IMAGINE my surprise to read this week that the Swan Hill Emergency Department has opened, again, because the Allan Labor Government finally turned up for an “official opening”.
The fabrications of State and Federal Labor are astonishing; let me deal with two whoppers.
First, the Premier’s press release says the Albanese Labor Government contributed $30 million to the project. Wrong. I secured that funding, announced by the former Coalition Government.
I wasn’t invited to the “second opening” of the emergency department but I’ve come to expect that. Labor have delivered so little – one 20th – of what I secured, they like to turn up and claim credit for Coalition commitments.
Secondly, Premier Allan claimed “the Allan Labor Government is continuing to deliver regional Victorians world-class care closer to home, no matter where you live”.
That’s the kind of brazen spin you get away with in the echo chamber of a Melbourne ivory tower, distant from the reality of our regional health crisis in Mallee and north-western Victoria.
World class care closer to home includes primary care, which the Albanese and Allan Labor governments have undermined in Mallee promoting policies that rob regions of doctors.
Not only did the Albanese Government change the distribution priority areas to include metropolitan areas in 2022, they doubled down on the insult to regions this week by adding the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and other outer metropolitan areas as “regional”. More international medical graduates will shift from the regions to metropolitan areas as a result.
A healthy primary care sector – being able to see your doctor – means you avoid getting sicker, and don’t end up presenting at an emergency department.
Medicare is an essential component of primary care and here, again, Labor’s spin needs to be unpicked. Labor claim bulk billing is up, but the truth is their 77 per cent is a long way short of the 88 per cent that bulk billing rates were when Peter Dutton was health minister.
There is much work to be done to fix the health workforce crisis and I can assure you a Dutton-Littleproud Coalition Government will do just that.
