CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr VENNING (Grey) (10:48): I want to talk about Leigh Creek, in the far north of my electorate, and the difficulty residents are facing in accessing basic health care. When the former hospital was demolished in 2023, a new health service was built at considerable cost to taxpayers. But residents tell me the model is not meeting the needs of their community.

They are travelling more than 250 kilometres for medical dispensing, immunisation, suturing and wound care—services most Australians would take for granted. I was first contacted about this by Hannah Morcomb. Hannah is a fantastic woman.

Hannah saw a problem in her community and set out to fix it. Her petition has now passed more than 1,000 signatures. Hannah, who has got two young children, is sick and tired of travelling hundreds of kilometres to access basic medical care.

Unfortunately, Hannah's story is not unique. Kaeli from Depot Springs Station makes a 308-kilometre round trip to Hawker for her children's routine health checks and immunisation. Evie's 13-year-old son has hydrocephalus and a shunt.

When he developed severe headaches, there was no local GP to assess him. The family drove 155 kilometres before he was transferred to Adelaide. These are not isolated stories.

I hear the same thing right across the region. Let me be clear: this is no criticism of the health professionals at Leigh Creek. They are highly regarded and they are doing an outstanding job.

The problem is the model, not the people. I have called on the state government to consider an RFDS operating model, to work with the community and to deliver it. I'd like to quote Aria Bolkus, ex-staffer of the Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, and now member for Colton: No one should be left behind when it comes to accessing health care—no matter where they live.

Don't just say it; do it. I call her and the health minister to come out to Leigh Creek. Come out to Coober Pedy, Yorketown and Streaky Bay and see if the healthcare services are the same.

I welcome the reinstatement of the Moonta National Trust branch. It marks the end of a difficult period for many volunteers and the wider Moonta community. For those volunteers, this was never about titles or positions.

It was about their community and protecting a history that belongs to all South Australians. Moonta's Cornish heritage is more than its buildings. It's the people who give their hours to bring the history to life, not just for their own town but for the visitors across the country and right around the world.

This is a fresh start. Congratulations to everyone who worked to reach this point. I look forward to the trust and its local branches working well together into the future.