Good morning colleagues, special guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is a great honour to be standing here delivering my first AMA Presidential Statement.

It is an even greater honour knowing you have already given me the chance to deliver my second Statement next year.

I am humbled by your trust and your confidence in me. I will not let you down.

I thank you for the support over the past year and look forward to working more closely with you - working harder and achieving our common goals.

As the video says, 'We Are The Champions' - and I place great emphasis on the 'we'. The AMA is a great team. We are a great team. We work well together - the Federal AMA and the State and Territory AMAs - our office bearers, councillors and our officers.

We're all working toward the same goal: the best possible health system for our patients, and the community and for our members, the medical profession. We work to ensure that the system we work in is supportive, productive, and responsive.

And when it comes to medico-politics, we are indeed the champions. We have to be.

When it comes to the health system and their health and the health of their families, the Australian people need champions.

The patients need champions. The doctors and nurses and carers need champions.

Our members need champions.

A lot of faith is placed in the AMA to promote health policy reform, especially on the tough issues. People look to us for leadership, and that is what we give.

But you cannot lead unless you have the respect of the people you are seeking to influence.

That is something we are especially good at - both Federally and at the State level.

The AMA brand is well known to politicians.

This is because we speak out - but we speak out loudly. We speak frankly but we speak fairly.

When a Government does something good for health, we applaud it. When a Government does something bad for health, we condemn it.

And we are equally fair with Oppositions.

If an alternative health policy offers solutions, we welcome it. If it doesn't, we reject it…and offer advice on how to improve it. The AMA is non-partisan. We play the policy, not the political party.

You need only look at our record. At the moment we have a Coalition Government federally and Labor Governments everywhere else. In years gone by, we have had the reverse situation.

Bad health policy is bad health policy regardless of the Party who puts it forward. And both sides have at times come up with excellent policies, which we have supported.

I think you will find - across the States and Territories - the AMA enjoys strong professional relationships with all sides of politics. And so it is in Canberra. It is one of the AMA's great strengths.

It allows us to not only praise policy and bag policy, it gives us the opportunity to push our own ideas and initiatives with Government.

Over the years we have had many successes, and the last twelve months have been no different.

We have not had a Federal election. We have not had a medical indemnity crisis. But we have had plenty of challenges - and we have seen plenty of bad health policies thrown about.

We have also witnessed some good positive health initiatives. Unfortunately, we have also encountered a few direct attacks on the medical profession.

Role substitution is one - and there'll be a chance to debate that later today. Our position is clear. Patients demand, and have the right to, a medical diagnosis from a registered medical practitioner.

We have seen attacks over informed financial consent - we're dealing directly with the Minister on that one.

There have been questions raised over prescribing practices, especially with PBS drugs. But our very own survey showed that doctors are doing the right thing on PBS prescribing. Let me make one thing clear - we will not be told how to prescribe for our patients.

Our patients rightly expect that their doctor will prescribe for them what is the best treatment for them: they don't want a third party in that central doctor- patient interaction.

And we have had to be vigilant to ensure the moves toward a Smartcard protect the interests of doctors and their patients. Human Services Minister Joe Hockey will have plenty to say about that later today, no doubt.

But no matter what the challenge, we get access to the appropriate Ministers to put our arguments. The media wants to hear us tell our story. We get heard.

We get heard because we have the knowledge, the skills and the expertise to advise on health policy and to comment on health policy.

We get heard because we have the trust of the Australian public - our patients. That is hard-earned, easily spent, and precious.

And we do a lot of advocacy on behalf of the Australian public. Their interests are our interests.

So, let me now run through some of the highlights of our past year.

Medical Practice

We played a major role in elevating mental health to a priority health issue for the Federal Government and the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

AMA councillors appeared before Parliamentary Committees and joined me in running a united AMA line on mental health policy. I thank Choong-Siew Yong, Martin Nothling and Bill Pring in particular for their work in this area.

In fact, a lot of work went into mental health, starting with our extensive submission to the Productivity Commission.

We also contributed a weighty and significant tome in response to the Productivity Commission's major report into the medical workforce. A lot of the Commission's findings reflected the trends we predicted in our 2001 workforce report, but there were worrying signs elsewhere.

The Productivity Commission, either deliberately or by chance, gave comfort to the people who are pushing role substitution in medical care. Our views on role substitution are strong and well known and there will be a chance to hear more in the policy discussion session.

The commission report gives undue weight and credence to some State health departments' dysfunctional thinking.

We continue to monitor the operation and viability of the Medicare Safety Net and consult with Government regularly on this.

The Consultant Physician item restructure proposal is another priority for our Medical Practice Department.

The issue that is gaining momentum and which will affect us all is Informed Financial Consent - IFC. We are working with the Minister and his Department on an education campaign with members and all doctors on providing IFC.

The Minister is very serious about getting IFC rates as high as possible. The AMA is equally serious and committed to supporting doctors in their quest to get the rate as high as is practicable.

At the end of the 12 months we have for the campaign, we may have to quibble with the Minister over 'possible' and 'practicable' - but I am sure the rate will be the highest achievable, given the complexity and unpredictability of medicine.

Our strong stand on aged care continues, with a firm position taken on elder abuse in aged care facilities.

The PSR Scheme review requires our attention: it is a scheme based on peer review and is under a cloud. We must ensure it is secure.

One of the key services of our Medical Practice Department is the production of the AMA List of Medical Services and Fees, which is very popular with our members. Non-members desperately seek to access this, too! The list is now available free online to members.

And a watching brief is maintained on all activity in private health and public hospitals that may have an impact on our members.

Public Health

The AMA continues to be a leader in public health policy and commentary.

Last week we released the fifth in our series of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Report Cards. Addressing the real concerns of health of prisoners, this card was an important addition.

It was released amid the clamour around abuse and violence in Indigenous communities but, as with all its predecessors, the report card is further evidence of the AMA's commitment to improving Indigenous Health. We have a welcome and respected position in this important area of national debate.

You will all be aware of the key part the AMA played in the RU486 debate, and I am sure you will agree ours was an informed and principled stance. It was not an easy stance, and it was often misrepresented. The political outcome was in line with our stand - the TGA will make determinations based on clinical grounds.

We had members who didn't agree with our activity in this debate. It was always going to be difficult, because it was blurred with other arguments. We had to hold our line and our nerve - and we did.

Over the past year we continued our strong support for better health services for refugees and asylum seekers. That process was fuelled by discussion at National Conference last year.

We have since launched a Position Statement on the Health Care of Asylum Seekers and Refugees.

Raising awareness of this saw the Victorian government being the first to allow hospitals to treat refugees and asylum seekers openly - and for free. We supported the Petro Georgiou bills and chalked up a big win with the Government introducing an item for refugee health assessments, but this is just a start.

We hosted a Summit of key groups in the refugee sector and issued a joint communiqu calling for action from all Governments.

On another front, the AMA called for uniform abortion laws across the nation, and we made this call before the heat of the RU486 debate.

On this note, I'd like to pay tribute to the major role played by Dr Andrew Pesce in all these no-win abortion and RU486 issues. Andrew was put under extreme internal and external pressure for quite some time, but his humour, strength of character and his professionalism always shone through. Thank you, Andrew.

The prospect of an avian flu pandemic was always in the headlines and the AMA has a key role to play in the response. We played down the panic and played up the preparation aspects of the avian flu scenario, especially the involvement of GPs. Our role here is ongoing.

We have to ensure that doctors in the front line are prepared, protected and alert to be an integral part of the response process.

The AMA Position Statement on Nutrition was popular in the media and welcomed by players in the obesity debate. We will continue to pursue the establishment of a National Nutrition Centre and the conduct of a truly independent national nutrition survey.

And we will continue to push a prescription of healthy fresh eating and plenty of activity and exercise to ensure our kids have robust and vigorous lives. That's after we've convinced the Government to ban junk food ads in kids' TV time. This simply has to happen! It makes sense in this dire crisis.

We will be soon launching an updated position statement on Child Abuse and Neglect - and given the recent headlines the time is right. Child abuse is a nightmare that touches all Australians, not just the Indigenous population.

The environment continues to be an important policy area for the AMA. We have again worked closely with the Australian Conservation Foundation on climate change.

The Climate Change Health Impacts in Australia: Effects of Dramatic CO2 emission reductions report made headlines and cemented our credentials as an enviro-friendly Association.

This image was reinforced by our resolution backing mandatory use of ethanol in petrol on health grounds.

Also on environment and health, we released an updated AMA position statement on smoking. We have got to get more Australians to quit. I'll talk more about our anti-smoking work when I present one of our State Presidents with the Dirty Ashtray Award tomorrow.

The past year, like every year, has been a big year on public health issues.

Another huge area of activity for the AMA is general practice. No other organisation has fought as hard for, or achieved so much for, Australia's hardworking GPs.

General Practice

I don't think we do enough to claim credit for our GP 'wins', maybe because a lot of the work is behind the scenes.

Our general practice manifesto is largely driven by the AMACGP, and they get results.

Here are just a few of our successes.

We have new patient and GP-friendly chronic disease items.

We negotiated with the Government for nearly two years for changes to the chronic disease items.

The new MBS items allow GPs to provide more time and specialised care to patients with any chronic disease - and they cut red tape.

Patients also now have improved access to Medicare rebates for allied health professionals and dental care. And there is more support for General Practice Nurses.

Last month the Government announced more than 650 additional general practices in areas of workforce shortage will now be eligible for a Government subsidy to employ nurses. Since their introduction the Government's practice nurse initiatives have helped more than 1,700 general practices to employ practice nurses.

But we still want to see the general practice nurse PIP made available to all practices in Australia.

There is now a new preventive health check item, courtesy of COAG. The new item will help shift the focus of health care from fixing problems after they have developed to promoting good health and reducing the burden of chronic diseases.

A 'Well Person's Health Check' will be available through Medicare to detect and prevent chronic disease in people aged around 45 years old with one or more health risks.

This is only the beginning on preventive health as far as the AMA is concerned.

I've already mentioned the Refugee Health Assessment.

We achieved increased rebates for antenatal items, which had been overlooked in the 100 per cent Medicare package. We took the issue straight to Tony Abbott who brought the antenatal patient rebate back into line with a Level B consult.

The AMA initiated supervised pre-vocational terms for junior doctors in general practice. This gives new doctors access and experience in general practice at a very crucial time in their training.

It will attract young doctors to general practice and keep them there.

We have begun work in other areas that should bear fruit over the year ahead.

A major AMA goal is to convince the Government to address the significant frustration and inefficiencies caused by the PBS Authority Prescription System. We want to see this system removed or streamlined.

At the 2005 Biennial Review of the Medicare Provider Number legislation a key AMA recommendation was the streamlining of the provider number system.

This would mean that doctors would no longer need a different provider number for every location they work in.

We will be pursuing an MBS Structure that Supports GP-Led Team Care, and you will hear more about that later.

We want improved electronic claiming for patients and GPs. The AMA has proposed a new electronic claiming system and has had significant input and discussion with the Government and key potential tenderers.

An improved electronic claiming system will have benefits to GP practices, particularly from a business perspective. You will hear more about this and so will Human Services Minister, Joe Hockey.

We work hard for GPs and we are going to work harder. One of my objectives for the year ahead is to champion general practice. I want Governments to value GPs as much as patients value GPs. My message will be simple - there are no substitutes for GPs.

To make that message stick, we are going to have to make general practice more attractive to the next generation of doctors. Stay tuned for plenty of news in the year of the GP.

That's enough on the 'show pony' policy areas of the Federal AMA.

I'd like to move now to the engine room - the Departments that operate away from the spotlight doing more of the 'grunt' work.

I'm talking about Workplace Policy, Legal and Corporate Services.

These areas provide members with services that are more about the 'nuts and bolts' of their practices, and which offer them rewards for being a member of our great Association.

Workplace Policy

Contemporary events have placed more pressure on our Workplace Policy Department. Bundaberg Hospital, Dr Patel, workforce shortages, new medical schools, too few specialist training posts and new WorkChoices legislation have all landed in their lap.

That, plus their great enthusiasm, has opened up a whole range of new advocacy fronts for the AMA.

The AMA's concern for all aspects of overseas trained doctors - OTDs or IMGs, whatever you choose to call them - is a year's work in itself.

We recognise the enormous contribution made by OTDs in the medical workforce and we have spoken out in their support against the groundswell of negativity from Bundaberg. We have also gone the extra yards in support of rural doctors, under pressure for other reasons.

The AMA established the AMA Rural Reference Group for a stronger focus on rural practice issues and the unique health needs of rural and remote Australians. This was backed up by our Position Statement on Regional and Rural Workforce Initiatives.

Led by Dr David Rivett, the RRG has only just begun its important work, including the ongoing discussions about ACRRM and its place in training.

Medical education has been pursued by the AMA recently like never before. The foundations - the goodwill and the excellence and the traditions - of medical training in Australia are being dug up and thrown away.

Medical training is being treated like another commodity. You can have it if you can pay for it.

You can have it if you work where we tell you for as long as we want you there. This is not the Australian way.

We work very closely with AMSA on this.

We will lead the fight on medical training and we will defend the role of the colleges.

But we owe an enormous debt to our doctors-in-training. They have driven our efforts on saving medical training. On the business side of medical practice, we had an enormous win by gaining concessions from the tax office after their initial negative ruling on service trusts.

We've made some progress on specialist training in private settings.

We maintained existing conjoint agreements with industrial organisations representing doctors.

We pressed for development of fatigue management guidelines.

A major challenge has been working closely with business groups to get the Government to fix the mess that the WorkChoices legislation has made of sick leave certification. Just about anybody can certify sick leave now. This is bad for employers. It is bad for workers. It is a potential disaster for the community. We will continue to raise our objections with Kevin Andrews.

Legal

We may even call in the Legal Department on this one - in fact, we already have. Our new Legal Counsel, Sarah Byrne, is at the Conference. Please introduce yourself to her while you are here. The Legal Department, as usual, has been very busy, dealing with issues covering:

National Registration;

• Medical Indemnity - Mid Term Review, Treasury Panel, Competitive Neutrality;
• Long Term Care;
• Privacy and Medical Records;
• Single Expert Witnesses;
• Advanced Care Planning;
• Taxation and Trusts;
• Trade practices;
• Risk Management;
• 'Work Choices' and Sick Leave Certificates;
• Contract Medical Practitioners; and
• Refugee Access to Medicare.

The past year has seen medical indemnity move into a maintenance phase.

The AMA remains in close contact with the Federal Government to ensure ongoing affordability and security, while looking at those areas still in need of fine-tuning.

Submissions were made to the Mid Term Review and Treasury Panel, and we liaised with the Government on Competitive Neutrality.

Topics such as Risk Management, Privacy and Medical Records and Long Term Care remain a primary focus for the AMA.

But we have no greater focus than our members.

And your welfare is largely in the hands of our Corporate Services Department - the people who got us all to Adelaide in one piece.

Corporate Services

Robert Hunt and his team look after the numbers, and you will hear more about their work in the Treasurer's Report

They provide timely, reliable and accurate completion of all financial administration processes supporting the Associations' activity on behalf of its membership.

They look after our buildings and investments. They balance the books.

We have made remarkable progress with the National Database Project known as iMIS.

Five of the State AMAs are now on the system - Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, and the Northern Territory. New South Wales is on the way.

We have made huge strides on the marketing side of the AMA and we have developed a comprehensive Corporate Plan for AMA Commercial.

There is a new marketing plan for the growth of the AMEX program and we have a new commercial partner in Capital Finance.

We have an agreement between States, and we have a Membership committee to pursue conjoint membership benefits with State and Federal AMA bodies.

Once again, I say thanks to American Express for sponsoring this Conference and for being a wonderful supporter of the AMA.

I will finish up now with a few more 'Thank Yous'.

Firstly to Dr Choong-Siew Yong, my loyal Vice President - always there to provide wise counsel and support…and to take the early morning media calls when I'm not available or asleep.

Thanks also to the rest of the Executive - Dana Wainwright, Rosanna Capolingua, Chris Cain and Andrew Pesce.

Talk about a dream team. There is always a spark at our meetings, and I look forward to working with them in the year ahead.

Choong-Siew, Dana and Rosanna - like me - have already been returned for another year. Chris and Andrew face the voters on Sunday.

A huge thanks to all the Federal Councillors. Unity is our strength and ideas are our currency. You have all contributed enormously to our work.

It has been a fruitful year working with the States and Territories. To the Presidents and CEOs, thank you for the teamwork and cooperation. Robyn Mason and the Canberra Secretariat have been outstanding in running our show. Their excellence and commitment keep the AMA agenda - and the elected officials - always on the move.

And thanks to you, the delegates. You represent the lifeblood of the AMA - our grassroots members. You are the champions.

We sadly lose some champions from our team this weekend.

I pay tribute to the work of Doctors David Cooper, Michael Claxton, Steve Hambleton, Matt McConnell, Mason Stevenson, Robyn Napier and my cycling partner, Charles Howse.

They have put in many years collectively to the AMA and improving health care in this country. Many thanks to you all.

In our organisation, like most others, the most important people often pass unnoticed. They are our families and the people we work with in our 'day' jobs.

We all - each and every one of us - are supported by colleagues at work. In my case it's Dr. Janice Coleman and Ewa Piejko, Zoran Ilic, Kheuinnie Cheong and Gavan Martyn and our office team.

However my life wouldn't tick without the dedication, love and support of my dear wife Karyn and our three sons Suresh, Ajaya and Jeevan.

So, to all our professional supports and to our fabulous families a very big and heartfelt thank you.

The last year has been a busy and wonderful experience for me. I look forward to the next with great energy and enthusiasm.

Thank you.