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December 11, 2024

Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Deputy Leader and Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto has questioned the LNP Government's decision to axe the Workforce Attraction Incentive Scheme (WAIS), calling it a shortsighted and untimely move that could exacerbate the healthcare crisis in rural and regional Queensland.

The scheme, implemented by the former Labor government, offered up to $70,000 to attract Queensland Health workers to critical roles in regional and remote areas. It will now be scrapped effective January 1, 2025.

Dametto said the decision couldn’t come at a worse time as the state’s health system struggles under the weight of significant GP and clinician shortages.

“This is poor form from the LNP Government and instils little faith in rural and remote parts of Queensland where residents are struggling to access essential medical care, including Hinchinbrook,” Mr Dametto said.

“The GP shortage across Hinchinbrook and rural Queensland is having a severe flow-on effect on the public health system and local hospitals.

“We need to be pulling out all the stops to attract and retain health workers in rural and regional Queensland, whether that be more GPs who are in critical demand, or more Queensland Health medical professionals. They all play a collective role in delivering the universal healthcare our communities need.”

The Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls MP claimed that if the scheme continued until December 2026 as intended, it risked an over expenditure of $165 million. Queensland Health staff have been advised that the Government will seek to ‘realign its workforce strategy to programs offering better value for money’.

“Axing this scheme without offering a viable alternative is a huge concern for places like Hinchinbrook where we have the oldest demographic in Queensland per capita,” Mr Dametto said.

“Our aging community needs consistent and reliable healthcare services and currently there are huge gaps in our workforce that are completely unacceptable.

“I have written to the Hon. Tim Nicholls calling on him to reconsider the decision to axe the scheme, or alternatively, to urgently announce and implement the LNP’s alternative plan to ensure that medical professionals continue to be lured to work in the regions.

“I also sought a commitment from the Minister to participate in a multi-government discussion aimed at addressing the GP shortage. This was an issue I have raised on behalf of the Mayor of the Hinchinbrook Shire Council, Mr Ramon Jayo.

“Mayor Jayo recently wrote to myself, and the Federal Member for Kennedy the Hon. Bob Katter, seeking our commitment to address the dire shortage of GPs in Ingham. I wholeheartedly support Mayor Jayo’s request, and I am hopeful that we can bring all levels of government together to resolve this acute GP shortage.

“Although GPs fall into the federal sphere, all levels of government can work together to address the dire shortage of GPs in our rural areas. We saw a classic example of this in Cardwell last year when one of the local medical centres was saved from closure by combining management, resources and workforce contributions from all three levels of government.

“We need all hands are on deck to deal with the current healthcare crisis in Queensland. People in regional and remote areas deserve to have the same access to medical care as their city counterparts.”

Photo: Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto at the Cardwell Family Practice.