Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Through you, Mr Acting Deputy President, I remind my Tasmanian colleagues that they had 11½ years and did none of this. The recent ABS statistics regarding population demographics in Australia showed that Tasmania’s elderly population as a proportion of total population is increasing. In early January, the Rudd Labor government, working with the state government, put forward $8 million to deliver an additional 895 elective surgery procedures and to help bring down the elective surgery waiting lists. This was part of a total $150 million that was given to all the states to help over 25,000 patients statewide. Again, Senator Barnett, I ask why the previous government did not take such an obvious step to alleviate pressure on hospital waiting lists.

As part of this commitment the states were given strict reporting requirements to ensure that the money was being effectively used. To take our election health commitments further, we committed $3.5 million for a state-of-the-art PET scanner for the state. This is something that I am extremely proud of, as I and my colleagues lobbied for the PET scanner in Tasmania over a long period of time. My time on the community affairs committee means that I am well aware of the benefits of PET scans, and I am glad that this service will be easily available to my fellow Tasmanians. Having one in Tasmania will cut down on costly visits to Melbourne to have patients’ illnesses diagnosed, and hopefully it will ensure that Tasmanians are not put through unnecessary operating procedures due to lack of diagnostic tools.

I do not usually like singling out any one person, but I must point out the contribution of Dr Robert Ware to the cause of PET in Tasmania. Dr Ware has worked tirelessly towards this end and his efforts deserve to be recognised. In addition to PET, we are extending Medicare eligibility to the MRI scanners at Launceston and the north-west coast. This is another initiative that will allow Tasmanians greater access to diagnostic services—services that can be life saving. And while I have the opportunity, I would also like to congratulate Dr Stephen Ayre for his stewardship of the Launceston General Hospital. Dr Ayre is moving on to new challenges and I wish him well.

To sum up, I think that it is obvious to all of us that the federal Labor government has made a large-scale commitment to the future of the Tasmanian health system. Fifty million dollars worth of investment and state-of-the-art medical services such as PET are all things that the Howard Government failed to provide in its time in office. I call on all of my Tasmanian Senate colleagues to support the federal government’s initiative in providing better outcomes for my home state of Tasmania.