In my first speech to Parliament in August 2019, I spoke of the need for greater access to quality healthcare. I said that a person’s postcode should not determine their health status.
Since then I have been fighting for health in Mallee, and the 2020 Commonwealth Budget has delivered, with $18.6 million for Border Oncology Research. This funding adds the Mildura Base Public Hospital as a new site for the Regional Trials Network Victoria.
This project will help bridge the metro-regional clinical trials gap by 2025, with the bonus of attracting more specialists to our region.
Having research done in clinical trials regionally, means people gain access to better treatments. This funding will help put local researchers and doctors at the forefront of global research and will lead to more treatment options for regional patients.
Out of this year’ budget, the now publicly managed Mildura Base Public Hospital will also benefit from the Coalition Government’s commitment of $133.6 billion over five years to fund public hospitals in Australia. This is an increase of $33.6 billion on the previous agreement with States and Territories, and it’s a huge win for our hospital. My expectation is for the State Government to allocate funding for the Swan Hill hospital and the Mildura hospital with funding it will receive.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh on the mental health of our communities. That’s why I’m so glad that mental health and suicide prevention continues to be a national priority.
Medicare funded psychological services through the Better Access Initiative have been doubled from 10 sessions to 20, and more funding is being provided for Lifeline, Headspace, Beyond Blue, and Kids Helpline. These and other initiatives bring the Coalition Government’s commitment to mental health support to $5.7 billion this year.
The pandemic has shown that valuable reforms which might otherwise have taken years can be secured in weeks, as we have seen with the rapid development of Medicare funded telehealth services.
Anne Webster is the Federal Member for Mallee
