Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before last year's federal election I was at one of the excellent public secondary schools in my electorate of Dunkley—Patterson River Secondary College. It's in Seaford. It has some terrific teachers and students. They talked to me about their band and their program of having students engage with the band from year 7, even if they don't have a history of being musical or playing instruments, because of the value it adds to your life to have some involvement in music.

They had an issue with being able to afford enough instruments for all of their students, particularly those who come from families that can't afford to buy them. I was pleased that during the election we made a commitment to fund an upgrade to instruments and music equipment for the school. It's a great school with a great program, and it deserves support. I'm told that this is also where AC/DC played their first Victorian concert. It makes sense that a school in the broader Frankston area and in Dunkley would host the first AC/DC concert.

The school is now inspiring the next generation of musicians with a bunch of new music equipment and instruments, thanks to the Albanese Labor government and the delivery of that election commitment. It's going to help support the large growth in students that this school sees who are not just participating in instrumental music lessons but continuing with their music lessons because they've discovered that they love it. I'm going out there very soon. I can't wait to hear what they've learnt to play on their new instruments.

We are very proud in Dunkley that we have the Monash University's peninsula campus, Chisholm TAFE and Peninsula Health with Frankston Hospital. Those institutions provide training and education, world-leading research and health care that is second to none. It's really important to me, as the member for Dunkley, to be involved in supporting the work of all of those institutions. It's the same with Paul Edbrooke, the state member for Frankston; Sonya Kilkenny, the state member for Carrum; and Paul Mercurio, the recently elected new state member for Hastings.

We are all so excited that the $1.1 billion redevelopment of Frankston Hospital is underway. It is going to be life-changing for many people in my community who need, unfortunately, the services of the hospital. It is also going to be life- and career-changing for the professionals who work in the health system and work at Frankston Hospital. We're getting a new 12-storey clinical services tower and main entrance; 130 more beds; and new maternity, obstetrics and paediatric wards, which are so important in my community. I'm pretty excited that, for the first time, there is going to be a women's clinic and a special care nursery; facilities for paediatric emergency services; and new, fit-for-purpose spaces for mental health and oncology. As I said, it is going to be life-changing, for patients and for people that work there alike. Watching that starting to come up from the ground is incredibly exciting.

We've also, as the Albanese Labor government, delivered on a really important commitment to the First Peoples Health and Wellbeing clinic. We have, in the Bayside area, one of the fastest-growing Indigenous communities in Victoria. That is little known. But we hadn't had, until First Peoples Health and Wellbeing came and set up their Frankston hub, any, let alone enough, Aboriginal health services. Some of the most amazing people I have ever met work at First Peoples Health and Wellbeing, and Karinda, the CEO, is the most dynamic and powerful woman I have ever met. They support the growing population of Aboriginal people, young and old, and I'm so pleased that we are supporting them with a grant that is enabling them to purchase their own building, to provide services and to continue down the road of self-determination that they have set themselves on.