Adam Marshall lobbies to split HNE Health

From Adam Marshall MP’s Newsletter –

Bills back on the table on first day back in Parliament
I wasted no time getting back to business in Parliament, tabling two Bills which seek to reduce enormous cost burdens on the region’s local councils and return local power and control over frontline health services.
 Last year, I introduced two Private Members Bills, to amend the Rural Fires Act to vest ownership and the cost of RFS trucks and vehicles with the State Government, and to split the Hunter New England Health District. The Rural Fires Amendment (Red Fleet) Bill 2024 will resolve an archaic and redundant anomaly buried within the current legislation, transferring the ownership of NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) vehicles, fire trucks and buildings from local councils back to

the State Government.
 My second Bill, the Health Services Amendment (Splitting of the Hunter New England Health District) Bill 2024, would divide the current health district and re-create the former New England Area Health Service, headquartered in Tamworth, servicing the entire New England North West area. This may not be the panacea to solving all the ills of health care in our region, but the groundswell of support for the petition and the momentum it created, dictates this is the next inevitable step in bringing about the change so many people want to see.
 I am also planning to bring further legislation to the Parliament in coming sitting weeks to relieve rural and regional NSW from the burden of payroll tax and to increase cost of living support for seniors living in country areas.