Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Chandler for bringing this matter to the attention of the Senate, although I am compelled to point out that the shortage of general practitioners in rural and regional Australia is a problem the coalition failed to address during the nine years it was in power. This crisis is not only risking the health and wellbeing of Australians who live in rural and regional areas; it is costing taxpayers and the economy a great deal of money.

In June this year, the Courier Mail newspaper revealed Queensland taxpayers were funding pay packages of up to $1 million a year—for each doctor—to fly in locum doctors to plug gaps in health services delivery across the state. They have been recruited in desperation, with regional hospitals in Queensland sometimes being forced to turn patients away for the lack of a doctor. Rural generalists have been offered $2,700 per day to work in Wide Bay. Radiologists have been offered up to $4,000 per day to work as locums on the Sunshine Coast. The total outlay for these fly-in locums was $118 million last year, and this cost is rising. The Queensland government spent $34 million on locums in the first quarter of this year, and it's not working. When you're sick you have the right to see a doctor there and then, not after you've recovered. But waiting times for GP appointments in regional Queensland have blown out to months. People are travelling long distances in order to see a doctor more quickly. The town of Moura in Central Queensland hasn't had a permanent GP since December and went without a doctor for more than a week back in March. Local residents were forced to resort to telehealth appointments or else drive 65 kilometres to Biloela to see a doctor.

It's no wonder doctors are leaving regional areas: the workload is horrendous and many are burnt out or exhausted. And it's not just doctors: there are shortages of a wide range of health practitioners—nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, psychologists and occupational therapists are all in short supply. Then there's aged and palliative care; the lack of these services in regional Queensland is appalling. There is not a single hospice in Queensland located north of the Sunshine Coast. This is why I fought tooth and nail for $8 million to build the Fitzroy Community Hospice in Rockhampton, and I hope the Albanese government doesn't cut out that funding.

We must do more to encourage and incentivise Australians to study medicine and to practice in the country. Importing doctors is not the solution. Up to 12,000 foreign doctors are in Australia and have applied to work here but cannot pass the standards required and many cannot even speak English, which risks misdiagnosis and adverse medical outcomes if they are ever to be allowed to work here. It is also worth noting here the impact of COVID-19 vaccine mandates: many are not allowed to treat patients because they have not taken the wonder jab. Isn't it amazing that bureaucrats think they know more than doctors about the safety and efficiency of the wonder jab?