THE three candidates at the Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce Great State Debate shot down calls for a Royal Commission into health, labelling the move as an unnecessary and expensive exercise.
Liberal candidate Craig Marsh, Australian Conservatives candidate Gregg Bisset and Independent Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell dismissed SA-Best leader Nick Xenophon’s push for an inquiry into the state’s health system.
Mr Marsh said the Liberal Party’s plan to dismantle Country Health SA and install regional boards would reinstate control to local communities.
“The South East regional board would cover all hospitals, but it will also give our health advisory councils a lot more power too,” he said.
“The people sitting on the board will be from our community, health professionals that understand the issues.
“The regional board will have control of the funding for the hospitals of the region, and also appoint the chief executive officers for each hospital.
“It will be locals back in control of our hospitals to fix the health services that have been so terribly neglected.
“I think a Royal Commission would be a waste of money.
“It’s quite unnecessary.”
Mr Bisset raised concerns around the length of time a potential inquiry would take.
“I’m not a fan of royal commissions generally speaking, simply because of the time it takes,” he said.
“We all know what the health issues are in regional South Australia.
“Why not let the government’s deal with it?
“We need to hold people accountable.”
Mr Bell said a loss of local accountability and ownership had contributed to the community disconnect with the hospital and the health system.
“Country Health SA sits up in Adelaide, they are responsible to their masters in Adelaide and are not representative of our community,” he said.
“What we’re severely lacking is leadership.
“If you have strong leaders who have a vision and know how to get there, you do not need to have all these commissions and inquiries because it’s a well thought out plan that has been implemented.”
