Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thousands of people joined a community rally at Morry Breen Oval in Kanwal on Sunday, opposing the New South Wales government's decision to privatise Wyong Hospital. This is our community hospital; it was built after decades of hard work and fundraising by our community. It is not the government's to sell. The community has not been consulted about its future. This is not acceptable. The Premier and the state health minister owe it to the residents of the Central Coast to explain why they failed to make their plans public, why they are proceeding with a model with known risks and failure rates and why they are fundamentally opposed to public health. Our rally was the first in a series of events planned for regional locations where public-private partnerships are being considered. However, all residents in New South Wales may potentially be affected, with the government's own documents showing this approach will be considered for future hospital upgrades in New South Wales.

Health is the biggest employer on the Central Coast. It is unacceptable that health workers are being put in a position where they have no certainty about their future. As someone who has worked at Wyong Hospital for almost a decade, I stand alongside my community and say: Wyong Hospital should stay—now and in the future—in public hands. I want to thank the community and health workers for standing up and making their voices heard about just what effect a privatised Wyong Hospital would have on the health and wellbeing of locals.