Thursday, February 20, 2025

War of words

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A war of words has broken out between Health Minister Chris Picton and Member of Barker Tony Pasin over the release of a feasibility study on delivering radiation treatment services for the region.

Mr Pasin claimed the local health bureaucracy, the Limestone Coast Local Health Network (LCLHN), has “snubbed” the release of the report, hiding it from the public and the volunteers of the Limestone Coast Radiation Treatment Working Group.

He claimed the feasibility study report was being withheld from the group—the very people who have been the driving force behind the government’s commitment to undertake the study.

However, the Health Minister says, “Tony Pasin certainly has a short memory”.

“The Member for Barker must have forgotten he was part of the former Federal Liberal Government that rejected a proposal to establish radiation therapy in the Limestone Coast in May 2021,” Mr Picton said while responding to questions from The [Naracoorte] News.

He said it was easy for Mr Pasin to take potshots from the sidelines instead of taking meaningful action to improve the lives of people in his electorate.

“Unlike the approach of the previous State Liberal Government, we have decided to have a full feasibility study conducted.

“An extensive consultation process was undertaken as part of the study, with more than 500 community members and various identified stakeholder groups, including clinicians and lived experience representatives and groups, contributing their feedback and insights.”

Mr Picton said he would be briefed by the LCLHN Board once they had considered the report at their next meeting later this month.

“The LCLHN Board has committed to releasing the full report once that process is complete.

“The State Government is making a substantial investment in health services in the South-East, including a $24million upgrade of the Mount Gambier Hospital and a $9million upgrade of Naracoorte Hospital.”

Mr Pasin said the fight was against the local health bureaucracy.

“The Radiotherapy for the Limestone Coast Working Group has been snubbed by the Local Health Network Governing Board and the Minister for Health, Chris Picton,” he claimed.

He said a dedicated group of passionate people got together, many of them with lived experiences, to take up the fight.

“This group of volunteers, many of them dealing with their own cancer journeys, gathered 16,000 signatures online and 4000 on hard copy, calling on the state government to change their mind around this decision.

“The State Government planned at that time to spend the $4.3m secured by me for radiation services in my community on consulting rooms and the upgrade of the hospital parking lot.

“Not cancer treatment service, but a carpark.”

Mr Pasin said the petition halted those plans, and the state minister agreed to execute a feasibility study.

“The feasibility study is now in hand with the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, but the community of the Limestone Coast will not be privy to this report for another month, according to the chair of the working group.

“Apparently, the LCLHN will study the report and hand recommendations to the state minister before the signatories of the petition and volunteers who have garnered them are privy to what the report says. Shame.”

He said yet again that the volunteers of the Limestone Coast Community were being kept in the dark and the regional community was being treated like mugs.

“What an irony that the Minister who lecturers us about taking advice from the local statutory network is forcing them to keep this report confidential.”

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.

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