Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Health. I refer the minister to the West Melbourne GP superclinic, which was promised almost four years ago. Will the minister please provide an update to the House on the progress of this clinic?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question and her interest in health matters and providing health services to her electorate. There has been an important development in the GP superclinic program. I want to update the House and the Australian people on what is a very important outcome in the GP superclinic program, but I will come to that in just a moment.

This is a program which, along with the creation of 12 great big new bureaucracies in health, will be hanging around the necks of the Labor Party for a generation to come. This program was a complete, outrageous waste of taxpayers' money—$650 million was spent on the GP superclinic program. They only opened half the number they promised. Some of them are still vacant paddocks six or seven years later—not seeing a patient, not even having started construction. They were set up in competition—using money borrowed on behalf of taxpayers—with existing GP practices. That is how bad this policy was. They diverted money away from important health services and put it into this new health bureaucracy.

But let me come back to the major development. During the break, the Leader of the Opposition was with the shadow health minister at the opening of the West Melbourne GP superclinic—four years after it was promised, so in itself not a bad achievement!

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Madam Speaker: I ask you to draw the minister back to the question.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister has the call.

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

So there was the Leader of the Opposition and there was the shadow health minister. They were at this grand opening of the West Melbourne GP superclinic. It had cost $15 million for that GP superclinic, which was set up to compete with other doctors' practices in the immediate region—not adding to doctor numbers or increasing the number of patient services to be provided. For $15 million, what did you get? For $15 million, surely you got some significant health services? One GP—just one GP for $15 million of borrowed money! This was after the Labor Party had run out of money and was borrowing money to pump into this program, a program which was going to compete with and cannibalise existing GP services.

Let me make this prediction: tonight we will reform the health system to make sure we strengthen Medicare going forward, to make sure we can put health—

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Madam Speaker: the minister should be asked to be directly relevant to the question. This has nothing to do with the question.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have already had a point of order on relevance. Has the minister finished his answer?

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

I have.