In his bid to oust Labor's Fiona Phillips from the federal seat of Gilmore, Andrew Constance pitches on roads and hospitals in an attempt to sway voters.
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00:00Well the emergency department in Bapus Bay must be kept open. Labor's decision to slam it shut against the will of our community is just ridiculous.
00:10And to want to replace it with a Medicare or billing clinic, it's not the type of clinic that can save someone having a heart attack, not someone who might be having a stroke.
00:19And I know first hand how important that emergency department is to save lives.
00:23The health planning got it wrong with the advent of the new level 4 regional hospital which has an intensive care unit.
00:29And I just think we've got to get it kept and we've been fighting for that and there's no doubt that Bapus Bay and the will of the people are for that to remain in place.
00:38One of the undertakings Peter Duncan has given is to explore what avenues are available under the National Healthcare Agreement with NSW
00:45to ensure that an emergency department such as this which is so key and so important does remain open, does remain funded and does remain protected for years and years and years ahead.
00:55And we know that the ED saves lives, the staff are incredible and the community is backing it in.
01:01Because over recent years we've seen such phenomenal growth in Bapus Bay in terms of departments.
01:06We've seen the Labor Party cut the number of emergency department beds under the clinical service plan for the new regional hospital.
01:13That makes it even more important that Bapus Bay is saved and Labor at the moment is just simply not listening.
01:20Restoration of the Medicare supported psychology services is really important.
01:25We used to have available 10 free counselling services and sessions a year.
01:30Sorry, there used to be 20 and it was cut to 10 and we need to have it reversed back to 20.
01:34That's a start.
01:35But also making sure that we have the right sub-acute services and making sure that we have properly supported communities when it comes to mental health.
01:44This is why on top of the $8.5 billion that's been matched between the Coalition and Labor for Medicare,
01:51we're adding an extra half billion to go into mental health supports, go into supporting young doctors who are entering the system.
01:58What everybody doesn't know is that by 2032 Australia has a shortage of 11,000 doctors.
02:05And one thing that Labor hasn't been able to do with its Medicare off-billing clinic at the hospital is explain where those doctors are going to come from to support their extension in the hours of the service.
02:16They will be typically poached from other medical clinics that do exist across the region and across the community.
02:23And that is not going to help with the waiting times, the cost of living associated with health care and it's going to add extra pressure.
02:32So we need to get junior doctors supported, we need the medical support that's put back in place,
02:38and of course we need to fix the bulk billing rate which has dropped dramatically under the Albanese Government over the last three years.
02:44Well what we're seeing from the Federal Government in recent decades is funding of duplication of the Hume Highway and the Pacific Highway.
02:51That road work is now being completed so it's time for the Princess Highway to have more Federal dollars in conjunction with the State Government
02:58to make sure we get the right projects built as quickly as possible.
03:01It wouldn't matter if it's projects like the link road that needs to go into the new hospital down at Maria,
03:06so that Batemans Bay residents do have access without being caught in traffic jams in the centre of the main street of Maria,
03:12through to making sure that the Milton-Ullar-Duller bypass is built, the Nowra bypass is built,
03:17and all of the gaps in between so that we have a duplicated highway all the way here to the Europe of Duller.