Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to address the government's recent announcement regarding new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. While this announcement is fantastic on the surface, underneath it is a profound disappointment for South Australia, the health minister's very own state. The minister claims to be leveling the playing field, yet for regional South Australian women the field remains uneven and the game hasn't even started.

We are told these 33 clinics ensure care closer to home. This is an insult to South Australia. Of the 33 clinics overall, only two are in SA. Of the 11 new locations, zero are in SA. That is right—zero. In my electorate of Grey, we are left relying on a single existing clinic in Kadina. While the staff there are dedicated and do a fantastic job, they are drastically understaffed and facing an impossible workload. Endometriosis affects one in seven women, causing debilitating pain, and one solitary clinic cannot physically serve tens of thousands of women across our vast rural and regional expanse.

The government claims they are stopping women from struggling in silence. However, by ignoring our states desperate need for additional resources, they are affectively silencing women on the Eyre Peninsula, the mid-north, the upper Spencer Gulf and beyond. How can the minister speak of dignity and access when some women in regional SA faced a seven year diagnostic delay exacerbated by geographic isolation. This $800 million package rings hollow when access remains a postcode lottery, a rigged lottery, a lottery regional SA never wins. It is unacceptable that despite this significant spending South Australian women remain an afterthought. We do not need more press releases. We need funded, staffed clinics. This announcement completely fails regional South Australia.

Uniting Country SA are tireless advocates for our region's most vulnerable young people, and I specifically want to thank Helen Worby from the Kadina team for illuminating a critical issue—the urgent need to keep country kids in the country. When children enter the protection system, the trauma is profound. Minimising the pain requires keeping routines familiar, ensuring students remain in their local schools, staying close to family and keeping siblings together. Consistency is powerful.

The statistics, however, are sobering. As of July 2025, nearly 5,000 SA children are in care. While dedicated families care for over 1,600 of them, demand in our region outstrips supply. Agencies reported an increase of 80 children needing placements this year alone. Unfortunately, SA has the highest rates of residential care which cannot replicate the warmth of a family home. To our foster parents: thank you. Your dedication builds brighter futures.