Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to concentrate for a few minutes on the divide in this country between those in rural and regional Australia and those in the cities. There is a completely unacceptable divide in health outcomes for those in rural and regional Australia. We've often heard Labor say your health outcomes shouldn't be determined by your credit card. Well, neither should they be determined by your postcode. People in country Australia have a lower life expectancy—3.4 years lower for men and two years lower for women. It's even worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. People in the country experience higher rates of cardiovascular disease. They experience higher rates of diabetes. They experience higher rates of lung cancer and higher rates of suicide. Rural Australians are less likely to be covered by private health insurance, are less likely to see a dentist every year and are more likely to visit an emergency department.

In rural Australia, there are fewer pharmacists, psychologists, podiatrists, physiotherapists, optometrists and occupational therapists per capita than in the cities. Rural Australians see GPs half as often as people in the city and see specialists at one-third the rate. That's because they face long travel times and extra costs just to get to a GP, and too often many of them face the prospect of travelling to a capital city to see a specialist. Of course, there are far fewer doctors in country Australia—263 doctors for every 100,000 people, compared to 442 doctors for every 100,000 people in the city.

What's striking about these numbers is that, under this government, they haven't changed. They have not changed. It's okay for Senator Hume to come here and argue that the contribution from Senator Polley was dull. I don't agree with that. I thought Senator Polley's position was clear. Senator Polley outlined the deficiencies in the coalition government in the context of health and also the deficiencies that I've outlined in relation to the divide between metropolitan Australians and rural and regional Australians.

We hear the National Party come in here and argue what great things they're doing for rural and regional Australia. Well, they've failed in health, they've failed in education, they've failed in penalty rates and they've failed in the context of putting a roof over people's heads. They are just not up to it. Not just is the junior partner not up to it; the Liberal Party are clearly not up to governing Australia. Day after day, we see more division in this government. We now see a Prime Minister trying to pretend that he's one of the ordinary people in Australia, with a different baseball hat on every day. Well, putting on a different baseball hat doesn't mean you're dealing with the real issues. The real issues are health, education and making sure that there's not such a great divide between rural and regional Australia and the rest of the country.

We do have a terrific health system, but that health system will be divided by this government through their argument for small government and through the fear campaigns you heard Senator Hume set off on. Someone has to pay for a health system. If big business are not paying their fair share, it falls on those that can't afford it—and we need more investment in health.