Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to address the private members’ business motion on dental health put forward by the member for Richmond, who I note is no longer in the chamber. It is important to note as a parliament the concerns she raises—they are real concerns—but we have to focus on who has responsibility for the dental care of all Australians. It is true that oral health care and overall health and wellbeing are intrinsically linked. However, the argument of the member for Richmond, who has left the chamber—I am quite surprised; when you put up a private member’s motion you would normally stay in the chamber to hear other contributions—is fundamentally flawed. In fact, I find it quite amusing that she is calling for the blame game to stop.

It is widely understood that, under the national health agreement, state and territory governments have a responsibility for the management of dental health care in their communities, yet the member for Richmond is calling on this federal government to stop blaming the states for the appalling situation with dental health care. The way I see it is that the member for Richmond should not be blaming the federal government for this situation but should start blaming her state colleagues. There is a state election going on right now in the state of New South Wales. She ought to be out there calling on the Labor Party to fix the appalling dental health situation the people of New South Wales are confronted with. But, no, she comes into this chamber and blames this government when it is not our responsibility.

Since the introduction of the GST by this government, the state and territory governments have been receiving a substantial windfall in revenue. Of course, the good economic management of this government has also allowed the state and territory governments to have an additional windfall by way of stamp duties because of the strong economy. However, it appears to me—and, I know, to all members on this side of the House—that these windfalls are not being used appropriately. Instead, they are being squandered. Last week the Queensland Premier took out a full-page advertisement in national newspapers promoting his plan to reinstate the Bradfield scheme. It was just another political stunt, using taxpayers’ money to promote the Bradfield scheme in the lead-up to the Prime Minister’s water summit last Friday.

The Queensland Labor government is failing the people of Queensland in dental care. A media release issued in December last year by the shadow minister for health, John-Paul Langbroek from Surfers Paradise, said that over 79,000 Queenslanders are waiting up to seven years and eight months for public dental services. Clearly, just as the Queensland state government fails in healthcare services it is also failing in dental care services. Even the previous health minister was not concerned with fixing the acutely appalling state health and dental care services in Queensland. It is interesting to note that there is now a CJC inquiry into the former minister’s activities whilst he was a minister.

It has never been a Commonwealth responsibility to directly fund dental health services or infrastructure. It is the responsibility of the states and territories. It is about time the Labor Party, when they are in government all around Australia at state and territory level, stopped squandering their budgets and used them for important items like fixing the state dental and health systems. Having one level of government responsible for dental care would ensure accountability.

The Commonwealth does fund several programs to assist with dental services across the country. About 12 months ago, in my electorate of Maranoa, a private health provider in Brisbane received $384,000 to establish a state-of-the art teledentistry system for the people living in Barcaldine, Longreach and Winton. That private company received the money to assess patients prior to a dentist visiting those towns, which they do for a week in every month. Since dental services are predominately provided by the private sector, the Commonwealth supports dental care with a 30 per cent private health insurance rebate, which is estimated to have cost $438 million for dental services in 2005-06. (Time expired)

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