And on the second day, they made promises about healthcare

It doesn’t take a political savant to understand the two most pressing issues for Victorians heading into this month’s state election – you just need to look at where the Labor and Liberal leaders turned their minds to on the first two days of the campaign.

On day one, the major parties both made commitments addressing skyrocketing cost-of-living pressures. On the second day, they both focused on the overstretched and overburdened healthcare system.

Shadow health minister Georgie Crozier and Opposition Leader Matthew Guy at a dental clinic on Thursday.Credit: James Ross

In surveys and polling to inform our coverage of the campaign, readers have told The Age that health and cost of living were among the top issues that would sway their vote this election.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy headed to Doncaster on Thursday, pledging to halve the dental elective-surgery waiting list within four years. The list is 64,000 people long, according to the most recent figure, and Guy said if elected the Coalition would give $500 vouchers to 32,000 of them so that they can visit a private dentist.

“My plan to fix the health system in Victoria isn’t just about hospitals, it’s also about dental,” Guy said. “We’ve got to do something to help get people off the waiting list.”

The two-year voucher scheme will be further bolstered by an additional $50-million-a-year injection into the state’s public dental system to hire more staff.

The commitment was welcomed by the president of the Australian Dental Association, Associate Professor Warren Shnider, who said waiting times to access public dental care surged from 20.3 months in 2018 to 26.7 months in June this year.

“These clinically unacceptable waiting times have a significant impact on the oral health of patients, which in turn compromises their general health,” Shnider said.

Premier Daniel Andrews, too, firmly had his sights on healthcare on the second day of the campaign.

Flanked by nurses, he visited the Northern Hospital in Epping to announce a re-elected Labor government would invest in more positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, which find and monitor the spread of cancers, and diagnose heart disease, brain disorders and other conditions.

Flanked by nurses and his colleagues, Daniel Andrews announced $44 million for PET scanners.Credit: Scott McNaughton

A PET scan can detect changes in organs and tissues earlier than traditional CT or MRI scans.

“It is a really important technology, and it’s not as available as it should be,” Andrews said.

“There are a number of gaps in our system, a number of big health services that don’t have PET scanners … and it means that people either travel out of their community or go to the private sector.”

The $44 million package would provide eight scanners to Ballarat Base Hospital, Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton, Sunshine Hospital, Northern Hospital in Epping, Werribee Mercy Hospital, Warrnambool Base Hospital, Frankston Hospital and Wangaratta Base Hospital.

The premier is promising more PET scanners across Victoria.Credit: Nic Walker

Andrews said it was not appropriate for every single hospital to receive a PET scanner, because enough patients and the necessary workforce were required to warrant it.

Dr Dennis Gyomber, a urologist and director of surgery at the Northern Hospital, said PET scans more accurately detected cell changes and allowed him to tailor treatment for prostate cancer more appropriately.

“My firsthand experience has been incredibly beneficial,” Gyomber said.

A nine-year-old incident involving the premier and his wife, Catherine, resurfaced in the Herald Sun on Thursday.

Ryan Meuleman, who was seriously injured and spent 11 days in hospital after a car crash involving Mrs Andrews in 2013, engaged a lawyer and said he was considering his legal options.

It is not known what kind of claim he hopes to bring, or against whom.

Mrs Andrews was driving a taxpayer-funded 4WD when the then-15-year-old cyclist was hit. The then-opposition leader was in the car, along with their three children.

Meuleman told the Herald Sun he was unable to speak to officers who visited his house after he was discharged from the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“They did not come back at any time thereafter to get a statement from me,” he said.

On Thursday, the premier refused to answer 17 questions on the matter and repeatedly stated he had “gone through these facts of matters at great length on numerous occasions”, and that he had nothing further to add.

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