Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hume for his question. I appreciate his concern to preserve rural health services, a concern which is shared by many members on this side of the House, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, as demonstrated recently. I am aware that the New South Wales health department will close the specialist children’s ward on weekends at Goulburn Hospital starting this weekend. A children’s ward that is shut on weekends means that children will have to face potentially dangerous transfers. I quote Dr Andrew Keegan of the New South Wales AMA, who said:

Young children on drips or needing oxygen will need to be transferred to adult wards or to other hospitals such as Canberra, an hour’s drive away. There is a strong likelihood of cross-infection.

This weekend closure of the specialist children’s ward at Goulburn Hospital comes on top of the closure last year of 12 surgical beds at Goulburn Hospital. This is not the first time that the Greater Southern Area Health Service has been in trouble. I am advised by the member for Eden-Monaro that last year small businesses in his electorate had to wait up to four months to have their bills paid by this health service. I am advised by the member for Riverina that the Greater Southern Area Health Service hospitals in her area have sometimes had no milk because the local milk vendor had not been paid. Sometimes motor vehicles have been grounded because the registration has not been paid and the ambulance has not been operational because the petrol bill has not been paid.

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