AS the Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains I’m sending a warning that Swan Hill not be misled by the Allan Labor government’s “alleged backflip” on proposed hospital mergers.
Mergers are mergers, no matter how much spin they are framed with, and I am calling on locals to support The Nationals and their Hands Off Our Hospitals petition before it is too late.
Right now, 22 of the 23 health services covering regional Victoria are running at a loss and with the Allan Labor government spending money faster than it is printed, it’s only going to get worse.
Jacinta Allan will force her cost-cutting mergers through, by hook or by crook.
Don’t think for a minute you can believe anything she says to the contrary.
Which is why The Nationals have launched a petition.
Regional health services are in crisis, elective surgeries are being cut, ambulance services are failing to meet critical targets due to insufficient resources and lives are at risk.
I know of repeated cases where
patients are enduring over 24-hour waits in emergency rooms and staff at hospitals are even being told to turn the lights off to save on power bills.
And I would love to hear the explanation for that gem, after all, this is the government which guaranteed us power prices would go down under its untried, unworkable and unreal green energy policies.
Despite Victoria’s precarious
financial position, health-care cuts, job losses, and mega-mergers are not the answers regional Victoria needs – or needs to hear.
I am appealing to all Victorians, not just those in regional areas, to join us in demanding better.
It’s not how much you spend, it is where you spend it.
If just the billions of dollars in cost overruns on Melbourne’s raft of projects going nowhere fast was directed to areas where it is actually needed, such as health, education, our police and frontline responders, you would see some immediate improvements and over the long haul a much better system.
So please, stand with us and fight for regional Victoria.
To support the petition, visit www.handsoffourhospitals.com.au
