Rodney Stevens
A determined Iluka couple who spent the past 6 years campaigning for an Ambulance station, and 2 years for a new doctor in the town, have been awarded for their dedication and tenacity after succeeding in both of their goals.
Ann and John McLean told the Clarence Valley Independent in 2016 they began a campaign to get an Ambulance Station at Iluka which started with petitions dropped into local businesses.
“We formed a group called the Iluka Ambulance Action Group IAAG with a Facebook page and we made petition sheets up and went around and put the petitions in shops, doctor’s surgeries, chemists, any businesses who would take the petitions,” Mr McLean said.
“I spoke to paramedics from Yamba and said Iluka should have an ambulance station as well and they said the only way you are going to get one is by what was done at Yamba, by people power.
“We went to the Yamba and Iluka markets and all the way up to Lismore, Casino, Ballina, and towns across the Clarence Valley, because people from all of those towns visit Iluka.”
“A lot of people said when we dropped the petitions off ‘we go to Iluka for holidays, we’ll sign it’,” Mrs McLean said.
The petitions gathered 11,500 signatures in just 12 months and Mr McLean said originally Chris Gulaptis told them they were wasting their time, and my response to that was ‘do you want to bet’.
“Chris brought John Barilaro to Iluka and he couldn’t believe the passion and determination of the community and he came back a couple of times, and on the second time in late 2021 he said ‘there is a little town in NSW that is not going to get an Ambulance Station’, then he put his Christmas hat on and turned around and said ‘but Iluka is’, and there was an absolute uproar of delight from about 350 people at the Bowling Club,” Mrs McLean said.
“Without John’s help we wouldn’t have got the Ambulance Station at Iluka,” Mr McLean said.
After the Iluka Ambulance Station opened in March 2022, Mr and Mrs McLean were presented a NSW Government Community Service Award by then Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis on behalf of then Premier, Dominic Perrottet, at the official opening day on November 26, 2022.
“It was fabulous, it gave us great satisfaction because we knew that our hard work had finally paid off,” Mrs McLean said.
“We never gave up, I always said I was positive from the word go that we would get an Ambulance Station in Iluka,” Mr McLean said.
“When they called us up and presented it to us, I’m normally not lost for words, but I just stood there with my mouth open, I was dumbfounded.”
Mr McLean, who suffers a chronic heart condition said since the Ambulance station opened in Iluka, it had been a lifesaver.
“John has had the ambulance lots of times and we’ve been very lucky since they have actually been here in Iluka,” Mrs McLean said.
“The Ambulance in Iluka has saved my life three times in the past two years, if it wasn’t for the Ambulance Station in Iluka, I wouldn’t be talking to you,” Mr McLean said.
Following the opening of the Ambulance Station, Mr and Mrs McLean and Neville Dehere didn’t stop their advocacy for medical services in Iluka, they were instrumental in attracting Dr Anthony Anachuna and his wife Stella to establish a General Practice in the town.
Earlier this month Mr and Mrs McLean were honoured for their tenacity and determination to get the Ambulance Station and a new GP in Iluka at a surprise presentation by the Iluka Ratepayers and Residents Association.
“We had no idea at all, it was a lovely surprise,” Mrs McLean said.