Rural Communities Impacts Bill 2007

Debate resumed from 21 June 2007.

Mr GEOFF PROVEST (Tweed) [10.30 a.m.]: It is with great pleasure that I speak to the bill. As members know, I am 100 per cent committed to the Tweed electorate and 100 per cent behind its constituents. Over many years the people who live in the Tweed have suffered as a result of various decisions made by the Government that have deeply impacted upon their lifestyle, work commitments and many other aspects of their daily life. Difficulties have been brought about as a result of due consideration not being given to the impact on my electorate of laws that are made in Sydney. The first issue I wish to discuss relates to ambulance charges. Late last year cross-border subsidies allowing pensioners to be transported from Queensland to New South Wales changed and as a result patients received horrific bills. The Government moved to alleviate the situation, but at that point there was no change in the way ambulance charges affect New South Wales schoolchildren who attend school excursions in Queensland.

A large number of cultural and social activities are conducted on the Gold Coast, but those activities are not covered by any subsidies from this Government or the Queensland Government. I will cite a classic example. In recent times it was brought to my attention that two 15-year-old boys were injured at Coolangatta Beach. They were picked up by a New South Wales ambulance and were transported approximately 700 metres by that ambulance to the hospital. Both sets of parents received bills of in excess of $850, causing them significant hardship. It is ludicrous that the parents of school children are receiving large bills for a 700-metre trip in an ambulance. A large number of schools are cancelling school excursions, severely disadvantaging schoolchildren and people in my electorate.

On a number of occasions issues relating to Sextons Hill have been mentioned in this House. Under instructions from the Minister for Roads, the Hon. Eric Roozendaal, the Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA] has made decisions aligned with preferred option B while totally ignoring the community's preferred option C. Many lies and much misinformation have been circulated by the Labor Government in Sydney about option C, despite option C being the best option for the area. Option C is the only option that recognises the local people. That cannot be done by looking at a map. To properly assess the issues a person needs to be physically present in the area and examine the conditions firsthand.

An issue very dear to my heart is radiation treatment in the Tweed. Currently there is no provision for any public access to radiation treatment in the Tweed. In recent times the Tweed Cancer Task Force, comprising a number of leading specialists in cancer treatment, a number of community leaders and a number of cancer sufferers, has been set up. The goal of the task force is to create awareness in Sydney before final decisions are made to place treatment and services elsewhere. I understand the Government conducted very successful trials of radiation treatment at Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. The Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) announced that Lismore was the next centre on the priority list for those facilities. While not wishing to take anything away from Lismore and supporting the Lismore community's endeavours to obtain those types of facilities, I say that the facts simply do not stack up.

Currently Lismore has 1,700 cancer sufferers whereas the Tweed has 3,500 sufferers. Moreover, the official treatment area of the Tweed Hospital takes in a small section of the Gold Coast which has 2,500 cancer sufferers. The Tweed Hospital treats a total of approximately 6,000 cancer sufferers. It is ludicrous for the Minister to suggest that those people could be adequately serviced by medical facilities in Brisbane. A person who lives in Tweed Heads and requires radiation treatment has to take three buses and one train to travel to Brisbane. A one-way trip takes three hours. A cancer patient has to spend six hours, a whole day, travelling. That is incredibly difficult for cancer sufferers, and that is why we need rural communities impact statements.

There are also issues associated with the construction industry. I cite a current example of two identical houses built on two identical blocks of land, one block in Queensland and one block in New South Wales. There is a difference of approximately $27,000 in the cost of building exactly similar houses. The Government makes claims about housing affordability, and a rural communities impact statement could clearly address the issues, particularly in border regions. Another issue that is very dear to my heart is an issue concerning the Kingscliff High School, which has taken nine months to compile a risk assessment for the State Government associated with a trip to the Kokoda Trail to be undertaken next year by 30 students and four teachers. The school was recently advised that it is not permitted to undertake the trip because no New South Wales public school has ever been permitted to go to the Kokoda Trail.

I point out that a number of private schools, Scots College, King's College, and the Armidale School, undertake excursions to the Kokoda Trail. As I speak the Armidale School has a number of children undertaking that famous walk. This is another incidence of discrimination against New South Wales schools, because a number of Queensland schools currently have school students walking on that track. A rural communities impact statement would go a long way toward addressing inequities between cross-border regions. There should be one standard for all. It is unacceptable for two different standards to be operating in this State, one for private schools and one for public schools.

I will do everything I possibly can to ensure that those 30 schoolchildren and four teachers get to the Kokoda Trail. We often hear about problems associated with young people, particularly about their lacking leadership and moral fibre. This is a chance for 30 young people to be involved in an expedition on the Kokoda Trail. They are raising their own funds; they are not asking the Department of Education and Training or the Minister for Education and Training for financial assistance. Quite frankly, all they are asking for is permission. They are washing cars, selling lamingtons and saving pocket money. They are showing strong moral fibre.

A rural communities impact statement would identify the issues and mitigate any adverse effects. I plan to go with the schoolchildren on the Kokoda Trail next year, if the expedition is endorsed by the Minister for Education and Training. I make a special plea to the Minister to revisit the issue and allow commonsense to prevail.

Also, I throw down a challenge by asking the Minister for Education and Training whether he would like to accompany me on that trip to Kokoda. I have visions of Joe Hockey and Kevin Rudd with the Minister and me.

[Interruption]

I might even ask the member for Macquarie Fields to come along in case we need some medical treatment. It is imperative that we have rural communities impact statements. The issue is ongoing. It is alive and it is impacting, particularly in my area, every day of the week. It is taking away many of the social, moral and business opportunities from the people in my electorate. I hope this bill has support because it would clearly identify these types of issues, particularly radiation. To somebody in Sydney looking at the map Lismore may not seem far from Tweed but the drive between them takes an hour and fifteen minutes. The road from Tweed to Lismore is winding and is not serviced by public transport.

Another big issue is the Murwillumbah to Casino rail line. If we had a commuter rail line there people could use that, but a number of years ago an economic decision was made to discontinue the service and the route sits there unused. Approximately 1,200 schoolchildren a day could use the commuter rail line but they are forced onto buses on the notorious Pacific Highway and on many of the back streets in the area. We are continuing the battle for the Murwillumbah rail line. I believe the Deputy Prime Minister is still waiting for the final costings to be provided by the New South Wales Labor Government. The Minister for Transport promised approximately one year ago to send those costings as soon as they were available. The costings still have not been received in Canberra, but once they are received the Federal Government will react.

There is a fantastic organisation in the area called TOOT—Trains On Our Tracks. The members wear red T-shirts. Karin Kolbe and the other members are very active. I recently attended the annual general meeting. They have not given up the fight. It has become a Federal issue as well, but the onus rests on the Parliament here in Sydney. I implore the Minister for Transport to look at this issue again and provide the figures to Canberra because until he does that nothing can be done. We need our train back now. This is another example of the need for the Rural Communities Impact Bill. Government members do not even have to leave Sydney, which would be a great plus for them; the provisions of the bill would allow them to analyse the true impact on our areas of decisions made here in Sydney.

A colleague of mine runs a successful display business. Wilson's Displays, run by Mark and Cathy Wilson, supplies everything from Christmas decorations to shopping centre displays. They need two types of insurance cover for workers because they work either side of the border. They need different permits from the Roads and Traffic Authority and so on. A rural impact statement would clearly identify the problems and allow some common sense to prevail. In conclusion, I fully support the Rural Communities Impact Bill and I implore the Government to reconsider its position. The bill would introduce common sense and give clear direction. I am thoroughly committed to one standard for all the people of New South Wales.

Mr DARYL MAGUIRE (Wagga Wagga) [10.43 a.m.]: My contribution on the Rural Communities Impact Bill will be brief. I congratulate the member for Tweed on his passionate and descriptive speech. So many issues affect rural communities. Decisions of the Parliament and especially the Government that are made without consultation with the affected communities can have a huge impact. For example, we are experiencing the worst drought in our written history and communities are concerned about the reduced funding for drought proofing. Previously the New South Wales Government provided 50 per cent of the funding for water infrastructure, which allowed councils to do drought-proofing work and provide a decent supply of water to rural communities. Now that the Government has reduced its contribution to 11 per cent councils are struggling with the impact of that decision.

Across New South Wales councils, including Wagga Wagga, are struggling to be financially viable. Just that one decision has had an impact of many millions of dollars. The funds that traditionally were allocated to councils for additional sewerage works have been reduced as well. Councils now have to borrow considerable amounts to provide infrastructure that was once delivered in partnership with the State Government.

Mr Speaker, just a few weeks ago you came to Wagga Wagga as part of a rural task force. The submission to the task force by the Regional Organisation of Councils went for about 20 minutes; my submission went for about three-quarters of an hour. I do not apologise for that, because there are so many issues that need to be aired. One of the solutions I put forward was for the Cabinet and the Premier to prepare rural impact statements so that the decision-making process is transparent. Communities could then see the reasoning behind decisions and understand the complications and challenges that face government in coming to reasonable, sensible and fair decisions.

But that is not the case at present, as members on this side of the House will agree. Decisions are often made in a closed room by what is called a Cabinet of government. For no well explained reason the public is supposed to cop it. When the task force went out to Wagga Wagga, Broken Hill and other places enormous crowds of people turned up, all venting their spleen about how badly they had been treated. They could not understand the reasons for decisions because there was no transparency. This bill will give transparency to the government decision-making process. I congratulate the Leader of The Nationals on introducing this important bill and giving us the opportunity to talk about it.

The member for Tweed mentioned rail lines. All rural electorates are affected by the need to improve infrastructure, and in particular, grain lines. There has been an ongoing debate in our region about the rail line from The Rock to Boree Creek. Through some very enthusiastic and energetic lobbying our communities have managed to gain funding for that line and improvements are being made. We appreciate the fact that we have been able to gain investment to keep that line open, because the closure of the line would have a catastrophic impact on rural roads. It would mean more trucks on the road and it would be more expensive to move grain. To move a tonne of grain from The Rock to the ports at Melbourne costs $7 by truck but $1 by rail.

The community derives many benefits, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, from rail transport, and we have fought hard to save the branch line. I understand that up to 17 other branch lines are sitting idle while the Government decides their future. If they are closed—and they probably will be—the rural communities affected must understand how the Government reached its decision and how that decision will impact locally. I foreshadow that the likely impact is that councils will be left with an enormous road maintenance bill. Roads were a major issue of concern identified during the rural communities consultation process in which the Speaker and the member for Monaro were involved.

The Government has made many other decisions that impact on rural communities. The area of the State designated national park has expanded enormously during the past 12 years of Labor government. That has impacted heavily on rural communities. The decision-making process was not transparent: the Government did not reveal the relevant studies that were conducted or how it intended to address the impact of its decisions. Geographically the area of New South Wales designated national park has tripled from the time that Bob Carr came to power but the funding has not kept pace with growth. We now face enormous problems with bushfire prevention and feral animal and vegetation control. Weeds and feral animals are taking over our national parks. Rural communities adjacent to national parks must pick up the cost when weeds are not controlled. Weeds are spreading into good grazing country and farmers are battling epidemics of Paterson's curse, blackberry bushes and other noxious weeds.

The Government's health policies have also impacted heavily on rural communities. For example, history will record that the recent decision to create eight large area health services had an enormous impact on rural communities and the State as a whole. This decision was made after so-called "consultation" but no rural impact statements were produced. I have heard Labor members suggest that impact statements are supplied to Cabinet, which then bases its decisions on the information they contain. But what is wrong with making those statements public so that the citizens of New South Wales can access them and understand the logic that the Cabinet applied in their decision-making?

When Morris Iemma was Minister for Health he signed off on the amalgamation of area health services that put basket case with basket case and created enormous, unwieldy and unmanageable area health services. The current crisis at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital is directly attributable to that decision, which has impacted the local community adversely. I urge those members who think I am talking rubbish to go to the Parliamentary Library and watch a tape of Monday night's episode of A Current Affair. One woman described the hospital as a "meat factory". I think members will be shocked by the claims made on the program. The front page of one of today's newspapers carries the headline "Hospital in crisis". Why is Wagga Wagga Base Hospital in crisis? It is because the amalgamations have created enormous difficulties in providing health services in regional New South Wales. The Government ignored the screams of protest by health professionals and proceeded as planned.

Wagga Wagga Base Hospital has now lost its accreditation to teach emergency specialists. That is a problem. Helicopters now fly emergency patients to other facilities. This hospital, which serves a population of 200,000 people, is unable to train emergency specialists. If a person is involved in a car accident in Tumut and requires specialist treatment there is no guarantee that an experienced health professional can provide it at the emergency ward of Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. That is unacceptable. We appreciate the efforts of the many dedicated health professionals who work extremely hard under stressful circumstances. However, the impact of the Government's decision to amalgamate the area health services is starting to come home to rural communities. Monday night's episode of A Current Affair also revealed that babies are dying at the hospital. That is another impact of the Government's decision.

The entire southern region complained bitterly about the amalgamation. The Government's consultation process was an absolute sham. Interested parties were invited to attend a meeting that was chaired by a panel. At the meeting I attended about 150 people were present. There was a document on every chair and attendees were expected to read its contents, assess the plan and reach a decision within an hour about the amalgamation of an area health service that is the size of Tasmania. That is unreasonable and unjust, and the plan was ill thought-out. The results are now evident. As I speak the Health Care Complaints Commission [HCCC] is investigating the deaths of three babies at the hospital. Investigations are also underway into the deaths of mental health patients at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. The Government's headlong rush to amalgamate area health services has delivered grief and death to our communities.

I am not trying to scare people; I am simply stating the facts as they appear in the newspapers and on television. I encourage Labor members to see for themselves. As today's edition of the Daily Advertiser states, there is a crisis in regional health and action must be taken. No impact statement was produced about the likely effects on rural communities of the Government's decision to amalgamate the Southern Area Health Service and the Greater Murray Area Health Service, both of which were debt-ridden basket cases. Control of the region's health is now centralised in Queanbeyan and the local chief executive officers or chairpersons are temporary—the positions are never filled permanently.

At last count between 30 and 50 nurse positions were vacant. Wagga Wagga Base Hospital can no longer train emergency specialists. How long before the clinical school attached to the hospital is also in danger? The Minister claimed that the health service was not informed that the training criteria had changed. But the health service received that information in 2005 and was sent a follow-up letter when it did not respond. Now that the hospital's accreditation has been revoked the Minister is seeking to blame someone else. But there is only one person to blame: the architect of this disaster, Morris Iemma. If he had consulted properly with the community and commissioned a rural impact statement, as the Leader of The Nationals has suggested, perhaps some of the dreadful catastrophes that are splashed daily across the pages of our local newspapers and that feature almost nightly on A Current Affair and news bulletins—I remind members of the recent tragic events at Royal North Shore Hospital—could have been avoided.

Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Joseph Tripodi and set down as an order of the day for a future day.