Nurses and Midwives

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services, Minister for Seniors and Ageing Well) (15:41): I give a huge welcome to parliament to my midwifery and nursing friends and colleagues. You represent the beating heart of our healthcare system here in South Australia. Many of you I have worked with, many of you I have played with, and we have shared some of the best and some of the most difficult times together over decades.

I will avoid naming individuals so as not to miss anyone; however, I would really like to shout out to the ANMF who are represented here today and support all of us—a union for our nurses and midwives. I congratulate Elizabeth Dabars, current secretary and CEO, on her reappointment since last year following elections. I think she is now in her 18th year at the helm; she must have been a very, very young CEO at the time.

Since 1986, my first year nursing, I have experienced five wonderful union leaders: Marilyn Beaumont, Leena Sudano, the Hon. Gail Gago, Lee Thomas and Elizabeth—such stability, only to be matched by that of the SA branch of the Labor Party, also with only five leaders since 1986. Today, we mark two of the most important days in our calendar: the International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day here together. This year, we are guided by two powerful themes. For midwives, Critical in Every Crisis, and for nurses, The Health and Wellbeing of Nurses.

Themes provide guidance, a target or aspiration in a way, forged through incredible and determined professionalism, dedicated service and lived experience. They are from before and during the start of life as well as, in some cases, the end. Midwives are not only caregivers—midwives, you are protectors, planners, responders, advocates and educators. Midwives are calm in a crisis. They work hard to ensure the safety of mothers and newborns, even in the most fragile of circumstances.

During the COVID pandemic, I met with and advocated on behalf of midwives and their families who were struggling to achieve dignity, choice and control of birthing experiences, and particularly regarding family presence during birthing, be that in our large teaching hospitals or in the most remote of communities. Nurses work across the most diverse places and always put themselves last in the most acute to end-of-life settings: ICU to aged care, emergency to mental health units. You face challenges; you provide constant support to those who need it.

This year's theme speaks so urgently to your own health and wellbeing. Nurses and midwives must practise self care, but most will not do this without a push. We need a healthy workforce to deliver a strong health system. While we are again celebrating you, we know the government, the parliament, must do more than celebrate and offer our thanks. The Labor Party is the party for workers. We always prioritise safe working conditions, we always help fight for fair wages as well as for real pathways for leadership and development.

Our government, and indeed our federal government, has invested in mental health support and policy frameworks that centre your voices and wellbeing. Our team here in South Australia has supported our federal colleagues recently in achieving an enormous win to secure a second term of government in which to continue important reforms across health care, across aged care, across disability, across housing, across the community in general, and particularly around the prevention of domestic and family violence. With this comes a huge responsibility.

Importantly, we will never forget our First Nations people. Our party acknowledges the significant impact of colonialism. When I hear from people about the challenges or the barriers that they face accessing services or delivering services in our city and in our suburbs, I always ask people to consider what happens to these challenges when you go to the regions? What happens to these challenges when you go to remote parts of our country?

My midwifery and nursing colleagues, you are all critical every single day. You deserve all the thanks, respect and support you can be offered. Your expertise must always be celebrated and never taken for granted. Today, we, our government, and in fact the parliament, reaffirm our commitment to you as we commemorate two international days. Your presence here is humbling and inspiring. I thank you for your friendship now and always. Happy International Day of the Midwife and Happy International Nurses Day 2025.