Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wide Bay for raising this important issue and the constructive way in which he has raised it. There are few things more important than making sure women have access to safer health care for the birth of their precious baby. As the member for Wide Bay knows, the concerns that he highlights predate the election of the Labor government in 2022. I distinctly remember the massive cuts to rural public health under the coalition, of which the National Party was part. The first thing that the government that the Nationals were part of did was gut the body in charge of maintaining and improving rural health care. Does anybody remember the health consumers of rural and remote Australia? It's easier to silence criticism than respond to it.

Then, under the coalition's premiership, hospitals lost $57 billion in funding. That amounts to 37,000 fewer hospital beds or 68,000 fewer nurses or 33,000 fewer doctors. My neighbouring constituency of Bass—which Deputy Speaker Archer would be familiar with—saw $329 million taken from the LGH, exactly as planned. Between 2010 and 2021, most of that under the coalition rule, almost 140 rural hospitals across Australia closed. So no wonder there has been a reduction in rural maternity services.

The minister has referred previously to the recommendations within the Participating Midwife Reference Group report. It was published during the coalition government's term of office, and it's an excellent resource for the failings of the former government. The report noted that fewer than 10 per cent of women had access to continuous midwifery care and made several recommendations. It called for an increase in the number of midwives. That's what the Labor government has done. Labor will give every midwifery student $320 a week when on placements. That's on top of $50 million worth of scholarships. If you want to be a midwife, we will support you and we'll help you get there. The report called for the facilitation of telehealth consultations and the inclusion of GPs as eligible specialists, so that's what the Labor government has done. The sexual and reproductive telehealth item has been made permanent. This means more support for women in rural and remote areas to access reproductive health.

And now the big one: the report called for an end to the barriers to midwifery continuity of care, as did the member for Wide Bay. Specifically, it called for an end to mandated formal collaborative agreements. So that's what the Labor government has done. It was Labor's Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care who introduced the Health Legislation Amendment (Removal of Requirement for a Collaborative Arrangement) Bill in March. It does exactly what it says. It passed in March. I'm sure the member for Wide Bay was pleased with that.

We know there's plenty left to do, which is why we are committed to getting qualified medical professionals including midwives into rural areas and getting them to stay. In our first budget in 2022, the Labor government created the Workforce Incentive Program for Rural Skills and this provides incentive payments for GPs in rural areas. The first payments were made this year. Labor also announced the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program, which increases the rotations of doctors and medical students to rural hospitals. It kicked off last year.

Just over the weekend we have announced $6 million dollars of funding towards the Birthing on Country Project in remote areas of the Northern Territory. Rates of prebirth for First Nations mothers almost twice that of non-Indigenous mothers. This funding will close this gap and provide long-term employment for rural health workers, and do it all within the framework of First Nations culture.

We are looking towards the future. That's why Labor introduced the Innovative Models of Care Program, which trials more efficient care practices in rural areas first. Some of that's underway in Tasmania. Rather than being afterthoughts, like under the former coalition government, rural hospitals under Labor are at the forefront of medical care. Labor has shown by our actions in just two years how importantly we take the issue of maternity services across rural and regional Australia. Not for a minute do we think the job is done, but I can assure the member for Wide Bay that the work is being done and actions are being taken. I look forward to his continued positive and constructive role in that effort.

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