Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Will the minister inform the House the progress the Rudd government is making in reforming Australia’s health system?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hindmarsh for his question. As he is the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing, which is currently undertaking an inquiry into obesity, I know that the work of that committee will feed into our reform strategy.

The Rudd government is committed to significant health reforms as a crucial step in rebuilding our health and hospital system. Frankly, after 12 years of neglect, there is a lot of rebuilding to be done; we have to reverse a lot of the inaction of the previous government. I am pleased to be able to inform the House that the foundations are being laid for that rebuilding. Late last year we had the $64 billion investment, through COAG, into health, including $750 million into emergency departments and more than $1 billion into training our health professionals. That is the biggest ever investment in prevention, and they have all been important components to rebuilding the system. That investment was a 50 per cent increase on what was planned by the previous government, had they negotiated the agreement.

Not only do we want to invest now in the sorts of things that will help rebuild our system, but we have also increased the reporting measures in COAG to ensure that the states are constantly improving. We know that the states need to improve the provisioning of their services. We have tied that extra funding to changes in the way that the states and territories behave. We have increased GP training places by 250 places, and they are available across the country. That is something that I know is very welcome at least on this side of the House and in the many communities who will receive more trainees in their area.

Last week another important step in our investments in health and in our health reform was taken. The National Health and Hospital Reform Commission released their interim report outlining over 100 potential future directions to be taken in health. Many of these directions are common sense. Some of them support existing government directions in health, like our investments in GP Superclinics, and some of these ideas are very ambitious. The opportunity is now there for the community to have a say and to provide feedback at this critical stage of the commission’s work. We asked the commission to think big, and I encourage the public, health professionals and service providers to provide their ideas and views at this important stage of the debate.

I note that the member for Dickson has admitted that the sluggish approach of the previous government was a problem—and I congratulate him for being prepared to do that. He said:

If we look at the history of health in this country we have to be honest and admit we have made mistakes … That is of course to state the obvious—

He went on to say:

For instance, in years past, despite some of the best intentions—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I said ‘on both side of politics’—finish the quote.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am finishing the quote. This comes directly from your speech to the General Practice Network.

we made mistakes in Indigenous health, in areas like workforce planning and in hospital management.

Again, the member for Dickson was out last week saying:

Patients as well would have seen a dysfunctional system over the last 10 years, particularly when you talk about public hospitals.

Paradoxically, after having been prepared to acknowledge these mistakes, the member for Dickson also said last week:

I thought the priority, if you are talking about the here and now of health priorities would be to fix our hospitals and to fix them quickly.

So, after 12 years of doing nothing but pulling money out of our public hospitals, he now wants everything fixed overnight. But here is the really puzzling thing about the debate from the other side of the House: we now have the member for Dickson urgently committed to investing in our hospitals. But unfortunately—and I admit that this is the first time that I have ever felt sorry for the member for Dickson—the member for Dickson now has to deal with a new shadow Treasurer who, unlike the Treasurer on this side of the House, does not believe in investing in hospitals. The Deputy Prime Minister has already referred to this quote from an interview with Lenore Taylor, where the shadow Treasurer is reported to have said that:

… all other things would not have been equal under a Coalition government. For example, it would not have made the generous $15.1 billion Council of Australian Governments deal with the states announced last December to deliver health, hospitals, education, housing and other services, although he won't say how much it would have spent.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I refer to your remarks before about the length of answers. The minister has now been speaking for over four minutes. There has been no answer to a dorothy dixer today that has been less than four minutes. The Deputy Prime Minister in previous incarnations suggested that the Procedures Committee require those questions to be less than four minutes. How can you expect this side of the House to maintain its decorum if ministers continue to do this kind—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member will resume his seat.

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Adams interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Lyons!

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Adams interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lyons will leave the chamber for one hour.

The member for Lyons then left the chamber.

Order! The serious point to be made is that the question that was asked was in order. If the member had raised a point of relevance, he would have been closer to the mark. The minister will bring her answer to a conclusion.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The relevance of this issue is that we are committed to health reform, we are committed to investments in health. The other side has a shadow Treasurer who does not believe in investing in hospitals, unlike our Treasurer, who has already delivered $64 billion into our hospitals, and there will be more of that to come.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before giving the member for Forrest the call, I remind members—because it seems to have escaped the attention of some—that I indicated last year that I would be reverting to using the one-hour measure which was put in place. When it was put in place, it was to be used without warning. Having had a discussion with members, I indicate that from time to time I may have confused them by the way I have used that standing order. But I have assured those who have had the decency to properly discuss this with me that it is my intention that on occasions I will use that provision without warning.