CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr CONAGHAN (Cowper) (16:31): Men's Health Week is later this month, with the same theme of 'see your GP', which is an important message to a group of Australians who statistically ignore their health concerns. On the whole, men don't book their regular check-ups; instead they opt for 'she'll be right mate'. This has got to change, but tragically in regional areas 'see your GP' is becoming impossible.

This week a 45-year-old constituent who lives in Port Macquarie contacted me. He went to book a check-up with his regular GP and was told that the books were closed. When he said, 'I'm an existing patient,' he was told that because he hadn't been there for the past two years he'd been removed.

It's a rule that has been brought in due to rampant demand. He tried another four centres only to get the same story. He finally found an available appointment with a doctor he'd never seen before, but to get that slot he needed to wait for two weeks, and he eventually gave up.

This was in Port Macquarie, which is an attractive regional city, yet we can't attract enough GPs. We urgently need fairer distribution of skilled migrants, better incentives for our young people to become GPs and better motivators for GPs to train in regional areas. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to James Thomas Dunn, who tragically and suddenly passed away on 12 May at the age of 54.

James was a husband to Pauline and a father to James Jr and Georgia, who he loved dearly. He was incredibly proud of their achievements and always spoke of their times together and their latest holidays. He left little doubt in anyone's mind that his family came above all.

His love and his respect were also always on display for his mum, Catherine, and dad, Jim. James was also a giant in the business community. At the time of his passing, James was the managing director of Expressway Spares, which was started in 1964 by James's grandfather, and now employs several hundred people in regional Australia.

As a reflection of the man he was, James knew the names of every single employee and treated them as family. To his mates, James was a character. He was always laughing, having a joke or wearing his notorious fluoro speedos on Lighthouse Beach on Christmas Day, and he was always there to lend a hand or lend an ear.

Our thoughts go to James's family, friends and colleagues at Expressway Spares. James's funeral yesterday made me want to do better and be better like James. He will be missed.

Vale James Dunn.