Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bilyk for her supplementary question. Building health services for the future needs vision, planning and determination, and this government has them. We have been working to fix Australia’s shortage of doctors, nurses and other health professionals so that Australians can get the high-quality, timely care that they deserve. First, let us remember whose out-of-touch agenda got us into this mess in the first place. After the extreme measure of ripping a billion dollars from the public hospitals and capping GP training places, the result was a nationwide medical workforce shortage stretching across 74 per cent of Australia and affecting about 60 per cent of the population. This government immediately lifted Mr Abbott’s cap and increased GP training places by 35 per cent to over 800. The Rudd government has also funded 1,134 new training places for nurses. (Time expired)