Page 1322 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 25 March 2009
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MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Stanhope. Mr Doszpot has the floor.
MR DOSZPOT: I thank you for your offer, Jon. I think I can manage, okay? Thank you.
Mr Stanhope: You are not managing, Steve, but—
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Stanhope, please.
Mr Stanhope: I beg your pardon.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you. Mr Doszpot, please proceed.
MR DOSZPOT: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. Recently we have seen GP clinic closures every week in parts of north-western Canberra. I feel for those people. I do not know how that community will absorb the impact of these closures. I am conscious that some of our most vulnerable and needy live in these areas and it is a reflection on this government’s failure—failure, Mr Stanhope—to attract, support and retain our primary health workforce that they are suffering the fate of people in my own electorate. It does beg the question: how many times will we see this process repeated and replicated throughout Canberra before the government will assume any responsibility for this crisis?
Ms Gallagher has already made abundantly clear that her best weapon in relation to the protection of existing GP services is to do simply nothing. “There is absolutely nothing I can do,” she said. She has said it on more than one occasion and has repeated it passionately. “There is absolutely nothing I can do.” And I do not need Mr Seselja’s speechwriters for this, by the way.
We know now that the longstanding position of this minister and this government has been to do absolutely nothing. I and, indeed, my colleagues simply do not accept that there is nothing that can be done. We, in fact, took a suite of very good, sound and forward-looking policies to the last election in relation to health delivery, with a huge focus on primary health. We were prepared to invest significantly in our community and primary health sector to make it one of the most accessible and equitable jurisdictions in Australia in terms of, Ms Gallagher, delivering more GP services, taking the strain off our hospital emergency departments and providing after-hours bulk-billing services to the families that need them most.
I must say that I cannot help but feel a tinge of regret that this government failed to copy or adopt any of our health initiatives as they did with our capital works, education and planning initiatives, which you have done a good job of copying. The health of our fellow citizens is absolutely our highest priority and I challenge anyone sitting here today to argue otherwise. While the government is quite happy with the status quo, we in the opposition will continue to advocate strongly on behalf of the community to protect their interests. We remain committed to designing policies which actually serve the needs of the community, that will take us into the future, that will meet the ever-growing demand that we expect to see in the coming years.
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