Melbourne
PM: It's great to be back home in Melbourne and to be here at Austin Hospital. I'm joined by the Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, and by Jenny Macklin, obviously one of our of ministers that's here today in her capacity as the local member for this area.
Yesterday I was in Brisbane, speaking about the importance of economic reform to our nation, and particularly the importance of making we continue to invest in skills and training. Now, many Australians, when they think about skills shortages, would think 'well, we're short in mining, we're short in construction, we're short in some traditional trades.' Now, that's true, but we are also short of the health professionals we need, and that's because when we came to government we inherited a health system from Mr Abbott that was both underfunded and understaffed.
Now, Nicola Roxon as the Minister for Health, and the Government, have been investing in the training necessary to have new health professionals. We've been particularly increasing the number of doctors we are training; the number of nurses we are training; and making investments so we will have the health workforce we need in the future.
Today, we are building on those announcements, and today we're here to announce the clinical training work necessary to support the training of up to 12,000 more health professionals. That's 12,000 more doctors, more nurses, more allied health professionals, who will be supported by the Federal Government to get the clinical training they need in hospitals just like this one.
Now, for the first time we have had a national planning process to work out where this clinical training should occur, because of course we know if people go and have a great-quality training experience they're very likely to end up being a health professional in that area, so where training happens geographically matters, and this is the first time we've had a national approach, a national plan for clinical training, and I'll ask Nicola to just describe that national plan.
MINISTER ROXON: Thanks very much, Prime Minister, and thank you to the Austin for having us here and teaching the three of us how to cannulate. Thank you for the experts who were given those sorts of duties, and we're very pleased to be here with Health Workforce Australia - Mark Cormack and Jim McGinty, the CEO and Chair are here. They have done a tower of work for us in making sure that the significant extra investments that governments across the country are making in health workforce training are targeted to the professions that need the support most, those where the shortages are most severe, and of course in parts of the country that are underserviced.
So, in announcing today that we are investing an additional 1.2 million of training days - so our money, nearly half a billion dollars, is going to pay for a 23 per cent increase in clinical training days across the country. The investments are in 448 projects across 41 universities and over 700 clinical training providers, and of course the Austin is one of those leading training providers, but I think it's important to explain that of this investment that 60 per cent of providers will be non-government and private sector providers. This is an area that's been under-supported in the past and where we're trying to expand the clinical training capacity to complement the fantastic work done in our public hospitals.
41 per cent of placement days are going to be in priority settings where there have been severe shortages in the past, such as aged care, dental care, mental health, primary health care and community-based services, but interestingly as well, the allocation made by Health Workforce Australia provides that 37 per cent of these additional days will be provided in rural and remote communities.
So, this is a strategic investment by the Commonwealth, identifying where there are shortages, identifying which professions need the most help, identifying which communities need the most help, which settings we can provide more training in, and you will see Health Workforce Australia has provided fact sheets so you can break down the projects by state and by profession, that nursing and midwifery, in particular, have a very huge share of this investment because there are very high demands for our qualified nursing and midwifery staff and I think that it will make a big difference over the coming years to ensure that we have a health workforce that can provide safe, top-quality care to our community and much closer to the places where people live.
So, thank you very much, Prime Minister.
PM: So, today's obviously good news. It's good news for those in our health workforce, and I can see some of them at the back, the students who need clinical training places in order to get that direct experience that they need to complete their training, and it's good news for all Australians, because we're all going to be reliant for health care on the health workforce of the future, so we're very happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST: Ms Gillard, you say you're after a big economic reform agenda. Isn't this actually an example of how trouble your Government has delivering reforms? The money was promised or agreed to two full years ago, and now you're spending some of it but you're having to spend half of it (inaudible)
PM: Look, I'll turn to Nicola for a comment, but I can certainly say this in general: what I spoke about yesterday was having reform that was methodical, that was delivered day by day, week by week, piece by piece to make a difference, and that is just the approach that we have taken to health care reform, and when you look at this announcement today it comes with a national plan about where training occurs, rather than the ad hoc approaches of the past, and I'll just get Nicola to make a comment, too.
MINISTER ROXON: This agreement was reached in the end of 2008, and investments have been made in 2009 and 2010. $280 million has already been allocated. These were allocated as projects where there was a competitive process, so $67 million for 64 projects to expand clinical training capacity in non-traditional settings was the first investment that was made. $90 million on 35 projects to expand clinical training infrastructure; $33 million on 22 new projects through the rural education infrastructure development pool-
JOURNALIST: -(inaudible)-
MINISTER ROXON: -Let me finish, because this is important.
The three rural clinical schools and the first ever medical school in the Northern Territory.
Now, all of these investments take time, take planning and take care for the Government to ensure that we are investing in projects where they're needed, for the professions where there are shortages, and actually this is a quick turnaround to make sure that those projects are properly going to support our workforce of the future, and another $430 million is being allocated today.
Part of the investment in the $1.6 billion package comes from the state and territory governments for increasing funding of placing people within their facilities, so, actually, in the five-year plan that starts from 2008 and runs to 2013 we are absolutely on time, but I also make no apology for us making sure our money is going to be well spent, well targeted, that we test every project and ensure that it is going to deliver additional capacity, because you would be the first to ask us if we're spending taxpayers' money well if we didn't test every project to ensure that it is actually going to deliver benefits.
I think this is an example that this sort of significant reform does take time to deliver properly, but we are on target to deliver the way that we said we would, and the support of an additional 1.2 million training days across the country for our health professionals is something we're very proud of.
JOURNALIST: Minister, just while we've got you there, we're talking about training here, what does it mean for patients to be able to (inaudible)
MINISTER ROXON: Well, it means quite a lot of things for patients and for the community.
One, it means that you are much more likely to be able to see a doctor or nurse or allied health professional close to your home. By increasing the workforce, we are meeting a lot of unmet demand. By making sure that we're training more people in our rural and regional communities, where the shortages have been severe, we're ensuring that hospital services are going to be viable in those communities and that primary care services like GPs or your local physiotherapist are also being provided.
So, it's about providing access to well-trained, qualified staff, and of course it's about supporting quality facilities within our hospitals. We're already very proud of the work that's provided in a hospital like the Austin, but we need to make sure that we're training the workforce of the future. We cannot meet the needs of the community if we don't make these investments, and we are playing catch up from a time when the previous government did not plan and did not invest in the health workforce.
It takes a long time to produce a doctor, and making sure that we are now investing in the pipeline as new, young doctors graduate, making sure they're getting good-quality clinical training in their undergraduate years and then supporting them in their post-graduate years to become GPs or specialists is part of this comprehensive plan.
JOURNALIST: When does the scheme start?
MINISTER ROXON: The announcement today, the 448 new projects, all will be funded for the 2011 academic year, so planning has already commenced and it will mean that additional students will be placed through the course of 2011.
Of course, from our earlier investments we already have people that are being placed in those projects right now, and we have quite a large program of capital infrastructure which is underway, which the sorts of example is building a regional training facility in Taree next to that hospital so that we have students that can be placed there for a longer period, trained in the hospital, hopefully have a good experience and might stay and help us bring about a better balance of our workforce across the country.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is (inaudible)
PM: OK, well, we'll go other issues, yes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the (inaudible) Afghanistan is up for debate. Will you allow your Labor MPs and ministers to speak freely on the issue?
PM: Certainly, we agreed as a Government, in discussion with the Australian Greens, that there would be a parliamentary debate on Afghanistan, so we are delivering on that commitment. The debate will start in the House of Representatives next Tuesday. I will speak as Prime Minister. The Leader of the Opposition will speak for an equal amount of time, and then from Wednesday morning on members of the House of Representatives from all sides of politics and the independents will be able to make their contribution to the debate, and obviously members will be able to make whatever contribution they choose to make to the debate.
Then, when the debate has happened in the House of Representatives, it will go to the Senate so senators get the same opportunity.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on another issue, the Peter Slipper matter, there's a number of allegations made against (inaudible) Did Labor make a mistake in (inaudible)
PM: I understand that the matters raised today in the newspapers relate to the time that Peter Slipper was a parliamentary secretary under the Howard Government, and my recollection is he actually Prime Minister Howard's parliamentary secretary. Of course, Peter Slipper is a member of the Liberal Party.
Now, there is a proper process that happens to investigate any allegations about misuse of entitlements and that proper process will work its way through.
JOURNALIST: But is it a good look to have him as Deputy Speaker?
PM: Look, allegations have been made and allegations made are investigated. There's a proper process to do that, but I would note again these allegations do relate not to the time that Mr Slipper has been Deputy Speaker but to the time that he was Prime Minister Howard's parliamentary secretary in the Howard Government.
JOURNALIST: Will you (inaudible) when you were negotiating with him to become Deputy Speaker?
PM: Look, obviously, allegations about entitlements do not come to me as Prime Minister. There is a process that's engaged in and it's not run by me.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) 40 per cent of the money that is allocated to them under the BER at the same time as (inaudible) Do you still think it's a good idea for that money now to be poured into the economy? Wouldn't it be better to withhold it?
PM: Well, let's just be very clear about the Building the Education Revolution money and the result that it's had in our economy. There's no doubt, and if you talk to any of the expert commentators, whether it be the IMF, whether you look at the minutes that come from the Reserve Bank, if you look at any of our credentialed economic commentators, they will all tell you that economic stimulus played a large part in keeping Australia working during the global financial crisis and global recession.
Of course, economic stimulus was always budgeted to come out of the system, and we are already on the move through so that economic stimulus is coming out of the system and the most intensive parts of economic stimulus have already been delivered at the time that the economy needed that the most.
For the Building the Education Revolution program, we will continue the roll out in schools. The timeframes were set very deliberately and we will continue to have that roll out, in Victoria and around the country, to conclusion. There have obviously been some re-tendering work done in various parts of Victoria to make sure school are getting value for money, and obviously re-tendering, if that's necessary to get value for money, is a good thing.
JOURNALIST: They haven't even spent half, so why are we stimulating the economy with more than $1.5 billion when the economy seems to be-
PM: -Well, not right on the figures. I'd refer you to the data series that the ABS produces about non-residential construction, and school construction falls in that category, where it is apparent that BER is holding up the levels of non-residential construction.
You could not look at those figures and say that without BER we would be at normal or average construction levels in non-residential construction when you look at that series for the nation.
JOURNALIST: Do you have a view, Premier Brumby, on water, seems to be saying that the Murray Darling Basin Authority's report doesn't give enough credit to the ability of water-savings projects to produce water for the environment (inaudible) Do you agree with his analysis?
PM: Well, I think it's very important to be clear about the process here. The Murray Darling Basin Authority is an independent authority. What has been produced by it is a guide. There is a consultation process now which people can be involved in. Certainly, Premier Brumby can be involved in it and people in local communities can be involved in it.
That consultation work will then feed in to the production by this independent authority of a draft plan. Then there will be a further consultation process before a final plan is produced.
Now, I understand people care about this issue passionately. They care about the health of the Murray Darling. Obviously, they care about irrigation, farms, food production, communities along the river that rely on water from the river. There is an extensive consultation process for people to be involved in.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that Tony Burke should attend some of the meetings, the community meetings?
PM: Look, this is the Murray Darling Basin Authority's guide. It is an independent authority. As an independent authority it is responsible for the next stage, which is a draft plan. That's why this independent authority is conducting these consultations. Obviously, Tony Burke as Minister is out and about in communities, talking to people all the time, and people should feel free - and I'm sure do - raise any issues with him that are on their mind, but the Murray Darling Basin Authority is an independent authority and its process of consultation is rolling out.
JOURNALIST: Around 700 people were locked out of the meeting in Deniliquin today. They've called a third meeting now. Has enough planning gone into these meetings, and are you concerned about the number of people that now want to have their say?
PM: Well, once again, Murray Darling Basin Authority's an independent authority, so in terms of the logistics for its meetings, you need to direct the question to them.
Obviously, I want to see people able to have their say. That's why, when we look at this process - we've got a guide with a consultation period, followed by a draft plan with more consultation, all conducted by the independent authority that was set up legislation in the parliament, legislation that actually dates from the period of the Howard Government.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any comment on Mr Abbott's assertion that you're not doing enough to support the troops who have been accused (inaudible)
PM: I will respond to that. I did see Mr Abbott's words yesterday, and unfortunately Mr Abbott does not understand the facts of this matter.
First and foremost, the legislation that created our military justice system was legislation of the Howard Government. Mr Abbott was a senior minister of that government.
It went through the parliament with bipartisan support, but it was legislation of the Howard Government. Mr Abbott sat around that Cabinet table. If he had any concerns about this legislation, then why weren't they expressed at that time?
Second, the Director of Military Prosecutions was appointed by Brendan Nelson when he was Minister for Defence. Once again, Brendan Nelson, sitting alongside Tony Abbott at the Howard Government Cabinet table.
And third, in terms of the facts, Mr Abbott seems to believe that the Government can make representations in this process. That is simply not true, and anyone who had bothered to get themselves briefed as to the facts would have known that wasn't true. Representations are made on behalf of these Defence personnel by senior members of our Defence Force.
Now, national security, it doesn't get any more important than that. I would say to Mr Abbott this is an area where he's got the clearest of all obligations to inform himself of the facts before he speaks.
JOURNALIST: You say that legislation came through under the Howard Government, but do you support it?
PM: It got support bipartisan support in the parliament. That is, Mr Abbott supported it, and the Labor Party supported it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you feel it's appropriate for a politician to fire a rifle, and what do you think of Tony Abbott's decision to have vision or evidence of him doing this censored?
PM: Well, they're questions for Mr Abbott about his trip to Afghanistan and I'll leave those questions to him.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how did the cannulation go?
MINISTER ROXON: She was very professional.
PM: I think the three of us are very glad that it was a dummy arm and I think, yes, everybody was much better of that it was not a real person on the other end of the exercise.
I think we'll probably stick to our current jobs rather than be here with our friends who are in clinical training. I'm not sure we'd keep pace.
OK, thank you.