Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to shine a light on the incredible work and achievement of my local community in Renmark to improve women's health outcomes through a holistic approach to health care. The struggle to access health care, particularly women's health services, in rural, regional and remote Australia is not an uncommon experience. I acknowledge the health professionals in the Riverland community, who make it their mission to change the narrative for regional women's health, for ensuring that regional women have access to specialised healthcare services, and for establishing the holistic services so regional women don't feel alone in their healthcare journey.

Health care should not be siloed, nor should outcomes be determined by somebody's postcode. So today I thank the health professionals who continue to drive change in my community and other communities, who deliver fit-for-purpose health care and who have bucked the one-size-fits-all approach of city-centric governments and bureaucrats. I hope that shining a light on the achievements of my local community is a reminder to government and decision-makers alike that rural, regional and remote health care needs flexibility because our challenges are often very different from those in the city. It's communities like mine which we must learn from so as to better understand locally led healthcare services because they inevitably deliver better needs and responses to community—way better than something that is being dictated to them by Adelaide or Canberra.

Whilst I shine a light on Australia's health care, can I remind everybody that today is Daffodil Day. The daffodil represents hope for a cancer-free future. Daffodil Day is Cancer Australia's annual fundraising campaign for cancer research. We know that one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85. The more hope we give, the more lives we can save. If you can donate today, please do.