Two local Members of Parliament with shadow health portfolios have offered their collective support to The Leader's petition for a new regional Barossa Hospital, which is ramping up in momentum.
Member for Schubert, Mrs Ashton Hurn MP, Shadow Minister for Health, and Member for Frome, Ms Penny Pratt, Shadow Minister for Regional Health Services and Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, have just received copies of the petition for interested constituents to sign, as an alternative to using the QR code.
Mrs Hurn, who has been a dedicated and proactive advocate for a new Barossa hospital, will also present The Leader's petition to SA Parliament, in accordance with regulations, when the community has had an opportunity to sign either a physical copy, or use the QR code to make their wishes known.
She has also agreed to keep a copy of the petition at her Tanunda office for those residents who would prefer to sign paperwork, rather than use technology to support a new hospital.
Mrs Hurn said she welcomed the opportunity to present the petition in Parliament.
"It was The Leader newspaper, very soon after the 2022 election, who broke news the government confirmed they would continue the Liberals' work for a Barossa Hospital - and now we are truly at the pointy end of that delivery process," Mrs Hurn said.
"Like so many people in our community, I've been campaigning for the Barossa Hospital since before I was even elected as the Member for Schubert, and it was the previous Liberal Government which allocated real funding for the first time to prepare the plans and buy the land.
"Securing that site can happen right now – there's no need to delay it any further, and we need to lock it in.
"So much work has already gone into this project to lay the foundations for construction, and the next step is for additional funding to build it.
"…With our health system under unprecedented strain, and projected growth at Concordia, delivering this project has never been more important," Mrs Hurn said.
During a discussion with The Leader on Friday, Member for Frome, Ms Penny Pratt said there should be more investment in regional health.
"I commend the The Leader newspaper for mounting a campaign like this, which calls for the construction and the delivery of a brand new regional hospital," Ms Pratt said.
"We need to see more of this and for the local media to appreciate and join the call to action that has been led by the local Barossa community, strongly advocated for by the Member for Schubert, Ashton Hurn, the Shadow Minister for Health, shows how everyone's working in concert to double down on the good signs already in the budget, but we can't stop here.
"And the momentum that the Barossa community can point to should send a signal to regional communities all around the state that there's strength in numbers and we want to see more investment in regional health, not less," Ms Pratt added.
"What I observe as the Shadow Minister for Regional Health Services is an invisible squeeze on our country health system. More people are making complaints about their experience with the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme (PATS), which tells me more people are travelling to the city for their appointments."
From this week The Leader is stepping up the presence of the petition in the community, with a poster drop off in the pipeline, where business owners can show their support for a new regional Barossa Hospital by adding the poster with QR code to their shopfront windows.
The Leader, with thanks to Barossa Co-op, is also planning to stage a listening post at Barossa Central mall on Thursday February 20.
This will give the community an opportunity to drop in, talk to a journalist and sign a physical copy of the petition.
