Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Sunday afternoon I joined 500 people at a rally to protest the New South Wales Liberal government's shameful neglect of the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick. I pay tribute to and thank the families of sick children, the surgeons, the doctors, the medical professionals and the members of our community who also came together to protest this disgusting decision. The reason for the protest is that the New South Wales Liberal government is shutting the paediatric cardiology unit at the Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick. This is despite the fact that a written guarantee was given by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Health Minister Brad Hazzard that the unit at Randwick Sydney Children's Hospital would be maintained and remain open. The Premier promised our community and the people of New South Wales and she has reneged on that commitment.

We have a growing population in our area. Members of our community want better health services not cuts to health services but that is exactly what this broken promise does. It will put children's lives at risk and it's a decision that must be reversed. The parents who spoke at the rally conveyed their views of the importance of this service. We heard from the parents of two sick children whose lives were saved by the expertise of doctors that work in this unit. They were saved because the hospital had a cardiac surgery unit able to operate and save those lives. This is the exact service that the New South Wales government wants to close.

The decision does not make any sense whatsoever. The cost of running the unit is $6 million per year. They want to shut a unit providing cardiac services for children for $6 million. This is the government that just paid $576 million in compensation to a company building the bungled Sydney light rail project. Government is about priorities. What is this Liberal government's priority: $6 million to save children's lives at the children's hospital or $576 million because you stuffed up the light rail project? It says everything about this government's priorities.

I'm not an expert in this. Some have said this is a turf war between doctors. But as I parent I know that if I had a sick child that required urgent cardiac surgery then I'd want them to know that they had the best care possible. I'd be petrified if I were told that my child had to be transferred to another hospital because that $6 million service had been shut down in the particular hospital in Randwick. The experts who have spoken out have been warned by the New South Wales health department for this. I say to those doctors that have spoken out: bravo. We support you 100 per cent. 36,000 people have signed a change.org petition to protest this decision and I call on others to support the campaign to stop the closure of this unit at the Randwick children's hospital. (Time expired)