Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell has expressed his disappointment with a lack of “specific budget items” for the Limestone Coast in last week’s State Budget, but believes there are opportunities for the region going forward.

Whilst disappointed road infrastructure was not specifically mentioned, he believed a “rethink is needed when it comes to how the State Government funds current road and safety measures in the Limestone Coast”.

“I have called for a long time the establishment of a dedicated facility in Mount Gambier so a more timely response can be provided to road maintenance,” he said.

“The current arrangement of a private contractor’s depot being in Naracoorte is totally unsatisfactory.

“Telstra have put a proposal to State Government which would provide coverage to the entire Limestone Coast region and I was disappointed that this was not addressed in this State Budget.

“The State Government’s contribution would be $5.4m.”

Mr Bell said he would have liked to have seen support for our regional students undertaking nursing placements outside of the Limestone Coast being supported in the same manner as city nursing students.

“Metropolitan students are supported financially when undertaking regional placements unlike regional students.

“This is an anomaly that needs to be fixed,” he said.

“Opportunities that I see going forward include attracting major events to our region and with an additional $20m in the budget for new events, we need to be proactive in attracting these to the state’s second largest city.

“Social housing is a significant issue with a severe lack of affordable housing in the region.

“The budget includes funding for an additional 564 public homes and we need to be on the front foot securing a number of these homes for our community.

“In saying all of that we are still working through last year’s budget commitments which totalled over $100m.

“These included upgrades to the Mount Gambier hospital, including an additional six mental health and four drug rehabilitation beds, as well as the development of the educational precinct on Wireless Road.

“All of these projects are still being delivered.

“As a regional MP I am very supportive of the budget allocation to assist the Riverland region with $194m for flood relief and repair.

“This includes emergency accommodation assistance, road repair clean up and housing re-establishment grants.”

Meanwhile, Member for MacKillop Nick McBride has welcomed specific spending on education and health in the budget but said there were still many areas that needed to be addressed in the region.

Mr McBride said he was pleased to see money directed towards upgrades to ageing school infrastructure, including $9.7m to the Meningie Area School.

“$1m will go towards a review of the Naracoorte Hospital. This is on top of the $8m promised in last year’s budget for much-needed upgrades,” he said.

“It is my understanding that this money will be used to undertake a review to determine the overall model of the hospital.

The Naracoorte Hospital is in need of further upgrades and it is important that this review is done as quickly as possible so that work can begin on improving this facility.

“I will be focussed on ensuring the study delivers results that leads to a better hospital for Naracoorte.

“There is $31.1m over three years to extend and deploy the Electronic Medical Record program across all Regional Local Health Networks.

“This will ensure a consistent medical records system, which will be safer for patients whose records may be different between local hospitals and local medical clinics.”

However, Mr McBride said more should be spent on our regional road network.

“The government is committing $98m over five years on a road safety package.

“Of that, $10m over four years will be used to undertake additional regional road safety treatments such as audio tactile line marking and safety barriers,” he said.

“The RAA has called on Labor to commit $750m over four years in order to address important repairs – we have a backlog of maintenance that impacts on the safety of road users.”

Mr McBride said more needed to be done to assist patients in rural South Australia who need to utilise the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme.

“While I welcomed the doubling of the PATS fuel rebate, the accommodation subsidy is still too low,” he said.

“The current rate is $40 per night – that does not go far when factored in with all the other cost of living pressures, especially if you have to stay for multiple nights.

“I have always said that regardless of where you live, you should be able to access a high standard of health care.

“Those who are forced to travel because they need to see a specialist should not have to pay more than a person living in the city.

“While the budget also delivers funding for jetties, the CFS, TAFE and housing, the detail is lacking.

“I will watch with interest to see if any of these commitments will benefit my electorate of MacKillop.”