Shadow Minister for Health Chris Bowen has outlined an ambitious agenda to bring Australia through the COVID-10 crisis a stronger and healthier society.

Delivering UNE’s annual Earle Page Politics lecture, Mr Bowen told a capacity audience in Armidale that Australia can and must come through the crisis a stronger society, with stronger public health and more employment security.

A UNE Alumnus, Mr Bowen said he was proud to join the list of distinguished Australians who have given the Earle Page lecture – including Bob Hawke, John Howard, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong.

He explained that the most obvious lesson out of this pandemic is that we need to be better prepared for the next one.

“The global world we live in, along with changing habitats and environments, makes pandemics a certainty into the future.

“There’s no reason to think a future pandemic won’t also present challenges even bigger than this one.”

Mr Bowen spoke on the need for broader conversations about the health of our nation, including in Australia’s regions.

“A healthier society is a more productive one. A good economy is a good society,” he said.

“We have all the tools of an excellent health system – but where you live and what you earn too often determine your ability to use those tools.    

“It’s a tragic fact that life expectancy falls as remoteness increases.

“According to the Commonwealth Fund, Equity and Access are the areas pulling us back from becoming the best health system in the world.”

He explained that one of the most fundamental determinants of health is employment – both its existence, and its nature.

“The phenomenon of insecure work – the ‘gig economy’ – has real implications for the health of individuals and our society as a whole, and we have to be honest about this.

“Not only is unemployment bad for your health, so is insecure work. 

“If we are to adopt a “health in all policies” approach, we should be very concerned about the health impacts of increasing casualisation and insecurity. 

“More and more, when someone enters or re-enters the job market, they get an insecure job.

“It’s not surprising that insecure workers face increased stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges. Our health is shaped by our economy and our society, and that we must address the pandemic of insecurity.”

Mr Bowen concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that governments can still do good things – great things – with force of will.

“The COVID crisis has taught us many things. That we weren’t as ready for this crisis as we could have been. That we need to be more ready for next time.

“That investments in public health, including aged care, are just that: investments that pay back many times over when it counts.

“That more and more of our fellow Australians are facing precarious, insecure employment and this has implications for their health, and the health of our country.”

On a personal note, Mr Bowen paid particular tribute to UNE for its ongoing commitment to teaching Indonesian.

“When I decided to learn Indonesian several years ago, I turned to UNE.

More and more Australian universities have closed their Indonesian programs, in a massive backwards step for our understanding of our region.”