Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a bill about the Health Workforce Australia agency, and of course that is about expenditure of $1 billion in the health area. Obviously, how we are making health spending sustainable into the future is directly relevant to this bill, Mr Deputy Speaker. If I may continue to make my remarks, I was talking about co-payments as a central part of the health spending of the budget and I was noting that when he was studying for his PhD—that is, the shadow Assistant Treasurer—which he got in 2004, not that long ago, he argued in relation to a co-payment, and I quote him from a 14 April 2003 article in the Sydney Morning Herald:

A just doctor's fee will aid the needy but deter the frivolous ...

The shadow Assistant Treasurer says that he no longer supports this policy and that he was a naive university student when he wrote these comments. He does himself a disservice.

For my sins, I have also done a PhD. Can I tell the House that to get a PhD, it usually involves a minimum of four years research, where you grapple with the subject day after day, coming to grips with every argument, every nuance and every alternative argument. After four years, you come to a considered decision. It would appear that, in the space of four weeks, the shadow minister has dumped four years of careful consideration. Political expedience will do that to you.

The coalition has a strong record of making sensible investments in Australia's health and medical workforce. As the Minister for Health has said, the Howard government invested in nine medical schools, which has resulted in the increase in medical students graduating now. The number of domestic school graduates per year has more than doubled since 1996. The government has committed to doubling the Practice Incentives Program teaching payment from $100 to $200 for each hour teaching session provided to a medical student. It will better compensate general practices for the consultation time dedicated to teaching; it will encourage more general practices to provide much-needed teaching opportunities; and it will to strengthen the future workforce. The measure will benefit approximately 3000 general practices, and it is expected that approximately 20,000 students per annum will be provided with teaching sessions. A rural loading of up to 50 per cent will also be applied to payments to practices in rural and remote locations. Indeed, I want to acknowledge that this rural loading is so important for electorates like mine.

Further, the government is also investing $40 million in up to 100 additional medical internships each year in non-traditional settings, including private hospitals regional areas. This will provide more certainty for students and, to alleviate pressure on public hospitals for training, priority will be given to positions and rotations outside of major metropolitan centres to bolster the medical workforce in rural and regional areas. As a member for a regional seat, I strongly endorse this measure; it will inject talented medical students into areas of great need. I commend the minister for such a press practical measure.

The coalition will also provide infrastructure grants to general practices on the basis of an equal commitment from the practice. This will leverage private investment and help ensure efficient and productive use of resources. The government has committed to provide up to 175 grants for rural and remote general practices to expand facilities to support teaching and training of medical students and registrars. The grants of up to $300,000 will be provided to successful applicants and require a matched contribution from the practice. The measure will benefit the GPs, registrars, medical students and the community in inner-regional, outer-regional, remote and very remote Australia, where the grants will be targeted. These practices face unique challenges in the provision of health care. Providing more opportunities for medical students to experience rural and remote practice will encourage students to pursue careers outside of metropolitan areas once they graduate and help address the maldistribution of the medical workforce in Australia.

While talking about infrastructure, I am happy to confirm that the coalition government will continue with its $160 million commitment to the Bega Valley community to build the new South East Regional Hospital in the town of Bega. This is a major project in collaboration with the New South Wales government; we hope it will be completed in 2016. The New South Wales government is contributing $10 million and will be responsible for the ongoing operation of the hospital. Only in February this year was it announced that the tenders for the main works were awarded the Brookfield Multiplex. Do not let people think that this is the Labor government project, just because they announced it before the 2013 election. It is taking form and substance under a coalition government. We are actually getting the work done.

Finally, the government will also significantly expand the number of GP training places. GP training places will increase by 300 from 1200 to 1500 new places in 2015. This significant increase in training places will create more vocational training opportunities for this workforce, freeing up more junior doctor training positions for new graduates coming through. I also note that the Australian General Practice Training program has a distribution target that requires 50 per cent of training to occur in rural and remote locations. This is another step in the right direction—more GP training places will mean better medical delivery, and for a regional electorates such as mine that 50 per cent requirement that training occur in rural and remote locations recognises our needs. In conclusion, this government is making sensible changes to reduce waste on duplication and bureaucracy so that sustainable investments can continue to be made to services and programs that benefit our health system and our future workforce. I commend the bill to the House.

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