VicHealth has been given a lifeline, with the Opposition vowing to block the government’s plans to abolish the world-renowned health promotions agency as a stand-alone entity.
The Liberal and National party position, formally adopted at a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday ahead of the first parliamentary sitting week of the year, leaves the government without the upper house majority it needs to push through enabling legislation.
The Greens, the Legalise Cannabis Party and the Animal Justice Party, which together hold the balance of power in the Legislative Council, also support retaining VicHealth as an independent, statutory body rather than folding its operations and budget into the Department of Health.
This makes a controlling bloc of 21 votes in the 40-seat upper house opposed to scrapping VicHealth.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said that while the Coalition recognised the need for budget repair, it should not come at the expense of investment in preventative health.
“If the government abolishes VicHealth and absorbs it into the Health Department, its $45 million budget will disappear into a black hole,” she said.
“We need this agency to have a focus on true preventative health that will see better outcomes for Victorians.” She urged VicHealth to sharpen its focus on the prevention of cancer, diabetes and other disease related to tobacco, drug and alcohol abuse.
“All these things are on the rise, very costly to individuals and very costly to a health system that is already overstretched.”
Legalise Cannabis MPs Rachel Payne and David Ettershank said the case to abolish VicHealth had not been made, and the proposed change would cost the health system more than it saved. “It is a totally false economy,” Ettershank said.
Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell described the proposal, a recommendation of former top bureaucrat Helen Silver after her review of the Victorian Public Service, as reckless and short-sighted.
“The government might think they are saving a buck now but the impacts of shutting down VicHealth will have long-reaching, potentially catastrophic consequences on our already-struggling health system,” she said.
The Greens have pledged to save VicHealth, with Brunswick MP Tim Read publicly dedicating his final year in parliament to the cause. Read last week revealed he had been diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer and would not contest his seat at the November election.
Premier Jacinta Allan last week defended her plan, saying the public health landscape had changed significantly since the agency was established 40 years ago. She said much of the government’s health promotions work was now being done through Local Public Health Units established during the pandemic.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas says the proposed change would reduce duplication.
VicHealth was established in 1987 by the Cain government with an independent board and guaranteed budget. Although its initial purpose was to replace tobacco advertising in sport with health promotion ads, it has a broader, statutory remit to fund health promotions and reduce preventable disease.
Its abolition would require changes to the Tobacco Act. The government is yet to introduce legislation.
The proposal to scrap the health promotions body has prompted a backlash from respected Labor figures such as former federal health minister and VicHealth chair Nicola Roxon, and the health minister who oversaw its establishment, David White.
The agency’s patron, Sir Gustav Nossal, public health experts and the Community and Public Sector Union have also urged the government to rethink its plans.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.