Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

This is a concept that is foreign to Labor at both the state and federal levels because, when they were in power in New South Wales and in Queensland, they took money away from doctors and they put it into bureaucratic structure. That is what the Labor Party do. That is not what this government will do. We want to take money away from the spin doctors that Labor employ and we want to put it back into the hands of the real doctors and nurses so that we can get the sort of health outcomes that the honourable member would want for her local community.

In relation to Albury and Wodonga, it may be that in the tender process, for argument's sake, the PHNs that cover Albury and Wodonga could be adopted by or run by the same provider. That is a possible outcome in this process; we will see how the tender process goes. The objective of this government is to have the PHNs collaborate but also compete against each other so that wherever possible, yes, we can keep people out of expensive hospitals, provide support in community settings and in primary care settings. The Labor Party, of course, wanted to put money into bureaucratic structures.

Mr Husic interjecting—

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