The higher level of security in Parliament House this morning lead to some successful all-Party collaboration to enable the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) to meet with parliamentarians as had been planned.
The annual face-to-face meeting of the NRHA Council includes two days’ work agreeing priorities for current policy issues impacting on rural health and wellbeing and then a day in Parliament to seek support from Members and Senators for action on those priorities.
After a photo-shoot with all 41 members of Council in their #loverural t-shirts, it looked for a while as though access for such a large group to Parliament House might be prohibited.
Enter true collaboration to support rural and remote health! Led (as only appropriate) by Senator Fiona Nash, Minister with responsibility for rural and remote health, supporters of country people came to the party and Council gained access – after the necessary security clearances had been completed.
Those who provided key support this morning included Warren Snowdon and his staff, NSW Nationals Senator John Williams and his staff, Senator Rachel Siewert and her office, Shadow Assistant Health Minister Stephen Jones and Queensland Senator Jan McLucas.
Given such all-party assistance, the health equity and access issues facing people in more remote areas can surely be overcome.