Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

BURNELL () (): The northern suburbs of Adelaide are some of the fastest growing areas of the country. There are large-scale developments in the north coming to fruition now, like Riverlea, Eyre and new parts of Virginia. There are areas that are identified for substantial growth, like Concordia, and there are multiple areas earmarked for new housing to be built through the transport corridor in Elizabeth, Munno Para and Salisbury in particular.

But with that growth there naturally comes demand from the increased population, and for this growth to be sustained appropriately that demand needs to be met adequately. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case in the north. One example of this, which I've already spoken about in this place, is in road infrastructure. Although it is a local government road, we've seen Curtis Road, in particular, fail to meet the standard required to support the community that has gradually been built around it. As a result, it can be nigh on impossible to get on and off Curtis Road at peak times.

To me, this stresses the importance of being ready for substantial population growth by ensuring that essential services and infrastructure are able to support our communities. This is an area that all governments must stay on top of, and it is an area that our Labor government is on top of. Through government programs like the urban Precincts and Partnerships Program, we're taking the steps needed to make sure local communities are not just ready to grow but to thrive when they do.

One of the most important areas where this federal Labor government has stepped in to accommodate growth in my community is in the space of health and wellbeing. I was immensely proud to be alongside the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in my electorate last week when she announced that the Albanese Labor government would be providing $26 million towards the construction of the brand-new family health and wellbeing hub in the Elizabeth Vale health precinct. In tandem with the Lyell McEwin Hospital and the existing local health network, this will provide invaluable support for families in need. The new hub comes as an extension of care services that are usually exclusive to the Adelaide CBD. Those essential care services include assets provided by the Women's and Children's Hospital, which has partnered with the federal government and other bodies to deliver the project. They include an allied health clinic to provide affordable health care to families, community spaces to bring people together through collective support, sleep rooms to support new parents and their babies, and other care services to ensure young families can mitigate potential challenges and stresses in order to secure their wellbeing.

Thanks to this investment by the federal government and the overall partnership with counterparts at the state and federal levels, as well as third parties, those invaluable services are now on the doorstep of residents in my community, as they should be. Currently, to get the type of care offered by the new family and wellbeing hub, a family, who may be in challenging socioeconomic conditions, would have to get the 224 Adelaide Metro bus into the city or take an up to two-hour round trip along the Gawler line to reach the Women's and Children's Hospital in North Adelaide. Any parent can tell you how hard it is to get a pram on public transport and about the difficult preparation that's needed for what is a family day trip just to access essential care services. These families who have to travel these long distances, often multiple times a week, are coming from one of the fastest growing outer suburban areas in the country. These services should be closer to them, and they will be when this project is complete.

That long distance is also a situation that puts off families from attending those services. These are families that can be increasingly isolated from parental and family support services already, especially in our community. It's a fact that one in three of SA's most developmentally vulnerable five-year-olds lives in the area this new hub will address. I've already noted on numerous occasions in this place just how entrenched lower socioeconomic outcomes can be for families in the north. Circuit breakers are needed, and this new health service is exactly that for our community. The new family and wellbeing hub in Elizabeth Vale will also serve to complement the new Medicare urgent care clinic, the Medicare mental health clinic and the soon to be opened headspace in Gawler, all established under this federal government.

Not only are Labor ensuring everyday Aussie communities like mine are meeting their growing population's needs; we are doing so in a way that will help transform the lives of those who reside in them.