Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is no secret that we have a critical general practitioner shortage in regional Australia. In my community of Bowen, three GPs have left or retired within a month. As a result, what happens? Patients go longer without treatment and medication, scripts don't get filled on time, bed shortages within hospitals happen, residents go for longer periods without seeing their doctor, and strain is put on people's finances because they must travel to other towns to see a doctor. Australians get sicker and—I fear the absolute worst—Australians die.

Seeing a doctor should not be a luxury. Murroona Gardens aged-care facility is at breaking point. They now have up to 11 residents without an assigned GP. This has diminished their ability to take on new residents, leaving vulnerable aged Australians with nowhere to go. The Department of Health and Aged Care has warned this government that we are in unprecedented times. GP shortages are at an all-time high. It is getting worse. This Albanese Labor government has failed our elderly. I don't see this government doing anything about GPs, nor do I have the confidence that they know what to do. The Albanese Labor government needs to do better for our ageing population.