NURSES — RECRUITMENT
372. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. The
minister clearly does not listen to the questions asked of him, so I will ask
this supplementary question slowly so he can understand!
The SPEAKER: No preamble;
just a question.
Dr D.J. HONEY: How many
nurses has the government recruited from overseas as a consequence of its
advertising blitz?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I
have just come from a press conference where we provided details about that, so
maybe I will take up a little bit more of the opposition's question
time to explain that program. This is an exciting program whereby we are
advertising in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other places to try to bring in
nurses from overseas. They will be recruited via a program that will see them
come to Western Australia over and above our cap. They will not have to pay their quarantine fees and we will provide them
with a relocation allowance. The program has nothing to do with the commitment
of 1 000 nurse graduates that we made back in April this year. That is a completely
separate commitment. As a result, we
will hopefully have a great blend of nurse graduates and experienced nurses. As
I said, we have already recruited 750 experienced nurses. Some will be
locals, some will come from interstate and some will come from overseas, but we
welcome them all, because they will provide great care for the people of Western
Australia.