Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Although it is not the first time the minister has been to Swan, I was very pleased to welcome Minister Ley to my electorate for the first time in her capacity as the Minister for Health and Sport earlier this month.

This was a very important visit to my electorate for two key reasons. The first was providing health professionals in Swan with the opportunity to share their knowledge with the minister and provide input into the government's future health policies as part of the minister's wide-ranging consultations with health professionals and communities across Australia. It was a pleasure to watch the minister talk to the GPs and speak to them as equals, not down to them as previous people have done in this place.

On March 6, the minister and I co-hosted a round-table discussion with GPs from Swan to gain grassroots insight into how they believe Australia's Medicare system, in particular, should be reformed to ensure its future sustainability.

I also took this opportunity to update the minister about the Lathlain precinct redevelopment project with representatives of the West Coast Eagles and Perth Football Club providing the minister with a tour and briefing of this important community infrastructure project for Swan and the Town of Victoria Park. It was also great to see that they have also included a medical research centre at the development.

This is a project that I have been campaigning for since 2010, so I was very pleased that within a week I was able to welcome Minister Ley to Lathlain Park as well as the Prime Minister, who got up very early in the morning last week to be briefed about the project's major benefits at the proposed redevelopment site.