Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am standing tonight because I am actually aggrieved by the opposition’s lack of interest in health reform and in health care in this country. What we have seen over the last few weeks from the Rudd government is the biggest announcement in health reform in this country since Medicare was reformed and we have also seen a really large announcement today in relation to GP and specialist numbers. But what we have had from the opposition so far are only two questions on health reform in over a week. Given that these are some of the largest ever reforms to the healthcare system of this country, I am really aggrieved by that.

The government has said that we are going fund nationally and act locally when it comes to hospitals around this country. I know that in my home state of Tasmania this has been extraordinarily well received by the local community and by our state Premier, David Bartlett. When it comes to health and hospital reform, he has been out there supporting the package of the Rudd government, and why wouldn’t you support it? We are going from a zero per cent federal investment in health infrastructure to 60 per cent federal investment in health infrastructure. We are going from the current zero per cent investment by the federal government in equipment for hospitals to 60 per cent investment in equipment for hospitals. This is actually a really important and really significant change in the way health is delivered in this country and I think it is one that those opposite at least ought to be interested in, even if they are not willing to support it.

Today we had the very important announcement of GP places. We are going to increase the number of medical graduates to become general practitioners to 1,200 by 2014, and that is a significant increase—

Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek to intervene.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The honourable member is seeking to ask a question. Is the member for Franklin willing to give way?

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I am not. These GP places will provide around five million extra services by 2013, which is a very significant increase in services both in rural and regional areas and in the cities of Australia. In my home state of Tasmania, many people say to me that one of their biggest issues is actually getting in to a GP. Most of our GP clinics are currently at capacity and are not taking on any new patients, so it is a significant issue around the country. The Rudd government have listened and we are doing something to rectify that situation for people in our electorates.

We have also had some significant announcements in Tasmania recently from the Rudd government and some investments in health that I would like to talk about tonight. It was my pleasure to be in Hobart at the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania with both the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler, and the Prime Minister to sign off the $44.7 million funding agreement between the Rudd government and the Menzies Research Institute for population research that supports medical intervention, usually through primary health care. It is actually a really important investment in the local community. As we went around the facility, we saw the integration with the Royal Hobart Hospital and the University of Tasmania. Some doctors and nurses are actually trained on site in this facility and it is about those three things—the research institute, the hospital, and the university—working together to create a health hub in central Hobart. It was fantastic to see how these new facilities are actually working and we are funding stage 2 of that announcement.

It has also been my pleasure recently, as I have spoken about before in this place, to turn the first sod for the GP superclinic in my electorate at Clarence. This $18.5 million—$5.5 million from the Rudd government and the remaining $13 million from the state government—will see both a GP superclinic and an integrated care centre at Clarence on the existing site of the community health centre. This is a significant infrastructure investment to provide services to residents then and there in their local communities. This will have a big impact, particularly on the Royal Hobart Hospital accident and emergency department, but it will also mean that constituents further out in my electorate will only have to travel to Clarence rather than into the city for some of the services that they need in the electorate. So it is fantastic that this is happening. It is one of the four GP superclinics that are going to be established around Tasmania and it was great to see the turning of the first sod in February. In fact, there has been progress on that GP superclinic. As it is near my office, I do go past it most days. The hole in the ground is getting larger and larger and the constituents that I talk to are very pleased to see that progress day in and day out as they stand by the fence to check out what is going on. It is fantastic that this is occurring and it is occurring because the Rudd government is working together with the state Labor government to deliver these health services in Tasmania.

We also went down to Geeveston with the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler, to announce just over $400,000 for the Geeveston and Dover medical centres, which are run by the council—yet another tier of government working with the federal government to deliver services in rural and regional Tasmania. We heard there from the two GPs about some of the services that they are providing in the local community and how the funding that the Rudd government has provided for that infrastructure is actually assisting them to replace equipment, to get modern equipment and to be able to treat people locally in the area.

While we were there we saw a patient who had just come off the Tahune AirWalk—a renowned airwalk in Tasmania, to the south—and had had a bit of an accident. It was quite a sight to see how well the clinic was being utilised—even by tourists. The poor, unfortunate patient did have a rather large wound and had their head bandaged. We were able to see first hand exactly what was going on in that clinic. It was great to talk to the GPs about what was happening down there and how they are able to look after local residents and tourists alike. So very significant funding for rural and regional Australia has again been delivered by the Rudd government in the south of my electorate.

As you can see from these examples, the investment in infrastructure that is happening or will happen under the Rudd government’s health reform is very significant. It is not something that people should be dismissing lightly. We should be talking about it, and we should be getting some questions from the opposition about it. The opposition should be prepared to debate us. As we know, their record is about a billion dollars being ripped out of health under the current Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott. Their attempt to look after and recruit GPs was to produce the golf balls. We all saw that.

Most disappointing, I think, has been the obstruction that we have seen in the Senate when it comes to health reform. The Medicare compliance bill was not passed. Then there was the private health insurance rebate—where the taxes of the working class people in my electorate are going to fund millionaires’ private health insurance. We tried to reform that, but that did not pass through. We also had our dental health reforms—and we have heard today again about some of the rorting that is happening under the existing system for dental care. We tried to change that too, but that could not be passed either. We have had some very significant discussions with midwives around Australia about midwifery services in this country. We tried to reform that too and introduce some changes that were long sought after by midwives, parents and those making the choice to have midwives at the birth of their children. Having had three children myself and having had a midwife present at one of those births, through the Know Your Midwife scheme at the Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania, I can say that the midwives provide a very valuable service—and I think it is something that those on the other side need to consider supporting.

I want to read a quote regarding another bill that is being blocked in the Senate—the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill. I heard the following words yesterday, as an announcement was made: ‘We want to create a strategic unit led by an independent, expert executive with a passion for, and qualifications in, preventative health to support government in driving the biggest cultural change this state has ever seen in health.’ I thought, ‘That’s a good idea—that is what we wanted to do.’ Who do you think made that statement? It was Will Hodgman, leader of the Liberals in Tasmania. He seems to have stolen our idea for a media release that he put out yesterday. He wants to call his preventative health agency, should he win the Tasmanian state election, which is on this weekend, ‘Well Health Tasmania—time for real change’. If the Liberal opposition in Tasmania can support a preventative health measure in this country, perhaps they need to talk to Tony Abbott about preventative health care in this country and just how important it is.