Senator PATTERSON (Minister for Health and Ageing) (3:01 PM) —I have some more information for Senator Mackay. I am advised by the department that no money has been diverted away from New South Wales, or any other state, with regard to the Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program. There has been no deliberate slowing down of action under the program by the department or by the organisations developing the proposals. In New South Wales, progress has been steady. The New South Wales Rural Doctors Network is responsible for arranging private specialist outreach services. They are working to an agreed timetable and are well on track. Specialist services in public hospitals are being funded via the state health departments. We have a consultative process to work out where the gaps are and how best to fill them.

Following community consultation, the New South Wales Rural Doctors Network or the state government department submits proposals to the Commonwealth. These are then considered by the state based advisory committee, which advises on the appropriateness of the submission and the extent to which it meets the needs. This is an important process but, as you can well understand, it takes time. At times the proposals fall short of fitting the program guidelines, and these have been returned to the responsible body for further development. The goal is to support a series of services that benefit the community.

I remind honourable senators that a specialist outreach assistance program did not exist under the former government. I am aware of the reported statements by Minister Craig Knowles regarding deliberate Commonwealth delays, and I refute these completely. This program aims to achieve the best outcomes for rural communities. It is my view that this activity should respond to community priorities, which may not necessarily be those of the state government. New South Wales have sought to use the recent and generous injections of Commonwealth funding for rural services to allow them to take money out of rural areas. Indeed, we are having a protracted battle with them to accept that new Commonwealth funds must result in new services. We cannot have a situation where Commonwealth funds come in the front door only to have state funds disappear out the back door.

Some project proposals, including those from New South Wales Health, require clarification and amendment to make sure there is no duplication or overlap of existing services. We cannot fund project plans that are unfinished or underdeveloped. The groundwork has now been set for continued expansion of the Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program across Australia. At this point, new services are operating in South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, with service plans in other states approved or in the final stages of development. This means that rural Australians are now receiving a specialist medical service that they were not receiving previously and were not receiving under the Labor government.