Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk, very specifically, about Labor’s neglect of the regions. In particular, today I want to talk about the far North Coast of New South Wales and the Tweed region. I spend quite a deal of time on the far North Coast, and in July this year I met with a local couple up there, Don and Nancy Morgan, who particularly wanted to raise with me the plight of pensioners. Obviously they were talking specifically from their North Coast aspect, but they were talking about pensioners in general. I know there has been a lot of discussion around pensioners and their ability to cope in these days of rising fuel and grocery prices—which, I might add, the Labor Party said they would bring down during the election campaign and obviously have not—on the very small amount of money they receive on the pension. Don and Nancy are obviously on a couple’s pension, but what really struck me is they were even more concerned for the single pensioners who are trying to cope on the amount of money they receive.

I, along with many of my colleagues, have been listening to the stories of Don and Nancy Morgan, who represent many, many pensioners out there in our elderly community, and took to heart very closely what they were saying. It is the work of the Don and Nancy Morgans of this country that has resulted in a coalition bill being brought forward to raise the pension by $30. For those people, that is an extraordinary step forward if only it could be implemented. And what have we seen from the other side? We have seen absolutely nothing. We have seen the Prime Minister, Minister Swan and Minister Gillard each say that they could not possibly live on $273 a week. But what has happened? Nothing. Not a single thing. They stand there and admit that it is impossible for these elderly people—these people who have built this country—to live on that amount of money and yet they move not a finger to try to do something to address it. It is appalling for elderly people in this country to be in this situation where the government is completely ignoring their needs.

This bill is coming forward. I implore Labor senators on the other side and Labor members in the other place to support the bill. As far as I am concerned, this is Don Morgan’s law. He is representative of all of those pensioners out there who need us to help them and who need us to address this situation immediately.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That’s right.

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for your interjection, Senator Mason. And why is it not being addressed immediately? It is not being addressed simply because the Labor government refused to do anything. And what have we found in recent days? That the Prime Minister had advice before the budget about the plight surrounding pensioners, and yet he chose to do nothing. So what are we going to have, Senator Mason? What we are going to have is another review. I am not sure: is it taking it to 83, 84, 95, 106 reviews? I do not know.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

165?

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It could be 165! The only thing we have seen from the government to date, after nearly a year, is review after review after review after review, and not a single decision has been taken. People out in the community are starting to realise that all of those empty promises that were supposed to deliver for the regions have meant absolutely nothing. And it is people like Don and Nancy Morgan who are realising that the government is not delivering on its promises—none of them. To my mind, for a government to sit here in the knowledge that $30 a week would make such a difference to these people and refuse to deliver it is absolutely abhorrent. The elderly people around this country deserve better. They deserve to know that their government cares for them, but obviously the government does not. Elderly people are so disappointed that nothing is being done.

I certainly challenge the local member for Richmond, Mrs Elliot, to come out and fight for and champion her local people, because so far we have seen absolutely nothing. She has obviously had no influence on ministers and the Prime Minister to support pensioners in what they need. And if just once she would put the interests of her people ahead of her party, perhaps pensioners like Don and Nancy Morgan might get a break and might see this situation addressed.

I noted before that Senator Brown commented on regional Australia being seen as second rate. I think that was a very apt comment given what we are seeing from the government in their attitude towards the regions. One of the particular issues I would like to talk about today is the issue of hospitals and health care, particularly in the regions. It is particularly noticeable on the North Coast of New South Wales what an appalling job both the federal and the state Labor governments are doing in delivering health. The Tweed and Murwillumbah hospitals are both in absolute crisis because of Labor’s neglect and funding cuts.

In July, the member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, was pictured on the front page of the Tweed Daily News with the then state health minister—they have had a lot of changes in the New South Wales state Labor government in recent times—Reba Meagher, officially opening 30 beds.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The ‘Grim Reba’!

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was in July. It is now September and, months later, guess what? There is not one of those 30 beds that were announced in July in that hospital—not one. So with all of the fanfare—‘This is wonderful, this commitment to officially opening 30 new beds’—there is not one bed opened. Why? Because the state Labor government has failed to fund the staff they need to run the beds. It is just an extraordinary state of affairs. They have the funding; they have the announcement for the beds. Tweed Hospital thinks, ‘Fantastic, we’ve got 30 new beds.’ The hospital, might I say, is running enormously over its capacity anyway—30 new beds announced and absolutely none opened because Labor is in such disarray that they have not got any funding to fund the staff to operate the beds. The doctors up there are in open revolt. They have to turn away ambulances in non life-threatening cases. It is an appalling state of affairs. There are no future expansion plans for the Tweed Hospital, despite being in one of the most rapidly growing areas in the country. Neglect of the regions is what I said when I started this speech, and this is yet another example of that neglect of the regions. Labor do not care about the regions. They are not focused on the regions. They are not doing anything for the regions.

Also up in that particular area is the Murwillumbah hospital, which was built 70 years ago, thanks to fundraising by the then local Nationals MP, Larry Anthony Sr. It is now under constant assault by the Labor government. We have a state Labor government talking about taking away the maternity services at this regional hospital—a regional hospital that needs more theatre sisters and more funding. In that part of the world this is so serious that recently 6,000 local people attended a rally to support their local hospital because Labor was trying to rip it to shreds.

Where was the local member, Justine Elliot, on that day? Not to be seen. She did not even bother to turn up to support those people she purports to represent. What is even more interesting to know is how many times the federal member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, has talked about the Murwillumbah hospital in the other place. How many times has she mentioned it? I thought I had better go through, have a look and see how many times she had referred to it, because this is one of the most important issues to people in her electorate.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Surely dozens of times.

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought perhaps dozens of times, Senator Mason—thank you for the interjection—I thought at least a few. Do you know how many? None. Not once. She has not mentioned, not raised, the Murwillumbah hospital situation, which is a crisis, once. She is the local member; she may well have a ministerial portfolio, but she is the local member. What makes this particularly interesting is that during the campaign in the run-up to the election last year, the local Labor member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, had significant advertising with this very simple message: ‘Labor will fix our hospitals. Kevin Rudd and Justine Elliot working together.’ Guess what? People believed it.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No!

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They actually believed that Labor was going to work together and do something. Remember we heard a lot, Senator Mason, about ending the blame game and how we were going to have cooperative federalism.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remember.

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, cooperative federalism has delivered absolutely nothing for the regions and nothing for the North Coast. The member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, is now being termed ‘just in Canberra’ and ‘just incompetent’ because she is not doing anything to help the people of her local area fight for their hospital. It is appalling, and I challenge her to start fighting for her local people and to do something for the people there who need those hospital services so desperately.

While we are on Labor neglecting the regions, we cannot go past the extraordinary decision that we saw at budget time to cut Regional Partnerships funding for projects that were underway in the run-up to the election. I find that completely appalling, and I will give an example of it. A skate park was one of the projects put forward under Regional Partnerships in the run-up to the election, and I commend Daphne White, who was one of the many people in the region who did so much to try and get this project up and running. Now, $110,000 does not sound like very much, and that is because in the scheme of things it is not very much. This is an area with a very high population of young people—young people who need something to do. They were incredibly involved in getting this project up and running, but they saw all that being axed and ripped out from underneath them.

There was such a hue and cry about all these projects in the pipeline being axed that the minister had to do a huge backflip a few months later and say, ‘We’re now going to assess all those projects that were in the pipeline.’ We saw at the time the Labor MP, Justine Elliot, boasting, ‘This is what we can do if we all work together,’ referring to the backflip of the minister in saying that these projects would now be assessed.

Local skater Luke Wyatt said that ‘local skaters would be stoked’ to hear that the government had reversed their decision. This is a skate park for young people for a measly $110,000 in a region that is rapidly expanding. By the way, it was not pork-barrelling because we had the local clubs, the state government—mind you, they were only going to contribute a paltry $30,000—and the council working collectively because they knew this project was something that was so needed for the region. So they resubmitted it, it was reassessed and guess what? The Labor government said: ‘We’re sorry but you can’t have your money for your young people in the town for your skate park. It’s not going to happen.’

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’re kidding!

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not kidding, Senator Mason—it is absolutely true. This is appalling. All those young people in particular knew how important it was for them to have somewhere to collect and be together, and the government ripped it out from underneath them. And guess what? The reason the government gave was that there was not a commitment in place. Interestingly, the Regional Partnerships guidelines say that if you enter into a contract then it becomes null and void. You are not allowed to do that under the guidelines.

What we have seen here is an appalling decision by the Labor government to rip this money away from that local community. I challenge Justine Elliot, the local member, to prove that she is more than ‘just in Canberra’ and more than ‘just too busy’, to invest in her local people and to actually go out there and fight for those people that are in her local community, because those people need her. The Labor government has neglected the regions time and time again, and now it has happened again on the far North Coast. (Time expired)