Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The President of the Australian Medical Association has described the government's response to the Ebola crisis as a shambles. When will the Prime Minister finally listen to the AMA and acknowledge that the best way to deal with the Ebola crisis is for the nations of the world to combine to stop it in West Africa before it spreads further?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. As you would expect, the government takes the AMA very seriously. As a former health minister, I have had a lot of experience dealing with the Australian Medical Association. I do not always agree with the Australian Medical Association, but I take them seriously and I think that the AMA invariably has the national interest at heart.

The government are taking very serious steps to address the Ebola crisis. As members who are watching events in Brisbane yesterday would know, we are well prepared to deal with any Ebola case here in Australia. We also have a ready reaction team that can deploy at a moment's notice to our region to deal with any break in countries which are less well prepared than Australia to deal with this matter. That is our priority at home and in our region. Nevertheless, we are continuing to talk to our friends and partners about what more might be done to address the situation in West Africa. I certainly do not rule out Australia doing more.

I think it is worth pointing out to the House that we have already invested some $18 million in measures to combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa. When the UN wanted money for its fund to deal with this, we immediately made a $10 million contribution. My understanding is that that is the only actual cash contribution that has yet been made to this fund. In the wake of Australia's contribution, Mr Nabarro, the UN spokesman, said that this was precisely the kind of swift and effective action that he wanted to see from the wider world. So on this subject, as on all subjects, we will be a good international citizen, as you would expect.