Supply Bill 2022
Thursday 2 June 2022
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (12:18): Labor went to the election with a plan, a plan for the future, a plan for not just now but for the next generation. Now, as the Malinauskas Labor government, we get to put the plan in motion. As I am sure was missed by no-one, a core component of our plan was to improve our health system and fix the ramping crisis. Ramping increased by more than 400 per cent under the former Liberal government and saw response times blow out. Instead of pretending the problem did not exist or opening new beds at Flinders while actually closing the same number of beds in another part of the hospital, we committed to addressing the problem because South Australians want to know that if they need an ambulance they will get one as quickly as possible.
Labor committed to an additional 300 beds across the hospital system to help move patients out of emergency departments, reducing the bed block that is the cause of much of the ramping. Of course, we know beds are not much good without staff, which is why we also committed to recruiting an additional 300 nurses and 100 doctors as well as 350 more ambos. That recruitment work began in the first few weeks of our government. Doctors, nurses, midwives and ambos are being targeted through a recruitment drive to get extra healthcare workers to fill vacancies across the health system.
South Australian graduates are included in this recruitment drive, with up to 1,200 nurses graduating from South Australian universities, and we will offer more than 100 internships for graduate paramedics across the SA Ambulance Service every year, more than doubling the standard rate of 48 per year. This will help to ensure our nurses and our ambos stay in South Australia and deliver care in our health system. As well as focusing on local graduates, the recruitment drive will target healthcare workers across the nation and overseas.
We also know that if we want to address the ramping crisis, we need to improve mental health services. The need for more mental health services is raised with me consistently across our community, and it is clear that the mental health of many declined over the last couple of years with COVID lockdowns, increased isolation and additional pressures in workplaces, schools and universities. The pressure on our mental health system is real, and Labor is committed to addressing it.
The 300 extra beds for our hospital system include the biggest investment in mental health in more than a decade, with $182 million for 98 additional mental health beds. The former Liberal government closed 30 mental health beds near the end of their term and ripped funding from community health services, services that are aimed at keeping people out of hospital. Our plan for mental health support also includes 20 additional mental health community Hospital in the Home beds, helping people to recover and reducing the chance of them needing to be readmitted to an emergency department.
We also have a focus on the mental health of young people. When working at Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, it was very clear to me how in need services for young people are and how beneficial early intervention can be. We are opening 10 new beds at the new Women's and Children's Hospital dedicated to mental health treatment for children. We are recruiting more child psychiatrists and psychologists, and we are boosting mental health care in the community.
People in Elder have also raised concerns with me about the support available in schools for young people, which is why we will also be delivering a team of 100 specialists into SA schools to ensure children get the specialist support they need. Isn't it wonderful all the things you can achieve when you do not spend $662 million on a stadium?
I am also very happy about our plans to support three pharmacies across Adelaide to open their doors overnight. This means they can provide medication and care when South Australians and their families most need it while also helping to reduce pressure on our hospitals. When our little one's fever shot up to 40.8° in the middle of the night recently and she was refusing to take liquid Panadol or Nurofen because it turns out COVID made them both taste extra bad, I was frantically trying to find other options.
If I had not found a supermarket open at 2am that happened to have chewable tablets and if I had needed additional advice and support, we would have taken her to the emergency room. These 24-hour pharmacies will make such a difference. With one in the northern suburbs, one in the southern suburbs and one in central Adelaide, people can get what they need when they need it and, as in our circumstance, reduce pressure on our emergency departments.
These are just parts of our extensive plans for the health system. We are committed to giving the SA Ambulance Service what it needs to respond to urgent cases on time. By providing more ambulances, more staff and state-of-the-art infrastructure, our ambos will have what they need to provide emergency care to South Australians when we need it.
I am very pleased that for Elder this includes an upgrade to the Marion station in Mitchell Park and a new station in Edwardstown. Our ambos are the people we look to for help in the most difficult times. They are the people who work in incredibly challenging and stressful environments, and they have been put under so much additional pressure over the last few years. We must support them in any way we can.
While health was the primary concern for many in my electorate, there were a number of local issues also raised with me. Whether I was standing at someone's doorstep, talking to them on the phone or chatting at a train station, school or shopping centre, I listened to our community and advocated for commitments to projects that were raised with me time and time again. One such project is a redevelopment of CC Hood Reserve in Panorama.
In March 2021, the now Premier and I announced that a Labor government would deliver $1 million for an upgrade of this reserve. It is such a big, green, beautiful open space surrounded by homes, and we want to make sure that it is as good as it can possibly be and truly meets the community's needs. Some of the ideas that were floated with me included a new playground, better lighting, more benches to sit on, a netball and/or basketball ring and a skate park. Now we get to drill down into these ideas—and more—and start our planning.
The council is currently holding consultations, which I encourage members of our community to get involved in. We want this redevelopment to reflect our community’s views, needs and wants, so the council needs to hear from them. While CC Hood Reserve has the potential to become a wonderful outdoor hub for the community, we have also committed to developing a more sheltered, all-year-round kind of community hub in Pasadena.
Late last year, the City of Mitcham purchased the old Sea Scouts hall in Pasadena with the intention of it becoming a community centre. Our Malinauskas Labor government will be providing $500,000 towards this project, and I cannot wait to see it come to fruition. I attended a drop-in consultation event a couple of months ago and there was just so much excitement for what this centre will mean for our community. Lots of ideas are being thrown around, from a book club, to a community garden, to a playgroup, many different card games (like bridge and 500) and much more, and I am so happy to be a part of a project that is focussed on bringing our community together.
A hop, skip and a jump away from there is the Kenilworth Football Club. The Kenilworth Football Club is such a special part of our community made up of committed volunteers. When I visited a few months ago to meet with John Schulz and Ric Bowyer, I heard how much blood, sweat and tears they and others have put in. For example, when they heard of a pub in town getting a new kitchen they went to the pub and carried the old commercial ovens down all the stairs to put them in their club. I suspect that quite literally blood, sweat and tears went into that one.
I also joined them for one working bee, where we needed to move a heap of pavers from one part of the complex to another, and there was definitely a heap of sweat that day. Knowing how committed the volunteers, players and families are to the club makes it extra exciting to know that they will be receiving $540,000 for upgrades from our Labor government. This upgrade will go towards a playground, an outdoor kitchen, landscaping, a Tesla battery, ice baths (which a lot of the footy players are superexcited about), nets behind the goals and an electronic scoreboard.
I now know from experience just how important this electronic scoreboard is. On Saturday afternoon, I volunteered to manage the scoreboard. Never have I focused so intensely on a game in my life. The Kooks did so well that there were a number of times where I had finished taking off the numbers and getting the new ones up that there would be roars of cheers and I would have to quickly re-do all the numbers again, and I kept practising and making sure that I got my six times table right.
I got very, very lucky on Saturday. It was bucketing down for most of the day, but about 30 minutes before the game started the sun came out. Whilst I did need to go up that ladder and stand exposed to the elements on that high platform, I was only exposed to some beautiful warming sunshine. It is a pretty tough job on a sweltering day, a windy day or a rainy day for volunteers, so I really look forward to getting that new scoreboard as soon as possible.
From more hospital beds to a new scoreboard at the Kenilworth Football Club and everything in between, I am so proud of our plans for our state and our upcoming projects in Elder, and I look forward to sharing more of them over the coming weeks and months as I continue working for our community.
