Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Health Amendment (Immunisation) Bill 2006. We have heard many speakers today talk about the importance of immunisation over the years and about many of the diseases that have been eradicated over the years, and immunisation is of course vitally important. It certainly is shameful that this government has on so many occasions really dragged its heels in getting those vaccinations out to the community, particularly with so many cases where it was so desperately needed, and much to the detriment of so many families, who were very angry that the government dragged its feet in so many areas.

I support the second reading amendment proposed by the member for Lalor:

... the House expresses its concern that the Government has:

(1)

consistently ignored the expert advice of the  Australian Therapeutic Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) with respect to the inclusion of pneumococcal, oral polio and chicken pox vaccines on the National Immunisation Program;

(2)

failed to provide the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) with the needed expertise in immunisation as required; and

(3)

failed to provide adequate ongoing funding for essential vaccines over the forward estimates of the 2006-07 Budget, leaving the Government’s long-term commitment to the National Immunisation Program in doubt.

This bill is put forth by the government to allow the provision of goods and services that are associated with or incidental to the provision or administration of designated vaccines. The bill is a necessary amendment, and one which I do not oppose.

However, it is disappointing that these matters were not appropriately dealt with during the 2005 amendment legislation. One would assume that with all the resources of government this would have been done properly the first time. Instead, this amendment bill is now necessary as a result of the way that the government mishandled those 2005 amendments and really did manage to bungle this quite severely, because the 2005 amendments did not give the minister power to continue the current arrangements with states and territories for assistance in acquiring goods and services related to the provision of vaccines. Those 2005 amendments also went against the intention of the act by preventing the government from providing funding under the act for essential pre or post vaccine requirements.

This is just one more failure from this government in the area of immunisation. Indeed, it is one more failure in a long line of failures in the general area of health. Of course, the failure of the government in immunisation is also directly related to those failures in the area of health. When we look at the failures of the government, one of the major areas is the lack of GPs and the workforce shortage in regional areas, which causes great distress, particularly in electorates such as mine that have so many elderly people. In my electorate, 20 per cent of people are aged over 65. We have certainly seen the government’s lack of commitment to providing proper healthcare, whether it be in immunisation, in making sure that there are enough trained GPs, in providing enough funding for the PBS, or the fact that the government slashed the Commonwealth Dental Scheme. There are so many areas in health where this government has totally failed the Australian community, and certainly one of its most shameful is its record on vaccines for Australian kids. That record of inaction has been seen time and time again in a lack of funding for vaccines for our children.

In September 2002, the Howard government’s own Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommended that the government fully fund pneumococcal, chickenpox and injectable polio vaccines. But what happened? The Howard government did nothing. That was the response in relation to it, and of course these vaccines were desperately needed in the Australian community at that time. In September 2003, the National Health and Medical Research Council made that same recommendation that had been made previously in September 2002. What happened then? Again the Howard government did nothing in relation to it, despite the fact that these two bodies had both recommended that.

In May 2004, Labor announced its commitment to fully fund these vaccines. When Labor announced that we would fund the vaccines, the government then had to play catch-up politics on this very important issue. Essentially, the government was shamed into announcing time limited funding for the pneumococcal vaccine. This was not a decision to save lives; it was purely a decision to save face. And what will happen when the time limit the government set on the funding runs out? What is the process then?

And what about what happened with the vaccines for chickenpox and injectable polio vaccines? The government received the recommendation for funding and decided at the time not to fund a vaccine that would prevent a disease that kills children. I find it utterly appalling that the government made that conscious decision to not save the lives of children. Certainly as a parent I was so concerned—and so were the many parents I spoke to—that the government made that decision to not take that action immediately. It is quite appalling to think how the government could consciously decide not to do that. It really is a reflection as to how the Howard government is not concerned about families and is so out of touch with the needs of families. It completely ignored that advice and did not take the necessary action on it.

If this government cared about the future of our nation and the children of today who represent that future, it would have immediately complied with the recommendation of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and funded the vaccine. It would have taken that action immediately and made this available. Instead, the Howard government did nothing; it just sat on that recommendation and did not act on it. For two long years it sat on that recommendation, and yet again it was Labor that had to shame the government into providing funding for this.

It really is pathetic that the government has neglected for so long the needs of our children and the needs of families in our community. On behalf of the 19 Australians who died from chickenpox, the government should be ashamed that it sat on its hands and did not follow the recommendation of its own advisory board. We all know chickenpox can be fatal, and it is certainly shameful that those 19 Australians had to die while the government did nothing, took no action. It is also shameful on behalf of the 3,300 people who were hospitalised as a result of this government’s failure to act on immunisation.

This very shameful record really does give me great concern for the future of many vital vaccinations that are coming into force now and about what action this government will or will not take. We have all heard and read recently about the cervical cancer vaccine. A vaccine such as this would have a huge effect throughout the community. We know that 75 per cent of people who are infected with the human papilloma virus, HPV, will develop cancer. This virus is the predisposition for a number of cancers but especially cervical cancer. Every year in Australia 700 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed and it causes about 270 deaths. There is a vaccine that is designed to give immunity to HPV, which causes cervical cancer, and as soon as this vaccine meets the required tests it of course should be placed on the National Immunisation Program. But I have grave concerns when we look at the history of this government failing to act on necessary vaccines. One like this, which would provide protection against cervical cancer, is absolutely necessary.

We saw the government sitting for two long years on the recommendation to add a vaccine for chickenpox to the National Immunisation Program, and in that two long years 19 people died as a result. So how many women will need to die of cervical cancer before the vaccine for the human papilloma virus is considered for the National Immunisation Program? How long are we going to have to wait until the government takes action for that? I suspect once again that it will be left to Labor to shame the government into ensuring that needed new vaccines continue to be made available in a timely fashion and that these are funded when it is considered appropriate by the medical experts. The government should be listening to those experts and taking action in relation to this. It should not always be the case that it has to take pressure from this side of the House for the government to do the right thing, for this government to reach into its pockets and save lives. These are issues that do relate to saving lives, and we need to see the government taking greater action.

The government has not given the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee the needed expertise in immunisation as required. This is not a surprise, given that this government has a dismal record with immunisation advisory groups. Let none of us forget that this government consistently ignored the expert advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation with respect to the inclusion of pneumococcal, oral polio and chickenpox vaccines on the National Immunisation Program. When the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation gave advice that the government did not want to hear, the government sent that advice back for reconsideration. We all know that is code for: ‘You’re not telling us what we want to hear, so we are sending it back so you can tell us what we want to hear.’

But the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation retained their integrity and confirmed their original advice. This government then repaid that integrity by gagging them and giving their power to provide advice on cost-effectiveness to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. And now we have the situation that this government has not given the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee the needed expertise in immunisation as required. Surely that body needs to have that expertise. It is no wonder that the chairman of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation resigned after these changes were made, because the 2005 amendments were basically political payback.

This government has also failed to provide adequate ongoing funding for essential vaccines over the forward estimates of the 2006-07 budget. This leaves the government’s long-term commitment to the National Immunisation Program in doubt. Where does that leave the families of our nation? Families need to be certain that they have a federal government which is committed to ensuring Australia has a long-term immunisation program, in particular to protect our kids. The entire health of our nation is in doubt because the government has failed to provide certainty, continuing the government’s lack of commitment to adequate immunisation.

When people are not being provided with vaccination against disease, that places a lot of pressure on our health systems. The federal government needs to invest in training more health professionals, particularly in regional areas where we certainly have a major shortage. It is also very difficult for many people in regional areas and for elderly people to find doctors who bulk bill. The government needs to focus on investing in more health professionals right across Australia.

The government needs to reintroduce the Commonwealth Dental Scheme, an issue I have spoken about many times in this House. We need the government to stop consistently hacking away at Medicare and the PBS, demonstrating its lack of commitment to health care right across our nation. We also need the government to abandon its plans to sell Medibank Private. Many people in the community have spoken out about their concerns about that sale and the subsequent rise in premiums that will no doubt flow from it. The government should focus on addressing the health needs of our ageing population. There are so many areas in our health system that need a commitment to proper funding. The government needs to do much more, specifically about immunisation. It needs to be serious about recommendations for immunisation that is desperately needed.

The government also needs to be continually educating the public on the necessity of vaccination. The government needs to provide publicly funded immunisation as vaccines become available for diseases identified as posing a risk. We cannot continually see the government dragging their feet on these very important issues. This government also needs to focus on raising the vaccination rate among Indigenous, low-income and rural and remote Australians.

There is no doubt that immunisation is an important aspect of our healthcare, it is so important for the children of our nation. As we have heard many speakers say, vaccination is important for disease reduction and disease control. We all know that prevention is better than cure. Being immunised is an important safeguard against many of the world’s worst diseases. We should be focusing on providing funding for their prevention. All parents should have access to vaccines to protect against diseases that can be potentially fatal for their children. The government needs to ensure that vaccinations are made available in a timely manner once they have met the test for clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. I find it very disappointing to look at the very shameful history of this government as it completely disregards the advice of medical experts in relation to funding very important vaccinations and immunisation programs. The fact that they can wait two years after being told about the necessity to fund such a program I fund absolutely shameful. I cannot imagine what responses could possibly be given to that. How can you consciously decide not to take action to fund an immunisation program that will specifically benefit the children of our nation? It causes me great concern that we have seen inaction time and time again, particularly in relation to future vaccines such as the one I spoke about earlier for cervical cancer. I do not want to see the government dragging their feet on that for two years—it is too important.

The government’s record is indeed very shameful. They certainly need to be made constantly aware of the future of our children and our families. They need to be very serious about providing immunisation and vaccinations in a timely and efficient manner for the Australian community.

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