A public hearing due to take place in Narrabri on Monday was postponed due to travel issues.
The public hearing was being held as part of the inquiry looking at a proposal to split the Hunter New England Health District into two separate districts – Hunter Local Health District and the New England North West LHD.
“Committee members and staff were unable to travel due to an aircraft mechanical issue,” said a statement on the Legislative Assembly’s social media page.
“The rescheduled public hearing dates will be announced at a later date. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”
Member for Barwon Roy Butler told The Courier he is ‘absolutely confident’ the hearing will be rescheduled.
“I think it’s vitally important that any inquiry that’s inquiring into regional issues … it’s crucial that you get out into the community and actually talk to people and do that face-to-face because there’s so much communication that’s lost when you’re not sitting in a room with someone,” said Mr Butler when asked about the importance of hearings being held in country communities.
“When you’re talking about something as sensitive as people’s health services, and some of those experiences are pretty difficult experiences that they’ve had in accessing health services, you really want to pay people the respect of actually looking them in the eye and hearing what they’ve got to say and not relying on audiovisual link for all of the evidence you gather,” he added.
The Committee on Community Services is holding the inquiry into the Health Services Amendment (Splitting of the Hunter New England Health District) Bill 2025 after it was referred to the committee by the Legislative Assembly in February.
“The bill was introduced by the Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, to improve health services in the Hunter New England LHD by splitting the existing district into two separate health districts,” said committee chair Clayton Barr MP. “The committee will be looking at how this proposal would operate, including potential benefits and risks, and whether it would improve health services in the Hunter New England area.”
It’s the same inquiry that received a flood of submissions from local residents, community groups and organisations, councils, peak bodies, business and agricultural representatives, professionals, stakeholders in the health sector, and other members of the public.
The public hearing’s agenda included a list of local witnesses, who were due to speak on Monday – chief executive of the Wee Waa Local Aboriginal Land Council Robyn Keeffe and WWLALC deputy chair Samantha Hamilton, founder/program manager RiverBank Youth Works Ltd Christian Petersen, Wee Waa Hospital Auxiliary president Anne Weekes, Save Wee Waa Hospital committee member Kate Kahl, Narrabri Shire Council mayor Darrell Tiemens and general manager Eloise Chaplain, NSW Farmers Association – Wee Waa Branch president Jono Phelps and branch treasurer Richard Schwager, Merced Farming Pty Ltd business manager/director Daniel Kahl and John Fogarty.
The public hearing was going to be held at the Narrabri Shire Council chambers, with members of the public welcome to attend or watch via an online link.
Local submissions to the NSW parliamentary inquiry show broad community approval for splitting the district. Of the 101 submissions received, including confidential items unable to be viewed by the public, almost 25 highlight concerns about the lack of 24-hour medical facilities in Wee Waa or provide examples of having to travel to seek treatment, particularly to Narrabri Hospital and then further in the health district.
Residents have shared their treatment experiences, many heartbreaking and challenging, voicing particular concern with various processes in the health system.
Pressure to restore services in Wee Waa really started to ramp up and gained media attention in November last year when the community group ‘Save Our Wee Waa Hospital’ held its first rally, with more than 250 people taking time away from their workplaces and daily lives to support the cause.
The volunteer group’s crusade to keep the hospital’s doors open 24/7 with a permanent onsite doctor led to the rallying of more than 10,000 signatures on a petition that sparked a 40-minute debate about the health crisis in NSW parliament earlier this year.
Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens, together with Save the Wee Waa Hospital Committee members and Wee Waa community representatives officially presented the ‘Save the Wee Waa Hospital’ petition to Member for Barwon Roy Butler, who was joined by Health Minister Ryan Park in March.
Keeping the spotlight on health services, Member for Barwon Roy Butler introduced a bill to split the Hunter New England Health District which triggered the current inquiry.
“The Save Our Wee Waa Hospital committee is a formidable bunch, with representatives from across the community – farmers, retirees, lands council, business owners, younger members of the community, two other councillors and locals who have watched the demise of this vital community asset,” NSC mayor Darrell Tiemens previously told The Courier.
“My argument, and that of the Narrabri Shire Council, is that splitting up the local health district would be a move in the right direction,” he said.
“It makes no sense to have a local health district that is half the size of New Zealand, serving a metro city like Newcastle as well as small towns and villages on the far peripheries of Hunter New England Health.
“At the moment, Hunter New England Health is not fit for purpose. Rural and remote parts of the health district are squeezed of resources.”
As previously reported, a submission to the inquiry by HNELHD chief executive officer Tracey McCosker PSM said splitting the district would be ‘disruptive, costly, and ultimately detrimental to the people we serve’.
“It would not solve our most pressing challenge: workforce shortages. This is a nationwide issue affecting all sectors but is felt most acutely in regional and rural areas like the North West of NSW.”
In 2023, when HNELHD announced the temporary reduction of hospital services in Wee Waa, it was stated the move was a response to significant challenges in securing healthcare staff.
This week, Mr Butler told The Courier he had provided the health district with the details for nurses who were ‘ready to start’.
“What I can tell you is that on June 4, I sent the health district the details for three nurses who were ready to start,” he said. “So, I sent those through, on June 10, I got an email confirming that they’d received my email and thanking me.
“But now here we are on the 16th (of June) and I still don’t have any feedback on whether they’ve been able to recruit those people or if they’ve even spoken to them,” said Mr Butler.
“I just don’t think that they’re moving with the urgency that’s required,” he said. “If you are desperate for nurses, you have got three starters there who are ready to go, who are prepared to go to Wee Waa … you think you would move really quickly.”
Mr Butler said: “The community, not just Wee Waa but further afield, whether it’s Burren Junction, Rowena, Pilliga, Merah North, Cuttabri, Pilliga – they all suffer, when they can’t get their services in Wee Waa.
“It also puts a huge amount of pressure on the ambulance services.”
In a media statement released on Friday (June 13) ahead of the scheduled public hearing, Mr Butler expressed his ‘disappointment that the local health district management is telling country people they would lose access to specialists if the de-amalgamation went through’.
The committee’s call for submissions has already detailed a litany of treatment failures, said the statement.
“Hunter New England Health’s submission to the parliamentary committee triggered by my bill to split up the district is full of fear-mongering and questionable arguments,” said Mr Butler.
“Health district management says local people would have reduced access to specialists should the split go ahead, as though a wall will be put up across the Great Dividing Range.
“That’s not the way the NSW Health system operates in any other area.
“They also claim that a split would dramatically increase costs. But if that were true, why not amalgamate with other health districts to save more money?
“The reason that’s not being proposed is they know that would result in reduced service levels and other areas aren’t willing to suffer less access to health care.”
Mr Butler said Hunter New England Health is the only health district in NSW that is made up of a metropolitan area and a rural area.
“Local people say that access to medical treatment deteriorates the further away you get from Newcastle,” said Mr Butler. “I’m disappointed that Hunter New England Health is making questionable arguments to local people rather than engaging in good faith with a plan to restore decision-making to local areas.”
Mr Butler again told The Courier he believes Health Minister Ryan Park is “absolutely committed to that hospital operating 24/7 and also having expanded services.
“So, he’s put that in writing, twice, he’s also said it in person at Wee Waa to the community hospital working group.”
The Courier has contacted HNELHD for comment regarding an update on staffing and the three nurses Mr Butler suggested for Wee Waa Hospital.
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