Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not but I am a good local member and it is what they wanted. I got it for them, had it framed and took it over and it was hung up on a wall. They had one but they needed a new one—let us put it that way—so I made sure that they got that. They were delighted with it. So it is hanging up and it looks very good.

Another local issue that I am actively advocating for at the moment is Coraki's Campbell Hospital, which is in my seat of Page. It is a small 14-bed hospital. There is a committee there. It is like a standing committee—it is called the Save the Hospital Committee—because every now and then the issue raises its head whereby they feel they are under threat. They do so at the moment. They have had some bad luck with the weather and it did do some damage to the hospital and expensive repair work was carried out. I was told that that would continue over the holidays and I was also told by the health service that they were undertaking a full structural review of the hospital as that was required. I understand that has been done and that I will be advised as to that soon. But the community, without enough information and after waiting for quite a few months, started to get very anxious about it, understandably so, and there was a public meeting and a lot of people turned out—230 people, although Coraki is a small place. I was here in this place so I joined the meeting by telephone. The local state member for Clarence attended the meeting and both he and I gave support to them, as I have done ever since I have been elected as their member and said that I will always make sure that that hospital stays open. I have a petition to that effect. We are collecting signatures on it at the moment in the community. We are seeking three things: ensuring urgent attention to repairs at Campbell Hospital, reopening the hospital at the earliest possible date and the giving of a commitment to the long-term future of the Campbell Hospital, which the residents so rightly deserve.

Another event that happened in my electorate recently was the opening of another part of the Ballina Bypass, something that was funded by our government and something that I lobbied for—involving $450 million, and there is state money in that as well. I was there with the local state member for Ballina and we did the honours and opened that. It was wonderful to see. We both stood there saying we never thought we would get so excited watching cars drive up a road—but it was good to see because the road was open. (Time expired)

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