Ms LAWRIE - 2003-05-27
The Treasurer today repeated the Martin Labor government’s significant commitment to health and community services. Minister, can you please advise the House of the government’s record commitment to health and community services in this year’s budget?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Karama for her question. I know she is particularly interested in this and has had a strong interest in health for many years.
It is very exciting today to be able to announce that there is $561m going into the health budget. This is an absolute record budget for the Northern Territory in health and community services, an increase of around $14m. The Leader of the Opposition, in an earlier question, suggested that somehow this was not a real increase at all. He failed to take into account that, in fact, we had already put in $15m in February this year, so this is on top of that. We are looking at a very big increase in health and community services.
In fact, since coming to government we have contributed $98m, a very significant increase. I can say that health and community services is no longer suffering from chronic under-funding. We are now looking at a situation where we can prioritise the services in this department, follow the priorities that have been provided to us by the Bansemer Report and move ahead in a positive fashion.
This budget announces $1.57m for employing more nurses in our system. We are on track to employ those 75 nurses that we promised. It also has $900 000 for the first stage of a major upgrade of mental health services in the Northern Territory. This injection will provide a boost to clinical mental health services, and strengthen consumer and carer support provided in the non-government sector. This is the first real increase, particularly recurrent increase, in mental health services for a decade.
There is also additional funding of $400 000 as part of a four-year program to upgrade dental services. Some of this will be directed to increasing the number of dentists in the Territory. The dental services we inherited from the CLP government were nothing short of an embarrassment and a shameful situation for the Northern Territory. It appears that, in 1997, when the Commonwealth removed its funding for dental services throughout Australia, $1m was never returned to the budget of dental services in the Northern Territory. We are beginning to turn that around. This year, we have a commitment of $400 000, and over the next few years, we will be increasing that funding.
One of the most exciting parts of this budget is the commencement of community-based renal dialysis services, with funding of $350 000 in recurrent, and $900 000 in capital, for Palmerston, Galiwinku and Groote Eylandt. The Northern Territory has the highest rates of end-phase renal disease in Australia. It has been a very sad situation that this has occurred in the Northern Territory, and that there have been virtually no services available for these people. We are following the review of my department, and moving services closer to people in their homes. This is wonderful for people living in remote areas. What we are looking at is people in those areas being able to access services for which they would normally have to come into places like Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. This is a very significant change for the delivery of renal services in the Northern Territory.
We have also put in additional ongoing funding of $500 000 for a Territory-wide after hours child protection service. Once again, this is a further increase and a commitment by this government to young people in the Northern Territory.
Regarding remote communities, we have put in $300 000 for the introduction of a pilot school breakfast program in remote areas. Too many of our children are suffering from significant malnutrition, and this is one way we can be working with those communities to get those children healthy again, and also back to school.
There is also a commitment of $290 000 to establish a health call centre to provide health advice and referral services. This will be particularly good, given the low numbers of GPs in the Northern Territory. It will be a further way in which we can make a commitment to the people of the Northern Territory that they can have after hours access to people who know something about health and community services in the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, this is an excellent budget for health. There will be continued emphasis on ensuring that we come in on budget, and that there will be efficiencies throughout the department. One of the things we have learnt from the past from the CLP is that it is absolutely necessary to make sure that the management in the department and the financial systems are all there. This is all part of the Health and Community Services budget, and I am very proud to have been able to provide $561m for Territorians.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
ANSWER
I thank the member for Karama for her question. I know she is particularly interested in this and has had a strong interest in health for many years.
It is very exciting today to be able to announce that there is $561m going into the health budget. This is an absolute record budget for the Northern Territory in health and community services, an increase of around $14m. The Leader of the Opposition, in an earlier question, suggested that somehow this was not a real increase at all. He failed to take into account that, in fact, we had already put in $15m in February this year, so this is on top of that. We are looking at a very big increase in health and community services.
In fact, since coming to government we have contributed $98m, a very significant increase. I can say that health and community services is no longer suffering from chronic under-funding. We are now looking at a situation where we can prioritise the services in this department, follow the priorities that have been provided to us by the Bansemer Report and move ahead in a positive fashion.
This budget announces $1.57m for employing more nurses in our system. We are on track to employ those 75 nurses that we promised. It also has $900 000 for the first stage of a major upgrade of mental health services in the Northern Territory. This injection will provide a boost to clinical mental health services, and strengthen consumer and carer support provided in the non-government sector. This is the first real increase, particularly recurrent increase, in mental health services for a decade.
There is also additional funding of $400 000 as part of a four-year program to upgrade dental services. Some of this will be directed to increasing the number of dentists in the Territory. The dental services we inherited from the CLP government were nothing short of an embarrassment and a shameful situation for the Northern Territory. It appears that, in 1997, when the Commonwealth removed its funding for dental services throughout Australia, $1m was never returned to the budget of dental services in the Northern Territory. We are beginning to turn that around. This year, we have a commitment of $400 000, and over the next few years, we will be increasing that funding.
One of the most exciting parts of this budget is the commencement of community-based renal dialysis services, with funding of $350 000 in recurrent, and $900 000 in capital, for Palmerston, Galiwinku and Groote Eylandt. The Northern Territory has the highest rates of end-phase renal disease in Australia. It has been a very sad situation that this has occurred in the Northern Territory, and that there have been virtually no services available for these people. We are following the review of my department, and moving services closer to people in their homes. This is wonderful for people living in remote areas. What we are looking at is people in those areas being able to access services for which they would normally have to come into places like Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. This is a very significant change for the delivery of renal services in the Northern Territory.
We have also put in additional ongoing funding of $500 000 for a Territory-wide after hours child protection service. Once again, this is a further increase and a commitment by this government to young people in the Northern Territory.
Regarding remote communities, we have put in $300 000 for the introduction of a pilot school breakfast program in remote areas. Too many of our children are suffering from significant malnutrition, and this is one way we can be working with those communities to get those children healthy again, and also back to school.
There is also a commitment of $290 000 to establish a health call centre to provide health advice and referral services. This will be particularly good, given the low numbers of GPs in the Northern Territory. It will be a further way in which we can make a commitment to the people of the Northern Territory that they can have after hours access to people who know something about health and community services in the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, this is an excellent budget for health. There will be continued emphasis on ensuring that we come in on budget, and that there will be efficiencies throughout the department. One of the things we have learnt from the past from the CLP is that it is absolutely necessary to make sure that the management in the department and the financial systems are all there. This is all part of the Health and Community Services budget, and I am very proud to have been able to provide $561m for Territorians.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016