Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It intrigues me, coming into this place and listening to the opposition debate health care and especially dental care. For 11 years we heard silence from the other side. Continuously in this House the then opposition would ask questions about dental care, about what the government was doing and about how it was tackling the list of 650,000 people that were waiting for dental care and we heard silence. Every time it was raised—and we saw an example of this just now in the speech by the member for Bowman—they played the blame game. Again, they have reverted to that. Even in opposition, we see the blame game still being played out. For example, in a question in writing of 13 June 2006 to the then Minister for Health and Ageing, he was asked:

... will the Government reinstate the Commonwealth Dental Scheme, or introduce a comparable scheme ....

His reply was that, ‘No, the Commonwealth had no responsibility.’ He blamed the states and then continued by saying that plans to assume extra responsibility in this area were zilch. The answer was, ‘No, no way.’ He wiped his hands and walked away from it. Today we see the opposition have the audacity to come in here and, as the minister said earlier, try and lecture the government on dental care. We constantly raised the issue of dental care, day in and day out, in the three-year term that I was here and constantly we heard the same answer. The answer was: ‘We wipe our hands of it. It’s not our responsibility.’ Then they would go on to blame the states. Even in opposition, even from the bowels of opposition, today we see the them again engaging in the blame game. That is instead of working together with the states and ensuring that we work hand in hand and complement one another in all ways wherever we can, especially in areas where the most vulnerable are in need. This is an area where the most vulnerable are in need.

The difference between their policy and our policy is that our policy, the $290 million policy, will give one million people the ability to see a dentist. Those one million people otherwise would not have the ability to see a dentist. Their policy was for people with chronic illnesses only. If your grandmother, who was aged in her 90s, needed new dentures but did not have a chronic illness, she would not have been able to access that scheme. The numbers are easy; we can all count. This policy means one million consultations. Compare that to the previous policy, where very few people met the criteria and were able to gain access.

What we on this side of the House are doing in government is ensuring a modern health system for a modern Australia. We need to ensure that we have reforms in place. The former government continuously, for 11 years, refused any form of reform to health. They were not interested in any sort of reform. It gives me great pleasure to be able to speak on the many initiatives that this new government is putting in place to ensure that the most vulnerable Australians have adequate access to health care. This Labor government recognises the need for greater investment in and reform of Australia’s health system. Over the last decade, we saw the amount of Commonwealth investment in health services drop; it dropped entirely across the nation for 11 years. Australians were left without the health services they required and the focus of the former Liberal government was on acute rather than preventative health care. The dental scheme for teenagers that the minister spoke about earlier is all about preventative measures. In the long term it will cost governments a lot less.

Like many countries around the world, Australia faces growing pressure on its healthcare industry due to our ageing population and changes in the delivery of healthcare services. The government is therefore faced with the daunting task of rebuilding our health system so that it can effectively service the needs of all Australians—especially those in greatest need—for decades into the future. This government has hit the ground running in the area of health care, delivering $2.5 billion of election commitments in the first few months of its new term. All of the announced initiatives have been designed to improve our healthcare system in the areas of greatest need. The government has demonstrated a commitment to invest in both preventative care and acute care as two separate aspects of our health system. The announced initiatives include many things—for example, allocating $150 million in federal funding to assist 25,000 patients, who otherwise would be sitting and languishing on waiting lists, to receive the elective surgery that they need by the end of 2008. By still working within the funding framework, it will deliver long-term— (Time expired)

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