Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to provide the House with another update on the Murray Darling medical school. The concept behind the school is that it will train doctors in the bush for practice in the bush. At present, it is raining doctors in the city but there is a severe shortage in the country. Less than 10 per cent of medical students trained at the big city universities go on to practise medicine in the country. The universities running the current system are failing country Australia. While there are some positive efforts going on in the country by these city universities, it is a shame that on the one hand they took up these endeavours yet on the other they actively tried to kill this Charles Sturt University proposal. Our communities are very disappointed in the unnecessarily predatory and negative approach that the likes of Sydney University are taking on this issue. The Australian government has requested that Charles Sturt University and La Trobe University review the clinical training requirements for the Murray Darling Medical School to demonstrate how these requirements can be accommodated within the current and future clinical training system. A report has been prepared by PPB Advisory and I have a copy here hot off the press. I will be having more to say on this report in the very near future. In particular, I will be letting the electorate of Calare know precisely what it contains. People living in country Australia deserve access to the same level of health care as people living in the cities. Despite the opposition from the established urban universities, our country communities can rest assured that the case for the Murray Darling Medical School is stronger than ever and we will not be backing down on this vital issue for country people.