Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House how the government has secured the long-term future of the Royal Flying Doctor Service? How will this help to provide high-quality medical services to people living in remote areas across Australia, and specifically in my electorate of Kalgoorlie?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kalgoorlie for his question. As the member well knows, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, operating from bases at Derby, Port Hedland, Meekatharra and Kalgoorlie-Boulder airports, is an indispensable part of the delivery of health services in that vast area of Western Australia. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is one of the most respected aeromedical services in the world and is a great Australian icon. Although it was the brainchild of the Reverend John Flynn, it only began because it received financial support from the Bruce government, which half-funded the maintenance of its original aircraft back in 1928.

In the last financial year, having developed from those times, the Royal Flying Doctor Service flew more than 20 million kilometres. It treated some 237,000 Australians, and it carried out some 34,000 aeromedical evacuations. It did all this on a precarious donation base and with uncertain levels of support from state governments. Last month the Prime Minister committed an additional $154 million to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, bringing total federal funding for this great service to $247 million over the forward estimates period. In the spirit of avoiding the blame game, I would respectfully suggest to the state governments that they would do well to match that federal commitment. While the Leader of the Opposition has already anointed himself as a sure-fire election winner, in front of a May Day rally no less, and while the union heavies are being shoehorned into safe Labor seats in the federal parliament, the Howard government is getting on with the job of delivering ever-improving health services to the people of country Australia.