Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister update the House on the steps the government has taken to strengthen health care and make it easier for patients to access affordable services when they need them?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Barton. I enjoyed visiting his electorate recently and speaking to the experienced and pretty amazing healthcare professionals around the St George district. He also had a really good forum to promote our participation funding in sport—Play. Sport. Australia—of $100 million for the full rollout of sport in schools. So I would encourage everyone to go to the website and involve their school.

But the budget lays the foundations for long-term reform and a much healthier Australia. If I can run through some of our key items to underscore our commitment: $2.4 billion put into improving primary and mental health outcomes; $10.1 billion on access to medicines this year, including $1.3 billion over four years for new medicines and vaccines; $26 million via the Immunise Australia Program; $20 million invested in tackling the fight against ice; $1.4 billion to support our Aboriginal community controlled health organisations and $485 million to reform Labor's bungled e-health electronic records system. The new—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker—

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is the only way the member for Ballarat can actually get a question!

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

The member for Ballarat, on a point of order?

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. In order for the member to be relevant, she needs to say where she is going to find over $2 billion when more cuts from the health budget—

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

The member will resume her seat, and she knows perfectly well: argument is not part of a point of order. The minister has the call.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat has got the $2 billion figure around the wrong way, because, as I just said, we are increasing spending by $2.4 billion over the next 12 months. So we know that there are economic illiterates on the other side, and the member for Ballarat did not understand why Future Fund legislation was in the finance portfolio and thought it should be in the health portfolio—

Ms King interjecting—

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

The member for Ballarat will desist.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know your record on medical research funding, Member for Ballarat. The new primary health networks are a cornerstone of our delivery to patients, because this is about the patient journey, about patient care and about our responsibility to have those models of care that reflect contemporary practice and new approaches to chronic disease. Today we are meeting the primary care advisory group. It is meeting for the first time, and there will be a piece of work over six months to make sure that we launch this in a really responsible way, with clinical advice and clinical expertise. I am still waiting for health policy from Labor. I know that the member for Ballarat was desperate for something to come out of the budget in reply, and in fact I found another one of her comments. When she was asked, 'What's happening with Labor's health policy?' she said, 'Well, we've been talking to doctors—

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

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. You have previously made rulings about the use of the term, as to whether other policy approaches are used in questions; it was not used in this question and we are currently being irrelevant.

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

The minister has the call but will return to the question.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have been talking to doctors. We have been working very hard with our health policies for 18 months and we are going to go on talking to people. There has not been a single health policy from Labor and what we have outlined is a plan for the health of Australians.