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Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Page: 3596

Ms RISHWORTH (Kingston) (21:35): I rise today as a proud member of this Labor government that has delivered the passage of the minerals resource rent tax. This is a very important week, because what this lower house has committed to do is ensure that the proceeds of the mining boom are shared throughout the community. I know that in my local electorate this is certainly welcomed. Just looking at these figures indicates how important it is. Firstly, let us look at small business. Our minerals resource rent tax will help 13,500 small businesses to share the benefits of the mining boom by cutting the tax rate from 30 per cent to 29 per cent. This is important for local businesses, especially in my electorate. A lot of businesses in my electorate are not directly linked to the mining boom, and businesses in my electorate do feel like they are missing out. They are missing out because of a number of things, including the very high dollar that at times is making it difficult to export. We do need to help them be competitive. We do need to give them a helping hand, and reducing the company tax rate does help with that. So I am proud to stand on this side of the House to say yes to a tax cut for small business, unlike the opposition who will say no to a tax cut for small business,. We are also looking at a significant boost to superannuation. I am very proud to be part of a government that has seen superannuation reform as critically important to ensure that people in their older age, in their retirement, have a good quality of life. I am very pleased that the proceeds from the minerals resource rent tax will provide 47,900 workers in my electorate with a boost to their superannuation. With the extra super contribution for low-income earners, we are looking at 27,000 low-income workers who will benefit. This will have a real impact for people in my electorate and shows that we are committed to sharing the proceeds of the mining boom, unlike the opposition, who just say no. They just say no continually—to reform and to improvements that benefit my electorate.

This is not the only thing that the opposition has said no to. This week we have seen the shadow parliamentary secretary for health, the member for Boothby, start to say no to the GP superclinic in my electorate. I say to the member for Boothby: come and spend a bit of time in my electorate and see how important this GP superclinic will be for my local area. The criticism that the member for Boothby had was that there was not a GP in every single consulting room in the GP superclinic. This is a very narrow view of what health care is all about. My electorate needs GPs, but it also needs a number of other things, and they include practice nurses, dieticians, diabetes nurse educators, social workers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, podiatrists, exercise physiologists and physiotherapists. These are also in short supply in my electorate. People are not always able to get to see them, but they are very important to their health care. These will all be available from the GP superclinic that is now open in my electorate. So I call on the member for Boothby not to have such a narrow view of what health care is all about, because, in the outer suburbs of Adelaide, people need to see a range of healthcare professionals. There is a shortage not just of GPs but of a whole range of healthcare professionals that people need access to. This GP superclinic is providing access to a range of different services that are needed.

The GP superclinic has also enabled a massive expansion of public dental health care in my electorate. The GP superclinic has allowed for a tripling of public dental chairs in my electorate. The member for Boothby again has criticised the GP superclinic, by suggesting that dental care is not part of health care. I call on the member for Boothby to stop singing from the songbook of the AMA and start actually listening to local people in the electorates, because this is really important.

Another thing the GP superclinic will do is provide the opportunity for training and education placements for Adelaide medical and nursing students. This Labor government has increased training to ensure there are enough trained people on the ground, whether they be doctors or nurses, to service the electorate. So I call on the member for Boothby to get on board and support the GP superclinics. (Time expired)