Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Cross-border communities have justifiably received media attention in the last few weeks, but nowhere near enough. The hard closure of the South Australian border has resulted in enormous anxiety and stress for people living in border communities, particularly those with urgent medical needs. The South Australian health exemption system lacks transparency and accountability and is resulting in enormous grief for those who are exposed to it. Over and over I have had people tell me that they have been denied an exemption with no reason given and no ability to appeal. There appears to be no empathy being shown to those living with life-threatening diseases such as cancer. To be given a diagnosis of a terminal or life-threatening illness would be confronting for any of us, but to then be denied ongoing treatment and access to life-saving drugs is unthinkable in Australia. Individuals continue to come to me to ask for help. Take Sally from Kaniva, who sadly has terminal cancer. Her immune system is compromised due to chemotherapy, so she has rarely left her farm since the pandemic arrived in Australia. I have talked with Marcia from Underbool, a young woman with cancer, who has also been denied an exemption to continue her chemotherapy at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. These women are now being denied their regular medical care because, as Victorians, they supposedly pose a risk to South Australia. Who could forget Parker from Murrayville, who received a heart transplant at the age of just two? Now seven, Parker was refused access to his ongoing cardiology appointments in Adelaide and is facing greater difficulties in accessing his life-saving medications. I've also spoken to the wonderful Di Thornton, a nurse practitioner who owns and operates the Mallee Border Health Centre in Pinnaroo, South Australia. Because Di and many of her staff live in Murrayville on the Victorian side of the border, she's had to close her clinic, having been denied an exemption to provide health care. This has resulted in the Pinnaroo community in South Australia, who have been reliant on her health service, now needing to travel hundreds of kilometres for health care.

At present, only an emergency is perceived as justifiable. I urge the South Australian health authority to reconsider these parameters and support continuity of care as essential for those living in border communities. In just over one week, 30 people with urgent medical needs contacted my office to ask for help because they had been declined a permit. Many more people have told me how the border closures will decimate their business and their community. These restrictions are un-Australian and unacceptable. There has been an exponential rise in anxiety in communities along the Victoria-South Australia border. I call on Premier Steven Marshall and the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Stephen Wade, to see reason and to develop an urgent solution for this national crisis.