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

Quite right, Mr Speaker. I understand your record in health is impeccable. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition’s record on health is not impeccable—and that goes to the question that has been asked: what response has there been to our reform announcement, what obstacles are the way and how is this different to the approach that the Leader of the Opposition took when he was a minister? We can go through these one after the other. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition himself is on the record, at times when he was feeling like being a little more frank with the public, admitting that the health system was a dog’s breakfast and that sooner or later someone would need to fix it. Of course, it is sooner now rather than later—in contrast to when he was the health minister—because we believe it is time to fix the system.

The Leader of the Opposition is on the record as acknowledging that his government’s decision to restrict the number of young Australians who could go into our medical schools in universities across the country was, with hindsight, ‘a mistake’. He is on the record as acknowledging that there are workforce shortages. But somehow now, miraculously, when he is the Leader of the Opposition, he wants to pretend that his record as the health minister was perfect. In fact, he ripped a billion dollars out of our public health system, but he wants to deny that. He had a cap on GP places, but he wants to deny that as well. In fact, he has become not just the opposition’s chief climate change denier but also the opposition’s chief denier about his record in health. Well, those of us on this side of the House know that our public hospitals have been in need.

It is probably appropriate that Ralph Willis, the chair of one of the health service boards in Victoria covering my electorate, was acknowledged earlier. A number of other members here would know the struggle that public hospitals had when that money was pulled out of the system—a billion dollars less than even their own government thought they were going to spend only six months before that. That is how it is a budget cut, and he cannot deny that that happened and that it has consequences. Members opposite have written letters to me in the last two years—and there are very many of you—pleading for the district workforce shortage rules to apply to them and pleading for access to more GPs. I can see the member for Bowman nodding his head, because he knows that he has done it. I can see the member for Gippsland nodding his head because he has done it. I can also see the member for Gilmore. You can all put up your hands if you like because there are plenty of you. Those members opposite need to ask this question of their leader: why, after having failed to acknowledge 31 warnings and having put a cap on GP training places, is he now going to stand in the way of us finally fixing the problem? Mr Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition, cannot afford to keep denying his record. It will catch up with him eventually, and the public will see him for what he is—standing in the way of much needed reform.

See this speech in context