House debates Questions without Notice
Superclinics
Rick Wilson O'Connor, Liberal Party
2:55 pm
My question is to the Minister for Health. I refer the minister to the Cockburn GP superclinic in Western Australia that was promised three years ago, is not open and is yet to see a single patient. How have the delays to this clinic affected the delivery of health services in Western Australia?
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Honourable Members:
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
Order! There will be silence! I call the honourable Minister for Health but I would ask him—there is too much noise in the chamber—
Government members interjecting—
There will be silence on my right! Did the honourable the minister hear the question?
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, I did hear the question, yes.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
I thank the member for O'Connor for the question. It is a very important question because it is about health services in Western Australia. The problem is that the Labor Party took money and put it into great big new bureaucracies in Canberra, 12 of them in total, and it really diminished the capacity to help patients that were in need in Western Australia and around the country.
I have spoken about the GP Super Clinics Program on a couple of occasions now. When you look at the detail of what the member for Sydney claimed to be one of Labor's great successes, it really had many of the same attributes as other Labor Party public policy initiatives. The member for Sydney sits beside the member for McMahon. He was the master behind Fuelwatch and GroceryWatch. Other success stories—
Ms Catherine King Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health
Madam Speaker, on a point of order on direct relevance: he was asked a question about GP superclinics that are providing some three million services to people in our communities—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
The member will resume her seat. The Minister for Health has the call.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
Just wandered out of the jungle? The war is over! GP superclinics have been a complete failure. You promised 64; in six years you only delivered 27—but wait to hear about this one at Cockburn.
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
Order! There will be silence! The chamber has become positively unseemly. We will give the call to the member for Grayndler.
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am sure you were just about to intervene to draw the member's attention—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
I do not want commentary. The member will go straight to the point of order.
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
The standing order breach is about personal aspersions on members. The minister opposite is a serial offender—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
The member will resume his seat. The minister will refer to people by their correct titles.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
The Labor Party presided—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
And perhaps it would assist the House if you would withdraw the remark.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
I would be happy to withdraw. Please allow me then to talk about other policy successes of the Rudd-Gillard years of which the member for Sydney is most proud. The National Rental Affordability Scheme: a great success! The member for Adelaide: a 10 per cent success rate in her program.
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
The minister will refer to people by their correct titles.
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
That could have been one of them, Madam Speaker!
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
He is in breach of most of them. My particular point of order was going to be about relevance: now he is not even talking about health.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
Certainly, Madam Speaker. I am asked about the Cockburn GP superclinic. This was promised in 2009. For those people unacquainted with this program, this was a government program where they put money into setting up clinics which were going to compete with existing GP clinics. The problem with this was, of course—
Ms Rishworth interjecting—
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health
It was a $6.65 million program. The first sod was turned two years later in October 2011. It still has not been constructed. Yet $6 million of that money has already been given to the project, but not one patient has been seen. Not one patient has been seen!
It reminds me of other projects that the Labor Party has been associated with. Look at Centenary House, for arguments sake. It only took 17 months to construct and yet they cannot construct a superclinic within four or five years. (Time expired)
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am very concerned that the minister is defying your ruling now.
Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker
There is no point of order. The Minister for Health's time has expired.