Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Nurses and Midwives Nurses and Midwives The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS Legislative Council Nurses and Midwives The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:55): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding the health workforce. Leave granted. The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS Legislative Council The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the contribution made to Australians by our frontline health staff, with nurses in particular supporting a range of COVID-related activities as well as maintaining ongoing healthcare services. Can the minister update the council on the contribution of nurses in South Australia Health? The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council Minister for Health and Wellbeing The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:55): I would like to thank the honourable member for his question. Today in South Australia we celebrate International Nurses Day and acknowledge all nurses and midwives around the world. Nurses and midwives are the largest workforce globally and in South Australia we have more than 33,000 nurses and midwives who play a critical role in delivering health care. COVID-19 has brought new challenges in response to which nurses are demonstrating the breadth of their skills and their versatility. Nurses and midwives have responded to the challenges impacting on traditional models of practice and ways of working by embracing new technology to support patients and their families. On behalf of the government I would like to honour the outstanding leadership, commitment and compassion of the service provided by nurses to the people of South Australia. This morning, I was delighted to be part of a gathering of past and present nurses at the Repat in the SPF hall where we celebrated International Nurses Day and the relocation of the nurses honour boards from the Keswick barracks to the refurbished SPF hall. Nurses have been central to the legendary care that grew at the Repat. During World War II the hospital at the Repat was initially an active military hospital called the Adelaide Military Hospital 105. The first nurses of course were military nurses. Over more than 75 years the relationship between the military and the nursing profession was central to the fabric of the Repat, its culture and its quality of care, so it's only apt that the Repat is a place where we will remember the military nurses of this state. The honour boards name the South Australian nurses from a range of campaigns from the Boer War in the late 1800s through both world wars through to the Vietnam War. One such listing which I was determined to find this morning and I did find was the reference to Vivian Bullwinkel, who is a model of resilience and a symbol of strength for nursing. Vivian was born in Kapunda, South Australia, and was an Australian Army nurse during World War II and the sole survivor of the Bangka Island massacre in Sumatra in 1942. During the massacre she was struck by a bullet which passed completely through her body. She feigned death until the attackers left; however, she was eventually found and taken into captivity as a prisoner of war where she was held for 3½ years. Vivian went on to testify before a war crimes tribunal, later retiring from the Australian Army but continuing to dedicate herself as a leader in nursing and in humanitarian causes. On this day—a day to celebrate and acknowledge nurses and midwives—I would like to recognise the way nurses are continuing to respond to challenges, embracing new technology over the decades past and decades to come.