Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose this quite wrong suggestion made in the matter of public importance before the House today. At the heart of this matter is delivery. Delivering is exactly what the government is doing in the area of health care for all Australians, as it is in so many other policy areas. I am pleased to be able to speak in this debate today to correct the members' opposite misguided view, and shed some light on the reality of the government's extensive delivery on its health promises.

As I have previously spoken about in this place, I am passionate about tackling the issue of mental health not only in my electorate but also across the country. The House knows the horrific figure that one in five Australians will suffer from a mental illness in any given year—20 per cent. The need for a favourable change in these figures is more pressing than ever before and this government is delivering in this area. The government is investing $192 million to support mental health care, to fund suicide prevention regional trial sites and provide for additional headspace centres. This is hardly a failure. Indeed, it is a sign of the government's decisive action on mental health.

The government's commitment and record in delivering on its health promises is by no means limited to mental health. Indeed, as we have heard, the coalition government expenditure on health continues to grow each and every year. In 2015-16 the government committed $69 billion to spending on health. This commitment has increased to almost $73 billion this budget year and is projected to exceed $79 billion in 2019-20. If we consider the total spending on health, aged care and sport in 2016-17 it amounts to $90 billion.

Funding is not everything in health, but we recognised that we needed to invest more. We promised to do so, and we have delivered in every state and territory. As the member for Fisher, I represent many constituents who understand the health related challenges of living in regional Australia. This government promised to improve access to health care in regional and rural areas of Australia, including on the Sunshine Coast. The government made this promise, and it is delivering on that promise.

We recognise the unfortunate reality that access to health services is often an issue for those Australians living outside major cities in regional and rural settings. That is why we are delivering new initiatives to help. The government is delivering $93.8 million over four years for a new integrated rural training pipeline to coordinate the different stages of medical training within regions. The government is delivering $131.2 million over four years to build upon the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training program and to support clinical placements in non-traditional settings. The government is delivering a $20 million funding boost to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The government is delivering an incentive of $9.25 per service for GPs that bulk-bill eligible patients in rural, regional or remote areas. The list goes on.

I am just sorry that I only have five minutes to talk about this matter, because I could stand here all day and talk about the wonderful things that we are doing in space. But unlike those opposite, we on this side of the House prefer to let our record and actions speak louder than our words. These actions are delivering tangible results today and will undoubtedly further improve the standard of health care available to people across the country in the future.

Let me just give you a few examples. Despite the unjustified and desperate actions of those opposite during the election, Australian patients are receiving more benefit from Medicare under a coalition government than ever before. This government has a rock-solid commitment to Medicare, and funding continues to increase year on year. In the second half of 2016, Australians received more than $10.85 billion in Medicare benefits. This was $1.23 billion more than the same period in 2012 under Labor.

The Turnbull government clearly understands the health needs of the Australian community and continues to deliver in all areas of the health portfolio. Today's debate is simply another example of the Labor Party's dishonest and inaccurate characterisation of the coalition's healthcare record. (Time expired)

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