Wednesday, 12 August 2026


Members statements

Casey Hospital


Brad BATTIN

Casey Hospital

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (10:21): Sometimes you have to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to understand the feelings that they will feel in a set situation. I ask you to imagine, Deputy Speaker, that you are a nurse and you go to Casey Hospital and you cannot get a car park because the car parks are full and you are forced to park down Kangan Drive, and it might be 500 or 600 metres away. That might not be the end of the world at 3 o’clock walking into work, but at 11 o’clock when you finish your shift you have got to walk back and none of the lights on Kangan Drive work. They have been off for months. These nurses are leaving work after working in the community and taking care of people in the health departments and the emergency departments. Sometimes, as we have seen, they get assaulted at work. They have people who throw abuse at them before they leave the hospital. And then we say to them, ‘We couldn’t get you a car park. We’re now going to tell you to walk down a pitch-black street in an area with some of the highest crime rates here in this state.’ These staff should never have to be in a position where they are walking down a street, putting themselves in danger, because of the lack of commitment from a government to turn the lights back on. It is a very simple thing; it is a very simple fix. I say to the government: maybe it is time that you go down and speak to those nurses, put yourselves in their shoes and join them for a walk at 11 o’clock after a shift in pitch-black conditions on Kangan Drive.