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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-07-02 Daily Xml
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Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle Program

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:59): My question is to the Minister for Health. What is the current status of the Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle program following the federal government's decision to cancel the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health?

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Health will speak with authority on this matter.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:59): Sir, it is not often a member has to make a personal explanation in response to a comment from the Speaker, but you will keep.

The federal budget handed down in May did not only cut funding to our state's doctors and nurses but it also tore up important national partnership agreements. Unfortunately, one of the most sudden cuts in the budget was the immediate termination of the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health, meaning that South Australia will no longer receive $15.6 million from the commonwealth to fund important preventative health initiatives from this week.

Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle (OPAL) has been the largest investment in childhood obesity prevention of its kind in South Australian history. This groundbreaking program supports children, through their families and communities, to be healthy now and stay healthy for life. OPAL is currently operating in 20 sites across South Australia. Since it started in 2009, OPAL has strengthened the efforts of many councils to improve the health and wellbeing of children and their families. Importantly, OPAL targets high-risk groups, that is, those most at risk of ending up in our hospitals in years to come.

Despite the program's success and important aims, its future was in grave danger following the federal budget. However, I am pleased to say, unlike Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott, the South Australian government will not walk away from the fight against childhood obesity. Instead, the government will fulfil our commitment of $6.3 million over the next three years of the program.

Preventative health is a major factor in keeping people out of hospitals in the first place. Governments on all levels need to invest in programs keeping people healthy and out of hospital. In the long run, they cannot afford not to. We will now work closely with local councils to determine how we can continue to operate OPAL on a reduced budget after the federal funding is withdrawn. This may mean that some aspects of the program will have to be modified, but our goal of encouraging South Australians to live healthy and active lives will remain the same.

The future of OPAL was just one of the many difficult choices this government was faced with in the wake of the federal Liberal Party's budget cuts. Around the country, Liberal Party premiers and health ministers are voicing strong opposition to the federal government abandoning their fair share of health funding. It would be nice to see something like that coming from members opposite.

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