Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Last week I hosted a public forum in my home of Gladstone to hear from the community about their experiences with the local health system. I heard one thing very clearly: the people of Gladstone have had enough of being treated like second-class citizens. The Gladstone region generates billions for the Queensland and Australian economies, but its people have been exploited for decades by governments and corporations trying to squeeze every last drop of profit from the coal and gas industries and the people who work in them.

Gladstone Hospital has been persistently underresourced by the Queensland government for years. With no ICU—which was shut down more than two decades ago—the hospital is unable to provide comprehensive or long-term care. Patients are frequently forced to travel to Rockhampton for something as simple as a fracture. More complex treatments inevitably involve travel to Brisbane. The patient travel subsidy, which is meant to offset the cost of staying away from home for medical treatment, is woefully inadequate. Many people, unable to afford the cost and inconvenience of travelling large distances for procedures, are forgoing care. With no ICU, Gladstone, a major industrial centre, has no safety net for a large-scale industrial accident.

With a year until the next Queensland election, Labor and the LNP will be hearing loud and clear that Gladstone and its community will no longer be treated with contempt by governments. The people of Gladstone deserve a better deal, and the Greens are going to help them get it.