Dr Joe McGirr’s Regional Health Tour of Barwon
Recently, I hosted my parliamentary colleague Dr Joe McGirr on a tour of Barwon, speaking to community about some of the health system challenges facing the electorate.
The tour took in Wee Waa, Walgett, Brewarrina, Bourke, Cobar and Broken Hill, with a few brief stops at places in between.
The Member for Wagga Wagga has developed a six-point Rural Health Action Plan, which he presented to the community groups he spoke with (to learn more about the plan see https://joemcgirr.com.au/rhap). Dr Joe also got to hear first-hand from community members involved in various aspects of health care.
He heard about the staffing shortages and other issues affecting medical centres and some of the things we have been doing to improve the situation.
In Wee Waa he heard from members of the Wee Waa local health committee community members who are working with the local health district to develop the plan to return Wee Waa hospital to full operational hours.
The hospital has been operating at reduced hours since May 2023, due to staffing shortages. There has been some good progress made.
In Walgett he met with members of the Walgett Community Working Party and the local council to talk about some of the successes of the local Aboriginal Medical Service.
At Brewarrina Dr Joe met with David Kirby (GM of Brewarrina Council) and Fran Carter(economic development manager), discussing the health plan and some of the strategies employed locally to retain medical staff.
In Bourke he visited the Bourke & District Children’s Services, hearing details of their amazing early intervention program, providing medical testing for children going to school and in their early school years.
The program is undergoing an expansion, thanks to government funding.
On the way out of Bourke, heading for Cobar, Dr Joe and I had a chat with Rod Corfe from Outback Radio 2WEB. We didn’t have time to drop by the studio, but with Starlink the car has become a mobile studio. Joe was able to bring his Rural Health Plan to an outback radio audience.
We stopped briefly in Cobar to chat with Sharon Harland, editor of the The Cobar Weekly, who talked about some of the things that Cobar is doing in the health sphere including their school-based trainee program, which is training young people to work in Cobar’s hospital.
From there we went to Wilcannia where he heard from the Wilcannia Health Local Consultative Committee about the reduced hours of operation at the local hospital and some of the challenges of renal dialysis.
Finally, we made it to Broken Hill where Dr Joe met with staff from Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation and had a tour of the RFDS facilities, before he had to board a plane.
We only had limited time, so we couldn’t get out to more than a handful of communities, but Dr Joe was able to get some insights into the health system across a large part of the electorate. He has said that he will need to come back. He was well received and I look forward to hosting him again in the near future.
Bathurst Arms Fair
Despite the doubt and confusion surrounding what will happen with the recent firearms law changes it was heartening to see the big turnout for the recent Bathurst Arms Fair. While my focus was on finding some treasures for my collection, I caught up with quite a few people who wanted an update on where things were at with the firearms laws.
I have set up a part of my website with some frequently asked questions on the legislation: https://www.roybutler.com.au/new_firearms_legislation_faqs
You can go to this page, and it may answer your questions, if not send your query through to one of my offices and my team and I will do our best to answer your question. You can find contact details at https://www.roybutler.com.au/contact
By the way I think I found a significant piece of Australian firearms history, which I will tell you about soon. Look for details in my next newsletter.
Gulargambone Rugby Gala
I stopped in Gulargambone to have a look at their Friendship in Rugby Gala Day, where I met with Tim, from Western Plains Junior Rugby Union and Gus from NSW Rugby.
The players include everything from under four up to under fourteens, with a Smart Rugby and Coaching Course, Tri Tag Masterclass run by Rugby Australia, a women’s match and a Colts game with the senior zone.
It is an event that brings the whole Western Plains Community together and launches their rugby season.
It is designed partly as an introduction for youngsters to rugby but shows them some of the best aspects of being a part of community sport, learning about teamwork, friendship, volunteering and it also lets them have fun in a supportive environment.
There was a huge turnout and a great atmosphere as kids as young as four, got a taste of the sport, some of them for the first time.
This is an initiative by NSW Rugby’s Positive Rugby Foundation and run by Western Plains Junior Rugby Union, in conjunction with Rugby For Good, NSWRU and the Positive Rugby Foundation.
Welcome to Coonamble
In some country towns they often joke that even when people have lived there for ten, twenty, thirty or forty years that they are still newcomers. But that is not how it works in Coonamble.
For forty years they have been welcoming people to the town at an official “Welcome to Coonamble” dinner.
This is a great initiative, started forty years ago by Margot Ault the headmistress of Coonamble High School, which helps people blend more quickly into the community, to feel like they are part of the town.
Every year a different community organisation takes on the role of organiser of the event, rotating between Rotary Club of Coonamble , the Lions Club Coonamble, Quota International of Coonamble, Coonamble CWA Evening Branch, Red Cross, Catholic Women’s League, Anglican Church, Coonamble Arts Alive Society Inc.
The Coonamble Chamber of Commerce also prepares goodie bags for all newcomers.
I was lucky enough to be invited to their fortieth anniversary dinner. It was a fun night, with great company, good food, and even a Coonamble themed trivia contest.
Population is the lifeblood of regional communities. Attracting new people to live in our country towns and encouraging them to stay builds up our local economies and makes them more diverse and resilient. Also, because state and federal governments rely on census data to allocate resources, the more people we have in a town the better able they are to convince governments to send money and resources to the bush.
Thanks to Coonamble for your friendliness and hospitality.