New Premier, New Direction: Carroll Kicks Off Election Bid in Geelong

Labor pledges $1.5 billion to expand emergency capacity as Premier fights poor polls

By LineZotpaper AI staff

Published25 October 2026

Read Time3 min

Sources2 outlets

Victorian Premier Ben Carroll formally launched his re-election campaign on Sunday, promising $1.5 billion over four years to fund 250 new emergency department beds at 12 hospitals across the state. Boarding the campaign bus in Melbourne's north, Carroll fired the starting pistol on the five-week race to the 28 November election, facing dire opinion polls that show Labor trailing the Coalition.

Carroll's "big red bus" bore the slogan "New Premier, New Direction," a clear attempt to distance himself from predecessors Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan, whom he successfully challenged for the leadership just three months ago. "Petrol's paid for," he joked while boarding, referencing an incident earlier in the week when he drove off from a service station without paying.

The first official stop was Geelong University Hospital, where Carroll, Deputy Premier Gabrielle Williams and Health Minister Ingrid Stitt detailed the health package. The $1.5 billion funding would pay for 1500 extra health workers, including 750 nurses, and allow 250 more beds to operate across hospitals including the Alfred, Austin, Ballarat Base, Bendigo, Footscray, Latrobe Regional, Royal Children's, Shepparton, Swan Hill, Werribee Mercy, Wonthaggi, and University Hospital Geelong. Carroll said the investment would expand emergency capacity by 25 per cent on average, enabling treatment of an extra 210,000 patients a year and cutting wait times by 20 per cent.

The promise comes as Victorian emergency departments struggle under record demand. Victorian Agency for Health Information data shows more than half of patients now wait over four hours, and the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine has warned the situation will deteriorate without urgent action.

Carroll framed the election as a stark choice. "It is so critically important that every Victorian knows there's a real choice this election: a party and a movement that is fighting for working people, or a Liberal-One-Nation coalition that will hurt working people," he said, accusing Opposition Leader Jess Wilson of seeking to "Americanise" the health system by using private hospitals.

Speaking in Melbourne's outer east with federal Liberal Senator James Paterson, Wilson rejected the characterisation. She described Labor's announcement as a hollow promise, pointing to languishing hospital projects across the state. The Coalition's alternative health policy includes building new "transit lounge" waiting areas in up to 10 hospitals, incentives for regional healthcare workers, and $1.27 billion for public patients to have elective surgeries in private hospitals. "We have private capacity right here, right now," Wilson said. "My priority is making sure that the nearly 70,000 Victorians waiting on the elective surgery waitlist get surgery sooner."

Wilson was also forced to address a controversy involving her party's candidate for Sunbury, Simmone Cottom, who was recorded encouraging voters to back One Nation in the upper house. Wilson said Cottom "made a mistake" and had apologised. Labor seized on the incident as evidence of a de facto alliance.

The campaign opens with the Coalition leading Labor on primary vote in the latest Resolve poll for The Age, at 28 per cent to 25 per cent, with One Nation on 23 per cent. Despite the numbers pointing to a possible change of government, Carroll expressed defiance. Speaking to Labor volunteers in Werribee, he said, "We're going to defy the pundits. We're going to make sure Labor wins — because we have to."

RSS

Primary vote support in latest Resolve poll

per cent

Source: Resolve poll for The Age

Analysis

Why This Matters

Victoria's overstretched emergency departments are a central election issue, directly affecting hundreds of thousands of patients each year.
The rise of One Nation to 23 per cent in the polls signals a reshaping of the state's political landscape and raises complex questions about minority government and preference deals.
The election is a test of whether Labor can win a historic fourth term in office after a leadership spill, or whether the Coalition can return to power after 12 years.

Background

Labor has governed Victoria since 2014 under the successive leaderships of Daniel Andrews, Jacinta Allan, and now Ben Carroll, who took the premiership three months ago. The state's health system has faced prolonged strain, with emergency departments regularly reporting record presentations and long wait times, a key vulnerability for the incumbent government entering the election.

Key Perspectives

Premier Ben Carroll: says the $1.5 billion health package is “in Labor's DNA”, claiming the election is a choice between Labor and a “Liberal-One-Nation coalition” that will “hurt working people” and “Americanise” healthcare.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson: rejects accusations of a health system “Americanisation”, framing the use of private hospitals as a practical solution for the near-70,000 people on elective surgery waiting lists. She dismissed Labor's hospital promise as a hollow election pitch.

What to Watch

Whether the One Nation preference vote consolidates for the Liberals in key seats, or becomes a liability for Wilson.
The state of emergency departments over the campaign period as a real-time measure of the government's performance.
Polling in the final weeks to see if Labor can recover from its current deficit.

Sources

‘Petrol’s paid for’: Carroll kicks off re-election campaign in Geelong · Brisbane Times
‘Petrol’s paid for’: Carroll kicks off re-election campaign in Geelong · WAtoday

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.

Show each claim

SupportedCarroll launched his re-election campaign in Geelong on Sunday.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Premier Ben Carroll has launched his re-election campaign in earnest”
SupportedLabor promised $1.5 billion over four years for 250 additional emergency department beds at 12 hospitals.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “announced Labor would spend $1.5 billion over four years to tackle chronic emergency department wait times. The funding would pay for 1500 extra health workers, including 750 nurses, and allow 250 more beds to operate across 12 hospitals”
SupportedLabor was trailing the Coalition in opinion polls as the campaign began.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “dogged by dire opinion polls that show Labor heading for defeat”
SupportedCarroll boarded his campaign bus in North Melbourne and began a five-week campaign for the November 28 election.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Dodging torrential rain in North Melbourne and dogged by dire opinion polls that show Labor heading for defeat on November 28, Carroll boarded his election campaign bus for the first time on Sunday morning and fired the starting pistol on a five-week campaign.”
SupportedCarroll joked, “Petrol's paid for,” while boarding the bus, referring to an earlier incident in which he drove off from a service station without paying.Brisbane Times - Latest News: ““Petrol’s paid for,” he joked while boarding the bus, referencing a bungle earlier this week when he inadvertently drove off from a service station without paying.”
SupportedThe funding is intended to pay for 1,500 extra health workers, including 750 nurses.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The funding would pay for 1500 extra health workers, including 750 nurses”
SupportedCarroll said the funding would expand emergency capacity by 25 per cent on average, treat 210,000 additional patients a year and cut wait times by 20 per cent.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Carroll said the funding would expand the hospitals’ emergency capacity by 25 per cent on average, to treat an extra 210,000 patients a year and cut wait times by 20 per cent.”
SupportedMore than half of emergency department patients were waiting over four hours to be treated, according to Victorian Agency for Health Information data.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Victorian Agency for Health Information data shows more that half of emergency department patients are now waiting more than four hours to be treated”
SupportedCarroll said, “It is so critically important that every Victorian knows there's a real choice this election: a party and a movement that is fighting for working people, or a Liberal-One-Nation coalition that will hurt working people.”Brisbane Times - Latest News: ““It is so critically important that every Victorian knows there’s a real choice this election: a party and a movement that is fighting for working people, or a Liberal-One-Nation coalition that will hurt working people,” he said.”
SupportedThe Coalition's health policy includes transit lounge waiting areas in up to 10 hospitals and $1.27 billion for public patients to have elective surgeries in private hospitals.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The Coalition’s health policy includes building new “transit lounge” waiting areas in up to 10 hospitals, incentives for healthcare workers to move to the regions, and spending $1.27 billion for public patients to have elective surgeries in private hospitals”
SupportedThe latest Resolve poll showed the Coalition on 28 per cent, Labor on 25 per cent and One Nation on 23 per cent in primary vote.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “The Age’s latest Resolve opinion poll has the Coalition with a primary vote of 28 per cent, Labor on 25 per cent and One Nation on 23 per cent.”
SupportedCarroll told Labor volunteers in Werribee, “We're going to defy the pundits. We're going to make sure Labor wins — because we have to.”Brisbane Times - Latest News: ““We’re going to defy the pundits. We’re going to make sure Labor wins – because we have to.””