Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

One thing we remember in this place is that, whether you are a frontbencher, a minister, a Prime Minister or a Deputy Speaker of the House, we are all backbenchers reliant on our constituents’ support. Those that hold leadership in this place are backbenchers with a job. Even former Prime Minister John Howard was still seeing constituents regularly in the position of Prime Minister. That is why for me the Moe and District Residents Association’s plea for a Medicare office in Moe has to be heeded by us and this government. For a long time since the removal of the Medicare office in Moe, 13 or more years ago, they have been pleading for its return. I would like to table two documents where this association and its secretary have written to the chief executive officer of Medicare, in Tuggeranong, and asked a range of questions so that they can set themselves up properly to ask again for the reinstatement of a Medicare office in Moe.

There have been major constituent calls to me, and I made application to the previous federal government on this issue. They have not given up now that there is a new government in place. As a community that is large, resourceful and responsible they would like to think that they would be rewarded with a Medicare office in their area. They do not even mind if it is joined with another agency. They do not mind if they have other federal agencies come in and share it. They talk to me about wanting better post office facilities. They talk to me about wanting access to other facilities that are given to people in Morwell and to people in Pakenham but not to people in Moe. It is only reasonable that as a community of 17,000 people they have the same facilities that we offer people in the cities or in other areas.

All of you know about the difficulties of public transport in regional areas; I could talk to you about that for hours. But the most important thing here is that it is a $40 round trip for people to come from Yallourn North to Moe or up to Morwell to go to the Medicare office there. So it is not an unreasonable request. They have not had a response to their correspondence and they have written again to the chief executive officer of Medicare. I would like to table these two documents and offer my respects to the Moe and District Residents Association for their genuine requests for a Medicare office.

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