Dear Editor,
New and upgraded hospitals and more beds to treat vulnerable Victorians desperate to shake the insidious claws of drug and alcohol addiction will change lives and save lives.
Regional Victorians were already facing poorer health outcomes before the pandemic put monumental pressure on our health workforce.
The past two years of uncertainty and surgery bans has left health workers exhausted and forced sick people to wait in pain as they’re stuck in a line of more than 80,000 Victorians on hospital waitlists.
Labor has been in power for 20 of the past 24 years. They are the ones that got us into this mess. They won’t be the ones to get us out of it.
Only a change in government in November will shift the focus to a policy agenda that will deliver a healthcare system that’s fair, properly resourced and accessible for us all.
The Nationals in government have promised reforms to unlock more health care workers to renew the depleted workforce, including with the nation’s largest recruitment drive.
This drive will see more scholarships on offer to enable more people to study, extra training places opened for psychologists and psychiatrists and relocation incentives to join the workforce.
The Nationals’ plan to rebuild healthcare in Victoria will also look long-term, with funding allocated for new and upgraded hospitals at Mildura, Warragul, Wodonga and St Arnaud, with more announcements to come.
It will also see a new Infectious Diseases Response Centre for Melbourne.
And we’ll make sure Victorians can access support to get out of addiction and get their lives back on track with new residential rehabilitation centres, including at the Latrobe Valley, Shepparton, Mildura and Warrnambool.
We deserve a healthcare system in regional Victoria that keeps up with growing demand and is properly resourced to take care of the health of our families and communities.
It’s time we got our fair share. We deserve a better deal. Only The Nationals in government in November will get it done.