Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've made it pretty clear where I stand when it comes to healthcare services and funding. I've made it pretty clear that I want the very best for our community. I've made it pretty clear that I want to make sure that each and every person in my community has access to the health care that they need and they deserve. We need a healthcare system that is affordable. We need a system that is accessible, that continually grows and evolves and that properly services what is really a changing community where I live.

The bad news is that, under this government, we've seen nothing but cuts and missteps. The people in Caboolture, Narangba, Woodford and Bribie Island deserve much better than this. They deserve a government that listens to what their needs are, a government that cares, a government that prioritises the health and wellbeing of the people it is meant to represent. But this government doesn't listen. This government doesn't care. If it did, it would have heard what the people of Longman resoundingly called for during the recent by-election campaign. It would have heard the people in Kallangur, Burpengary, Morayfield and Bellmere calling for a stop to cuts to health care. It would have heard just how furious the people of Longman were that the government is ripping $2.9 million of vital funding from our Caboolture Hospital.

Instead, though, we've got a Prime Minister covering his ears and denying any wrongdoing at all. Well, the message to the Prime Minister and his government is very clear. The people of Longman have spoken. They are sick of being sick. I've heard from doctors, nurses, patients and affected family members, and each of them has told me that they are tired of the government cuts. It's completely arrogant to ignore people like this. It's completely out of touch to tell people that they are wrong. This is the difference: the government cuts, but Labor invests and builds up. Unlike this government, that doesn't want to listen, Labor has listened. We will reverse this government's cuts to the Caboolture Hospital. We will reverse the $2.9 million ripped out of our Caboolture Hospital. We will do what we can to properly provide top-quality health outcomes for the people of my community.

There's not a lot this government does to get it right on health, and if ever they finally end up on the right path you can always hold your breath, because it may get bundled. Take the government's My Health Record, for example. In theory, this should have been a game changer with the capacity to completely revolutionise healthcare delivery. To be very clear, Labor has always supported the electronic-health-record system. We have always supported that. I've spoken to a number of medical professionals about this matter in particular. With all of this government's endeavours, as we've seen, the My Health Record system, in its current state, is a far cry from the game changer that Australia had anticipated. Despite legislation initially underpinning My Health Record as an opt-in system, the government made the decision to instead shift to an opt-out model. Maybe through sheer arrogance, I don't know, the government was to incompetent to recognise that meant that privacy and security provisions would have to be strengthened by changing to this opt-out model. Although the government initially denied there were any issues, report after report has blatantly shown the opposite to be true.

It was only through immense pressure from Labor and the medical community that the government reluctantly agreed to a number of changes, but the government's steps do not go far enough. There's still more to be done. We in Labor have been calling on the government to suspend the My Health Record rollout until they have cleaned up the mess. As usual, the government hasn't listened and the mess is still here. That's why Labor announced today that we will lead a Senate inquiry into the today My Health Record fiasco. We have long supported an electronic-health-record system, but this system the government has introduced fails—it absolutely fails.

We will be asking the crossbench to support a reference to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee. This is the same committee that had previously inquired into the sale of Medicare numbers on the dark web, which was yet another government failure that put the security of Australia's medical data at risk. Knowing that their private information is secure is one of those things that Australians really like to have confidence in. What we saw with the Medicare numbers on the dark web was that people lost confidence in knowing that their personal information was secure.

The inquiry that we're asking the crossbench to support will examine a range of concerns that relate to privacy and security, such as the adequacy of the system's login procedures and default settings. We intend that this inquiry will examine the government's decision to shift from that initial opt-in system to an opt-out system, and whether provisions were instated to properly prepare for this change. Australians want to have confidence in their personal information. Our health care and the health of our families and friends is very important, but just as important is the security of information when it comes to our medical history.

We have a lot of issues in Longman when it comes to health care. We've got the Medicare freeze on pathology and medical imaging, which is still in place. That is really hurting people in Longman. We've had $2.9 million ripped out of Caboolture Hospital. Caboolture Hospital sees around 55,000 presentations in the emergency department every single year, so it is a very, very busy hospital. I know that the electorate has many more health needs, which is why a Labor government will invest in a $10 million chemotherapy service at Caboolture Hospital, so people who live in places like Woodford or Bribie Island don't have to drive past their very own hospital to get access to a chemotherapy service.

The other investment that a Shorten Labor government will deliver is an urgent care clinic on Bribie Island. Anybody who has been to Bribie Island knows just what a magical and beautiful part of the world it is. However, Bribie Island is a good 30-minute drive from Caboolture Hospital, and it has an older population. At the time of need, when you need to see a doctor on a weekend or at night it is imperative that you have access to the health care you need. A $17 million urgent-care clinic right on Bribie Island to make sure that the people who live there have access to a healthcare service is very welcome and long overdue. It is very much needed.

I call upon this government to stop the cuts to health care. In the by-election people were very loud and very clear about their message to this government. They want their schools funded and they want their healthcare system, the services they need for their health care, funded. What they don't want is to see banks getting a handout from this government.