Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to address Australia’s dental health crisis and the great need to improve our dental health system. In the last fortnight, 2,419 people from my electorate of Batman signed a petition calling for the restoration of the dental scheme that was last in place under the Labor government prior to 1996. It is only a Rudd Labor government that will reinstate the Commonwealth dental program that the Howard government trashed. In 1996, the Howard government ripped $100 million per annum from public dental services to the detriment of ordinary Australians. This is important in my electorate, which has many aged people, because they now make up part of the 650,000-long waiting list for dental care in Australia.

I will be tabling a petition on behalf of my constituents to send a clear message to the Howard government that what they have done to dental care shows an appalling lack of understanding of the needs and aspirations of the Australian community. Shamefully, one in three Australians avoids dental care, because dental care is a luxury to them in terms of cost. Unfortunately, that effectively means many elderly and low-income families are the worst affected.

Three months ago, I visited my local Darebin Community Health Centre, which provides dental care to the less fortunate in my electorate. The dental surgeons and nurses at Darebin Health do a great job. However, they face constant demands for meeting community expectations due to inadequate funding and the inefficiency of the Howard government. I present the petition on behalf of the people of Batman. (Time expired)