CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr GEE (Calare) (16:11): I recently attended the official opening of the state-of-the-art CSU Newmont Simulation Centre and Immersion Room at the Bloomfield Medical Centre in Orange. Thanks to a generous $1.5 million investment from Newmont's community investment program our future doctors, nurses and paramedics now have access to cutting-edge medical training in the Central West.

The facility features a 19.5-metre wraparound LED immersion screen, advanced interactive patient mannequins and simulated operating theatres and emergency wards. This allows students to practice complex trauma and disaster scenarios in safe, realistic settings without having to leave Orange. This was a true community effort.

From Newmont, I wish to thank General Manager Lori Douglas, Leesa King, Nicole Morris and Melissa O'Brien. From Charles Sturt University, my thanks goes to Vice-Chancellor, Professor Renée Leon; Dean of the School of Rural Medicine, Professor Jacqueline Epps; and the team, including Justine Brindle, Damian Limberger, Lesley Forster, SB Shanker, Steven Cook, Jason Poposki, Linda Harvey and Sarah Ansell.

I also acknowledge the hardworking facilities team: Mark Aitcheson, Brendon Post, Blake Edwards and Robert Shaw. We all know that, if you train doctors in the bush, they stay in the bush, and last November I welcomed the 10 additional medical places awarded to Charles Sturt University's medical school. If the government is serious about fixing the rural doctor shortage, we've got to back our rural medical schools like CSU.

That's why it was so infuriating when just last week the government handed out another 50 medical places across eight universities and CSU missed out entirely. What's going on here? It also failed to extend prac payments to medical students.

So I call on the government to fund more medical places for our students at Charles Sturt University and extend prac payments to our medical students so we can build the vibrant rural and regional healthcare workforce Australia so desperately needs. While they're at it, the federal government needs to urgently address the looming crisis of speciality training places for junior doctors.

We need our graduates trained and employed. Progression into specialty training has collapsed. The share of junior doctors entering training each year fell from 52 per cent in 2018 to 33 per cent in 2024.

Medical student Josh Gaul, who is Vice-Chair of the New South Wales Medical Students' Council, has come up with a solution. Firstly, prioritise Australian trained graduates for speciality training. They should get priority, not overseas trained doctors.

Secondly, international doctors who are already practising here should be grandfathered. Thirdly, the number of training places should be expanded by at least 1,150 per year from 2027. This is a serious issue facing all communities across Australia, and the government needs to act now.