Election winner: Richard di Natale in Geelong this week.
Erin Pearson
GEELONG’S dental health and addiction problems are the focus of the region’s new federal senator, he announced in the city this week.
The Greens’ Richard di Natale, who lives at Deans Marsh, near Lorne, said Geelong “highlights” the demand for increased funding in health care.
“One of the great failings of state and federal governments is that they’ve under-funded the drug and alcohol part of the health sector for a long time,” he said.
“It’s very hard to access help for drug and alcohol problems – detox, withdrawal, counselling and substitution treatments – because they carry expensive costs and there is a huge need in Geelong for these services.
“Geelong really highlights it.”
Mr di Natale, a doctor, spent several years working on indigenous health in the Northern Territory and on HIV prevention in India.
He contested seven previous elections for the Greens before winning a senate seat for Victoria last month.
Mr di Natale said he hoped to advance a policy for a universal dental health plan.
“Because I have a medical background, I’ve seen people who are in desperate need of dental help.
“The public dental system just can’t help, so there’s a really urgent need to get more public dental treatment in Geelong where you have some of the highest waiting lists anywhere in the country.
“Historically, the dental profession have resisted a public dental scheme and governments have been reluctant to make big reforms.
“They lack courage and leadership and I want to put this back into politics.”
Mr di Natale said the Greens would push for a “Denticare” system similar to Medicare, offering easy-to-access check-ups and treatments.
“The reason we get into politics is because we want to make change,” he said.
“The way to make change is to get into positions where you can exercise power politically.
“The Greens clearly have huge potential to continue growing in Geelong and in the region and I’d like to be part of that.”
