Narungga Electorate

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (15:31): I rise today to make a quick contribution about the recently-held country cabinet that we hosted in our electorate of Narungga and outline some of the key issues that were hot topics at that country cabinet and some of the actions we are hoping to see take place as time proceeds, as well as the outcomes from that country cabinet.

I would like to commence by congratulating the government on the country cabinet process. It was my first time being exposed to a country cabinet. I have to say that I have formed the view that it is a tremendously beneficial thing for the community. We were able to show almost every minister all the different issues, and they were able to see firsthand and hear directly from the horse's mouth about all the issues we have got going on, and more importantly all the opportunities that we have got for improvement in our electorate of Narungga.

From the outset I would like to congratulate the government on their country cabinet process, and thank them sincerely for coming to Narungga and seeing all those things. We were able to show them some really important things. I want to say thank you very much to the Minister for Human Services, because we were able to conduct a homelessness forum where we heard from local providers about the different challenges they face not only in providing public housing stock or permanent housing stock but also the situation when it comes to emergency houses. There were some quite harrowing recounts from different people, like domestic violence victims, who find themselves, through no fault of their own, short of accommodation with very little opportunity to find something in the meantime.

Another interesting topic was raised. Unlike in the city where a Code Blue or Code Red is declared and there are opportunities for people to find refuge, there is very little in, I suspect, most regional centres but certainly it is very hard in our part of the world for people to find refuge in those instances.

It was wonderful to hear directly from those people. I thank the minister very much for being there to hear directly from them, and I know that the announcement a couple of days later was a wonderful step in the right direction, and it will hopefully be a beneficial outcome for those of us in regional South Australia.

Importantly also we were able to get the Minister for Regional Roads and the Minister for Regional Development into a truck each, and they were able to travel down the Arthurton to Kulpara road, a road that was recently voted the worst grain road in the state by Grain Producers SA. They were able to experience firsthand how narrow that road is, particularly when you have another truck coming at you from the other direction.

Again, one of the benefits of a country cabinet is hearing directly from those people who are affected and experiencing those things firsthand, and I am sure and I hope that those two ministers have had the opportunity to experience that in a truck and see how undulating that road is and how narrow it is for people who have to use that on a regular basis. I am hopeful that will lead to a wonderful outcome not only for the Arthurton and Kulpara roads but the litany of other roads that we have around the electorate that are in a fair old state of disrepair.

We have made a wonderful start over the past few years in trying to get a lot of those roads fixed, and there are certainly a lot of appreciative people in the community, but unfortunately there is still a way to go in trying to ensure that we fix all of them, which I suspect will be a never-ending task.

In addition to roads, we owe a great deal of thanks to the Minister for Environment who visited Cape Elizabeth as guests of members of the Narungga community and in the presence of Landscape SA members to see the damage that is being done by the explosion in popularity of beach camping. It is wonderful to have so many people visiting the YP now, but the mass in which they are visiting and camping on the beaches, and the recreational activities that they are engaging in, is causing some issues for our coastline. It is causing some issues for the sand dunes around the coastline.

It was wonderful to have a discussion with all those parties—the minister, the Narungga community, the landscape board and myself and my office—about the steps that we might take in the future to protect that valuable asset, arguably the most valuable asset we have in Narungga, our coastline. Thank you very much for actually getting out on site and hearing directly from those community members.

Certainly not lastly, but last in this list, is health. I would like to thank the Minister for Health for visiting three of our public hospitals: Yorketown, Maitland, and then I was thrilled to join him at the Wallaroo Hospital to see the issues we have going on in our regional health system. There is wonderful progress being made at Wallaroo Hospital. There is a new rehab facility about to open. They are upgrading the chemo unit, so it should be open more often and, hopefully in the future, for more people. Of course, there was a very welcome announcement relatively recently that the PAT Scheme will double, which is a wonderful thing for regional people.

I hope that the message taken away by the minister and the government is about the difficulty in accessing health care. Through no fault of their own, it is a very long line to get in to see a GP. Often, presentations to the ED can be quite a lengthy wait to be seen by what are increasingly locum doctors. Hopefully, the message taken away is we need to make sure we update the model of care to ensure people can access health care when they need it. I thank him for visiting and seeing that firsthand.

The government saw a great deal more than that while they were there. They were up and down the peninsula from Marion Bay to Port Wakefield, and I would like to sincerely thank them—the Premier, the government, all the ministers—for coming and hearing firsthand about the opportunities we have in Narungga.