Portland District Health
Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (09:50): For 15 months Portland hospital’s helipad has been closed. For 15 months sick and injured locals have been forced to endure a 14-kilometre journey to the local airport whilst the helipad at the hospital sits unused. For 15 months the minister has not had an answer to when it will reopen. For 15 months the minister has not said why it was closed. The people of Portland campaigned for years for their helipad. They fundraised and supported its establishment in 2014. Just eight years later, in December 2022, the state Labor government closed the helipad, first blaming the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and, when that was revealed to be untrue, blaming a lack of staff. The minister should be ashamed. She should be embarrassed at all the excuses she has used whilst Portland locals in unimaginable pain and whose lives are at risk are required to travel 15 minutes to the airport along our rubbish country roads.
I have had enough of this minister’s ducking of her responsibilities and have started a petition demanding the helipad at Portland hospital be reopened for use by Ambulance Victoria helicopter emergency medical service choppers. The petition is up and running at local businesses across Portland for locals to sign and signal to our city-centric Labor state government that we will not be silent and we will fight for our healthcare needs. I encourage everyone hearing this to sign the petition and send the minister a message. We need to save seconds that save lives, and the minister must reopen the Portland hospital helipad now.