Limestone Coast Radiation Treatment Working Party, The Naracoorte News
A petition that gained almost 20,000 signatures before being presented to state parliament over 12 months ago remains hamstrung by the state government and the parliamentary committee process, says chair of the Limestone Coast Radiation Treatment Working Party, Lachlan Haynes.
The petition, which was addressed to the members of the House of Assembly triggered a Legislative Review Committee inquiry to which the working group made a written submission and presented in person. The bipartisan, joint parliamentary committee then referred the matter to the Health Committee where it sat stagnant ever since.
Mr Haynes said it was incredibly disappointing for the working group that ran the petition that garnered such widespread community support.
“It’s sending a message to 20,000 residents of the Limestone Coast that their opinion doesn’t matter. It would appear that the government who control the agenda of the committee either don’t see this as a priority or deliberately want to bury it,” Mr Haynes claimed.
“With South Australia remaining the only state in Australia without a regional radiation treatment oncology service and private providers willing to enter into a public private partnership with the state government, the roadblock remains on North Terrace with a state government unwilling to come to the table.
“Even with the federal government grant funding available to contribute to capital infrastructure and operating costs of oncology services in addition to Medicare rebates, the state government still refused to subsidise private radiation treatment services offered in many other regional locations around the country,” Mr Haynes added to his claims.
He said the Cook Labor government in WA is progressing their election commitment to establish a radiation oncology service in Geraldton with support from the federal government and services being delivered by private provider ICON.
“Progression of the plan for services in Geraldton WA is yet another example of what can be delivered for regional communities should their state government be willing to make it happen.
“Instead, our state government isn’t even willing to progress a petition through the committee process.
“It’s disheartening to say the least.”
Mr Haynes said the working group remained agnostic about who could deliver a service and where, reiterating that such a service need not have any impact on hospital resources.
“Private radiation oncology service providers deliver state of the art services in many other regions of the country without impacting public health services or their workforce.
“We won’t accept that as an excuse. We will continue to work on behalf of the 20,000 Limestone Coast residents who signed our petition, even if our state government won’t,” Mr Haynes said.
This article appeared in The Naracoorte News, 16 July 2025.
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