00:01Thank you Mr President. My question is to the Minister representing the Minister
00:04for Health. Access to IVF, voluntary assisted dying, vasectomies, tube tying,
00:11abortion and gender-affirming care is at risk because a Catholic organisation,
00:16Calvary Healthcare, is proposing to take over six private hospitals in New South
00:20Wales, including two in the Hunter, where Calvary already operate a public
00:26hospital. Will the government intervene to ensure that access to essential
00:31healthcare is not limited by profit or religion? The Honourable Courtney Hussos.
00:39I thank the Honourable Member for the question and I'd acknowledge that she
00:44has long advocated on health issues, particularly in relation to the Hunter,
00:49but also to other parts of the state. I would take this opportunity to assure the
00:54member and also to assure the community that the Minister for Health and the
00:59Secretary of Health are directly engaging on this issue and I would also
01:07acknowledge the advocacy and the communication that is occurring from our
01:12Hunter MPs, including the Honourable Emily Savile, directly with the
01:18Minister and directly with the Department. I know she was at the rally on the
01:24weekend where there are a number of local community members sharing concerns, along
01:28with other Labor representatives, Jody Harrison and the member for Newcastle, I
01:34understand. This is an issue that does have concern across the Hunter community
01:39and the local MPs are absolutely doing the right thing, as the Honourable
01:43member is doing as well in raising these concerns. But I just want to be really
01:48clear, these are complex issues that are being considered. The government is
01:55absolutely ensuring and finding practical solutions to ensure continuity of care,
02:00but I would say that faith-based organisations have a long history of
02:06supplementing public health care services in our state. And not far from here, St Vincent's
02:12Hospital was established, I believe, in 1857. We've got a range of different
02:17faith-based organisations that provide important health care each and every day.
02:22So the government, the Minister, the Secretary, we are absolutely engaged in
02:27addressing these important issues and ensuring that everyone has access to
02:31excellent health care. But we want to acknowledge those very real concerns in the
02:35community. Thank you. Dr Amanda Cull.
02:41The community in the Hunter is quite rightly outraged about this and I think it sets a
02:46dangerous precedent for the rest of the state. With Calvary taking over the Newcastle
02:50Private Hospital and the Hunter Valley Private Hospital, in addition to the Calvary
02:54Mater Hospital that they already run, this is a serious risk to a variety of health care
03:00procedures that are opposed by the Catholic Church. Calvary Health Care has been very clear that it's
03:05their intention to discontinue IVF and other reproductive procedures at those
03:08hospitals. And while local Labor members and the Minister have mentioned the
03:15problem and made expressions of concern, it's not clear that anything has actually
03:20been done about this. And those statements have all talked about the specific
03:25urgency of IVF, but not about a plan for any of the other essential procedures that are
03:30happening at those hospitals. The government doesn't need any more reasons to make the
03:35Mater a fully public hospital. It would fix the mould, it would fix the maggots, it would
03:39fix the horrific PPP. This is one more reason to make the Mater a fully public hospital.
