Australian Medical Association votes for Tony Bartone to replace obstetrician Michael Gannon • Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon

A Melbourne GP, Dr Tony Bartone, has been elected president of Australia’s peak medical body and said improving access to the public health system would be a priority during his two-year term.

Bartone on Sunday replaced Western Australian obstetrician Dr Michael Gannon in the role as head of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), telling delegates at the national conference in Canberra that “a GP president will send a message” to the health minister.

“Being a GP means I am plugged in to a variety of issues such as access to care, the time patients wait to get into public hospitals, and the chronic and complex health issues patients are facing, particularly with an ageing population,” Bartone told Guardian Australia.

“I’m aware of the variability in health services in rural and regional Australia and the access issues confronting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and the need to ensure there are more quality aged care packages to help elderly people to remain home longer. We need to see real action now.”

His predecessor, Gannon, used his term to take on the private health insurance industry, calling for reforms to make insurers more transparent and affordable, and pressuring the government to take action to force insurers to stamp out “junk” health insurance policies that provided little cover and to rein in premiums rises.

Bartone said he would continue this insurance reform work, but that he believed that maintaining the private health industry was essential. “Fifty-three per cent of elective surgery occurs in the private health system and if that was to collapse then that access to care would be denied, placing a burden on public hospitals,” he said.

The health minister, Greg Hunt, congratulated Bartone on his new role on social media, saying in a tweet; “I look forward to working with you to achieve better health outcomes for patients and doctors.”

While Bartone did not go as far as Gannon when it came to Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying laws – Gannon said he was “disappointed” in parliament’s decision last year – Bartone did say he believed the issue of palliative care “took a backseat” during the assisted dying debate.

With other states now considering similar legislation Bartone said he agreed with the AMA’s updated position statement, which acknowledges the diversity of opinion among doctors towards euthanasia and says there is a need to consider the possible negative impact of such legislation on the rest of the health system.

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Bartone was serving as AMA vice president prior to being elected as twenty-fifth president of the organisation. Only two past presidents of the AMA have been women. However, more than half of medical interns are now women.

Gannon aknowledged it was an issue the AMA had “an extremely poor record” on.

“We try hard to encourage diversity of all different forms when it comes to AMA councils, but we need to do better,” he said.