Health petition target of 10,000 signatures reached!

Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis MP is very pleased to advise that the tally target of 10,000 signatures for the petition he launched last year calling for improvements to local health services has been reached and he will now be presenting it to Parliament tomorrow, 15 November.   

“This is a momentous effort by our community to collectively register our dissatisfaction with the current state of the regional health system. Petitions of this size are extremely rarely presented to parliament and to have one come from predominantly one electorate is extraordinary. 

“Reaching the 10,000 signatures formally triggers the petition to be referred to Parliament’s Legislative Review Committee to investigate the actions requested, and for the committee to report back to both Houses and the responsible Ministers in each House to table a response.  

“The formal inquiry will call for public submissions so I will relay those details to the community as soon as they become available and I encourage everyone with experience with the health system, good bad or otherwise, to participate in this process.  

“This is the biggest petition ever done in our electorate, and it would not have been possible to achieve it without the huge contribution of community members and business owners helping to collate signatures all over the electorate. Amazing numbers of people hit the streets with petition sheets – individuals and multiple groups and councils and businesses, as well as caravan parks over busy holiday periods.  

“Improvements to our local health services are urgently needed and ongoing impacts of doctor shortages must be addressed, hence resorting to this formal petition route to legally enforce consideration of system reform. 

“Whilst ambulance ramping at city hospitals is crucially alarming, the rural health system is also in crisis, and we in the country are tired of being treated as second tier citizens". 

Mr Ellis will address the House of Assembly chamber on the petition lodgement and what it specifically calls for, tomorrow afternoon, at approximately 3.30pm.