Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. In the light of comments made by the South Australian Minister for Health, John Hill, that GP superclinics ‘don’t necessarily have doctors in them’, and that no decision has been made whether the superclinic that the minister is establishing in Modbury will have doctors, can the minister assure patients that every federally funded GP superclinic will actually be staffed by doctors?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. He would be well aware that he is slightly misrepresenting the South Australian minister here. Maybe members who are not from South Australia would not be aware that there is a GP Plus healthcare strategy in South Australia, which is a strategy about investing in primary care where centres are run by the South Australian government—some have doctors and some do not. Those that have been—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In South Australia, the South Australian GP Plus clinics—some have doctors and some don’t. The 31—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The question has been asked.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will resume her seat until the House comes to order.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 31 GP superclinics announced by the federal government will all have GPs in them, as our commitments have made clear. The South Australian government and the federal government will be working together on a number of sites. A number of those sites are going to be jointly funded by the state government and the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth will require that the parameters set for our superclinics will be met by any state government.

I think that it has been quite mischievous of the member to be raising this issue when he knows full well that the South Australian strategy, although complementary to that being supported by the Rudd Labor government, is not the same as that being initiated by the Rudd Labor government. These superclinics we are very proud of. They are an opportunity for the federal government to use their substantial contribution to ensure that we do get doctors, nurses and allied health professionals working together for the benefit of the community, providing better chronic disease care management—making sure that parents of young children can go to the one place to get the assistance of a doctor, a dietitian, a physio and others. These are an opportunity for us to make a real difference to the services that are provided in these regions.

I know members on this side of the House—including, I am sure, the member for Makin, where the Modbury superclinic will be established—are very pleased that there is a Commonwealth government prepared to invest in health services across this country, prepared to put money into health services in communities where they are needed, and make sure that the Commonwealth investment is used to make sure that we can attract, in particular, doctors to a number of places where there are shortages and where we can work with state governments to complement the money that they are going to put into these sectors as well. In the member for Makin’s electorate, there is going to be a superclinic in Modbury. There are going to be 31 other superclinics, and they will be designed—

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a GP shortage in Modbury?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition cannot ask a supplementary question by interjection

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to make sure we can deliver the best possible high-quality services to those communities.