By Melissa Blewitt

A petition to split the Murrumbidgee Local Health District in two is within reach of the 10,000 signatures needed to trigger a parliamentary debate.
NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton has been working on the split bill for more than a year and is now urging district residents to make their name count.
“This is about fair access to healthcare, local decision-making, and making sure country communities are no longer treated as second-class citizens,” she said in an Instagram post.
One of the reasons Mrs Dalton wants to split up the 125,243km squared Wagga-based MLHD, is she believes “Structural change is the only path to better outcomes.”
She has proposed a new Western Riverina Health District covers Leeton to Balranald, including the communities and health services of Deniliquin, Jerilderie, Berrigan, Finley, Leeton, Griffith, Hay, Hillston, Lake Cargelligo, Balranald, Barham, Moulamein and Tocumwal.
The split would also put a stop to and rectify what she described as the consistent “downgrading” of rural and regional hospitals in favour of larger health services at Wagga Wagga and Albury.
“A parliamentary debate matters because it forces the health system to be examined in public — not behind closed doors. It puts service withdrawals, workforce shortages, travel distances, and outcomes for Western Riverina communities on the official record. Once debated, these failures cannot be ignored, buried, or quietly deferred,” a Post on the Helen Dalton MP Facebook Page read.
“Local control means decisions made for our communities, not filtered through a system designed around somewhere else.”
A spokesperson for MLHD has previously said the health service was committed to providing timely, efficient and appropriate care to patients in every part of the district – regardless of its size.
“Wagga Wagga Base Hospital is the only rural referral-level facility in MLHD, and it serves as a vital hub for specialist healthcare services to every part of the district,” the spokesperson said.
“Splitting MLHD would have a detrimental impact on existing healthcare pathways and would see more patients needing to travel further from their homes to access appropriate care.”