27/04/2021 Parliament of Victoria Question: 14005 ADJOURNMENT MATTER — Mr Staikos to ask the Premier — My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Premier, and it concerns young Isabella Petroulis, who is a student at East Bentleigh Primary School (EBPS), a fantastic school in my local community which does some great work. But there is something that could make it even better, and Isabella sent me a letter, which goes as follows: Dear Mr Staikos. Every morning at EBPS I see a sea of violins, violas and cellos floating around the school. They are having trouble finding a home because they have no real home. :-( Some days they have to live in the uniform shop. We have our lesson in the uniform shop, which is the size of a cupboard (literally). This letter is to request that EBPS be granted funds for a performing arts centre. From Isabella Petroulis So I ask that the Premier makes time in his diary to meet with Isabella and to meet with me to discuss this very important issue. Answer: I thank the Member for raising this matter with me, and for his passionate advocacy for schools in his local community. It was a pleasure to join the Member to meet with Isabella Petroulis on 7 March at Parliament House. Isabella is a bright and articulate young student, and put forward a compelling case in support of a performing arts centre at East Bentleigh Primary School. We know music and musical education leads to better results and better school attendance. Our Government is committed to providing the modern facilities that schools need to improve educational outcomes across Victoria. The Labor Government has invested over $2.5 billion to build the Education State so that every kid has the chance to succeed - at learning, and at life. This includes increasing opportunities for all students to experience quality music education, regardless of their background, through the Music in Schools initiative. I look forward to continuing to work with the Member to provide the East Bentleigh Primary School community with the facilities they need to deliver a first-rate education in music and the performing arts. The Hon Daniel Andrews MP Premier Attachments: No Attachments Answer Published Date: 26/03/2018 Question: 14006 ADJOURNMENT MATTER — Mr Tilley to ask the Minister for Public Transport — I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Public Transport, and the action I seek is for the minister to fund better security arrangements including CCTV for the V/Line trains stabled at Albury railway station overnight. The last V/Line service from Melbourne terminates in Albury at about 11 o'clock each evening and begins its trip to Melbourne in the early hours of the following morning. These 33-year-old relics sit at the platform overnight without a hint of security - no patrols, no cameras, no nothing. Just last week some criminal clowns took to one carriage with their own version of street art - criminal damage and vandalism in its purest form - took to an asset of the state and defaced a vital cog in an already much-maligned service. That effectively means that the train is taken out of service, and once again people buying train tickets on the north-east line are destined for coaches. We do not want buses; we want trains. The result was that an entire train set was taken out of service to strip the graffiti from the carriage. Nobody in Victoria wants to experience that any longer. People, voters, were forced onto buses. At present the only security at Albury railway station is provided by New South Wales CountryLink, and understandably it only covers its platform and the main station. Their CCTV coverage caught two dots at a significant distance. Our CCTV footage was non existent. This is not an isolated case. The train was also vandalised in the preceding week. We cannot expect CountryLink to pay for the security systems; we cannot expect New South Wales to pay to protect Victorian assets. It must come from this government, it must come immediately and it must come from the minister. qon.parliament.vic.gov.au/PARLIAMENT/General/QoN/PROD/qonarchive.nsf/printAllQuestions.xsp 1/6 27/04/2021 Parliament of Victoria This is not simply about the not-so-rolling stock; this is also about those V/Line staff who disembark late at night and then in the early hours of the morning return to the platform with no protection. This government puts more emphasis on spin than substance when it comes to this train line. In recent years the public transport boffins have produced a raft of reports, including those with workshopped titles like Trains, Trams, Jobs and Connecting Regional Victoria. They talk of a 10-year plan for new trains, but there is no direct mention of the north-east of Victoria. One tells us that the retirement of our locos and carriages will start in the next five to 10 years, which is 2021 at the earliest but perhaps not before 2027 either. Last year the Auditor-General told us that the existing trains were already three years past their use-by date, and yet the glossy brochures say we could be waiting another decade. Just last year Labor said it would deliver trains when the rail line was fixed by the commonwealth. There has been an announcement of $100 million. It may need some more, but let us separate the two issues - the track from the trains - and start delivering the trains today. Answer: V/Line takes safety, security and vandalism concerns across the network very seriously, and will consider additional measures where appropriate. V/Line is currently working with NSW TrainLink on a review of security measures at Albury Station. I am pleased to advise that the Andrews Labor Government reached agreement with the Federal Government to allow the money to be released for the $1.7 billion Regional Rail Revival package on 16 March 2018. This means that works can now begin on the Regional Rail Revival package. The constant change in Ministerial responsibility for the Infrastructure portfolio in Canberra had resulted in delays to these negotiations; however, Victoria has been working behind the scenes to ensure works are ready to go now the funding has been released. Importantly, for north east Victoria, the Federal Government has agreed to provide an additional $135 million in funding required to upgrade the North East line to a Class 2 standard, comparable to the majority of Victoria's regional rail network. Once this work is complete it will allow us to run new, modern trains on the North East line. The Andrews Labor Government has allocated $850 million for 87 V/Locity carriages and supporting infrastructure, with new rolling stock orders in every budget in Government. We've restored and increased funding to V/Line that was slashed by the former Liberal/National Coalition Government, ordered the regional carriages and already begun the design work needed to run V/Locity carriages on long haul lines. Details of the project can be found at http://regionalrailrevival.vic.gov .au/ Hon Jacinta Allan MP Member for Bendigo East Minister for Public Transport Attachments: No Attachments Answer Published Date: 28/03/2018 Question: 14007 ADJOURNMENT MATTER — Ms Spence to ask the Minister for Health — My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to join me in meeting with the Hume City Council mayor and officers to discuss health services planning in the Yuroke electorate. Yuroke residents have greatly benefited from Labor's investment in restoring our health system over the past three years. This government has not only ended the war with paramedics but also invested in improved ambulance services in my electorate, including over a dozen additional first responders. We have also opened the new 24- hour supercare pharmacy in Craigieburn and made it easier for young people to access medical advice by providing GP services at both government secondary schools in the Yuroke electorate. As Yuroke is a growth electorate, it is also vitally important to plan for the future so families can continue to receive quality care close to home. I look forward to hearing from the minister and working with her so we can continue delivering services to Yuroke residents. Answer: I would be pleased to meet with the Hume City Council mayor and officers to discuss health services planning in the Hume area. The City of Hume is projected to grow in population by 2.6% per annum over the next 15 years, well above the Victorian average of 1.6%. Within Hume, even higher growth rates of almost 4% are expected in the localities around Craigieburn. The majority of this growth is expected to be in both younger and older residents, and involve communities with higher than state-wide qon.parliament.vic.gov.au/PARLIAMENT/General/QoN/PROD/qonarchive.nsf/printAllQuestions.xsp 2/6 27/04/2021 Parliament of Victoria average levels of social disadvantage, and poorer levels of overall health and wellbeing. Given the immediate challenges driven by rapid population growth, a priority has been planning for the healthcare needs of the state's outer-urban growth areas including the north. The Andrews Labor Government is responding to this challenge by investing $17.3 million to expand surgery at Broadmeadows Health service, enabling more than 2,500 additional procedures to be delivered locally. In addition, the 2017-18 State Budget provides $162.7 million to expand the Northern Hospital by completing a seven-story tower that includes 96 new inpatient beds, three new operating theatres and more treatment rooms.