Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Surprise, surprise, I agree with the member for Newcastle when she says that health is the most pressing issue, because it is. Of course it ties in with the cost-of-living crisis too, but if Labor were so good with Medicare and health in general, why have bulk-billing rates slipped and fallen so markedly since they took office in May 2022? Why is a town such as Parkes in Central Western New South Wales in the Riverina electorate not able to have maternity services in the hospital, such that there has not been a baby born there—according to Mayor Neil Wescott—for five years? For a town of that size, it's simply unacceptable. I agree with the member for Newcastle that health is and should always be the No. 1 priority. As Councillor Wescott observed, 'How do we as a town and shire attract doctors when we don't have the services available here to deliver babies?' It's so, so true.

I'm still shattered by the fact that when Labor came to office it changed the distribution priority areas for general practitioners to include some outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Newcastle, Wollongong, the Gold Coast and other major cities. You cannot tell me and you cannot convince country people that those areas I just mentioned have the same priority as towns like Parkes and others in more remote Australia. Distribution priority areas identify areas where people don't have enough access to doctors based on the needs of the community. There are so many regional centres that fall into that category, yet Labor seems to think that it should include outer suburbs of our two major capital cities. It is simply not good enough, because why would you, having just graduated as a doctor, want to go out to some of those more remote areas of Australia when you can put your shingle up in one of those major capitals centres or, indeed, the Gold Coast? It is difficult enough for rural and regional areas, let alone remote areas, to not only attract but also retain doctors to work in hospitals, as well as to have their own clinics.

Labor's decision has drawn the ire of health authorities. They see the move as a deterrent to doctors going to places where they are most needed, such as Parkes. The Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Doctors Association said:

We're already seeing the withdrawal of applications and a reduced number of overseas trained doctor applicants. … It's having an immediate impact.

She went on to say:

We've seen adverts of corporate practices where they're saying, "If you've got a provider number with restrictions on it, you can now work in Hobart, or Canberra, unrestricted" …

And the president of the RDA, Dr Megan Belot, said: 'No sooner was Labor's change announced than metropolitan medical clinics went after country doctors.' They 'went after country doctors'—so they headhunted them. There has been a longstanding policy to require overseas trained doctors who want to live and work in Australia to spend time caring for rural and remote communities that have had a classification of MMM 3 to MMM 7 before receiving an unrestricted Medicare provider number. Labor, said Dr Belot, has scrapped this requirement by adding all large regional centres, MMM 2, and other outer metropolitan areas, MMM 1, to the distribution priority area classification. It's simply not good enough. And, as she said: 'As quickly as it was announced, city medical practices started targeting doctors in rural areas to move to cities, including Canberra, Hobart, the Sunshine Coast and Wollongong.'

The Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network, I know, is going to make a difference, and I'm so pleased, as it's one of the legacies of my time as Deputy Prime Minister. It will make sure that doctors are able to do their full amount of training in a country setting. Whether that's at Dubbo or Wagga Wagga or Orange or Mildura or even Bendigo, it's going to make such a difference, because they will go to those country areas, if they are not there already. They will stay in those country areas when they get their diploma or their certificate, because they'll fall in love with the area. They'll see there's money to be made in the area. Maybe they might fall in love with somebody in the area, and that will keep them there. But rest assured: it is a good initiative.

I know that, at Wagga Wagga, the UNSW is making great strides in making the young graduates very welcome. They're going to be doing all of their training in that setting, in the new multistorey building, right next door to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, where they can do their prac. It's a good outcome.

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