Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister inform the House what steps the government has taken to support health call centres, including GP Assist, in Tasmania?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can assure the member for Braddon that, while members opposite engage in an endless scandal hunt and fishing expeditions, the Howard government is delivering better health services for the people of Australia. The government believes that health call centres are useful and important supplements to existing health services. I want to make it very clear that these are an addition to existing services, not a substitute for them. Health call centres mean that worried people can receive expert advice round the clock on whether they need to attend an emergency department, whether they should see their doctor or whether they can seek other forms of treatment. The centres can provide up-to-date information on where these services are available.

So far, the government has provided $9 million to support Tasmanian GP Assist, which includes a health call centre. We have provided $21 million to the Hunter after-hours service, which also includes a health call centre. We have provided $3 million to help set up the state-wide Western Australia health call centre, which has been operating since 2001. This week the Council of Australian Governments will consider whether there should be a national health call centre, whether a particular model should be adopted and whether all existing call centres can continue to operate concurrently with a national centre. The member for Lalor greeted this announcement with her usual carping negativity. But the Howard government is prepared to work constructively with the states on this matter, which just goes to show that the Australian people trust the Howard government with their health, and it shows that the Howard government remains, most assuredly, the best friend that Medicare has ever had.