Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Basic health care is something that all Australians should have access to. And so can you imagine the frustration of a community that has had a service that is no longer available? The community of Wee Waa have been very angry and upset by the actions of Hunter New England Health. They have closed Wee Waa Hospital. The emergency department closes at 5.30 every day. There is no visiting medical officer, and this hospital is largely underutilised. There are wards with beds. There are treatment rooms. Everything is ready to go.

Despite the reassurances of the independent state member and the New South Wales health minister, there appears to be no action by Hunter New England Health in this regard. Hunter New England Health do have form there, I think, showing a lack of interest in the issues of and services for people in northern New South Wales. The community of Wee Waa have been publicly protesting. They have been trying to reach out to the New South Wales government. The Narrabri Shire Council mayor, Mayor Tiemens, has been very active in this space. It just needs the hierarchy and the leadership of Hunter New England Health to step out of Newcastle, go to Wee Waa, and come up with a solution. There are four doctors in Wee Waa, and none of them have the VMO rights at the local hospital. We are coming up to the cotton-picking season. There will be lots of heavy machinery and lots of people working in the fields. Young mums will need to bypass Wee Waa to go to Narrabri to have a baby.

But it's not just Wee Waa. Wee Waa Hospital services a big community, largely to the west. There are communities from Burren Junction up to Rowena and nearly as far out as Walgett. Those people of western New South Wales rely on Wee Waa Hospital. I'm calling on the New South Wales government and Hunter New England Health to get behind the people of Wee Waa, get their skates on, hop in the car, drive to Wee Waa and fix this problem that should be very, very simply fixed with just a bit of gumption and purpose. The people of Wee Waa deserve a health service that's reliable and available, and I'm backing them in on this.