Dear Editor,
I read Mary-Anne Thomas’s letter in The Wombat Post last week with interest and wish to retort.
Her letter ignores the fact that, if elected, in addition to the Victorian Opposition pledging $75 million to deliver the Daylesford Hospital’s masterplan, the Daylesford District Community Bank has promised $750,000 over ten years to help deliver the long-awaited upgrade.
Victoria is facing an unprecedented healthcare crisis and debt levels exceeding that of New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined. On major projects alone, total cost blowouts since Labor came to office in 2014 total over $30bn.
Before the pandemic, Labor provided the lowest funding of any state in the nation to Victoria’s hospitals, elective surgery waitlists were at record levels and ambulance ramping was linked to 70 preventable deaths in 2018 alone.
Labor has been in power for 19 of the past 23 years and it is disingenuous to regurgitate a previous Liberal Government’s 20-year-old actions that were necessary to reduce Victoria’s $42 billion deficit at that time – a result of the decade-long Cain-Kirner Labor Government.
Under the Andrews-led Labor Government, Victoria is heading down the same path – future large deficits for all Victorians.
Locally, the Daylesford Hospital Upgrade campaign was driven by passionate locals who formed the Daylesford Hospital Upgrade Community Campaign Committee and I thank them for their continued efforts to better our community. An upgrade will provide a new 18-bed acute ward for both medical and surgical admission, increased space for dialysis, upgraded and expanded aged care, palliative care and respite as well as improved access for those with disabilities.
I’m proud that if elected, a Liberal Government will commit $75 million to the Daylesford Hospital upgrade that will provide lifelong health care and create jobs, investment, and opportunity for locals and our region.
The people of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs region deserve better and I’m standing to provide hope and a change for the better.
Dominic Bonanno
Liberal Candidate for Macedon
