Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this morning to speak about something that is of particular importance to not only my rural electorate of Indi, in north-east Victoria, but also all rural, regional and outer metropolitan areas: health and the review that is currently being conducted into the RRAMA classifications—the rural, regional and metropolitan area classifications. I called on Prime Minister Rudd and the Minister for Health and Ageing to ensure that this review into the rezoning of rural areas will not rob rural and regional areas of their particular status that allows them to attract doctors, nurses and other professionals by providing subsidies as an incentive to go to those particular rural and regional zoned areas. We all know that health is not only an important part of the infrastructure for particular towns or regions; it is essential. It is a basic need. It is far more difficult to attract a specialist or a GP to a particular country town than it is to attract them to a particular suburb in inner or middle Melbourne, Sydney or other capital city. We all know that, and that is why the previous government had a very proud record of ensuring that the problem was solved not with rhetoric but with real dollars on the table. This classification system allowed areas to be classified according to need and thus be given proportionately more subsidies to be able to attract those doctors.

We have heard from the Rural Doctors Association who have warned us that if there are deleterious changes to the rezoning system we will see an exodus of current doctors, a decrease of incentives for young doctors and young specialists to train in the bush and, obviously, possible closures of a lot of small regional hospitals. It is hard enough as it is, even with many of the incentives introduced by the previous government, which I had great satisfaction in joining with many of my rural and regional colleagues in lobbying for, to attract and provide incentives under the current system, let alone with any other changes. I will oppose, and the coalition will oppose, any changes that decrease the number of doctors and nurses in rural and regional areas. It is telling that, at a time when we have an ageing population and we have these concerns, nothing in the $42 billion package is directed to health, particularly to rural and regional health.