Katter supports suspension to address rural doctor shortage – “Tyranny of distance”
KAP Federal Member for Kennedy, has supported fellow crossbencher, Member for Calare, Andrew Gee’s, motion to suspend standing orders in the House of Representatives and bring the Doctors for the Bush Bill 2024 to the front of the legislative agenda for immediate discussion.
Mr Gee’s bill is a critical step in addressing the ongoing shortage of healthcare professionals in regional and remote Australia.
Mr Katter, who has long been a vocal advocate for better healthcare services in the bush, stressed the urgency of this matter, drawing on personal family experiences to highlight the devastating effects of the tyranny of distance.
“It’s not entirely germane to what we are proposing here, but there were three Katter boys—my father and his two brothers. Their parents had gone out to their region in a stagecoach in the 1870s. Two of the boys died as a result of the tyranny of distance,” said Mr Katter.
“My uncle was injured in a football match—and this is where the story does not really pertain to doctors in the bush. By the time the Qantas aeroplane—and my grandfather was a major shareholder in those days—came back from Longreach to Cloncurry and then took him from Cloncurry to Brisbane, it was too late. Sadly, he died. If the aeroplane had been at Cloncurry, he'd have been alright. So he died as a result of the tyranny of distance.
“My father had cancer. He should have gone down for the operation, but the airline strike came. He wouldn't jump the queue and he was in no condition to drive down. By the time he got down there, 3½ months later, it was too late; the cancer had got away. So he also died as a result of the tyranny of distance."
Mr Katter said the Bill highlighted the stark reality faced by many regional Australians who suffer due to the lack of local medical professionals and access to healthcare.
📷 Bob Katter and Dr Rod Catton of Innisfail
Katter also pointed out the absurdity of government policies that mistakenly categorise thriving regional centres like Cairns as ‘isolated’.
“Cairns is one of the most salubrious places in the world to live. And it's isolated? Heavens! If Cairns is isolated, God help the rest of Australia!" he said.
Drawing on his own experience of fighting for doctors in Julia Creek, Mr Katter said that, for years, he personally coordinated with overseas medical professionals to ensure the town never went without a doctor.
Long advocating for solutions to the doctor shortage in rural and remote Australia, Mr Katter has proposed that the government should reintroduce a system where medical graduates are bound to serve in regional areas as part of their qualification.
“We should return to mandatory regional and remote placements. At least for 15 months. If you graduate as a doctor, the government puts a million dollars into making you a doctor, and it will give you the right to earn a squillion dollars a year. And if the government gifts you that investment in your career, then I think you owe something to the people of regional Australia,” he said.
Mr Katter concluded by stressing the broader impact of this issue on regional centres across his electorate, saying, “We’re not just talking about Julia Creek. We’re talking about places like Mareeba, only 30 kilometres from Cairns, yet their situation is grim.”
Bob Katter’s support of the Doctors for the Bush Bill 2024 is a critical step in securing a better future for rural and regional Australians who continue to face a lack of access to essential healthcare services.
Almost 13,000 people have signed Andrew Gee's petition, you can too by heading to www.change.org/p/end-the-rural-doctor-shortage-crisis .
ENDS
