Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

I know that my time is going to be very limited here, but I do want to say a big thankyou to all those people working in the Tasmanian health system. Unfortunately it is the incredible staff in the system that are holding the system together. There are clearly significant structural issues in the Tasmanian health system. What we just heard from the member for Bass, with all due respect, was a list of more bandaids, not the structural reform that's needed. The Tasmanian Liberal government need to take responsibility and they need to do the structural reform required in the Tasmanian health system to ensure that all Tasmanians get access to the health services they need, when they need them. What we know is happening at the moment is that people are waiting inordinate amounts of time. They are getting worse. They are getting more and more and unhealthy for the amount of time they have to wait, whether it be for physical health issues or, particularly, mental health issues. The number of people who contact my office concerned about their children or grandchildren who cannot get mental health support in Tasmania is incredible. To wait in an emergency department for three days when you have suicidal ideation is completely unacceptable. Whatever the Tasmanian state government and the federal Liberal government are doing is clearly not working and is nowhere near enough. That is the bottom line.

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