Action on our Health Petition now imminent

I am very pleased to advise that the health petition I lodged last November on behalf of the community which carried 10,688 signatures and which so many people across our electorate helped to compile, has finally been referred for investigation by the Parliament.

My motion for it to be referred to the Economic and Finance Committee was successfully carried in the chamber on 12 September, and I have this week been advised that the public submission process will very soon be opened.

The terms of reference for the official inquiry are now being finalised by the review committee but I am assured the wording will simulate the requests made in the petition which I remind read as follows:

Believing all Australian citizens are deserving of quality health care services regardless of residential postcode, the undersigned residents of Narungga electorate and South Australia as a whole hereby request:

1. The guaranteeing of the equitable distribution of General Practitioner doctors across South Australia to ensure rural citizens have timely and appropriate access to primary health care
2. That funding provision for rural health services and public hospitals be determined by size and needs of population catchment service area and not by historical activity statistics as is the case currently
3. The appointment of a Minister for Regional Health to ensure that regional health is appropriately represented at the Cabinet table
4. The urgent elevated reclassification of Wallaroo Hospital to a level befitting its status as the major hospital for the Narungga electorate servicing the largest constituent catchment area in the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network
5. Port Pirie be reclassified out of Yorke and Northern Local Health Network into Flinders and Upper North LHN for improved resource allocation for all hospitals within the electorate of Narungga

The near 11,000 people who signed our petition – the largest undertaken in the history of the Narungga electorate -- did so because they care about country health care and believed their actions would afford them a pathway of direct impact to bring about system change.

It was a huge undertaking and I congratulate and thank all involved in getting us to this point now.

As soon as the Inquiry is launched, I will share details of how we all can participate in this vital process – either by lodging a submission or being willing to attend a hearing in person and share experiences.

To view the successful chamber Motion speech, and contributions of supporting MPs, refer to the Parliament tab on this website.