THE HON CATHERINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BALLARAT
LABOR WELCOMES NEW AMA PRESIDENT
Labor congratulates Dr Tony Bartone on his election as President of the Federal Australian Medical Association.
Dr Bartone is a respected GP from Melbourne who has led the Victorian AMA and has served the last two years as Vice President of the Federal AMA.
We have worked well with Dr Bartone in each of these previous roles – and we look forward to working with him as Federal President, one of the most important jobs in health advocacy in Australia.
Dr Bartone’s election comes at a crucial time for health due to the Turnbull Government’s continued assault on health and hospitals. This includes the Liberals’ continued freeze on Medicare rebates and their $2.8 billion in cuts to public hospitals.
We welcome Dr Bartone’s initial comments that he intends to send a message to Health Minister Greg Hunt that the time for rhetoric is over and the time for real action on health care and general practice has arrived.
A Shorten Labor Government would deliver exactly that: real action to improve our health system.
Labor also congratulates Dr Chris Zappala on his election as Vice President.
We acknowledge the contribution of the outgoing president, Dr Michael Gannon, and we wish him well in his future endeavours.