Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people in the town of Gulgong have been without a hospital now for nearly 12 months. The previous state government in New South Wales was forced to close down the Gulgong Hospital due to issues with contamination from asbestos in August last year. It was an indictment of the management of that government that the hospital was allowed to deteriorate to that level. That prompted a large rally by the people of Gulgong last year, where the entire population of the town turned out to protest their lack of health services. There has been some progress since then. Indeed, we had an announcement from Minister Roxon some two months ago with a commitment from the federal government to fund six aged-care beds in a new MPS. Also, the New South Wales government have gone to tender on the construction of the HealthOne facility, with the promise of an MPS facility to follow. We need to make sure that this process does not get lost in the bureaucracy and that all efforts are made at both the state and federal levels to make sure that the people of Gulgong get the hospital that they deserve.

Gulgong is the only town in my electorate with a district population of 5,000 people that does not have a hospital. What that means is that it is very hard to attract doctors, because doctors need somewhere they can treat acute and subacute patients and where they can visit them on a regular basis. Once they have to ship them off to either Mudgee or Dubbo they lose those patients and it is very hard to treat them. Also, a town needs somewhere for its aged residents to be able to age in place, surrounded by their family and friends, and not be taken to another town. Even though Mudgee is only 40 minutes away, with no public transport, quite often couples that have been married for 60 or 65 years are separated for the last years of their lives.

Another thing that is important is that a town needs somewhere for its residents to die with dignity, and that is what an MPS does. People need to be able to die surrounded by their family and friends in an environment that they are comfortable in—where they can be surrounded by their loved ones, not in a stark room in a hospital some kilometres away. So I will be continuing my efforts in working with Minister Roxon and Minister Skinner to make sure that this becomes a reality. (Time expired)