Mr HAASE (2:51 PM) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister update the House on how the government is delivering better health for Indigenous Australians?

Mr ABBOTT (Minister for Health and Ageing) —I thank the member for Kalgoorlie for his question, and I know how concerned he is to ensure better health outcomes for Indigenous people. When it comes to reconciliation the right rhetoric is important, but it is not as important as the right result. Indigenous specific health spending has increased from just over $100 million in 1996 to $350 million in the coming financial year. That is a 150 per cent real increase. As a result, immunisation rates in remote Indigenous communities are now close to 100 per cent. There are still too few Indigenous doctors, but there are 50 per cent more than in 1996. There are still too few Indigenous nurses, but there are 30 per cent more than in 1996.

In Townsville, Indigenous peri-natal mortality is down by over 50 per cent. In some Northern Territory communities, peri-natal mortality is down by over 400 per cent. Since the 1970s, Indigenous death rates in the Northern Territory from communicable diseases are down by over 60 per cent, and deaths from trauma are down over 30 per cent. Since 1997 there has been a 74 per cent increase in the number of healthcare episodes delivered by Aboriginal medical services. As well, as a result of the words and inspiration of people like Noel Pearson, more Indigenous communities are taking greater responsibility for their own health. There is still, I am afraid, a long way to go, there is no room for complacency on any measure, but we owe it to the Indigenous people of Australia to focus on good news as well as bad news as we work together to get even better outcomes in the years ahead.