The reshuffle of the Coalition government’s cabinet in late December 2014 saw the appointment of Sussan Ley (“Lee”) the federal Member for the rural electorate of Farrar, as Australia’s new Health Minister.
She replaces Peter Dutton, the shadow minister before the Coalition’s victory last year, who kept the portfolio in the first Abbott cabinet. In so doing Ms Ley has become the second woman in the inner cabinet, joining the acclaimed Julie Bishop.
Named after William James Farrer, the father of the Australian wheat industry, Ms Ley’s electorate covers a vast 250,000 square kilometres of NSW. Fortunately her skills include piloting aircraft (along with air traffic controlling, farming and tax accountancy).
The immense challenges of the portfolio, and the contentious nature of health service delivery in Australia, was highlighted on the day her appointment was announced.
Quick out of the blocks was the AMA whose president Brian Owler slammed the government’s handling of the Medicare funding issue, both the $7.00 co-payment proposed in the now-shaky 2013-14 Budget and the more recent ‘compromise’ to cut the GP rebate by $5.00
Minister Ley is seen as a better communicator than her predecessor and improvements in this area will be welcomed by both the public and the profession.
