Adjournment debate- mental health

22-Jun-2010 Mental HealthDr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (8.30 pm)—I rise thisevening to speak on a topic which is often ignored, thetopic of mental health. Mental illness is prevalent inour society. One in every five Australians is likely toexperience some form of mental illness each year. Itcosts the Australian economy, in terms of lost productivityand lost lives, ... more

Adjournment: Vandalism in Blackwood

15-Jun-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (8:50 PM) —I rise this evening to put on the record a major issue of concern for many residents in my electorate. The community of Boothby has recently seen an escalation of vandalism and antisocial behaviour, damaging the premises of local businesses and causing substantial cost to the livelihoods of owners. Petty crime, ... more

Adjournment: Infrastructure

31-May-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (9:50 PM) —I rise to speak about some of the infrastructure requirements which are currently being neglected in my electorate. There are three principal infrastructure requirements. The first of these is the main east-west Adelaide-Melbourne freight line. This line runs through metropolitan Adelaide as it goes from Murray ... more

Main Committee APPROPRIATION BILL (NO. 1) 2010-2011

26-May-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (4:43 PM) —This is the third Rudd government budget, and every budget has been different. Remember the first budget? That was where we were fighting inflation. That was where the Treasurer, the finance minister and the Prime Minister were trying to build the biggest surplus they possibly could. Of course, we know what ... more

ADJOURNMENT Boothby Electorate: Bushfires

12-May-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (7:49 PM) —I would like to speak about one of the top priorities for real action in the electorate of Boothby. Over the last 13 years, residents of Belair in the electorate of Boothby have faced two major bushfires, posing a real threat to lives and homes. Woody weeds, in particular feral olives, which are widespread in ... more

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT (PATHOLOGY REQUESTS) BILL 2010

12-May-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (5:02 PM) —The Health Insurance Amendment (Pathology Requests) Bill 2010 is a very straightforward bill. It provides for greater patient choice of pathology services. An individual’s choice of pathology practitioner is currently restricted by the Health Insurance Act 1973. This act requires that in order for a Medicare ... more

HEALTH PRACTITIONER REGULATION (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL 2010

12-May-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (12:11 PM) —The registration of health professionals in Australia has been done at a state level. This has always led to problems when people move between jurisdictions, so as a result the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 provided that when someone was recognised in one jurisdiction they could apply to practice in another ... more

THERAPEUTIC GOODS AMENDMENT (2009 MEASURES NO. 3) BILL 2009

17-Mar-2010 Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (1:00 PM) —The parliament has been waiting for this bill, and its related legislation, for a while. Going back to 2002 the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference recommended a specific regulatory framework for tissue and biological therapies. This was developed in the context of a joint regulator with New Zealand—the ... more

HEALTHCARE IDENTIFIERS BILL 2010

10-Mar-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (6:29 PM) —The Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 and the Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010 allow for the introduction of 16-digit identifiers for every Australian, every healthcare provider and every healthcare organisation in Australia. The introduction of these identifiers is a key foundation for ... more

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT (DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING ACCREDITATION) BILL 2009

22-Feb-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (8:15 PM) —The Health Insurance Amendment (Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation) Bill 2009 seeks to broaden the existing accreditation scheme for diagnostic imaging to cover practices offering non-radiological procedures. Radiology services were required by earlier legislation to seek accreditation from July 2008. Diagnostic ... more

CARBON POLLUTION REDUCTION SCHEME BILL 2010

08-Feb-2010 Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (5:06 PM) —This is now the third time that the House has considered legislation for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, and on each of the previous two occasions the opposition voted against the government’s CPRS, or emissions trading scheme. I would like to say at the outset that it is important that we take strong action ... more

FAIRER PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INCENTIVES BILL 2009 [NO. 2]

03-Feb-2010   Dr SOUTHCOTT (Boothby) (10:17 AM) —We have been here before. The Labor Party, when they were last in government, could not wait to get their hands on private health insurance, and they made a number of decisions in the first few years of the Hawke government which amounted to a 40 per cent withdrawal of the support for private health insurance. ... more