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Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President, Parliament House, Darwin

QUESTION: …you had some concerns about the approach that the NT Government has taken for tort law reform. Have you been reassured by those discussions?

PHELPS: Yes, the Chief Minister has reassured me that they are proceedings with further tort law reforms and that they're not going to just leave things as they are. We were concerned that the reforms that had been put in place, while welcome, were not going to be enough to address the issues that were going to hit the Northern Territory this time, as we've seen in the Eastern States.

And also given that about 60% of the Northern Territory's privately practising doctors were and are insured with UMP. So it's very much an issue for the Northern Territory and we're pleased to see that there will be some further advances made in the area of tort law reform.

QUESTION: What about …… when is that?

PHELPS: The next session of parliament, as quickly as you can get it done. But we've also had some discussions today about how some of that legislation might be improved. And the Chief Minister said that she'll certainly have a look at that and we offered the AMA's services in discussing the finer details of that to help. Thank you.

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