HEALTH, roads, education and infrastructure have been named among Mallee’s top priorities ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget.
Member for Mallee Anne Webster, who will experience her first full budget in opposition, said funding for a university wet lab in Mildura and additional supported places for university students was critical.
“I firmly believe that training our own workforce is a key element that we’ve just got to invest in locally,” Dr Webster said.
“This year is the lowest intake of nurses at La Trobe locally, which is really concerning, and we need to address why that is and ensure that young people see it as a career opportunity.”
Dr Webster has consistently pushed for a resolution to health recruitment issues for four years.
She didn’t expect more funding forthcoming for a second stage of the new Swan Hill emergency department.
“I’ve written to Mark Butler regarding the Swan Hill hospital, and the fact that it desperately needs more money,” she said.
“He has written back to me and said that Mary-Anne Thomas has not written to him requesting that.
“So I don’t believe that there will be funding for the Swan Hill hospital because of the system that they’ve got in place, but I have the letter with that evidence.”
Additionally, Dr Webster noted multiple roads, aged care, sports-facility and education projects she’d like funded across the electorate.
“I’ve done all my lobbying over the last 10 months to the various ministers about the needs that we have here and my hope is that they are taken into consideration,” she said.
“I would really like to see that they are funded under this government, I’m not holding my breath.”
Dr Webster said she was in the process of doing research to assess Mallee’s overall GDP and tax contributions to the economy, and would compare the government funding Mallee receives to other electorates.
“My expectation is that we receive far less than we ought to, so I’ll be making a statement about that in due course,” she said.
