Letters

Why do we need a petition?

Ed, Our Nationals MP for Clarence is calling upon our community to sign his petition for the State Government to provide $264 million to rebuild Grafton Base Hospital. This upgrade, along with many others in the Clarence are desperately needed. Why so little progress to date? Mr Gulaptis admits “over the past seven-and-a-half years, 77 hospitals have been built or upgraded”. Why not here in the Clarence? Seven-and-a-half years in Government is long enough to produce results. Since when does a MP in Government need a petition to talk to his own Government Ministers? Surely the Member for Clarence can simply walk into the Minister’s office and discuss the matter. Does our local Member have any pull within his own Government? Do the Nationals have any say in what goes on? There are several National MP’s resorting to the same tactics, Steph Cooke from Cootamundra has the same petition going for Cowra Hospital. The NSW Coalition is happily throwing away billions of dollars to relocate museums and build stadiums in Sydney, yet we must beg to get better health care in the bush. Do the Nationals really have a seat at the table? If so then why do they have to beg for scraps from their inner-city Liberal masters? There’s an election coming and we need a powerful voice in the Clarence to stand up and fight tooth and nail for a fair go, not someone who meekly begs for scraps. Daniel Spears, Lawrence