Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McMahon for what is an incredibly important question. I also acknowledge the great work that she has done over a very long period of time in ensuring that rural and regional Australians get the services that they need.

The Morrison government is committed to continually improving rural and regional health services. This is because we recognise regional, rural and remote Australians deserve the same access to high-quality health services as those who live in our cities. Research shows that doctors who train in the bush are more likely to stay and work in the bush at the completion of their training. That is why as a government we're focused on addressing the maldistribution of doctors in the bush. Earlier this month the government announced the allocation of 100 additional training places to the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine to train more rural generalists.