Grievance Debate

Western Hospital

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:02): The Western Hospital is vital to the western suburbs community and to the broader statewide health system. Today, prior to question time, I tabled the first 11,000-plus signatures of the community-led petition launched in response to the hospital being placed into voluntary administration. The response has been overwhelming, with people from the western suburbs and across South Australia signing the petition: from West Beach to West Lakes, from Henley to Flinders Park, from Woodville West to Ottoway, from Fulham Gardens to Torrensville, and even as far as Encounter Bay, Uraidla, Keith and Port Lincoln. This petition is an indication of how many people and how strong the community support is, and how wide the provision of the hospital's services stretches and impacts.

It is important that the government, the administrators and potential buyers understand the importance of the Western to my community and more broadly. The response and the thousands of signatures speak for themselves. It is abundantly clear that from the community's perspective the hospital needs to continue, not just because of its immense connection to the area but also because of what it would mean for the broader South Australian public health system, should the hospital close. In the context of having ramping now two or three times worse than when Labor took office, the importance of this hospital has only increased over the past two years.

We are talking about a facility that is absolutely vital and provides vital services, whether it be through the GP clinic, inpatient beds or oncology and other services there. It has been amazing in the time that I have been out collecting signatures the number of people that have reflected on being born at the Western, of having their own children at the Western, or it being the place where they have had life-changing surgery or simply seen their long-term family GP. As media commentators have said, to this point this hospital is way too big to fail having regard to the immense role that it plays in ensuring that there is significant pressure taken off the public system. Its contribution is enormous.

I, and certainly others in the community, am sure that there is a greater role that the government can play to ensure the future of the Western Hospital, and that is the basis of the petition tabled today on behalf of my community. It calls on the state government to come out and provide assurance that the land on which the hospital sits will not be rezoned into the future and will be kept as land that can only be used for private healthcare services or public healthcare services into the future. I think there is also a place for the government to provide certainty, as best as possible, and an assurance of the level of public day surgery or elective surgery work that can be conducted at the Western Hospital to make the hospital as appealing an asset as possible for sale.

I want to thank sincerely the many people and organisations from far and wide who have made this all possible, who have dedicated hours upon hours collecting signatures. In particular, there is Colleen Billows, who joins us in the chamber today—a local community legend whose late husband, Gordon, was the inaugural chair of the hospital. Her efforts have been simply remarkable. Angelo Piovessen, the Chair of the Friends of Western Hospital, has likewise been incredible. Together, they have both crisscrossed the western suburbs collecting signatures.

Many locals have also come in and collected pages of signatures. There has also been a stand at the hospital itself. Many of our local community groups, businesses and clubs have also lent a hand. I hope to not forget any of them but I do want to read them all into Hansard. Can I sincerely thank: Henley and Grange Meals on Wheels; Charles Sturt Memorial Trust; Airport Over 50s Club; Fulham Community Centre; Lockleys Bowling Club; Drakes Mini at West Beach; Aldi at West Lakes; St Michael's College; Woodville-West Torrens Football Club; Leading Edge Physiotherapy at Henley Beach; Drakes at Fulham Gardens; West Beach and Districts Community Bank; Pharmacy + Co at Fulham Gardens; La Luna Cafe in Henley Beach South; Foodland at West Lakes; West Torrens District Cricket Club; Henley Sharks Football Club; various Probus clubs throughout the western suburbs; Our Lady of the Sacred Heart church at Henley Beach; Rowing SA at West Lakes; Drakes Mini at Grange; Macchinetta Coffee House on Grange Road; and Grange Jetty Cafe.

That list and the number of signatures really do demonstrate how much my community has driven this petition, to make it abundantly clear how important the hospital is to our community.