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

I thank Senator Milne for her continued interest in rural Australia. The Gillard government is delivering better health outcomes for Australians who live in rural and regional Australia, particularly those who live in the Hunter Valley, particularly those who do suffer from diseases. In 2012 targeted rural, regional and remote health and ageing programs will exceed $2.1 billion in addition to significant funding provided to rural communities through the medical benefits schedule, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the national health agreement. If you look at the funding overall by this government in rural Australia, you can see that it represents an increase of almost 350 per cent for rural programs compared to the last year of the Howard government.