Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House what recent measures the government has taken to improve health services in country areas?

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

I do thank the member for Barker for his question. This might be a rather longer answer than usual. This government does not just talk about country people; we spend the money necessary to improve their health services. Thanks to the incentive payments that were part of Strengthening Medicare, the GP bulk-billing rate in country Australia is at an all-time high at almost 70 per cent. That is a new record, thanks to the policies of the Howard government.

In January, the government announced that it would double incentive payments to GP proceduralists—that is, GPs who do anaesthesia, obstetrics and surgery—to try to ensure that country hospitals do not lose their doctors. Also in January, the government announced a new Medicare payment for antenatal checks in country areas which are delivered by nurses and midwives on behalf of GPs. I should point out to the House that this is the first time that midwives have been brought under the Medicare system.

The recent pharmacy agreement increased funding for rural pharmacy programs by more than 50 per cent, to $111 million. Today the government announced a new rural clinical school at Tamworth. Soon there will be 13 rural clinical schools around Australia to ensure that one-quarter of medical students do at least 50 per cent of their clinical training in country areas. Before Christmas, the government committed $1 million to help the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine to upgrade its training programs.

In all of these matters, the government has sought the advice of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia. I pay tribute to its recently retired president, Dr Sue Page. It is impossible to entirely end the tyranny of distance but this government is always looking for new ways to help country Australians, which is why it is truly said that the Howard government is the best friend that Medicare has ever had.