9 February 2023

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of regional health services.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: It was reported yesterday that SA Pathology was restructuring, with 30 nurses being moved to other parts of the healthcare system. Eight of those nurses are from regional areas. This morning, on ABC radio, Elizabeth Dabars from the Nursing and Midwifery Federation said, and I quote:

This proposal looks to completely eliminate a nursing presence out in country South Australia.

'Completely eliminate', Mr President. My question to the minister, therefore, is:

1. Does the minister believe that having no SA Pathology nurses in regional communities is acceptable?

2. What action is she taking to ensure that this calamity is averted?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am happy to check, but I think the item to which he is referring is a consultation paper rather than a decision of the government. However, health, of course, is looked after by my colleague in the other place so I am more than happy to refer that direct question to him and bring back a response for the honourable member.

I am in frequent discussions with my colleagues in the other place about the various portfolio areas that they have responsibility for but which, of course, have direct impacts on regional South Australia. Some of the feedback that I have had in my many visits around the state have been positive in terms of the election commitments that were made by the Malinauskas Labor government, which we are in the process of fulfilling in terms of giving health a very high priority. In terms of this particular matter, I am happy to bring back an answer.

Reply received on 21 March 2023:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has been advised:

SA Pathology has commenced consultation on the delivery of pre-analytical services across the state, including all functions of pathology testing before the specimen reaches the laboratory. No decision has been made on the final structure.

There will be no redundancies as part of this proposal.

8 February 2023

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Regional Development on the topic of bank closures in the region.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Last week, The Advertiser reported that Westpac is closing their bank branch in Coober Pedy later this month, leaving the town without any bank. Over the last seven years, at least 50 regional bank branches have closed in South Australia. At least 22 towns have been left without a bank branch at all, including places such as Angaston, Burra, Kapunda, Mannum, Roxby Downs, Strathalbyn, Tailem Bend and Willunga.

Last week, the ATM at Coober Pedy ran out of cash. As a result, residents could only withdraw cash from the post office during business hours or by driving 500 kilometres to Port Augusta. My question to the Minister for Regional Development is: what action has the minister taken to date to ensure that banks in regional towns and communities stay open?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): I thank the honourable member for his question. Certainly, the decisions taken by banks, which don't appear anymore to have a sense of social responsibility, are very disappointing. The member refers to the number of banks that have closed across regional areas, and I know in terms of the closure at Coober Pedy, I think both the member for Giles and the member for Stuart have had conversations with me about this.

It is most unfortunate when these large corporations don't take any responsibility for providing services to regional communities. It is something that is regrettable, unfortunately part of the society within which we operate, which has private companies making these decisions. It means that it is not something that we have a direct opportunity to impact, but I am certainly willing to talk with my colleagues in the other place who have a more direct responsibility in terms of business and so on, and come back if there is any additional information that I can provide.

31 May 2022

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I rise in support of this bill on behalf of the Greens. I recognise that the opposition have amendments and will certainly consider those and look into the detail of those over the next few days. Broadly, we do support this bill, and I want to commend the government and the minister, the Hon. Clare Scriven, for putting this forward because it is an important innovation and something that the Greens have been advocating for and something that many in the community have been advocating for as well. We certainly welcome the commitment that the new government has made in this regard.

As has been stated, we recognise that cross-border communities face complex issues. People and businesses in those communities can often fall through the gaps in terms of living on the edge of different jurisdictions. Many people in these communities live in one state and can go to school in another. They face challenges in terms of medical appointments. It might be that they go to see a specialist who is based in another state.

We saw some of the complexities emerge during the bushfires in 2019-20. There were significant issues in terms of jurisdictions that were confronted by the CFS and emergency services. These things were problematic and they need to be addressed. I think that is an area where this new commissioner could play an important role.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw real challenges for people in these communities where they were forced to interact between complex rules in different states. That created a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in those communities. Again, I see the commissioner being able to play a really important role in terms of addressing some of those issues and ensuring that communities are not falling through the gaps in terms of the laws of different jurisdictions.

It is worth noting that the lives of many people who are in cross-border communities are lived in more than one state. The Greens believe that there should not be barriers to them being able to access the public services that so many of us take for granted in metropolitan South Australia. They should not be discriminated against on the basis of the community in which they reside. They should not be discriminated against simply because they fall between different jurisdictions.

Under this bill, a new cross-border commissioner would be established. This commissioner would look at a number of these issues as presented to them by the parliament. We see this as being a real opportunity to improve the lives of those living in cross-border areas and a real opportunity to reduce the barriers that can result from these multijurisdictional issues.

Both New South Wales and Victoria have cross-border commissioners already in place. According to the Victorian Cross Border Commissioner, residents, businesses, local governments and other organisations bring hundreds of issues to them, demonstrating a need for such an institution for South Australian communities. A South Australian cross-border commissioner could work collaboratively with their counterparts in other states to ensure that these communities have equitable access and opportunities and to ensure that there is seamless service delivery, and we certainly welcome that.

I note the honourable opposition leader's comments regarding ensuring that this role is not a paper tiger. We certainly agree with that, but we want to make sure that they are not just a paper pusher either. We do not want them to be caught up in red tape and confined by too much complexity in terms of the legislative framework as well. It is certainly in that spirit that we will consider the opposition's amendments. As I say, we are supportive of the bill. I commend the government for putting it forward and we look forward to the committee stage.

8 June 2021

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I welcome the opportunity to talk about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on South Australia. It really goes without saying that we have been very lucky in our state when it comes to the impact of COVID-19. I think a lot of us reflect on that when we see what is happening over in Victoria at the moment and the regrettable situation that they face there. We are very lucky in that sense. However, whilst many of us have been lucky, this has not been a lucky time for everybody in our community. In fact, COVID-19 has exposed the growing pandemic of inequality that has been sweeping the globe over the last few decades. Really, this pandemic has shone a light on that.

In particular, I want to talk a little bit about the impact on some of the most vulnerable people in our community. As my honourable colleague Tammy Franks has stated, we saw the government take action to support people who are homeless, in terms of connecting them with short-term accommodation during the pandemic. That was a welcome thing, but unfortunately we have not seen the follow-through. We have not seen the government then ensure that those people are provided long-term accommodation.

I really fear that there are people sleeping on our streets—I know there are people sleeping on our streets in the middle of this harsh winter—and that is simply not good enough for a state like South Australia. It is simply not acceptable that we have people sleeping on the street when we have so many resources at our disposal. Where is the leadership from this government to deal with the housing and homelessness crisis?

We also know, and this has been reported extensively over the last few months, that if you are somebody who is renting and you are trying to live on JobSeeker—and I say 'trying to live' because you cannot live on JobSeeker; it is woefully inadequate—you cannot find a single place that is affordable for you to rent in South Australia. If you are a single person, there is not one single property that is affordable for you to rent. I think that is an outrage.

I really would like to see some leadership from the government to deal with the rental crisis. What are they doing in terms of building more social housing? What are they doing in terms of building more public housing? What are they doing in terms of building more affordable housing? This is not something we can just push off into the never-never; it is integral to the response to this pandemic and the economic crisis that has followed. Just today, I noted a news report on the ABC, referring to homelessness services in Port Lincoln. I quote:

A homeless support service in South Australia's Port Lincoln is reluctantly calling for locals to donate tents, sleeping bags and old swags, following an increase in people seeking support in the…region.

It comes as reports of rental shortages across…SA emerge…

What on earth is happening when we have vulnerable people being forced to sleep in tents because we do not have enough accommodation available in our state and in our regional centres? That is a disgrace. That is an absolute disgrace, and we need leadership from this government to address that.

As I said before, COVID-19 has really exposed that ongoing crisis of inequality in South Australia, and it has really highlighted the potential for government to take action that changes people's lives for the better. What we need from this government is for them to embrace this opportunity to actually take the leadership that is necessary to deal with the public health crisis and also the growing crisis of inequality in South Australia, recognising that every South Australian deserves a roof over their head and a place to call home, and that that is the right of every citizen in our community, not just the wealthy few.

Whilst I support this bill and commend this bill, I call on the Marshall government to go further in terms of advocating for vulnerable South Australians and in terms of investing in the infrastructure that we need to ensure that people are not plunged into poverty as a result of this economic crisis. I note that the government has called a Code Blue to support people during the extreme weather that we are facing over the next few days, but they are announcing that measure—and of course the Greens welcome that—at a time when they have initiated brutal cuts to the homelessness sector in South Australia. We have seen cuts to Street to Home, cuts to Catherine House, cuts to the Hutt St Centre; again, a failure of leadership at a time when leadership is so desperately needed.

In terms of concluding my remarks, I make a few comments about the rollout of the vaccine to people who are homeless. You may recall that I asked the health minister in question time during our previous sitting period what the government's plan was to ensure that the vaccine was made available to people who are homeless.

He provided an explanation and stated that he was going to be dealing with support services to get the vaccine out through food trucks that already provide support to people who are homeless. It is great that something is being looked at, but we need to have more detail on that. The minister's response really threw open more questions than it did answers.

We need to know whether or not more resources are being allocated to these organisations so that they can roll out the vaccine. Are these the sorts of organisations that have been impacted by the Liberals' brutal cuts to homelessness support services? Are these organisations going to be able to ensure that a follow-up vaccine is provided to people who are homeless? What measures are in place to ensure that we can keep track of these people and ensure that they receive the second vaccine that they so desperately need?

All of these are questions that the government has failed to answer. When I asked the minister about this I received, might I say, a fairly churlish response correcting me about the size of the health department. That is not good enough. We need to see leadership from the government on these questions, and we need to see answers to these questions, so that vulnerable South Australians know that they are getting the support they desperately need during this economic crisis. I commend the bill, but I call on the government to show the leadership that we need to ensure that no South Australian is left behind.