Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Minister, what is the effect of the government’s policies in regard to investment in general practice?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

The House is under a general warning.

Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can you explain how the government is actually delivering on health investments in contrast to just promising them?

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

I thank the member for that question. It is particularly pertinent, because the question asks about us delivering on health in a number of ways, but particularly in general practice. I note that we have just heard from the Leader of the Opposition for 15 minutes and there was one word that did not pass his lips, and that was ‘doctors’. The reason that word did not pass his lips in 15 minutes is that the Leader of the Opposition knows that, when he was the Minister for Health and Ageing, he ignored one of the biggest problems that the country faced, and that was the shortage of GPs. He did not just ignore the shortage of GPs; he capped the number of young Australians who could come from medical school and go into general practice. In the whole 15 minutes of the health debate, he did not take any opportunity to correct that. He did not want to say one word about the announcement made this week—$632 million to get rid of that cap to make sure that double that number of young students can go into general practice in the future.

I think the first question that will have to be answered in this debate between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition is: does he support us doubling the cap that he put on students wanting to go into general practice? He has not said a word about it. That is the same approach he took he took when we announced our National Health and Hospital Network plan, which was to duck for cover and to look for a diversion—everything but singing and dancing. He will have to turn up to the debate and he will have to answer whether he supports this investment in general practice.

In his heart of hearts, the reason he did not mention it for the last 15 minutes is that he knows his record is appalling. He put that cap in place. He was pleaded with time after time by the AMA, by the divisions of general practice and by the student associations, but it fell on deaf ears because the Leader of the Opposition, as the health minister, had other things he was more interested in. What else could he have possibly been more interested in? You might imagine that he might have delivered some other changes to the system, but of course, despite the presumed pleadings of the previous member for Bennelong, and perhaps of the member for North Shore, to invest in the PET scanner, it was ignored until the eve of the election. I noticed that the member for North Shore was interjecting that, in fact, a former health minister, Michael Wooldridge, attended twice and still did not deliver the PET scanner—12 whole years and they could not do it.

We see the same thing from the member for Solomon—happy to promise and promise, election after election, and not deliver. We have seen this again. We see the Leader of the Opposition having the audacity, when the young kids are here from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, to say again that he was going to do something about it—never in a budget, never funded, only a promise, never delivered. Now we are able to assist hundreds of young Australians—supported, I might say, by people on both sides of the House passionately interested in delivering for young people with type 1 diabetes. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition does not appear to be one of those people.

I was also lucky, this morning, to be able to attend a breast care nurse conference in Sydney—300 women supporting and providing fabulous services to women and some men across the country diagnosed with breast cancer. Again, I have asked the Leader of the Opposition and I ask those members opposite to consider: who is it that actually funded those breast care nurses? Which government is it that delivered on breast care nurses, for example, in Shoalhaven in the seat of Gilmore, in Hervey Bay in the seat of Hinkler and at Victor Harbor in the seat of Mayo? I see the member for Mayo has his hand on his head—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought it was a bipartisan program.

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

Order! The member for Dickson. Remember!

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

as he well might, because it was not delivered by his government, despite the protestations of the Leader of the Opposition. We have them in Geraldton. I am sure the member for O’Connor welcomes the fact that there is a breast care nurse in these areas—44 nurses across the country providing services. In a short time, they have already provided care for more than 1,700 women and I hope that this will be supported—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nicola, don’t politicise certain things. You are better than that.

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

It is hard to believe that the interjections opposite are that we should not politicise the health debate. We shouldn’t, should we? We should not politicise it. We should pretend that the then health minister delivered the PET scanner at Royal North Shore. We should pretend that he actually opened that cancer centre in Darwin which, I might tell you, is actually named after a leading doctor in the Northern Territory. No doubt he and his family would be very offended that Mr Abbott should think that the centre should be named after him.

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

The minister will refer to members by their parliamentary titles.

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

I just ask you: who is politicising this debate? We have a record we are proud of; you have a record you are ashamed of. I can understand why the Leader of the Opposition gets very touchy and I understand why he did not want to turn up to the debate before the last election, because it would have been shown that every promise about what he was going to do was something that had not been delivered over the previous 12 years.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! I remind members: there is a general warning. I do not know what possesses the chamber to ignore a simple direction. I ask the House to absolutely display some of its better behaviour. The member for Dickson has sought my indulgence on one aspect of the minister’s speech.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence, I would like to join with the minister for health in congratulating the government on the work in relation to breast care nurses. This is one of those issues in the area of health where there is bipartisan support. The minister will recall that, under former Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr Abbot, a number of nurses were funded, particularly those employed by the McGrath Foundation. We commend that work. It is work that will continue with bipartisan support. I am sorry that this was politicised by the health minister, but we support the extra funding of the breast care nursing.

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

Order! The member for Dickson will conclude his remarks. Order! The general warning is for all members.