APY Lands, Renal Dialysis Units

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:50): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, representing the Minister for Health, in relation to community-based dialysis on the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: More than 20 people from the APY lands need regular dialysis treatment in order to stay alive. A lack of ongoing community-based treatment options means these patients must relocate permanently to Adelaide or regional centres like Alice Springs and Port Augusta. The South Australian government currently reimburses the Northern Territory government a set fee for every dialysis treatment provided in Alice Springs to an APY renal patient.

Last July, the federal government announced funding of $1.7 million to cover the cost of establishing a permanent dialysis facility on the APY lands. The proposed facility, to be run by Western Desert Dialysis, would have the capacity for up to four dialysis machines. This would enable 12 patients to comfortably receive regular dialysis on their traditional lands, week in, week out.

On 13 October 2015, Western Desert Dialysis provided SA Health with a detailed business case outlining the costs and service model for delivering ongoing dialysis services in an APY community. In addition, the Ernabella Community Council invited Western Desert Dialysis to address its meeting in December 2015, at which it endorsed the proposal and identified land for the facility.

The business case was based on modelling that assumed no additional costs would be incurred by SA Health and that the funding currently provided as a reimbursement to the Northern Territory government would instead be paid to Western Desert Dialysis. A similar arrangement already exists between Western Australia Country Health Service and Western Desert Dialysis for the provision of dialysis services in two Western Australian remote Aboriginal communities (Warburton and Wanarn).

Given the credibility and track record of Western Desert Dialysis, there is no apparent reason why such an agreement could not work in South Australia. However, to date, no response has been provided by SA Health to the business case or to the repeated calls from APY communities for community-based dialysis services.

The Hon. P. Malinauskas interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Given the growing number of people requiring dialysis treatment—sorry, Mr President. Minister Malinauskas may not care about Aboriginal health, but we do. Given the growing number of people requiring dialysis treatment—

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Point of order, Mr President: I seek your ruling. I know what you have said to us about pointing across the chamber but the violent gesticulations of the Hon. Mr Stephens—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Gesticulations. His violent gesticulations have been throwing off the Hon. Mr Wade in his question, making him take longer than he needs to in his brief explanation, and I seek your ruling on that.

The PRESIDENT: Can the Hon. Mr Stephens keep his violent gestures to himself? The Hon. Mr Wade has the floor.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Given the growing number of people requiring dialysis treatment, the demands being placed on the Northern Territory dialysis services will soon be reaching their limits. This could result in South Australian patients being turned away from accessing renal services in the Northern Territory. My questions are:

1. When will SA Health respond to the business case provided by Western Desert Dialysis five months ago?

2. Noting that there will be no additional costs incurred by SA Health, why hasn't SA Health embraced the opportunity to provide much-needed dialysis services on the APY lands?

3. What factors, if any, could prevent SA Health from supporting the Western Desert Dialysis proposal?

4. In the event that the Northern Territory government is no longer able to accommodate any additional renal patients from the APY lands, where will this treatment be provided?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:54): I thank the honourable member for directing a question to me for the Minister for Health in the other place. I've got to say that he is a very brave man indeed, after what we have just heard in terms of a question directed to him, asking the Minister for Health to offer him another opportunity to talk about his hypocrisy about utilising the private patient details that somehow have been arranged for him to access in his political efforts. But of course he has every right to direct a question to the Minister for Health. I will undertake to take that question to the minister in another place and bring back a response for him. But woe befall him asking the Minister for Health to now come back to him with another chop at Mr Wade's hypocrisy.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Gazzola.