Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Yorke Peninsula again missed out on major spending in the 2024-25 State Budget, which was handed down last Thursday, June 6.

There was little in the way of new funding specifically for the region, apart from previously announced key worker housing in the Copper Coast area and the release of housing allotments in Kadina, Point Turton and Port Victoria.

Emergency services will be boosted with funding for a new Sea Rescue vessel at Wallaroo and the CFS and SES facilities at Maitland will be upgraded for a cost of $7.5 million.

Health professionals based at the Wallaroo, Maitland and Yorketown Hospitals and other SA Health facilities in the region will be able to utilise a new training facility at Port Pirie Hospital.

The facility will be built using an $11.5 million funding package over four years, which will also go towards upgrading the hospital’s emergency department.

The package is part of an extra $2.5 billion to be injected into the state’s health budget over the next five years to meet spiralling demand.

Other measures include additional beds at the Lyell McEwin and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals and more funding for SA Ambulance Service’s patient care records and telephone assessment service.

Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said cost-of-living relief was a centrepiece of the budget, with low-income households set to receive hundreds of dollars through concession payments, sports vouchers and subsidies for school charges, among other measures.

Government debt will blow out by more than 50 per cent over the next four years to help pay for major infrastructure projects, including the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

This will add another $16.3b to South Australia’s debt burden but Mr Mullighan has predicted annual surpluses until 2028.

He said the 2024-25 budget included $686.4m in new measures for SA’s regions, in sectors including health, housing and roads.

Regional SA opposition spokesperson Nicola Centofanti slammed the budget as “city-centric”.

“Premier Peter Malinauskas and his Labor Government continue to turn their backs on our regions, who are the lifeblood of our state,” Dr Centofanti said.

Opposition regional health spokesperson Penny Pratt said Labor had failed to address regional health needs.

“Despite throwing an extra $7.1b at the health system, critical areas in our regions remain neglected — such as the need for workforce incentives to attract and retain doctors and nurses in regional areas, investment in mental health and psychosocial services and regionally based radiotherapy services,” she said.

“South Australia is the only state in the nation that doesn’t offer radiation treatment in the regions, but sadly Labor’s budget hasn’t provided any funding to change this.

“SA’s regional health system has been under immense pressure, with a (recent) code yellow seeing elective surgeries at our country hospitals cancelled.

“There are fears that with more flu and Covid cases as we head into the depths of winter, we could face further cancellations in the coming months.

“Labor has ignored our calls to increase the PATS (Patient Assistance Transport Scheme) rebate of $40 for (regional) patients who require overnight stays in the city, which is insulting during a cost-of-living crisis.”  

This article appeared in  Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 12 June 2024.