Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Paterson for his contribution. I understand exactly the difficulties that lifesavers have in relation to the equipment issues that he spoke so eloquently on tonight. Tonight I want to speak on an issue that is very dear and personal to my heart. That is the issue of health. As I often say publicly throughout my community of Flynn, if you ain’t got your health, you ain’t got nothing. As a bloke who was given the last rites at 17 I understand the value and importance of health to individuals and families. For me every day is a bonus. I take great pride in the fact that whoever was watching over me that day and for some days following was repaid the favour when I was fortunate enough to save two young girls caught in a dangerous rip on Easter Sunday 2009 at Wreck Rock Beach, Agnes Water. My son Pryce played a very special part in events that day, too, also risking his own life, saving a father not his but someone else’s.

But my interest in health goes beyond that. My wife, Colleen, often requires hospitalisation in Gladstone and Brisbane for a disease that cannot be cured. One of my sons—Rhys—cannot live without daily medication for a different disease that, again, cannot be cured. As much of a forgiving person as I am by nature, it is understandable that, from a personal point of view, whenever I hear in this parliament that the former health minister and current Leader of the Opposition ripped a billion dollars out of the hospital system and put a cap on GP doctors, it makes me crook. Conversely, I am pleased that my government—the Rudd Labor government—has taken positive steps to fix our ailing health system.

Everybody, I think, knows that the system is broken. My personal opinion is that the local networks proposed by the Rudd Labor government will represent a marked improvement on the current system by improving service delivery in our local hospitals. The current funding model has not served the Flynn community well. I know that from personal experience and I do not believe that we have received our fair share of funding for our local hospitals. Running our hospitals locally will remove the central bureaucracy mentality and give a local voice to local issues of priority. It is important to note that we will remove the current imbalance by training more than 6,000 GPs and medical specialists. Lack of GPs and medical specialists in Flynn has been a major issue for far, far too long. Health services in Flynn have been found wanting for many years despite the hardworking efforts of those engaged in the delivery of these services.

One of the most important issues for Flynn residents is to be able to access health services, including specialist services, locally. The current model, where people, including cancer patients, have to travel to Rockhampton, Mackay or Brisbane, is unacceptable except in some circumstances. In addition, I believe we need to train our doctors locally so they stay local and become part of our broader community. For me, as the federal member for Flynn I am determined to see that this network is a success. There is no more important issue to me than health. It lies at the very heart of our existence. I understand personally the impact that failure to deliver local health services, including specialist services, has on families. That is why I am so determined to fix the system for other local families in Flynn.

Some of the good things for Flynn that we have already done include upgrading the Monto Medical Centre, upgrading the Mundubbera GP clinic, a new GP superclinic for Gladstone, a breast cancer nurse for Gladstone, an upgrade of the Biloela Medical Centre and fit-out of the Moura Medical Centre, a $1.3 million boost to mental health services in Gladstone, a new Medicare office for Emerald and doubling the number of dental services available in Emerald. But I acknowledge and accept that more hard work is required. I thank the House.

Question agreed to.

See this speech in context