Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2010. If we were looking at simply one piece of legislation today that dealt with health, there might be some substance and accuracy in what the member for Bowman has said. But if he actually looked at the daily program today he would have seen that there are five bills that relate to the Gillard government’s health and hospital reforms. The contention that we have somehow got an isolated piece of legislation that establishes a grand bureaucracy that provides no money to the health and hospital system and simply inflates the bureaucracy is just plain nonsense—absolute nonsense.

When we came to office the federal Labor government commissioned three key reports to examine critical areas of the health system: the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, the Preventative Health Taskforce and the National Primary Health Care Strategy. As a result of those reports, it was recommended that we have an Australian national preventative health agency. As early as the 2020 Summit, this was suggested by the men and women of Australia who were called here to have their say. The task force also recommended this. We are listening to the independent experts and acting on their advice. We are also providing about $7.4 billion in extra funding to the health system.

We went to the last election campaign offering far more funding for health and hospitals than the coalition. I have heard speakers opposite talk about e-health. The coalition went into the last campaign opposed to e-health. They were opposed to our primary care infrastructure. They were opposed to the GP superclinics. They were opposed to system reform. If they had their way the Ipswich GP superclinic in my electorate of Blair in South-East Queensland would not be open for business. They would close it down. They did not offer any funding for it; they opposed it tooth and nail. My predecessor wrote a letter to the editor recently which criticised the Queensland Times for its support of the Ipswich GP superclinic. He still has not gotten over the 2007 loss and is critical of what we have had to do. They have opposed every reform to the health system which they de-funded. The budget papers make it crystal clear that those opposite de-funded health and hospitals in this country.

In October 2007 the Institute of Health and Welfare, an independent body that is not exactly affiliated with the Australian Labor Party, examined health and hospital funding for the previous decade. It found that the states and territories, which were much vilified by health ministers in the Howard coalition government, had actually taken up the slack for the de-funding of the health and hospital system in this country by the Howard government. The proportion of federal funding for health and hospitals in this country plummeted to just over 40 per cent while those opposite occupied the treasury bench. They have a record of ignorance, idleness, inaction and inertia over health and hospital reform, and of opposing our health and hospital reforms.

The member for Bowman came in here and said he was opposed to what we have to do. I am simply amazed that the coalition are opposed to this legislation. They opposed it last time. When we come into this place there are some things that you kind of know that those opposite are going to oppose. I know that they generally oppose our position on industrial relations. I know that those opposite have opposed us on issues relating to climate change because so many of them do not believe that human beings make any contribution to climate change. But there are some things they are opposed to which I find inexplicable. The only thing I can think of is that they are in the pockets of the big liquor and tobacco companies, because I cannot for the life of me understand why they are opposed to this legislation.

The Gillard government are pouring money into health and hospitals in this country. Earlier this week there was a private member’s bill from the opposition’s health spokesperson, the member for Dickson, in relation to mental health. Mental health is a very important part of the health and hospital system in this country. The truth is that this government have provided $1.2 billion from 2010-11 to 2013-14 for mental health services in this country. The Howard government put $516 million in from 2004-05 to 2007-08. The facts speak for themselves. Those opposite simply ignored health and hospital funding in this country.

We are making major changes to this funding. Specifically, our legislation provides that we will fund 60 per cent of the efficient price of every public hospital service provided to public patients. We are taking over 100 per cent of GP and primary healthcare services and 60 per cent of capital expenditure, and 60 per cent of recurrent expenditure on research and training functions undertaken in public hospitals. We are pouring money into the health and hospital system of this country, which was neglected for so long when those opposite were in government.

This legislation is really important. We know that preventative health care works. For example, we know that admonitions, warnings and advice to the Australian public work—whether it is HIV-AIDs campaigns; campaigns to wear seatbelts, which we now have to wear and which save lives; campaigns to wear bicycle and motorcycle helmets; or advice to keep fit. There are Australians and many in this House who keep fit and run regularly. We know that when councils put pathways and bike-ways in suburban communities, more people will walk, run and get exercise. We see it every day. When a local council builds a wonderful park, we see people flocking to it. The Ipswich City Council recently rebuilt Lobley Park in Churchill, not far from where I live. Every time I drive past it, I see young people and old people, mums and dads and kids, running around getting exercise. Preventative health care works. We do not spend anywhere near enough on that.

This bill proposes an Australian National Preventive Health Agency with strategic plans for a five-year period. It will specifically target challenges in relation to alcohol abuse, tobacco use, substance abuse and obesity. What is wrong with that? The amount of money we are using to establish this agency is small compared to the totality of the funding we see on budget night. This particular organisation is not top heavy. It involves stakeholders in the process. It will also provide an advisory role.

We have committed ourselves to making a difference to tobacco consumption. If you travel through South-East Asia, you will see many people smoking. Far more people smoke in the Third World and elsewhere than people in Australia do because the Australian public have been told time and time again to reduce their use of tobacco. The advertising and the government strategies have worked. We have committed ourselves to stopping smoking in this country as much as possible. The tobacco excise was increased by 25 per cent in April this year. We invested another $5 million in the Quitline services and another $85 million in anti-tobacco campaigns. I warmly welcomed our proposals on the packaging of tobacco products, which makes sure that tobacco companies cannot lure and entice young people to use this iniquitous substance, which will impact their lives and cause financial deprivation and future health problems in the form of circulatory and respiratory problems.

Australians drink at high levels. In my childhood and adolescence, I endured the pain of having an alcoholic father. Many Australians will have had similar experiences. Many Australians have seen what alcohol or drug abuse can do to the lives of families. Many families, individuals and children endure financial deprivation, domestic violence, embarrassment, shame and humiliation because of a parent suffering from alcohol abuse. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency will make a difference in terms of policy and advice, and will put a big focus on those health issues.

Too many Australians drink at levels that are harmful. It is said that about three in 10 alcoholics do not actually admit it. We do not have enough services in this country that deal with the long-term effects of alcoholism on individuals and on families. We have taken huge steps, such as the $103 million national anti-binge drinking campaign, and I was happy to have supported ending the tax loophole on alcopops, which targeted young people. We have seen the consumption of alcopops reduced by 30 per cent. In my electorate, there are a number of great organisations dealing with this, and I particularly want to commend Tanya McKenna, a teacher at Ipswich State High School, who has made a difference to young people with mystery tours, which this federal government have in part funded. These mystery tours offer an alternative to those young people who might engage in binge drinking on their graduation and formal nights. This prototype at Ipswich State High School has now been adopted at Bremer State High School and Redbank Plains State High School. Preventative health care works and it has worked for those young people at those high schools in my electorate of Blair.

A new approach is needed with respect to health care in this country. The federal government are making a big difference and we will in the future with the National Health and Hospitals Network and the Medicare Locals. We are making a big difference in my electorate by funding the after-hours clinic at Ipswich General Hospital, run by the division of general practice; the Ipswich GP superclinic; and the psychology clinic at the University of Queensland. We are making a difference with federal funding for great organisations such as Kambu Medical Centre, helping our Indigenous people in the Ipswich and West Moreton areas, where over 4,300 people live. We are making a difference, but there is so much more to do. The agency created by this bill will make a difference to the lives of our young people, our middle-aged people and our elderly people. It will make a difference to the lives of each and every community across the length and breadth of this country, and it is an absolute shame and tragedy that those opposite are not prepared to support this vital legislation.

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