I am honoured to have been appointed to the Health Portfolio in the Shadow Ministry led by Bill Shorten and am extremely grateful for the opportunity.
Having worked in this portfolio as Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing under former Ministers Roxon and Plibersek, I have a strong understanding of the health priorities of the community and the sector’s stakeholders.
I am extremely proud of Labor’s achievements in government. Including but not limited to:
• Investment in GP Super Clinics, local primary health care services, and the creation of Medicare Locals;
• A central focus on preventative health, including the world first plain packaging of tobacco and the new preventative health agency;
• The rollout of Regional Cancer Centres across regional and rural Australia, closing the gap in cancer outcomes between city and country;
• Our focus on public dental care, including investment in the Grow Up Smiling program, providing eligible Australian children with subsidised dental care.
I would also like to highlight that during my time as Parliamentary Secretary, we were able to lift the rate of organ and tissue donation, resulting in the generosity of donors and their families providing hundreds of Australians each year with a second chance at life. I also focussed on introducing reforms to Australia’s health regulators to make them more responsive to the Australian public and increase their transparency.
I look forward to working with and listening to the views of various stakeholders and the community, while holding the Abbott Government to account and ensuring that Labor has the policies to deliver a better and fairer health system at the next election.