Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I am very proud to be part of a government that is going to be providing money to the states and territories to provide more dental services. I might also highlight that, of the hundreds of children that have been referred who need ear, nose and throat surgery, 500 children have already been organised to have the surgery undertaken in April 2008 as part of the blitz, and I would note when talking about this sort of surgery that the Rudd Labor government’s $150 million for elective surgery, $5.3 million of which went to the Northern Territory and will pay for an additional 500 elective surgery procedures, will be particularly focused on ear, nose and throat surgery. We are of course proud of the fact that when we see these problems—and everyone in this House, whatever their political view, understands that health services are desperately needed in the Northern Territory—we are putting money in to help fix them. We know that much more needs to be done to reduce child mortality in Indigenous communities and to improve the life expectancy gap. We are starting to do that and we hope we are going to have the House’s support to continue doing that.

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