![Annabelle Cleeland with her child Quinn. She has given her maiden speech to parliament after being elected last year and referred to her traumatic birth experience with oldest son Arthur. Annabelle Cleeland with her child Quinn. She has given her maiden speech to parliament after being elected last year and referred to her traumatic birth experience with oldest son Arthur.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/7114f41b-f3d6-4d97-995f-8190541051d2.jpg/r0_532_3467_2481_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A NORTH East MP has teared up in telling parliament of her traumatic childbirth and not being able to look at a resulting scar for six months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Annabelle Cleeland spoke of the ordeal on Wednesday in her maiden speech which called for greater rural resources, particularly in health.
"Three years ago my local hospital lacked the resources to provide a safe birth for me and my first child Arthur," the Euroa MP recalled.
"I was forced to endure the indignity of labouring in an examination room with no door, fully open for passerbys, because no bed was available to me."
After hours of labour Ms Cleeland was then required to have a Caeserean section "not because my baby or I needed it but because of a lack of critical resources at the hospital meant there was no guarantee of a safe birth by any other means".
It took her six months to look at a scar she says is "thanks to an underfunded regional health system".
"I stand here today still bearing that scar," the Nationals MP said before pausing and becoming teary.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"And I stand here today more resolved than ever to fight for more and better (health services)."
Ms Cleeland also spoke of poor roads, lack of education openings and Benalla having some of Victoria's highest rates of domestic violence, child abuse and poverty.
"There is an unspoken toll that you pay to live outside of Melbourne and that toll is a clear disparity in the resources and support provided by the government to regional Victorians compared to our city counterparts," she said.
Ms Cleeland said she would fight such "entrenched disadvantage" every day she was in parliament.
"I'm here not for the left or for the right but for what is best for our people," she said.
On Tuesday, Northern Victoria MPs, Georgie Purcell (Animal Justice Party) and Gaelle Broad (Nationals) gave their maiden speeches in the Legislative Council.
![A screen grab of Animal Justice Party member for Northern Victoria Georgie Purcell delivers her maiden speech in the Legislative Council. A screen grab of Animal Justice Party member for Northern Victoria Georgie Purcell delivers her maiden speech in the Legislative Council.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/6fe7daeb-fc25-456f-b2d4-330ba06dd295.JPG/r0_4_953_540_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms Purcell said she wanted to her legacy to be "a kinder Victoria for the dogs and cats in pounds that are killed when there is another option; for the pregnant ewes giving birth prematurely out of fear and stress on a truck to slaughter; for the displaced kangaroos who hop through the sunset looking for food only to be shot at nightfall and have their babies legally bludgeoned on a tow bar; for the rabbits who through our folly are divided into groups of those we deem worthy of companionship as our pets and those we choose to lock up in laboratories or factory farms with zero protection under the law; and for the pigs, smarter than dogs, with a likeness to three-year-old children, that are being lowered into the gas chambers considered best practice by the pork industry before having their throats slit".
Ms Purcell also attacked jumps races, duck hunting and greyhound racing.
Ms Broad called for more decentralisation to build areas beyond Melbourne.
"Mildura, Swan Hill, Wodonga, Shepparton and Bendigo are growing, and we need significant investment in our roads, schools, hospitals and rail to help keep pace with population growth and provide the infrastructure that our region needs," Ms Broad said.
To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News