Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take great pleasure in seconding the motion. It is a great honour to be able to second this resolution. I do not hope to do justice to it as much as did the previous speaker. It was one of the better addresses that I've heard in this parliament.

Having said that, I will say that for seven years of my life I carried around in my briefcase that I take everywhere with me the names of six overseas doctors because, as the member of parliament for Queensland's mid-west, I was determined that Julia Creek would always have a doctor. Before I went into parliament it never had a doctor. In theory it was supposed to have one, but the doctor never made it there. Then they brought in another doctor to go there. He'd agreed to go, but then he wouldn't. So I carried around the names of these overseas doctors that I could ring up who would come over to Australia and take up the position if it was offered to them.

What overcame that problem was one of the great ladies of Australian history, Lady Pearl Logan, who gave us equal educational opportunities in country areas. But she was also chairman of the body—my daughter, who was secretary of the body, got all the praise, and I think Professor Ian Ronski was the real driver—that got the first medical school built in Australia in 44 years. That dramatically overcame the problem, because 18 universities then walked through the door that we were able to open. The sandstone universities didn't want any competition. They wouldn't expand, so for about 20 years we just sat there with the same number of doctors coming out. But now there are 18 universities. I listened in horror to my colleague from Orange giving those figures. Why hasn't it solved the problem? When they get through now, in a study that I've seen, they feel that they should take it easy or get a government job, which will be more highly paid than any other. (Time expired)

See this speech in context