Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people of Shortland electorate were significantly disadvantaged during the Howard years in relation to health. There was a chronic shortage of doctors, a decline in bulk billing and a total disregard for the health needs of the people that I represent. When I was a state member of parliament, when the Carr government first came to power, we were confronted with neglect within the health system there. So on both fronts, federal and state, we had Liberal governments that neglected the health needs of the people I represent.

That is in stark contrast to what the Rudd and Gillard governments have done. We have put more money, $19.8 billion, into public hospitals and there are 1,316 more beds, 5,500 GPs, 680 more specialists, less waste, because hospitals are funded for what they actually deliver, and shorter waiting times in emergency departments and for elective surgery. That is a real turnaround in delivering to the health needs of people in the Shortland electorate and, for that matter, throughout the whole of Australia.

When the Liberals were in power, their 10-year record is that out-of-pocket health expenses increased by 50 per cent—$1 billion was ripped out of the hospital system. There was a shortage of doctors which affected six out of every 10 Australians. But in the Shortland electorate it was greater than that; people were waiting three weeks for an appointment to see their doctor. And, of course, the Liberals were being financed by the tobacco industry. You can understand my confusion when I saw the state Liberal member for Swansea espousing the benefits that that Liberal government had delivered to the people of the Swansea electorate. He talked about the purchase of 14 subacute rehabilitation beds. The state governments have benefited by getting $16.4 billion extra from the Commonwealth. 'So where is the money coming from?', I ask. Where is the money coming from for those subacute beds?

I was further confused when I read through his speech. He did talk about how his wife was a registered nurse and that she was going to have more time to cut his hair or something like that, which I thought was quite inane when you are talking about health needs. When he stood for election in that state seat of Swansea, one of the things that he got out there and said to people was: 'Vote for me. Vote for me. I'm going to have the Swansea Police Station staffed 24 hours a day.' This is on the record. This is what he stated. But, in the latest reports I am receiving from residents in Swansea, they say that they are lucky if they can spot a policeman or policewoman driving through Swansea. The people of Swansea now believe that a newly-built police station, built by a Labor government, is about to be closed. Police are supposed to be the winners in the budget which claimed to be investing more in front-line policing services to improve the community. But guess what? Not in Swansea. And that was despite a promise that policing in Swansea would be 24 hours a day.

What I have to say to the member for Swansea is that it is not good enough to say one thing before an election and then do something different after the election. The other thing that I would say to the member for Swansea is that, when he starts claiming credit for money spent on the Belmont Hospital, he really needs to look at where that money is coming from. (Time expired)