Maternity ward grievance airs in Canberra

Katanning's closed maternity ward woes were brought to Canberra last week as Member for O'Connor Rick Wilson gave a speech at Parliament House highlighting the impact it had in the region.

Grievance debates give members of Parliament the opportunity to present a 10-minute speech on an array of issues of interest to their electorate.

They are held on Monday evenings with about half a dozen of Mr Wilson's colleagues present to witness the speech.

"Those of us who choose to live in small regional towns accept that we may never have the same access to the full range of health services that our metropolitan cousins enjoy, but we do have a right to the basic services such as a maternity facility," he said in the speech made on June 16.

"While it may seem indulgent to use this grievance debate to discuss an issue critical to my hometown, the reality is that attracting and keeping suitably qualified medical practitioners is a problem for almost all of the towns across my electorate."

The petition to reopen the maternity ward, which was launched last year, was also presented along with the unique multicultural community in Katanning.

According to Mr Wilson, he chose the grievance debate time to keep the issue "on the agenda".

"It was a chance to put it on the record that the community of Katanning are not going to give up on this issue," he said.

"I'm hoping some of the powers-that-be will get the message that we won't go away."

Katanning Shire president Alan McFarland said the council was continuing to have an open dialogue with WA Country Health Services on a possible solution.

"I think people underestimate how important it is to the community and for the town to get the maternity ward back open," he said.

"It is a priority for this council.

"It's frustrating because we can't see any light at the end of the tunnel.

"We all know that this issue is not going away.

"We are in an area we shouldn't be involved in - it's now our area for us to be in."

Mr Wilson's full speech can be read on Hansard on the Australian Parliament website.