Private cash splash

THE federal election rolled into town yesterday, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s big blue campaign bus making stops at Drysdale and Torquay.

The PM was in town to support local Liberal MP Sarah Henderson, who is facing the battle of her life in one of the country’s most marginal seats of Corangamite. After pledging $30 million for two swimming pools earlier this week — as well as a Federal Budget jam-packed with goodies for Corangamite voters such as the long-awaited City Deal funding, fast rail and a women’s and children’s hospital — it was not surprising that the pair didn’t have much more to deliver during yesterday’s visit other than $400,000 for the Torquay Bowls Club.

Rather, the most significant funding announcement yesterday came from the private sector.

Healthscope, the company which coincidentally closed the Geelong Private Hospital where the government’s new women and children’s facility is proposed to be built, announced it would fund more than $16 million for 21 new mental health beds in the region.

The announcement came after the Victorian AuditorGeneral’s Office last month highlighted the need for more mental health services in Victoria, and a day after the Royal Commission into Mental Health heard horror stories about local patients being discharged from public care without any accommodation to go to.

For those familiar with the mental health industry, these horror stories are all too familiar. Funding for mental health services appears to be manifestly inadequate and there never seems to be close to enough beds to cater to community demand.

For those fortunate enough to be able to access the private system, the 21 new beds that will now become available at the Geelong Clinic will be a godsend. But the many people unable to afford private care will be hoping that a similar commitment for the public system might be made by either of the major parties as the federal election shows rolls on.