Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes. I would like to share with a House a quote from that report :

If you are in metropolitan Sydney, or if you are in New South Wales, the further you are from the Harbour Bridge, the greater the impact of the shortage of trained doctors, nurses and allied health staff brought about by the restriction on places in universities and other colleges.

A workforce shortage. What is going to happen under this government? A greater workforce shortage, because, guess what they have done? They have got rid of Health Workforce Australia. Apart from the fact that 130 jobs have gone, it will mean that there will be a further maldistribution of both doctors and other allied health professionals in rural and regional Australia. That is not something that people living there will thank this government for.

Then there is the fuel tax. Everyone knows that if you live in rural and regional Australia you have to travel a greater distance to get to the doctor, to transport your produce and to go shopping. The fuel tax is going to have an enormous impact.

I will conclude by referring to the $483 million that has been ripped out of Landcare, something that will be debated in detail in this parliament next week. Forty per cent of all farmers take part in this program and this government is defunding it. This government has absolutely no commitment to rural and regional Australia. They always take them for granted and they have done so again in this budget. (Time expired)

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