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

I rise this afternoon to talk about the GP superclinic at Clarence in my electorate. I was fortunate on Saturday to announce the successful tenderer for the major construction of the GP superclinic, VOS Construction and Joinery. I want to put on record my congratulations to them for winning that contract. VOS are expected to go on site the next few weeks. In February this year I, together with the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler, commissioned the preliminary works and we are now in a major construction phase of this $5.5 million GP superclinic. It is an election commitment that we are delivering on in Clarence in my electorate.

The state government is also building an integrated care centre with the GP superclinic, representing a total of $18 million of investment in this clinic in my electorate. We have been talking to local communities and having public consultations about the types of services that may be available at this clinic. There will be walk-up services—they will take any patient that walks through. We are talking about having some minor burns and cuts facility at the GP superclinic, because the local community has said that that is what is required.

But what is a bit disconcerting is some of the commentary around the GP superclinic and this investment in our local community. In particular I am a bit disappointed in one of the media reports about the GP superclinic in our local Mercury. The editorial today talks about the GP superclinics and whether there is any value in them. I want to put on the record what Dr Emil Djakic, President of the Australian General Practice Network—who is in fact a Tasmanian—told ABC radio:

It is absolutely critical that the Australian government continue to work towards reorientating away from a very hospital-focused health care system and funding to re-empowering general practice.

That is what our GP superclinics are about. In this year’s budget we announced further funding for GP superclinics but also funding for existing GP practices to invest in new technologies and to upgrade their buildings and their services for local communities. I think it is really important that we understand where these GP superclinics and general practice fit into the larger scheme of things. This government have been investing in health reform and we have been talking about the health system as a whole. The GP superclinics have not been done in isolation; they are part of an integrated system. They are about local care in local communities to take the pressure off our major hospitals. Certainly in my electorate it is going to be very warmly welcomed by those constituents that I have been talking to in recent days. That is why we are building this investment and why we are funding more in this budget. But it is a shame that the Liberal opposition, if elected, plans to discontinue this further investment in the GP superclinics and the further investment in GP practices. (Time expired)