COUNTRY HEALTH CARE PLAN

Mr RAU (Enfield) (14:20): Is the Minister for Health aware of any support for the Country Health Care Plan?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:20): I thank the member for Enfield for the question and I thank him for his support, too, for the plan.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am aware of some support for our plan. There is some criticism, I acknowledge, but there is also some support. I am particularly grateful for the support of Stuart Andrew who is, I understand, a prominent member of the Liberal Party in the Riverland and a former chair of the local country health board. In a letter dated 17 June, a copy of which I have, to the editor of The Independent Weekly,he wrote:

Dear Sir

The late British PM David Lloyd George once wrote that 'a politician is someone with whose politics you don't agree: if you agree with him he is a statesman'.

By that definition, it is my judgment that Health Minister John Hill is both. Although I support his attempts to reform country health services, my pedigree alone—

I think that means that he is a member of the Liberal Party—

would suggest that I don't agree with his politics!

Minister Hill has been unfairly attacked by the Opposition, country media and elements of the Rural Doctors Association. The proposed large injections of funds into four regional centres—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: He's a Liberal.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Yes, a Liberal.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: A smart Liberal.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: A smart Liberal—

(including the Riverland) will realise the same objectives as the previous Liberal government tried to accomplish—in its case, by encouraging seven country regions to voluntarily rationalise their medical services.

This is a man whose brother is a former federal member of parliament and Speaker of the house and whose cousin is a former Liberal member representing the area, so he knows that by a different approach the former Liberal government was attempting to do the same thing—not openly or transparently, not on the public record, but by stealth.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The letter continues:

Lamentably, Hillary and Barack were more collaborative than most of the hospital boards back then.

Maintaining the status quo—four fully equipped Riverland hospitals within a 20 kilometre radius (excluding Waikerie)—would have meant diminished rather than improved services overall.

That was the Liberals' plan. He goes on:

This is a 10 year plan. Peripheral hospitals are not about to be closed overnight. In our region, almost all surgery is carried out by resident surgeons and not our GPs. The invaluable resource of our having four resident specialists at Berri, with the prospect of a terrific regional facility, outweighs the benefits of well-staffed but underutilised peripheral hospitals.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Andrew.

That is from a man who I think is the president of the local branch of the Liberal Party—or he may have been; he may not be now. He probably will not be in the future, but nonetheless he has been.

That is not all I am aware of. I am also aware of other positive comments about the country health plan. For example, in the member for Schubert's electorate, the Barossa and Light Herald of 11 June 2008 carried the headline 'Hospital back on the agenda: the state government to fund business case for study for new regional hospital'. The member for Schubert said he was pleased to see the hospital plans move forward. In the member for MacKillop's—

Mr Venning interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: No, we had trouble yesterday, Ivan. We don't need to go there again. In the member for MacKillop's electorate, from the Mallee area, TheBorder Times of 12 June carried the headline 'No change for hospitals'. Chair of the Mallee Health Service Board, Kathleen Gregurke, said the three sites listed as GP Plus emergency hospitals was nothing different from before as they had already moved to this type of model. She believes the very positive impact for the Mallee residents is the large rebuilding of services at Berri and the addition of services to the Murray Bridge hospital. And I quote:

For us the outcomes of the budget are positive with no negative impacts. It is business as usual, but in a way we have increased services. If someone wanted a hip replacement 20 years ago they would have to go to the city, whereas now they will be able to go to Berri, closer to home.

She continues:

I am really quite positive, because the Liberals were saying small hospitals would close and we aren't.

The South Eastern Times of 10 June reports 'Enhanced services for Millicent hospital'. Even the member for MacKillop said he was pleased that the services would not be cut from Naracoorte and Millicent hospitals. In the electorate of Chaffey the Murray Pioneer of 12 June reports—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I know they're excited about this; this is such good news, Mr Speaker, but I think if they just listen to the facts. The Murray Pioneer of 12 June reports:

New operating theatres, a new obstetrics unit and a new accident and emergency room are among the features of this expansion.

This is under the headline: 'Berri's $41 million hospital expansion'. The story continues:

This redevelopment will see beds increase from 44 to 65 and means country communities in the Riverland will be able to access more health services closer to where they live, so over time they will no longer need to travel to Adelaide for health care services.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: In the member for Stuart's electorate, I am glad to say that some parts of the media do understand the plan and are scotching some of the nonsense put about by the member for Bragg. TheBurra Broadcast, that wonderful journal, on 12 June under the headline 'Hospital to stay' reports:

I have it on good authority that nursing staff are delighted to be keeping their jobs after Minister Hill said that no country hospital would be forced to close.

We move now to the members for Flinders and Giles.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: What is happening on the Eyre Peninsula?

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Eyre Peninsula, thank you very much—I know you have a keen interest in the Eyre Peninsula. In the Adelaide Now website Dr Scott Lewis of Wudinna comments:

Did the reporters actually read the health plan before writing this article or do they just accept the inaccurate scaremongering that is going on? To say that country hospitals would do nothing but basic first-aid is grossly misleading.

There is that word again, Ivan.

Most country hospitals such as mine will see little to no change in services.

That is not from me; that is from the doctor who runs the service at Wudinna. On local ABC radio, Wendy Holman, Acting Chairperson of the Lower Eyre Health Services, Cummins and Tumby Bay said:

Well, I have already been made aware that the community has reacted fairly strongly because they have the idea that the hospital in Cummins is going to close—

and where would they have got that idea from—

That is not our understanding. There will be a change to services over time which we do not know exactly how much that time involves and we are going to ask those questions. The community itself I guess has got a bit of information directly from the media and I know that some of the media has been related to the opposition's statement on the whole issue, so therefore I would caution being a little bit careful as to what it actually means without having the full picture of what is happening to our services.

The Whyalla News of 9 June headline reads: 'Whyalla hospital gets $15 million funding boost'. On 12 June the editorial said:

This means an increase in services that patients now have to travel to Adelaide to receive. There is no doubt that this is a good thing.

The page 1 story had a quote from local councillor and hospital board member, Merton Hodge, who said:

I think it is a very important announcement and a good announcement. It is very vital for any services that will benefit country areas to be introduced. It stops people from having to go to Adelaide which is very expensive, and opening up these services in Whyalla means that people from the west coast, for example, can get there much quicker.

Again, on 12 June:

Whyalla Hospital funding to establish oncology treatment centre. The $15 million extra capital funding will upgrade the hospital so it will provide more general surgery, high dependency emergency care, specialist services and more, and the new capital works will also help build an oncology unit and provide chemotherapy and other cancer treatment to the region.

We know the study last year showed a high incidence of cancer in the Whyalla area. One of the things that we wanted to do was to increase the level of service in this area.