Sexual health expert Dr Wendell Rosevear, who runs Wilston's Stonewall Medical Centre, said the northern Australia outbreak was linked to cutbacks in sexual health testing introduced by the previous government. Two years ago - in May 2013 - the previous LNP government removed 18 sexual health positions from North Queensland; including five sexual health nurses from the Torres Strait, two from Far North Queensland and 13 indigenous health workers who provided sexual health advice. Now almost 500 new syphilis cases have emerged in north Queensland, among them - children as young as 12. Some babies have died of congenital syphilis. "You can't cut back sexual health testing and access to treatments and education, if you want to deal with epidemics, you just can't," Dr Rosevear said. "I think we are seeing the consequence of those cutbacks in pro-active sexual health."

Minister assisting the Premier in North Queensland Coralee O'Rourke said she had been in contact with the Health Minister over the North Queensland syphilis outbreak. "I know he is working closely with local health authorities regarding this issue," she said. "It was extremely disappointing to see the sexual health services cut back in the north under the former LNP Government and there's no doubt this has contributed to the rising levels of syphilis and sexual health infections." Neither minister has made any comment about restoring those frontline sexual health jobs. Dr Rosevear warned the outbreak would have far-reaching and expensive consequences.

"I have one patient who needed his heart valves replaced because the syphilis infected his heart valves," he said. "If it is not treated it can cause infections in the eye, it can cause insanity in the brain. "We thought it was an old disease, but it is actually a modern current threat." Queensland Health's own communicable diseases information page quietly reports an increase of new case of syphilis in Southeast Queensland. "There has been an increase in syphilis infection notifications in 2015," the November 2015 page on Queensland Health's website says.

"This has been observed in Northern Queensland and South East Queensland metropolitan areas." Queensland Health's communicable diseases data shows there is 487 syphilis cases in Queensland to date in 2015; a 67 per cent increase since the average number of cases in 2014, 2013 and 2012. The average number of syphilis cases in Queensland in those years has been 294. Dr Rosevear said syphilis cases have increased over 37 per cent in the past 12 months in Southeast Queensland. "At our clinic we are seeing two to four new cases a week. This is amongst gay men," Dr Rosevear said.

"I expect it will continue to rise as there is a move away from condoms for safe sex." Dr Rosevear said some gay men were moving away from using condoms because they were buying a course of tablets called PrEP - Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis – which prevents the HIV building up in cells. "That means taking one tablet a day to prevent HIV, but abandoning condoms means we can expect syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes and warts to increase," he said. Dr Rosevear said he supported PrEP tablets – "because we want to get rid of HIV" – but said men not using condoms in casual sex triggered the increase in syphilis. "We've got an increase already," he said.

"I'm not blaming PrEP - but because of the new dynamics where people are not wanting to use condoms - then naturally syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia will go up." He said public education about the increase in syphilis needed to be ramped up dramatically and access to screening needs to be broadened and publicised. Brisbane's Biala sexual health clinic's funding – at the top of Roma Street - has been restored by the Labor Government. "So it is now able to see people with sexually-transmitted diseases, whereas under the LNP government it was only saw people for a HIV condition." Other sexually-transmitted disease testing centres are available at:

-Testing Point run by the Queensland AIDS Council at Newstead. -Queensland's HIV Foundation in Fortitude Valley and on the Gold Coast.