Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government’s health policy is in disarray. It has been big on promises but short on delivery. After making grand statements about massive reform agendas in health shortly after it was elected in 2007 and 2010, the government has shown us no tangible progress in the health care of Australian citizens.

The health and hospitals network and the proposed GP superclinics are prime examples of Labor’s approach to health—health care by press release. They announce changes to the funding mix and announce changes to the location of doctors and nurses but do not actually produce one extra health professional or one extra bed.

This government does not understand the importance of making investments in our health. I raised a critical healthcare issue in the parliament in November last year regarding the Australian government’s funding of Australia’s national bowel cancer screening program. The federal government’s national bowel cancer screening program ceased on 31 December last year. This is a critical issue for me locally and for people like James St John AM, who has done great work in this area, and for the Cabrini Hospital in my electorate.

It is also a critical national issue. It is critical not only because of the number of lives affected—the lives of those who are saved and the lives of their families—but also because of its incredible success rate. It is critical because it is world’s best practice which was developed here, and also because it makes economic sense.

I want to briefly deal with each of these elements but, before I do, I want to make the point that this government needs to start making clear its priorities. It has wasted $2.6 billion on inflated costs for school halls but it cannot find $140 million a year to fund an effective screening program. It can waste $1.1 billion in a budget blow-out in our border protection program, but it cannot find $140 million to fund an effective screening program. It can waste $2.45 billion on a pink batts program, but it cannot find $140 million to fund an effective screening program.

Unlike Cyclone Yasi and the recent floods, bowel cancer is a silent killer. It is the most frequently occurring cancer in Australia and the second largest cancer killer after lung cancer. Based on current trends, one in 12 Australians will develop bowel cancer before the age of 85. Bowel cancer will claim the lives of around 3,800 Australians this year. By comparison, approximately 2,900 women will die as a result of breast cancer.

The benefits of the Bowel Cancer Screening Program have been well established for the past 15 years. More than 90 per cent of people survive if bowel cancer is detected early, before it has spread. Without a firm commitment from the government, experienced health professionals involved with the screening program will move into other areas or overseas. In my maiden speech one year ago I discussed the importance of innovation and encouraging our best and brightest. Cutting funding to this program will make it even more difficult to reinstate such an initiative in the future. The government should not assume it can end this program and then start it up again at whim.

The cost of combating bowel cancer is set to hit $1 billion in 2011. Fully implemented, a population based screening program would cost $140 million per year, but the savings made through preventing the onset of cancer will save us money as well as prevent an estimated 30 deaths per week. According to Cancer Council Australia, early detection can make significant savings in hospital costs. Biogrid Australia estimates that removing a precancerous polyp costs approximately $1,600, whereas treatment at a public hospital for bowel cancer can cost more than $70,000.

The Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Nicola Roxon, has admitted that the government’s advice is that biennial testing should be made available for all men and women over the age of 50. Such a program would achieve the economy of scale required to save billions of dollars per year in health costs as well as countless lives. Discontinuing funding of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program makes no sense. In my view, it is a program which the government should be seeking to expand. It goes to the credibility of this government that it has cut the funding for this program and that it has neglected important areas of preventative health and the kinds of long-term investments in our nation’s health that save money and, most importantly, save lives.