Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I did think it was necessary to preface the showing of that photograph with the confession that in politics sometimes you do do things that you never expected you would ever do. There is of course a very serious point to this. There is a reason the member for Paterson was so happy about the superclinic opening in his electorate and there is a reason that communities around the country want these superclinics, and that is that they provide essential services to communities that need them.

You may not trust the photographic evidence. Perhaps the reason the member for Newcastle asked this question is that she was watching NBN TV on the night that the opening occurred. Of course, the member for Paterson was quoted on television as saying, ‘This has my absolute support,’ as indeed it should have. But, unfortunately, 23 additional communities and more than 400 GP practices across the country will not be able to have that benefit because, despite the member for Paterson’s words, the rest of the Liberal Party will not support these investments. The Leader of the Opposition, when the Minister for Health and Ageing, pulled a billion dollars out of our hospital system and he is fast already pulling the next billion out with the commitments that they have made in their budget reply.

So you do certainly get a sense of ‘Here we go again in health’. If you put the Leader of the Opposition anywhere near a health budget, you lose a billion dollars like that. Communities cannot afford this. GP superclinics are good for the community, as the member for Paterson clearly knows. I have taken the liberty of preparing a small gift for him to display in his office of the opening of the superclinic. I hand it over to him now.

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