On Friday, almost two months to the day after being elected Premier, Jacinta Allan held her first press conference back in Bendigo.
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The member for Bendigo East was in country mode, clad in jeans, boots and striped shirt, and flanked by her friend Maree Edwards, the member for Bendigo West, who is the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Earlier she had taken a tour of Bendigo Health's newly refurbished clinical services campus and met a young speech therapy patient, who high-fived her.
'Good news' allied health announcement
The surprise "good news" the media had been summoned to Bendigo Health for was her government's $7.5 million scheme to attract more occupational and speech therapists to the regions via $15,000 grants.
The health initiative might seem like a small one, Ms Allan said, but "all of these ... initiatives add up to ongoing investment and support" for people in regional and rural communities.
A continuing investment in Victoria's healthcare workforce had seen more than 7,000 workers join the system since 2022 and the government had allocated $440 million in the budget to train and develop new medical workers, it said.
After the announcement the Premier fielded questions from local and metropolitan journalists on an impressive assortment of topics.
From a bilingual kinder program to a four-day working week for public servants, from who knew what when about the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games to a reported two-year lag in state planning approvals, the use of the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre for a film shoot and the "one-stop shop" women's health clinic promised for Bendigo in last year's election campaign.
20 women's clinics coming over four years
The clinic, to be based at Bendigo Health, would provide specialised treatment for conditions including endometriosis, issues related to menopause and contraception and pregnancy.
It is one of 20 such clinics around the state for which funding of $58 million was announced in the May budget.
The Premier said progress was being made on the clinics' establishment but had no specific information. A government representative later said planning and design work was underway, with five clinics per year to be delivered over the next four years.
On the question of family violence, Victoria's second ever female premier said the 16 Days of Activism against Gendered Violence campaign launching in Bendigo on Friday was an opportunity to put the issue in the spotlight and consider how victims are being supported and what the community is doing in terms of prevention.
"That is something that's our responsibility every day of the year," she said.
'Tremendous privilege' to be Premier
Ms Allan was warm, engaged and enthusiastic about the potential of government policies to improve lives in Victoria, particularly those of her local constituents.
She described it as "a tremendous privilege" to be Premier.
"And I've been really energised in the few weeks that I've had the role in terms of the breadth of opportunity we see around the state," she said.
Later in the morning, she visited St Therese's Primary School, which was holding a grade five "leadership day", and had sought her input.
Nationals MP criticises Premier on health, housing and debt
But Bendigo-based member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad criticised the Premier for "prioritising big projects in Melbourne and failing to address priority issues for rural and regional Victorians" and claimed Victoria's health system was "broken".
In particular, the Nationals MP was concerned about the impact of a controversial government payroll tax change on medical clinics which she described as "a tax grab".
"The Allan Labor Government's new health tax is another hit for rural and regional communities, with many GP clinics facing the risk of closure," she said in a statement.
In August a State Revenue Office decision reclassified independent doctors working out of medical practices as employees rather than contractors, leaving the practice owners with the requirement to pay payroll tax for them, including retrospectively.
GP tax ruling could see many clinics close
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has been urging the government to reverse the decision, which its chair labelled "an absolute catastrophe" that would drive many practices to the wall and see the cost of all GP services increase.
Ms Allan wasn't asked about the issue on Friday but in parliament has denied it is significant.
Ms Broad was also highly critical of the government's performance on social housing - which she said had only seen public housing stock increase by 395 homes since 2020 - and Victoria's debt level, which was the highest in the country.
