The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, says the Allan Labor government is so determined to squeeze blood out of every unturned stone to offset its financial incompetence it is now punishing local shires for running vital healthcare programs.
But Mr Walsh says its latest penny-pinching cash grab – to charge shires to register immunisations – is a travesty beyond comprehension.
He says while it makes sense for shires to deliver vital immunisation programs, to then tell those same organisations they must now pay an upfront $6000 each year, plus $2 for every immunisation recorded is “one of the most blatant tax grabs and abuse of office” he has seen in his 20 years in Parliament.
“Immunisations are recorded through Central Immunisation Records Victoria (CIRV) and shires across regional Victoria have transitioned to that system to ensure better data capture and more accurate records,” Mr Walsh explains.
“However, now the shires are locked into it, Jacinta Allan wants them to ‘co-fund’ the model – something never discussed with councils – to the tune of thousands of dollars,” he says.
“Take just one shire in my electorate – Gannawarra. It has approximately 1000 children aged nine or younger, and to record each vaccination, after stumping up the fee to actually access the system, could cost at least another $2000 a year.
“Last financial year the shire administered 1039 immunisations and the only funding it received to deliver that service was a measly $4926.60.
“On its own, Gannawarra’s latest expense might not sound much, but many small councils are forced to run on the smell of an oily rag as it is, so every slice off the bottom line cuts out something else the council could be doing.”
Mr Walsh says this is a form of cost recovery that is totally unnecessary. Councils are delivering a service to protect community health, now they are being taxed by the Allan Labor Government for doing it.
He says given how high the immunisation rates are in our smaller LGAs – “and this is exactly the result everyone is seeking” – this will be another barrier for families who are already struggling.
“If you ever wanted proof Jacinta Allan and her CFMEU allies have ripped too much money out of the places where it should be spent, here it is. Labor can’t manage money and its union thugs don’t care about anyone except themselves,” Mr Walsh says.
“And once again, regional Victoria pays the price,” he says.