In doing so Dr Steve Hambleton, AMA President, said she had valuable experience in the portfolio, having served as Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing in Government between 2010 and 2013.
"The AMA worked closely with Catherine in her former role, especially in the areas of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), food standards and food labelling, and organ and tissue donation," Dr Hambleton said.
"We look forward to building on this established relationship to help shape policies that will deliver better health services to the Australian people.
"The AMA welcomes the appointments of Jan McLucas as Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Melissa Parke as Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Bernie Ripoll as Shadow Minister for Sport, which now falls under the broader health umbrella, and Amanda Rishworth as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health.
"Labor has assembled a large opposition team to cover all aspects of the health sector with Shane Neumann appointed Shadow Minister for Ageing and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs. He will be supported by Parliamentary Secretaries, Helen Polley and Warren Snowdon. Warren has considerable experience in indigenous health and the health of veterans."
Dr Hambleton said the AMA also congratulates Bill Shorten on his election as Leader of the Opposition and former Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, on her election as his deputy and appointment as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development.
"The health sector is fortunate to have a former health minister as prime minister, a passionate advocate for the National Disability Insurance Scheme as opposition leader, and another former health minister as deputy opposition leader," he said.
"The AMA hopes that all this valuable health policy experience in the new parliament works in a bipartisan way to produce better health outcomes in the Australian community."
