David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment) | Hansard source

I thank the member for that question. We have put forward a very strong program of initiatives in this budget—$296 million. The 80 Commonwealth supported medical school places is just one. There is also a long-term delivery of more medical students through funding to Charles Sturt University, which the member for Calare fought for—$14.8 million. They will be delivering a rural clinical school out of their home base in Orange, around many towns in regional New South Wales. As well as that we have just announced two university departments of rural health to train allied health students—nurses, physios, occupational therapists—in Western Australia, in the Goldfields and in the South West. And that is not new. That is part of an existing program.

We have a 10-year Stronger Rural Health Strategy. You mentioned the number 5,000. In fact, I checked this just before I came here—how uncanny! Since we started the 10-year Stronger Rural Health Strategy, the number of full-time equivalent GPs is 1,300; nurses, 1,200; and allied health practitioners, 2,500. That strategy has already delivered 5,000 new health professionals across the whole spectrum into regional Australia.

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