Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The provision of health services has been a key issue for the electorate of Throsby. In opposition, together with community groups, we campaigned on the issue of GP shortages, the need for greater investment in dental health, the closure of the Medicare office that operated in Warrawong and improvements for our local hospitals. All our pleas fell on deaf ears until the election of a federal Labor government. In our first term we have seen some truly remarkable changes and substantial investment in health provision.

The Medicare office closed by the Howard government has now reopened in Warrawong, in an expanded Centrelink office. Our local hospitals have received additional funds to help reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Prime Minister visited Wollongong Hospital, announcing an extra $12 million for expanded cancer services. Just last week the Minister for Health and Ageing announced funding for an extra 21 beds at the hospital and a $5 million  new training and accommodation facility for medical and nursing students.

Last week, I, along with the health minister, turned the sod at the site of our GP superclinic. It will be called Shell Cove Family Health. It will be the hub of preventative and chronic health services and attention. The facility will provide training opportunities for our medical students at the university, as well as for graduates.

Federal Labor has indeed a huge health and hospitals reform agenda. However, I am disappointed that the agenda has not yet acted on the recommendations of the reform commission with regard to dental health. We know that over half a million Australians are still languishing on public dental health waiting lists. Regrettably, 133,000 of them are in my state of New South Wales and 7,000-plus are in the Illawarra region alone. Oral health is one of the greatest inequities in our health system and it can only be redressed in the long term by moving to a universal dental insurance scheme. I am hopeful that, in the lead-up to the election, the government will revisit this critical issue. I believe that people not covered by private insurance would be supportive of a modest increase in the Medicare levy to cover basic dental health provision.

Congratulations to all the members of the Illawarra Dental Health Action Group with whom I have worked over the years and, in particular, its chair, Alice Scott. Keep up your campaigning; there is still some way to go to ensure that, ultimately, all Australians will have access to a quality health system with teeth!