Wagga MP Daryl Maguire has defended claims he called paramedics liars amid fierce backlash from scathing comments made last week.
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Mr Maguire was quoted to say paramedic unions “pedalled misinformation” in a push for greater member numbers.
On Wednsday, Mr Maguire moved to clarify comments made against the union, which he claimed were taken out of context.
It followed issues raised by Australian Paramedic Association (APA) members in relation to a lack of vital resources across the Riverina.
Problems involving ancient and broken equipment, under-staffing and poor telecommunication facilities were attributed to a lack of funding due to being “ the poor brother of NSW Health”.
APA members claimed a serious lack of staffing regularly left smaller communities exposed as Wagga would often utilise paramedics from other stations.
While Mr Maguire maintained unions often twisted information, he said he had been referring to the accusation that insufficient government funding was the cause of the reported issues.
Quoting figures in the millions, Mr Maguire said the state government had allocated sufficient funding to NSW Ambulance for the purpose of improve stations, increasing staff numbers and upgrading facilities across the state.
He said it was the service that was tasked with funding distribution.
“If there are staffing issues, the unions (APA and Health Workers Union) need to advocate on behalf of the members and take their case to NSW Ambulance,” Mr Maguire said.
“Everyone would like more money but our government has been giving money to the service.”
Mr Maguire said he fought for paramedics and his constituents every day and the budget figures reflected that.
“Nobody fought harder than me to get a new station,” he said.
“I respect what they do … I’m not going to cop it when people say that’s untrue.”
Australian Paramedic Association secretary Gary Wilson said last week, the union was largely made up of paramedics, so being accused of spinning the truth was a stab at the profession too.