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

Regional communities like mine are in a healthcare crisis, and Australians have had a gutful of this Labor government's cuts and clumsy mismanagement of the healthcare sector. More than a quarter of the Australian population lives in regional, rural or remote Australia. Nearly a quarter of those Australians are over 65 years of age, when we all know people require more health care. They are more likely to need access to acute critical and/or long-term health care as well as aged care, disability and practical support.

Despite this demand on their services, communities like mine have a dire shortage of general practitioners and primary healthcare workers. High turnover, skyrocketing costs and poor infrastructure and connectivity mean that GPs can't afford to practise and can't afford to set up a clinic or keep their doors open. We know this all too well in Fisher. I cannot tell you the number of emails and phone calls that I've received from GPs screaming out for help—screaming out for more doctors—because they are overworked, and, quite frankly, they are at the end of their tether.

Since my election in 2016, I've stood shoulder to shoulder with the Fisher community in the fight for better healthcare infrastructure. I fought for mental healthcare services, and I remain committed to establishing the Sunshine Coast as a mental healthcare hub. To that end, I delivered $4 million to set up a headspace in Caloundra, which is now 18 months—long—overdue. Despite the continued hassling and pressuring of this government, they're only just now starting to talk about opening next month, which is going to be 18 months late.

I secured $8.3 million to establish the national PTSD centre in Birtinya, Australia's first PTSD research centre. I secured $11.4 million to set up and fund youth mental health and suicide prevention work through the University of the Sunshine Coast Thompson Institute alongside Roy and Nola Thompson. I secured $7.3 million to set up and operate Australia's first residential eating disorder facility at Wandi Nerida. I also secured funding for eating disorder recovery coaches, youth mental health events, men's sheds, veterans' wellbeing and psychosocial care.

Now in opposition I am fighting for Fisher families to access the healthcare services we need. I spoke up for the community of Montville, who desperately needed a doctor. Hundreds of hinterland locals signed my 'Montville needs a doctor' petition, calling for the government to reconsider the funding model they apply to GP funding. Our petition and requests fell on the deaf ears of this Labor government.

We stood up to Labor's reckless attack on community pharmacies. Labor's botched changes to dispensing, discounting arrangements and reckless red tape pushed community pharmacies to the brink. In Fisher, the uncertainty and skyrocketing costs drove some doors to close. As the shadow assistant minister and member for Mallee said so well, 'Labor's scorched earth approach to regional Australia has left some regional towns with their pharmacist as their sole primary healthcare provider—that is, if they still have a pharmacy.' Thankfully, alongside community pharmacies, the coalition fought to negotiate a new eighth community pharmacy agreement with the government.

But as always, the coalition has a plan to remedy Labor's regional health crisis. We will invest $400 million to incentivise and equip the next generation of GPs for regional communities. We'll slash the red tape and cut the taxes that are crippling healthcare providers. We'll restore the telehealth system that Labor has sought to dismantle, and we will once again double the number of psychologist visits available under Medicare. One of the first things this health minister did was to dismantle the number of visits a person could make to a psychologist. This Labor government cut the funding for people who are at their most vulnerable, people who need to go and see a psychologist. The health minister cut that funding, shamefully and disgracefully. It meant that tens if not hundreds of thousands of Australians could not access appropriate psychologist visits. We will fix that when we win government, God willing, and if the Australian community supports us next year.

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