerns. The survey, which was launched in June and remains open to responses, asked members of the community several questions about their experience in accessing child care. Responses have been received from major towns across the electorate, including Avenel, Benalla, Broadford and Rushworth, and smaller towns throughout the region. There are far too many people in our community who are struggling to access childcare options. From both the survey and the conversations with my community it is clear there are so many parents wanting to get back into the workforce who cannot, because they are unable to get their kids into child care. This is a handbrake on our community and places a hurdle in front of young people who want to raise their families in the country.
Some of the other issues raised in the responses include multiyear waitlists, a lack of childcare providers in their town and families relocating to other areas to access better childcare options. Overwhelmingly, 100 per cent of respondents said they had been adversely impacted by access to child care in the region; 100 per cent of respondents shared that the limited childcare options had resulted in their being unable to get back to work or training. Of those that were looking, the responses highlighted a significant reliance on family and friends for child care, because there were no other options. More than 50 per cent relied on family and friends a great deal, and many did not have that option. We have already campaigned for Avenel to receive a new childcare centre, but the issue extends across the entire electorate and across the entire state for regional Victoria. Seymour is set to receive an early learning centre, but even this, it has been confirmed, will not be ready until after 2028. Our towns are not inaccessible backwaters, but they are placed at a disadvantage when child care is so rare.
I do want to thank the Minister for Health and the Attorney-General in the other place for their letter targeted towards me in a somewhat recent edition of the North Central Review newspaper. While speaking on issues brought directly to me by our local medical professionals may seem like a fear campaign to them and this government, it is what I like to call community advocacy, something foreign to many members of their party. As someone who has volunteered at local hospitals that suffered years of government neglect I invite them both to meet with our local healthcare providers, GPs and other medical professionals. They are the people who raised these concerns with me, and I suggest the minister learns how they really feel about this Labor government.
Of the 27 priority primary care centres you boast about, there are none in the Euroa electorate that I represent. Nineteen of these are in Labor electorates and just five in Nationals or Liberal seats. It is a disgrace. For people in my community, access to general practice is not being improved but rather going backwards under this government. GPs are already suffering with significant waitlists or are just flat out unable to accept new patients. To best serve our communities and provide the care our locals require, these GPs need more support, not less, and not a cash grab new tax. The flow-on effect has reached our urgent care facilities. Our GPs are already having an incredibly difficult time.
Your commitment to ensuring all Victorian communities have health care available close to home, especially in rural and remote locations, is just talk. Hospitals in my region are struggling and in need of assistance to remain open. As things stand we are seeing mergers between different hospitals just to keep the doors open. For the hospitals that are staying open the resources are limited. Benalla is without a dialysis facility despite frequent appeals to this government. Nexus in Kilmore is dependent on community funding. Maternity facilities in Heathcote are non-existent. The closest PET scan machine is in the next electorate. Euroa Health has partnered with cattle yards and farmers to raise funds for equipment. In Seymour a recent report into women’s disadvantages in our community highlights the town being on the periphery of crucial health services.