Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health) Share this | Hansard source

'The Prime Minister bans that personally, so all you can have is an extraction. We'll just pull the tooth, because that is all that this government's plan will allow us to do.'

As I have said before, the fundamental flaw is that, predominantly, teen dental disease can be managed by therapists; it can be managed by oral health graduates. Don't tie up the dental profession in public health. They are the most highly trained specialists in the area. They should be dealing with complex and chronic disease. This is a government that has not activated the oral health routes yet, and therapist numbers are falling. That $2.5 billion spend, which has a capped amount of $1,000, is at risk of overspends and rorts; our chronic disease program was rorted by a very, very small number of people. So, in effect, the government's protestations about the former program will be the same ones that will vex the new program. There are DVA dental officials and advisers who can verify which chronic disease patients need further care and which do not. The government has the opportunity to continue the care for the people who need it most but it is electing not to.

This is a simple situation where it has been decided that the political pain of this federal government to find a surplus will trump the dental pain of our nation. Those opposite are more worried about their political future than about the dental future of Australians. This government is insistent on injecting more money into public dental systems which are not overly efficient and, at the same time, it is hobbling the 95 per cent of private dentists in this country who hold the key to reducing waiting lists. By doing what it is doing today, you will see more people going to their GP and being refused dental care, more GPs giving out antibiotics and trying to buy time, and more expenses to Medicare. All of those half a million people will be turning up to public hospitals and emergency waiting rooms seeking antibiotics and quick solutions. That was the old way and that is what Labor are bringing us back to. They should swallow some pride, understand how the dental sector works, agree to continue the Chronic Disease Dental Program and look after Australians' dental care.

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