David Hawker (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to formally present a petition of 26 signatures by doctors, mainly, and people around Warrnambool who are very keen to see an MRI licence granted in Warrnambool. We have reached the point where it seems almost ridiculous that the minister continues to procrastinate on the granting of an MRI licence in Warrnambool, despite a number of delegations to talk with her. The point is that there is no MRI machine between Ballarat, Geelong and Adelaide, so the whole of western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia does not have an MRI machine. When you look at the fact that there are MRI machines in Gippsland and in other regional areas in south-eastern Australia, you see that the time really has come to have one put in Warrnambool. We already have two extremely competent oncologists in Warrnambool, both of whom would find an MRI machine greatly advantageous, as would patients in the region who would no longer have to travel at great expense to have an MRI scan. At the moment, patients have to put up with a CT scan, which, while a very good diagnostic tool, if used too often can cause a lot of problems due to high radiation.

This petition for an MRI machine is just the first step in getting a cancer treatment centre in Warrnambool. We have a very active group running Peter’s Project, led by Vicki Jellie, whose husband recently tragically died of cancer. The whole community is right behind this push. This petition for the MRI machine was started by Dan Tehan, the Liberal candidate for the seat of Wannon, who is working extremely hard for the area. I am very confident that, given the effort he is making, he should be successful at the next election. At the same time, it shows that he is very much in touch with local issues. The fact that we do not have an MRI machine in Warrnambool, I think, is a scandal. I urge the minister to reconsider and not continue to procrastinate, and to recognise that an MRI machine is a very valuable part of diagnostics in modern medicine. For people who are already suffering, who have to be put in an ambulance or be driven by their family or whomever all the way to Ballarat or Geelong to get an MRI scan, it seems quite unreasonable in this day and age. We are talking of a region with over 100,000 people who would benefit. Given we already have oncologists, I urged the minister to take notice of this petition and I commend Dan Tehan for the work he has done.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives

This petition from certain doctors practicing in Western and South Western Victoria and other citizens of Wannon draws to the attention of the House the decision of the Rudd Government not to grant the Warrnambool Hospital a Magnetic Resonance Imaging licence depriving it of the ability to begin the process of establishing a radiotherapy unit for South West and Western Victoria.

We therefore ask the House to call on the Rudd Government to immediately reverse its decision and grant Warrnambool Hospital a Magnetic Resonance Imaging licence.

from 26 citizens

Petition received.