Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 1949 in Ben Chifley's election speech—it is some 65 pages long, but you will be happy to know I will not be reading every page out tonight—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have only got five minutes!

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

he said:

Following the passing of the Acoustic Laboratories Act in 1948, the Commonwealth has set up acoustic laboratories in five States and is about to establish a laboratory in the remaining State. These Laboratories are concerned, on behalf of the Department of Repatriation, with the provision and servicing of hearing aids for ex-service personnel whose hearing has been adversely affected.

They have conducted experiments with school children affected by deafness.

And so was born Australian Hearing. It is very interesting in that the Australian institution has been going quietly about its work since 1948. When Ted Holloway, the then member for Melbourne Ports and the minister responsible, put forward the bill to this House, he said:

A Commonwealth-wide acoustic laboratory service will be of great value as part of a national health service in providing advice and assistance, with all the technical equipment which is necessary for measuring degrees of deafness, and for the maintenance of efficiency in hearing aids.

Here we have two visionary politicians who, amongst postwar planning, set up an institution which has served Australia to this very day. We know that the foundation stone was added to by former Prime Minister Holt and by former Prime Minister Howard. This has not been a partisan institution, it has been a great Australian institution. That is why we are so concerned that the National Commission of Audit has come up with the harebrained idea to privatise Australian Hearing. We are even more concerned that this government has adopted that recommendation and announced a scoping study, not to be done by the Department of Health but by the Department of Finance.

One of the very good bits of work that the Senate health committee has been doing is to have hearings into this proposed privatisation, because it is of great concern to those who know something about deafness, know something about hearing issues and know something about Australian Hearing. Ms Margaret Dewberry, an adviser for the Deafness Forum of Australia, told the Senate hearing:

… the change will see the introduction of contestability. This is concerning as the private market is untested in the delivery of these services to these clients. The introduction of contestability introduces significant risks in terms of access, expertise, quality and standards.

She goes on to say:

If the sale proceeds and the new owner decides to withdraw from providing services to these more costly and challenging client groups then the safety net of the government provider will be lost.

This is all very, very concerning. It should be very concerning to all of us in this parliament. I am very pleased to say that the member for Lyne, during the private members' business debate on Monday, said:

With regard to hearing services, the Commonwealth does provide a wide network of Australian Hearing offices, and I would like to highlight that they do a fantastic job.

That is a good thing for the member for Lyne to say, and he went on to say:

We need to analyse this problem very clearly before we blow up a good service.

That is how he concluded his speech. A very good speech and very wise words from the member for Lyne.

This week I will be launching 'Australian Hearing: too important to privatise'. I know I am using a prop, Mr Speaker, but it is an important campaign. It is not a Labor campaign; it is a campaign for the whole community to be involved in. The member for Lyne is most welcome to be involved in it as well. We want to persuade the government, more than anything else, to put this privatisation in the bottom drawer and leave it there. Do not proceed with it, because it will damage an important Australian institution—one that serves people who need a service from birth. It is something that has made us world leaders in the treatment of deafness. Do not privatise Australian Hearing, Mr Speaker, and the government should be dissuaded from doing so.