STANDING outside Coffs Harbour Health Campus next to the hospital car park pay machine on Monday 3 July, Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh said the Minns Labor Government had broken its election pledge to provide free hospital parking at Coffs Harbour Health Campus, starting on 1 July 2023.

Mr Singh said during the 2023 state election campaign, the Liberals-Nationals Coalition committed to free parking at all regional and rural hospitals in NSW for all patients, visitors and staff.

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“Labor then matched this commitment,” he said.

Mr Singh said documents from the Parliamentary Budget Office confirmed the Minns Labor Government had broken another key election commitment by retaining parking fees at regional hospitals.

Mr Singh, Shadow Minister for Tourism, Emergency Services and the North Coast, believes the Minns Labor Government to be city centric and failing regional areas.

“Under the Minns Labor Government, regional NSW communities are being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to cost-of-living measures.

“People are stressed about the cost of living in a way that they weren’t two years ago,” Mr Singh told News Of The Area.

“People are usually not coming to hospital for a positive reason; they are most likely stressed.

“Asking them to pay for their parking just adds more to an already stressful time and could mean cutting back on visiting a loved one,” he said.

“The Coalition’s Active and Creative kids vouchers have been slashed by 85 percent, the Regional Seniors Travel Card and the Regional Apprentice Card are facing the chopping block, and Labor have yet to even open applications for the Regional University Student Travel Card.

“With the current cost-of-living crisis our citizens are facing, Labor is failing to deliver on any meaningful new policies to help families in NSW.

“The least they can do is honour their existing policies,” he said.

Health Minister Ryan Park’s office told News Of The Area, “we will be delivering on our commitment to make parking free for all patients, staff and visitors at all rural and regional NSW public hospitals, including Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Maitland, Belmont, Shoalhaven and Tweed.

“We stand by this commitment and will have more to say about the extension in the coming weeks.

“Free parking is currently available for staff in all NSW regional hospitals, as part of this election commitment free parking will be extended to patients and family members in regional hospitals.

“The NSW government is committed to providing access and delivering high-quality healthcare to patients in rural, regional and remote communities.”

By Andrea FERRARI