Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Anne Webster has labelled Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 a ‘Koala Court’ because it is too cuddly towards Labor state premiers. “Usually, questionable inquiries are kangaroo courts, but in this case the Prime Minister has gone out of his way to avoid scrutiny of…
The Productivity Commission has confirmed just how valuable agriculture is to Australia. Last week the commission released a paper titled Productivity Growth and Wages – a Forensic Look which laid bare the importance of the sector. This paper highlighted that while agriculture – combined with mining – accounted for just over 4 per cent of…
Reports of nearly 200 GP clinics around Australia closing in the past year is deeply concerning, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Anne Webster says. NewsGP has been supplied data from 17 of Australia’s 31 Primary Health Networks (PHNs) showing at least 184 general practices have closed nationwide, significantly more than the 60 closures in…
The Nationals Federal Conference has backed two key health policy recommendations to alleviate workforce issues in Regional Australia, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Anne Webster says. The Conference unanimously supported reintroducing a stronger “on the job” hospital-based nurse education requirement for regional nursing students, which would allow students to study and start work earlier…
The Albanese Labor Government’s revised Murray Darling Basin Plan has pulled the plug on years of bipartisanship and will leave basin communities in ruin, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says. Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s amendments to the plan will extend the deadline for its delivery until December 2027 and reintroduce dreaded water buybacks. “River communities…
Labor’s latest industrial relations reforms risk employers being forced to let staff go, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says. “The government needs to focus on keeping Australians employed, not appeasing the unions”, Dr Webster said. The Albanese Labor Government’s proposed industrial relations changes will make life tougher for Australian businesses by increasing costs, complexity and…
126 days after announcing a 90 day review of Australia’s $120 billion infrastructure pipeline, Mallee communities are still waiting to hear whether their key projects will continue or be axed by the Albanese Labor Government. Member for Mallee Anne Webster said Infrastructure Minister Catherine King needed to give answers on Coalition-funded projects such as the…
New data highlighting a surge in millennials abandoning the cities for the country life shows a need for Labor to invest in the regions, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says. The Regional Australia Institute’s Big Movers 2023 report found an additional 54,000 millennials headed for the regions during the latest Census period (2016-2021) compared to…
The skills shortage in Mallee 12 months on from the Jobs and Skills Summit remains in crisis, pushing cost-of-living pressures higher. Member for Mallee Anne Webster said despite The Nationals taking a constructive role to represent regional Australia at Labor’s Jobs and Skills Summit one year ago, workforce shortages in the agriculture sector continue to…
Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Anne Webster says Labor’s announcement to bring forward the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement is an acknowledgement their 60-day dispensing policy was going to adversely impact community pharmacies and health outcomes, particularly in regional Australia. “All along I have advocated for Mallee and other regional community pharmacists who were worried…