Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, at least 1,000 doctors are needed immediately to provide even just basic medical care in rural Australia. Yet over the past 15 years less than five per cent of New South Wales and Queensland medical graduates have moved to the bush to work. In fact, of the 280 Queensland medical students who graduated in 2005, only two were working in rural and remote locations this time last year. These are just some of the many facts the Rural Doctors Association of Australia has collected to show that rural health care is a long way behind. Unfortunately, in my electorate of Maranoa things are no different.

The people of the town of Goondiwindi, in Maranoa, are somewhat lucky when it comes to accessing a doctor. Unlike many rural Australians who must wait at least six weeks for a basic consultation, the people of Goondiwindi have to wait only three weeks. The Goondiwindi Medical Practice, managed by the dedicated Matt Gilchrist, is in desperate need of more doctors. The practice turns away more than 50 patients a day. Goondiwindi Medical Practice currently services Goondiwindi, Inglewood, Texas, Talwood, Yelarbon and, across the New South Wales and Queensland border, the communities of Boggabilla and Toomelah. Mr Gilchrist’s many attempts to have the practice considered as being in a district of workforce shortage were finally rewarded with the news earlier this year that the Department of Health and Ageing has permitted the practice to employ two overseas-trained doctors. But the Goondiwindi Medical Practice services many more people than is recognised by the department, and it needs at least one more doctor.

The Myall Medical Practice in Dalby is suffering the same plight as the Goondiwindi Medical Practice. Last year, the doctors of the practice serviced patients from 38 different locations in just three months. However, the practice is not deemed to be in a district of workforce shortage—only the town of Dalby, not the other 37 different locations, is considered a district of workforce shortage. Yet the doctors are experiencing even heavier traffic following the construction of an ethanol plant, a power plant and the nearby coalmines. Up to 1,000 temporary and contract workers needing health care have put an even heavier strain on the already stressed doctors and staff.

Dalby is a perfect example of the troubles that health providers are facing in rural and regional Queensland. Dalby is just over 200 kilometres from Brisbane—barely a stone’s throw from the Sunshine Coast—and yet doctors there are experiencing the same problems as those doctors in rural, remote and regional Australia. Young doctors and medical students do not want to work in the bush. One GP, who recently retired after 28 years in Dalby, put his medical practice and equipment up for sale for the bargain price of $1, and yet no-one was interested. Down the road from his practice, the anaesthetist and obstetrician at the Dalby Hospital are on call 365 days a year. And just 130 kilometres west of Dalby, the town of Miles has only one doctor for a shire population of 1,400 residents.

Yet the situation is only going to get worse for Dalby and Miles. With the impending construction in the area of the Surat Coal Basin and the development of that basin—Australia’s largest coal reserve—and the expansion of gas and energy industries, these areas will see a huge population explosion. These doctors, already overworked and under resourced, will be in even higher demand. Therefore, we must move urgently to address medical shortages both in my electorate of Maranoa and, more generally, in rural, regional and remote parts of Australia.

The former coalition government made a great effort to boost doctor numbers in rural, regional and remote parts of Australia. We introduced the rural medical scholarships, which financially supported medical students during their studies in turn for a dedicated period of employment in the bush. We provided important grant programs to provide better facilities, such as the Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund, which helps small rural and remote communities recruit and retain GPs. Yet I am the first to admit that we still have a long way to go. I urge this new government and the new Minister for Health and Ageing to make the doctor shortage in rural Australia a top priority.