00:00Side-stepping away from the health portfolio, for a new face to walk straight in.
00:09We've all been waiting for her to join the team.
00:11She's an incredibly effective Member of Parliament.
00:14She's been a great Parliamentary Secretary and I think she has the energy, the intellectual
00:19clout and the discipline to take on those challenges.
00:23First time Minister Meredith Hammett announced as the state's new Health and Mental Health
00:28Minister.
00:29A senior putting in place supports for the huge task ahead.
00:33We know that she's ready for this challenge and we know that we need to continue to bring
00:37a much more team-like approach to the health portfolio.
00:40It's a big portfolio for one single person to manage.
00:43Ms Hammett will be assisted by John Kerry, who's picked up the newly created Health Infrastructure
00:48Portfolio.
00:50Simone McGurk has been assigned Aged Care and Seniors and new Education Minister Sabina
00:55Winton will take on the Preventative Health Portfolio.
00:59This is the first Preventative Health Minister as a specialised portfolio in Australia that
01:04I'm aware of and it's very much welcome.
01:07How they work together remains to be seen and whether there's a leader within that group,
01:11which I would expect would be the Health Minister, and if not then it's the Premier where the
01:17buck will stop.
01:18I will faithfully serve the people of Western Australia.
01:20Ms Hammett was first elected to Parliament in 2021, before then she was Secretary of
01:25Unions WA.
01:26And I can feel your energy!
01:29Current Board Chair of WA's Country Health Service and former Director-General of the
01:34WA Health Department, Dr Neil Fong, is supportive of the appointment.
01:39I believe that workforce is the greatest challenge to having a great healthcare system, so having
01:44some of that experience in working with all the different levels of the Western Australian
01:49health workforce will be very important.
01:51The Government has confirmed Meredith Hammett will be the lead Minister when it comes to
01:56health.
01:57It's unclear how the Department will be structured under the Ministerial Team model, but the
02:01Government says it will have more to say on that in the weeks to come.
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