Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Preventing Family Violence) Share this | Hansard source

Something very special happened this week. Beginning on sunset, 10 September, and ending at nightfall on 11 September, which was yesterday, we marked the beginning of the Islamic new year, also known as Arabic new year or Hijri new year. Islamic new year marks the al-Hijrah of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in 1622 CE. The evening of Sunday, September 9, just past, to the evening of September 11 marks Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the Jewish new year, and it so happens that the Coptic Orthodox Christian new year also falls on 11 September, which was yesterday. It is incredible that these three faiths are all celebrating New Year in this week. The fact that these three different sets of belief with common origins intersect on the same day reminds us all of the beautiful diversity of the electorate of Barton and that of modern multicultural Australia. The Arabic, Jewish and Coptic communities are major and valued communities in the electorate of Barton, and I am very proud to represent them. I wish all of the people in those three communities and their families a very happy New Year this week.

On 3 September in Barton, we also held a health forum. Over 100 residents and healthcare practitioners gathered at Hurstville Club Central, joined by the member for Ballarat, Catherine King, the shadow minister, for a forum on health and hospitals. Many residents expressed concern about rising medical costs, including out-of-pocket expenses and private health insurance, while local healthcare practitioners spoke of their frustrations about the government's cut to hospitals. From 2017 to 2020, the Liberal government will have cut $700 million from public hospitals across Australia, including $5.46 million from St George Hospital. St George Hospital has over 500 beds. It is a very important hospital for surgeries, and wait times for those surgeries have increased. St George Hospital's median wait time for category 1 surgery is also two days above the national median of 11 days. Labor has announced an investment of $80 million in MRIs and Medicare licences, something that St George Hospital is very frustrated about not having.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10:56 to 11:08

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