Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister outline to the House how the government's investments in health are supporting rural and regional Australians? Is the minister aware of any different propositions?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Page, who was a very successful business leader before coming to this place. He worked in helping people to realise their dreams and their aspirations.

One of the things that he learnt, and one of the things that he knew, was that you can't have successful individuals unless you have a successful economy built on a plan which delivers a million jobs and which allows you to guarantee the essential services which are fundamental, such as record funding for Medicare, record funding for hospitals—$30 billion of additional funding over the course of the five-year agreement—and record funding in mental health.

One of the first things I was privileged to do on coming to this role was to visit Grafton with the member for Page. We met with families who had been touched by youth suicide. He advocated, as did those families, for better rural and regional health outcomes in mental health through a headspace for Grafton. That, I am pleased to say, is now a reality. It's a reality because we can afford to do it and it's a reality because of his advocacy. It's delivering those services to people on the ground in Grafton and in the surrounding region.

Another thing that the member did was he represented young Violet Rickard. Violet is a six-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. He argued that the drug SPINRAZA should be listed and, if it's approved by the PBAC, that it should be listed immediately. I've just had news today that Violet is on the SPINRAZA program, following the listing by the Treasurer on budget night.

Mr Hill interjecting—

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

The member for Bruce will leave under 94(a).

The member for Bruce then left the chamber.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She's had her second infusion, and her parents are over the moon and can see the results already. They said, 'She is now able to lift a spoon and feed herself, something that she could only dream of a few months ago'. That is why all of us are in this place: to deliver those outcomes for children who would otherwise never have had access to those sorts of medicines and who otherwise would never have had access to a headspace. That's what comes from good economic management: real outcomes that change lives in fundamental ways.

And I was asked, 'Is there an alternative?' I've seen this in Tasmania, where we've seen a Labor federal government which left $290 million of funding a year, as opposed to a coalition government which is delivering $415 million a year for hospitals in Tasmania. We're now moving to $515 million a year of funding and an additional $730 million through the Mersey as a result of our economic management and our hospitals agreement.

Only last week we announced with the Prime Minister an additional $2½ million for GP outreach services through the University of Tasmania to Burnie, Wynyard, Smithton and Strahan. That's what good economic management is about, and unless you can do— (Time expired)