Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

In this grievance debate, I wish to raise a grievance in relation to the neglect of seniors within my electorate by the members of the state government of Victoria. But I do not just want to grieve; I want to present an alternative plan for seniors in the electorate of Flinders. I think it is our duty as members of parliament never simply to be critics but to be constructive proponents of that which must come before us. I want to set out first the failures at the state levels, but I wish to devote the bulk of my time to a constructive plan for the seniors in the electorate of Flinders. The people of Rosebud, Rye, Dromana, Hastings, Somerville, Mount Martha, Koo Wee Rup, Lang Lang, Grantville, San Remo and Phillip Island together make up what is demographically the fifth-oldest electorate in Australia. While seniors are a fundamental part of our society, this is especially so in the electorate of Flinders.

The problems that I have with the policies that have been put into place by the state government in Victoria are very simple. We have seen an exposure of our seniors: firstly, in relation to community safety and, secondly, in relation to health and recreation. In relation to policing, we see a risk that the police stations of Dromana and Sorrento may be closed. I set forth an absolutely ironclad pledge to fight this plan to the absolute end so as to prevent these stations from being closed down. The police on the Mornington Peninsula do a fantastic job, but there is more which needs to be done to give them the support that they need in order to support the community.

We also see services to Koo Wee Rup hospital being wound back. That, in turn, affects the quality of services available to seniors in the Western Port area. It is fundamentally important that we preserve these areas of support, whether it is at Rosebud Hospital, which has lost services; at Koo Wee Rup hospital, which has lost services; or through Warley Hospital, one of the state’s very small number of bush nursing hospitals. Warley Hospital is a community hospital—not a private hospital as the former Premier of Victoria Mr Bracks said—that is not-for-profit and has been owned by the community since the 1920s. It was founded by the community and it is run by the community.

In response to this neglect, I believe that there are three pillars to our plan for seniors in Flinders—for the Mornington Peninsula, for Western Port and for Bass Coast. Firstly, there is the issue of community safety. In relation to policing there are four points that we must pursue vigorously. Firstly, we need to work for and establish a new 24-hour police station in Somerville to protect and serve the people of Somerville, Baxter, Pearcedale and Tyabb. We have to ensure that it is not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, but that additional police are made available to the Mornington Peninsula to serve out of such a 24-hour police station in Somerville. For me, this is a fundamental task for the coming years—to fight, just as we did for a Somerville Secondary College. We were told by the state that it would be impossible to have a Somerville Secondary College but local community people set their sails and never wavered from the push for the college and we now have a tremendous college. Now the task is to pursue a 24-hour police station for Somerville and, similarly, to make sure that the current police on Phillip Island are given the support and the numbers to allow them to operate their facility on Phillip Island for 24 hours a day. Those two stations together would be fundamentally important. Secondly, we also have to protect Dromana and Sorrento police stations. In addition, we need to secure more police for Hastings. This brings me to the last of the community security points: we need to work towards having security cameras for the shopping villages in Mount Martha, Baxter and Somerville. These are things which are important for our seniors and our community as a whole, and they give our seniors the confidence, safety and security to live their lives in a way which befits the service they have given to the community.

I move now from community safety to the issue of health. Three years ago we were able to secure Medicare offices for Rosebud. I am now delighted that within two weeks, as the first health pillar for seniors, we are opening a Medicare office in Hastings which will, as of 1 October, provide services for the seniors of that region. That is a tremendous outcome. The Medicare agency will be attached to the Centrelink office and will be a tremendous benefit for seniors who would otherwise not be able to get to Mornington or Frankston easily because of the poor state public transport.

In addition to that, when it comes to health, we need to ensure that the winding back of Koo Wee Rup hospital services is reversed. These services should be made available on a full-time basis to the people of Koo Wee Rup, Lang Lang, Bayles, Catani, Tooradin and all the surrounding towns. It is a service centre for people in a rural area. To take those services away or to wind them back is not a generous activity and is not sustainable or acceptable. We will work with the people of Koo Wee Rup to ensure that the services at their hospital are real and available to the seniors.

Beyond that, it is time for Warley Hospital to be given some support at the state level. We have given significant support at the federal level. We have pledged 40 additional aged-care beds for Warley Hospital and that will bring an enormous revenue stream into that township. I am working with the Minister for Health and Ageing on a package for Warley Hospital and I am hopeful that we will be successful in winning that fight. I am delighted that Mr Abbott has been supportive. It is my task in this place to make that case and to see if we can be successful in securing those outcomes.

The third element of our health package is aged-care places. Over the last few years we have managed to secure 600 new aged-care places for the people of Flinders. Whether that is at Somercare in Somerville, in Mount Martha, Domain by the Bay, Rosebud or many of the other different sources of beds in Cranbourne or elsewhere on Phillip Island, these are facilities which make a big difference to the elderly who have served our community so well for so long. It also significantly provides support and comfort for their children who are now approaching an older age. They know that their parents will be cared for and will have adequate support. This is a tremendously important outcome for the seniors in Flinders.

This brings me to the last point I want to make on recreation. There are two great tasks in relation to recreation. The first is to secure an aquatic centre for Rosebud, Rye and Dromana. What we need to do there is simple: we need to repeat the magnificent work of the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council in creating the Hastings Aquatic Centre. That aquatic centre has helped seniors throughout that area. Now our task is to help the council to do the same thing in Rosebud. I set myself to work with the council to attract federal funding, and I believe it is a good case. Similarly, for Phillip Island and all of those who have proposed a Phillip Island Aquatic Centre, the tremendous work of Pam Cameron and Colin Grey is something which should be supported. I hope, over time, when the application is finally in place, we will be able to support it. That is obviously something for the future. There is a little more work to be done, but these two aquatic centres are part and parcel of a solution which will help seniors, give them recreation and help if they have bodily ailments which they need to overcome with hydrotherapy.

Ultimately, there is a plan for seniors in Flinders. It is about community safety, health services and recreation, and about providing appropriate facilities. I am delighted to commend it to the House. (Time expired)

See this speech in context