LIBERAL MP Nick McBride has used his debut speech in parliament to highlight the discrepancies between the regions and metropolitan Adelaide before vowing to “make MacKillop matter”.
The third Member for MacKillop gave his first speech to parliament last Thursday, condemning the previous Labor Government for treating the regions “like a cash cow” without investing back into communities.
The MP said his constituents had faced a reduction of speed limits due to crumbling roads, intermittent mobile phone coverage and a poorly funded drainage scheme which has not seen an increase since the last Liberal Government.
“MacKillop contributes a lot of our great state, however over the past few years, along with other regional areas, MacKillop has not received the infrastructure resourcing it has needed or deserved,” Mr McBride said.
“On the spending side, virtually every budget delivered by the former government resulted in real reductions for PIRSA and there was a chronic infrastructure underspend in regions, with road quality getting so bad in areas the speed limits have been reduced.”
Mr McBride, who retained the seat for the Liberal Party at the March election, also used his maiden speech to address the inequities in education and training and regional health, saying the cost of accessing timely health care was “unacceptable”.
He highlighted the loss of obstetrics at the Millicent Hospital, saying the removal of services placed a higher level of stress on families who were required to travel.
“No family should be placed in a position where they cannot access the required medical treatment,” he said.
“We need to fund regional health services to be able to provide the health care that regional South Australians need.
“This includes working with GPs, enabling continuity of care, but most importantly, providing primary care.”
