Groups critical over petition

By Dion Teasdale
CHURCH and community groups have continued their criticism of McEwen MP Fran Bailey over her handling of a petition calling for an after hours GP service to be established in the Upper Yarra.
The petition was signed by nearly 2,500 people.
It was drawn up in Ms Bailey’s office, and delivered to Ms Bailey on the understanding that it would be presented to federal health minister Tony Abbott.
In the Mail (15 November) representatives from the River Valley Church, the Millgrove Residents’ Action Group (MRAG), the Millgrove Baptist Church and the Upper Yarra Community Voice raised concerns about the fate of the petition.
The groups demanded that Ms Bailey table the petition in Parliament and present it to Mr Abbott.
Last week Ms Bailey told the Mail she would take the petition with her to Canberra when Parliament resumed this week.
“I’ll be speaking to Tony Abbott and saying a big ‘thank you’ from the people of the Yarra Valley,” she said.
“We have kept the after hours GP service in the Yarra Valley. We have delivered exactly what the people of the Upper Yarra want.”
However Ms Bailey did not guarantee she would formally table the petition in Parliament or that she would present it to Mr Abbott.
River Valley Church pastor Andy Bennett said he was disappointed with Ms Bailey’s response.
“We won’t be satisfied until the petition is tabled in parliament,” he said.
Mr Bennett said he was puzzled by Ms Bailey’s comment that the people of the Upper Yarra had got what they wanted.
“It is curious as to which people in the Upper Yarra are happy with the after hours GP service being located in Healesville,” he said.
“This is not what the people of the Upper Yarra wanted. Healesville is not in the Upper Yarra. What we want and need is quality accessible service here, not half an hour away.”
MRAG president Maureen Halit said she was concerned Ms Bailey had not offered a guarantee that the petition would be tabled in Parliament.
She has also accused Ms Bailey of denying Upper Yarra communities proper representation.
“Based on the way Fran is dealing with this issue it seems to me that she is not facing up to her responsibility,” she said.
Ms Halit said she did not understand why an after hours service would be established in Healesville by the end of this year.
“In all of Fran’s statements there was never any mention of Healesville as an option. We were told Woori Yallock or Yarra Junction were options,” she said.
Upper Yarra Community Voice president Glennice Mathers said she was concerned Ms Bailey was not honouring the trust the community had place in her.
She also said she would not be happy until the petition was tabled in Parliament and handed to Mr Abbott.
“I hope that Mr Abbott will read it. He needs to let us know if he has got it and what he intends to do with it,” she said.
Ms Mathers said the way the petition had been handled showed more needed to be done by Upper Yarra communities.
“Now is the time for residents to start writing letters. We need to tell the politicians what it is like living here without adequate access to health services,” she said.
Ms Mathers urged Upper Yarra residents to write directly to Mr Abbott’s office.