Mr McCLELLAND (10:36 PM) —I have previously spoken about the closure of the only Medicare office in my electorate of Barton. Indeed, in my annoyance, I have described it as a political rort. In fact, 1,800 constituents of mine have a similar opinion and have signed a petition opposing the closure of Rockdale Medicare office and the inconvenience it has caused.

When you are annoyed about something you look at why it has occurred. Indeed, in May 1996 I asked the Minister for Health and Family Services (Dr Wooldridge) what the determining factors were in deciding where to open a Medicare office. I asked him about the state of the facilities in my electorate. There is the St George Public Hospital, a major teaching hospital, and the St George Private Hospital in my electorate. There are also over 200 medical practitioners, which is about the eighth largest district for doctors in all Australia.

I asked Dr Wooldridge whether he would consider those factors in the establishment of a Medicare office in Kogarah. He advised me that Medicare customer service centres are determined according to strict guidelines. You are probably prepared to accept that—an independent commission determining things according to strict guidelines. But then what happened? Fourteen out of the 17 Medicare offices closed in the state of New South Wales are in Labor electorates. I have lost my only one, despite those statistics to which I have referred.

Being a little annoyed about that, you would smell a rat—14 out of 17. So I further pursued the issue. I asked the minister whether those guidelines apply equally to the closure as they do to the establishment of a Medicare office. He said, `Yes, they do.' I asked, `What are those strict guidelines?' and he replied, `Well, look, a number of factors are taken into account.' So strict guidelines become a number of factors. Then he said, `You have to look at whether it is metropolitan or country. There has to be a minimum of 150 cash services per day.' We would have got that in a lunchtime at Rockdale. The minister then said, `At the end of the exercise, there is the need, as well, to look at the competing interests of other localities and to decide priorities.'

We know his priorities. His priorities are to effect a political rort. That is what he did. I asked him whether he had regard to the fact that there was a substantial increase in the numbers of customers needing reimbursement from Medicare as a result of those medical facilities to which I have referred. In May this year I asked him whether the Health Insurance Commission considered the demand for services and he said:

The HIC is unable to comment as this is a State government matter.

Clearly he decided to close Medicare offices without having regard to the demand for medical services in areas. That is gross incompetence. I then pursued the matter further and asked what sort of service criteria he was interested in obtaining for these Medicare offices. I asked him whether there were any performance indicators. Specifically, I asked him whether the Health Insurance Commission reviewed waiting times at Medicare offices. He came back with the honest but bold answer:

There has been no formal review of waiting times for Medicare offices in NSW.

This is a minister who does not care what service is provided by Medicare to Australians. He is completely oblivious. He has closed offices for blatant political purposes. I have this petition sponsored by the St George Hospital because of the inconvenience that has been caused to patients in my electorate of Barton, many senior citizens who cannot even find the Medicare office in Hurstville. If this minister were sat down there and cross-examined on why he has interfered with the independent and objective discretion of the Health Insurance Commission, he would have no answers other than that he has perpetrated a rort on the patients in my electorate of Barton.