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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-02 Daily Xml
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UMOONA TJUTAGKU HEALTH SERVICE

The Hon. L.R. BREUER (Giles) (15:22): I want to concur with the member for Stuart on that Yorkeys Crossing. It is a vital part of the outback. You have traffic coming through from Perth, from the Eyre Peninsula, from the north—from Coober Pedy, Roxby Downs, etc., and from Whyalla. If something does go wrong with the bridge, and it could easily happen—somebody just said to me does it happen very often and I said no, but it is probably just sheer luck that it does not.

I do not agree with you that we should be taking money from the footbridge or any of the programs that are happening in Adelaide, particularly, but everybody in South Australia wants their roads fixed but I do think we have to prioritise. I certainly think that that is a priority for us, because if something goes wrong we are in serious trouble from our part of the state. However, people in Adelaide do forget that.

I want to talk today about the Umoona Tjutagku Health Service at Coober Pedy which is a community controlled health service for Aboriginal people in the Coober Pedy area and the Oodnadatta area. It provides primary healthcare services to Aboriginal people. It also auspices the Dunjiba substance misuse program in Oodnadatta.

This service was established in 2005 and over the years it has expanded steadily to provide a comprehensive range of medical services, dental services and even social services for the community at Umoona and Coober Pedy. It does other things, such as contributing to community events that happen in the area and conducts ongoing research for the ongoing needs of the community. It is an amazing service, run by Priscilla Larkins, who has been there for some time and has done a very good job. I also want to make mention of someone called George Lasletts who does a lot of the drug and alcohol work, and there are many others involved in the Umoona Tjutagku Health Service.

I am particularly mentioning it today because on Monday I am going to the grand opening of the drug and alcohol day centre, which has been planned for some time. This is an upgrade of a service that has been operating there and it will provide a really good service. I have seen the plans; I haven't actually seen the building as yet, except in the distance. I know that it will be a wonderful advantage for the Aboriginal community in Coober Pedy. On Monday it is to be opened by the Hon. Warren Snowdon and it is a significant milestone in Coober Pedy's history, so I will be very pleased to be there.

On 27 March this year I went to the opening of the Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre in Quorn which was opened by Senator Alex Gallacher. This is a $1.6 million development. It will be used to strengthen access to training for rural and regional students who will be able to do certificate II and III level training in a number of fields where there are shortages in the automotive area, electrical engineering, building and construction areas, commercial cookery, and in the agricultural industry. It will involve the schools at Port Augusta, Quorn, Hawker, Booleroo Centre, Leigh Creek and Orroroo, so it has a very wide footprint. In each of these campuses they will specialise in one of these specific trade or training areas.

It is a wonderful service and it is part of the Pichi Richi Centre which has been working there for many years with the schools in that area. The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society for over 10 years has developed and continued to foster very strong partnerships with the students from schools in their local community, and I have been very pleased to see the work that has been done over the years.

Of course, the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society is a group of mostly retired people, many retired engineers and people who have had an association with the rail industry, people who have trade backgrounds, and basically a lot of the time they are just boys who have never grown up really even though they are in their later years. I think we all have a bit of a fascination with trains, and certainly this organisation has done that. It is an amazing place to visit. Go and have a ride on the train up there one day if you ever get the opportunity.

They also put their efforts and I suppose some of their money where their mouth is and work with these schools. They have done incredible work with the young people in the area and will continue to do so. The partnership has been a wonderful one to work with the society and the communities. I think they will continue to do this with their new trade training centre. It was an excellent project and I was very pleased to be part of that ceremony and have a ride on the train to the centre and back again.

Time expired.

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