Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Di Natale for his continuing interest in dental health—I did have the opportunity of seeing his press release this morning. The government has committed to publicly funded dental care which is targeted at those Australians who can least afford to pay for dental care themselves.

To provide the government with options, as Senator Di Natale has outlined, we established the National Advisory Council on Dental Health. Minister Plibersek received the report late last week. The report raises questions and points to challenges which would need to be resolved in order to deliver a publicly funded dental scheme. This is also about dealing with priorities—about how we spend our money and how we ensure we get value for money. Any scheme would have to be managed in a fiscally responsible way and be phased in over a period of time. It would also need to be targeted at those Australians who can least afford to pay for oral health care themselves, account for gaps in existing private and public dental services, and address workforce and infrastructure constraints. There is also the issue of existing Commonwealth funding of dental care—any new scheme would have to be established after the closure of the chronic disease dental scheme. I am sure the Greens would support that, but those opposite are not so helpful in that regard.

As a first step towards delivering on its commitment, the Gillard government have said that we will direct $165 million over three years to a means tested, targeted scheme. Those opposite— (Time expired)