The Andrews Labor Government is getting on with delivering on its election promises for our community – investing in what matters for the people of Laverton.
We haven’t wasted a day delivering the services and projects that matter to Victorians. With the Victorian Budget 2023/24, we’re getting on with doing what we said we’d do.
Victorians remember the State Electricity Commission (SEC): it meant a fair deal on your power prices and good, stable jobs for workers.
That’s why we’re bringing it back – to drive down power bills and create thousands of jobs in renewable, government-owned energy.
An initial $1 billion investment in the SEC will help deliver 4.5 gigawatts of power – the equivalent replacement capacity of Loy Yang A – through renewable energy projects.
Bringing back the SEC won’t just mean more renewable energy, lower power bills and reduced carbon emissions – it’ll also help create 59,000 jobs.
We’ll also see crucial extra storage capacity for local communities provided with 100 neighbourhood batteries installed across Victoria – including in Wyndham and Maribyrnong.
The Labor Government is doing what matters – ensuring women and their health are given the focus, funding and respect they deserve.
New comprehensive women’s health clinics for the western suburbs at Footscray Hospital, Sunshine Hospital and Werribee Mercy will change the way women’s health issues are treated, providing care and support for conditions like endometriosis, pelvic pain, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), perimenopause and menopause.
Expanded public fertility care services to deliver more treatment cycles every year will make IVF more accessible, enabling more Victorians to access services to start a family.
Funding will also see free sanitary items made available through 1,500 pad and tampon machines installed at up to 700 public sites such as courts, TAFEs, libraries, train stations and cultural institutions.
We’re getting on with building our mental health system from the ground up, so every Victorian can get the care they need. We’ll begin planning for a new Mental Health and Wellbeing local in Footscray to ensure that more Victorians can get the help they need, close to home.
We've made it free to study nursing and enshrined nurse-to-patient ratios in law. Now, we’ll do even more to give nurses the support they need to keep caring for Victorians.
More than $154 million will put more nursing staff in intensive care, high dependency and coronary care units – and more nurses and midwives in our maternity services.
As part of this package, we’ll make sure Victoria is the best place to be a nurse – with sign on bonuses for graduate nurses and midwives, funding to attract more international healthcare workers, scholarships for nurses to upskill and the recruitment of an extra 450 nurses.
Laverton commuters deserve a great public transport network – with modern facilities – that gets them where they need to go.
We’ll invest $650 million to upgrade the Melton line – delivering bigger and better nine-car VLocity trains and extending station platforms including at Ardeer station – increasing capacity on the line by 50 per cent.
We know many apprentices scrimp and save as they start out in their careers. But when you rely on your vehicle to do your job every day, costs can quickly add up. We’ll ease the cost of living pressure for our hard-working apprentices, making rego free – saving eligible trade apprentices up to $865 every year.
Sport is such a big part of our community, helping families in the west to stay active and get engaged. By upgrading Mainview Reserve in Truganina with improved lighting and a new scoreboard, we'll give locals more opportunities to come together while supporting the next generation of sporting greats.
Every community deserves great spaces to come together to celebrate and share in culture and tradition.
We promised to build two new community centres for the Indian community, and with this Budget we’re putting $5 million towards a new community centre in the western suburbs – along with one in the South-East.
We’ll also see our multicultural and multifaith communities supported to build, upgrade and renovate spaces where they come together through both Indian and Islamic community infrastructure grants.
We’ll support students who want to learn Hindi and Punjabi at school with $3.5 million to help three beacon schools teach Hindi and Punjabi at VCE level. We’ll also support the East African Community with $50,000 to upgrade the East African Women’s Foundation, as well as providing $250,000 to upgrade Chua Quang Minh temple in Braybrook.
These are the things that matter – and the things we promised to Victorians.
And with this Budget, we’re getting on with delivering every election commitment we made at the last election.
Quotes attributable to Member for Laverton Sarah Connolly
“From better healthcare and train services to more support for community spaces, this Budget delivers on every election commitment we made to the people of Laverton.”
“Laverton is a diverse community where people from every background are welcome – and with this Budget, we’re backing the multicultural communities that make our area such a great place to live.”
