Save the Repat protesters camped on Parliament House steps for 161 days pack up and leave
THEY’VE been camped on the steps of Parliament House for 161 nights. Today, Save the Repat protesters decided to pack up and leave.
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THEY’VE been camped on the steps of Parliament House for 161 nights. On Sunday, Save the Repat protesters decided to pack up and leave.
Spokesman Augustinus Krikke said the group had “achieved as much as we can on the steps of Parliament House”.
It follows the tabling in Parliament last Thursday of a petition with about 85,000 signatures opposing the planned closure of the Repatriation General Hospital in 2017.
On Friday, Opposition and crossbench MPs launched a parliamentary select committee into the State Government’s health plan.
On Sunday, Opposition Leader Steven Marshall launched a new phase of the Liberal party’s campaign to keep the Repat open, using the well-known Tin Man sculpture on Port Wakefield Rd at Dublin.
“Health Minister Jack Snelling will always be remembered as the man who didn’t have a heart if he continues to insist on bulldozing the Repat,” Mr Marshall said.
The sculptures were erected by locals in the late 1990s in protest against the then-Liberal government’s plans to build a waste dump in the area.
“The return of the Dublin sculptures to public protest highlights the depth of the community opposition to the Weatherill Government’s savage cuts to health funding,” Mr Marshall said.
“The rest of the sculptures — the Rat, Ned Kelly, the Spaceship, the Cockroach — will be progressively rebadged in the coming weeks.”
Mr Snelling said closing the Repat was about creating “better health outcomes for veterans” by building new facilities.
“We’ve consulted widely, we’re not about to change our minds on this,” he said.
Mr Snelling said the protesters were “welcome to stay there (on the steps of Parliament) as long as they wanted to”.
Mr Krikke said it was a “bittersweet” feeling to dismantle the protest on Parliament’s steps but he felt the campaign would continue through Parliament and the sculptures at Dublin.
“Its been harsh, extremely harsh (on the steps), very, very cold conditions,” he said.
“We’ve had injuries, we’ve had illnesses. It needed to come to an end. It’s pointless us staying here any longer.”
Mr Krikke said 62 veterans had spent time sleeping on the steps over the 161 nights, supported by up to 50 family members and friends.
“Without the general public feeding us on a nightly basis and the generosity they’ve extended to us we wouldn’t have lasted anywhere near as long as we have,” he said.
“The support we’ve got from both parliamentary security and SA Police has been outstanding.”
Mr Krikke said he was “absolutely” looking forward to sleeping in his own bed and taking his dogs for a walk once he returned home.