Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House of action the government is taking to increase the number of doctors and nurses in country areas? Are there any alternative views, and what is the government’s response?

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

I thank the member for Hume for his question. I know how concerned he is to ensure that we do get enough doctors and nurses in country areas. I can inform him and the House that this government is funding the largest expansion of medical and nurse training places in Australia’s history. Under policies already in place the number of medical graduates will increase by 60 per cent from 1,300 last year to 2,100 by the year 2011. In addition, the government has recently committed an additional $250 million to provide an extra 460 medical school places a year and up to 1,000 additional nurse training places a year. The government wants to see Australian communities served by Australian doctors, but in the short term, unfortunately, it is important that we make full use of suitably qualified overseas trained doctors to serve our communities, particularly in country areas.

Mostly they come into Australia under section 457 temporary skilled migration visas. That is how they get here. But they will not get here if the Leader of the Opposition has his way, because last week he was asked about these section 457 temporary skilled migration visas and he said:

Well, Federal Labor can get into office and block it.

He would block the visa under which so many doctors and nurses are coming into Australia. For instance, in the 10 months to the end of April, these visas were issued to 1,704 doctors, 2,555 nurses and 1,150 other health professionals. The largest user of these visas was not union-busting Perth builders but the New South Wales Department of Health. It is the largest single user of 457 visas in this country. So, if the Leader of the Opposition has his way, communities in Australia, especially the country communities of Australia, will be short more than 5,000 health professionals. That is 5,000 doctors and nurses that they now have that this person here wants to expel. What we have is a Leader of the Opposition who is far more interested in saving his own job than he is in delivering services to the Australian people. What he needs to do is carefully explain how he will stop the foreigners he does not like coming in while letting the foreigners we still need come into this country.