A Private Members Statement delivered on 10 May, 2023, by the Member for Keira, the Hon. Ryan Park MP.

Mr RYAN PARK (Keira) (19:10): I acknowledge the beautiful speech by the member for Cessnock. I am pleased to provide an update to the House and to my own community, which has a keen interest in this, on the inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote New South Wales. It is an issue that I am sure the Temporary Speaker is also interested in. Those of us from regional areas, and those of us who look after rural areas, have a very keen interest in this. The Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No. 2 – Health, which was chaired by the Hon. Greg Donnelly, undertook a rigorous and thorough inquiry into rural and regional health in New South Wales. The committee released its final report in May 2022. I know my community—given where it extends to and from, as well as the region that I am very proud to represent—had a keen interest.

The New South Wales Government is wholly committed to implementing the recommendations of the rural health inquiry, and work is already well underway. I have said from the very beginning that I will be regularly reporting back to this House, for my own community and the communities in rural, regional and remote areas, about these particular issues. As of 31 March 2023, 16 actions have been completed and 52 actions are on track to be completed on time. The New South Wales Government and the Commonwealth Government continue to collaborate on improving health outcomes for people living in regional New South Wales.

I note there were a number of regional members in the gallery and in the Chamber today, including the member for Orange, whom I met with earlier, and a number of others, such as my good mate the member for Newcastle. This is a really important inquiry and an important topic for the Government, but I know it is also an important topic and issue for members across the political divide. I want to be completely honest about that. I have made it very clear to the department that we need to do a lot better, and I will have a laser-like focus on the delivery of rural and regional improvement in terms of health outcomes going forward.

There will be some bumpy roads ahead—I know that, we know that, the community knows that—but we have to get our focus back onto regional and rural health care. We have to make commitments in terms of services and improvements to infrastructure that address the needs of those communities. I do not want people in the towns, villages and communities across regional and rural New South Wales to think they are an afterthought. They are not. Members in this place—from both sides and from the crossbench and right across the political divide—have a significant interest in rural and regional health care. One of the things that I intend on doing is to have regular briefings with all members of this place about exactly what is happening in rural and regional health care and offer an opportunity to raise issues and concerns with officials from NSW Health.

I want to make it very clear that the needs of regional communities are important to me. An enormous amount of time and effort was invested in the inquiry, and I do not want to see it sitting and gathering dust. It is an inquiry that I know we need to work on. There will be some bumps and disagreements along the way, but I say to all members here, particularly those from rural, regional and remote communities: My door is open. I intend to be as accessible as I possibly can be. Whilst you might not always get the right answer, I will make sure that I prosecute what your community is saying to our health officials as strongly and as robustly as possible. That is what I would expect as a member of this place from a person in my position, and that is the standard I set for myself.

I said from the very beginning—and I have said to my own community, which is interested in this inquiry and its outcomes—that I want to use Parliament as an opportunity to come back and report transparently on the progress. We have made a decent start, but I am an incredibly impatient person and I certainly want to see improvements made faster for rural and regional communities. I say to all members, no matter your political party or if you sit on the crossbench: Please continue your advocacy for rural and regional communities. This inquiry cannot stop. There has to be an ongoing process for improvement in health care in our towns, villages and communities right across rural and regional New South Wales.