Media event date:<\/p>\n
10 April 2026\n<\/p>\n
Date published:<\/p>\n
11 April 2026\n<\/p>\n
Media type:<\/p>\n
Media release<\/p>\n
JESS\u00a0TEESDALE, MEMBER FOR BASS:\u00a0We’re\u00a0so lucky to be here today.\u00a0We’ve\u00a0got Assistant Minister Rebecca White, Assistant Minister for Health, and\u00a0we’ve\u00a0also got Dr Zarrabi.\u00a0And\u00a0we’re\u00a0really excited\u00a0to hear some of her story and to share her specialty. And thank you so much to the Charles\u00a0Specialist Clinic for having us here and hosting today.<\/p>\n
We know that women are often overlooked in a lot of ways when it comes to their health, and\u00a0that’s\u00a0been for a variety of reasons for many years. And finally, our government’s really taking steps under various incredible leadership at the top levels to make sure that women’s health is getting the spotlight that\u00a0it\u00a0deserves.<\/p>\n
REBECCA WHITE,\u00a0ASSISTANT\u00a0MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING: Thank you, Jess. Our government has made significant investments in women’s health, including\u00a0a nearly $800 million\u00a0package launched before the budget last year\u00a0that’s\u00a0seen improvements in access to new medicines, new options for treatment pathways across a range of different areas. But a lot of these investments, I guess, highlight the fact that\u00a0there’s\u00a0more work to do.\u00a0I’m\u00a0very proud\u00a0of the fact that\u00a0we’ve\u00a0been able to\u00a0establish\u00a0expert panels on women’s health, with the first one taking a serious look at cardiovascular disease in women.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cardiovascular\u00a0disease is one of the leading causes of death for Australian women, but the symptoms are often misunderstood because a lot of what we know about how you might present with a heart attack are based on how the symptoms are described in a man as opposed to how they are presented for a woman. And so what we aim to do with our expert panel is to look at both where there are gaps in research, where there might be gaps in public understanding for women themselves about how to recognise the risk factors and the symptoms, but also how we might address some of the gaps in practice to make sure that when a woman presents to a health professional she’s receiving the best possible care.<\/p>\n
The expert panel is made up of\u00a0individuals who\u00a0represent\u00a0different organisations like the Stroke Foundation, the Heart Foundation, Her\u00a0Heart, alongside experts\u00a0in research, in primary practice and specialist care. We will also be holding roundtables, one with stakeholders from the consumer space to understand from women themselves what their experience has been like, but also with stakeholders in the health space to understand from clinicians and the colleges, with respect to how the guidelines are drafted and how they’re applied in education,\u00a0to make sure that we can learn from them about how they are applying their work in practice and where the gaps might be. We hope to be able to conclude this work by the end of this year to\u00a0provide\u00a0strong advice\u00a0to government about\u00a0how we can make improvements for women’s cardiovascular health in Australia.<\/p>\n
We know that there are many fabulous cardiologists who are working right around the country, including here at the clinic in Launceston, and I’m pleased that Dr Zarrabi has been able to share with us some of her experience as the only female cardiologist working in this space in Tasmania. We know that oftentimes,\u00a0women prefer to speak to a female health practitioner because they are able\u00a0to share and be more vulnerable,\u00a0and it’s really exciting to have Dr Zarrabi\u00a0working in Tasmania where she can offer her expertise to women in the north and the northwest of our state. And\u00a0that’s\u00a0the case for the first time in the northwest of Tasmania for women to have access to\u00a0a female\u00a0cardiologist. Now she\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0just support females in this space,\u00a0she supports\u00a0men as well. But I think her perspective is really interesting and I’m really very pleased that she’s\u00a0been able to join with us today,\u00a0and what I hope she’ll be able to share with you is examples of how the symptoms in women might be different compared to men. Because this is one of the gaps that I think exists in our community, is that a lot of women\u00a0don’t\u00a0understand what symptoms to recognise in themselves.\u00a0And one of the messages I want to give Tasmanian women is that they use their heart to look after everybody else.\u00a0It’s\u00a0time that they prioritise themselves and protect their heart too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So\u00a0I’m\u00a0going to ask Dr Zarrabi to share a few messages, and\u00a0I’m\u00a0happy to answer any questions afterwards.<\/p>\n
DR\u00a0LAYA ZARRABI, CARDIOLOGIST:\u00a0\u00a0We have many\u00a0women patients with atypical chest pain, they present to emergency department with atypical chest pain or epigastric discomfort or left arm pain. Their presentation\u00a0is\u00a0different from men,\u00a0and sometimes it may be misunderstood with other pathology such as gastroesophageal reflux disease or other muscle or musculoskeletal pain,\u00a0and sometimes they triage later compared to men, later than men. And if they have been diagnosed with any cardiac issues, they referred for angiography or other\u00a0cardiac\u00a0investigations\u00a0later compared to men.<\/p>\n
So\u00a0in terms of cardiac pathophysiology of women, it is\u00a0very different\u00a0from men because from a hormonal perspective,\u00a0women are\u00a0very different\u00a0from men. And they have more issues in terms of early menopause,\u00a0gestational diabetes,\u00a0or if they experience preeclampsia,\u00a0they are in higher risk of premature cardiovascular disease in earlier stages of their\u00a0life.\u00a0And they are not aware of these risk factors, and they are more aware of conventional cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or family history of cardiac disease, and they are not aware\u00a0of these cardiovascular issues.<\/p>\n
So\u00a0we have a lot to work on these risk factors as well,\u00a0and the main important thing is we have many restricted access to more facilities such as angiography cardiac MRI in northwest, and so we have a lot to work on these areas.<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0And doctor, is there a particular demographic of women that are\u00a0perhaps at\u00a0higher risk than other age groups or demographics?<\/p>\n
ZARRABI:\u00a0The presentation of women for heart attack is completely different most of the time from men. They have different presentations such as sometimes jaw pain, back pain, or sometimes epigastric pain. And from a\u00a0[indistinct]\u00a0feature of significant\u00a0retrosternal\u00a0chest pain, we have-\u00a0anticipate\u00a0from men with significant diaphoresis and nausea and vomiting.\u00a0It’s\u00a0completely different in women. And it is misdiagnosed most of the times,\u00a0it’s\u00a0confused with other conditions.\u00a0So\u00a0it can be a definite diagnosis for cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0And is there a particular age group that is particularly at risk?\u00a0Or like,\u00a0smoking history or anything like that as well, do they link\u00a0into it too?<\/p>\n
ZARRABI:\u00a0Smoking history, it is a risk factor for men and women,\u00a0both of them. But we have special risk factors for women.\u00a0And\u00a0most of the data we have is related to men or men and women,\u00a0and we don’t have any special research on women because the physiology of\u00a0the\u00a0cardiac issues in women is completely different from men because of the physiology in cardiac function in women is different from\u00a0men.\u00a0They have tiny vessels compared to men,\u00a0and the pathophysiology\u00a0of pain is different from men, and so the presentation with acute chest pain is different from men. So it can be confused with other diagnosis, so awareness for patients and healthcare professionals, both of them are very important to make sure we work on both of these groups to make sure patients are aware of their risk factors, especially early menopause, gestational diabetes, or these sorts of things.\u00a0And\u00a0we should more focus on research only on women to get more information about the atypical features of cardiac issues in women.<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0And if\u00a0there’s\u00a0someone sitting at home watching this tonight who might have some of the symptoms that you mentioned, what would your recommendation be to them?\u00a0<\/p>\n
ZARRABI:\u00a0If women experience any chest pain, light-headedness, dizziness, or any discomfort in chest, or any shortness of breath, any palpitation, any fatigue, or any unusual symptoms, they should go straight to a medical professional, such\u00a0as\u00a0emergency department or a medical doctor, and they can discuss the situation with their medical doctor to understand more about their symptoms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0I guess, the round table. This is a\u00a0really great\u00a0blueprint. Is this something as, I guess, Assistant Health Minister that\u00a0you’re\u00a0hoping to then implement across other areas of health as well?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0So\u00a0we\u00a0have previously had a National Women’s Health Advisory Council that concluded its work in December last year.\u00a0So\u00a0this is an expert panel that will look specifically at cardiovascular disease for the next period,\u00a0the calendar year. My job as Assistant Health Minister is to understand where there are disparities in access to healthcare or diagnosis\u00a0for\u00a0women in particular. And we know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for Australian women. After we complete this work, we will have an opportunity to look at other areas of healthcare for women where we have other disparities,\u00a0where\u00a0there’s\u00a0either delay in access to\u00a0diagnosis or treatment\u00a0or research\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0undercooked.\u00a0So\u00a0I am really interested to continue to develop this area of work, whether\u00a0it’s\u00a0taken up across other areas of government\u00a0will be a matter for those ministers.<\/p>\n
\u00a0JOURNALIST:\u00a0And then just from a\u00a0nuts and bolts\u00a0perspective, is this costing-\u00a0like how much is this work going to be costing the taxpayer? Nothing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0No,\u00a0the work of government is to\u00a0make sure that we do thorough consultation and have\u00a0a strong evidence\u00a0base to develop policy from.\u00a0So\u00a0the people who are\u00a0participating\u00a0in this are experts in their field and then\u00a0we’ll\u00a0be making sure that\u00a0they’re\u00a0consulting as well with their networks to feed in through that forum\u00a0to develop good policy. We all,\u00a0at the end of the day,\u00a0want good outcomes for\u00a0everybody accessing our\u00a0healthcare system, but we know that there are some areas where women face\u00a0particular disadvantages\u00a0or we\u00a0don’t\u00a0have good knowledge of, and cardiovascular disease is one of those areas. So our work will be focused on making sure that we come up with good evidence-based solutions to some of the gaps that we see, whether it’s in consumer education and information, making sure we’ve got better understanding through research about what we need to do, but also making sure there’s good education for health professionals so they can more quickly diagnose and treat women presenting with cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n
\u00a0JOURNALIST:\u00a0Several rooms and\u00a0wards\u00a0at the LGH closed last week due to Legionnaires disease issues caused by the air conditioning. Is that acceptable in a modern Tasmanian hospital?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0Well\u00a0it’s\u00a0obviously very worrying. Legionnaire\u2019s disease is\u00a0a very serious\u00a0issue\u00a0and I know this is a matter\u00a0that’s\u00a0been put to the Health Minister\u00a0here in Tasmania.\u00a0Ultimately\u00a0it’s\u00a0up to the State Government to explain what action\u00a0they’re\u00a0taking, not only to address this outbreak but I would hope to prevent future outbreaks as the managers of\u00a0the\u00a0hospital system in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0Now it seems like this\u00a0came to light\u00a0because of good journalism because there was necessarily transparency from the State Government.\u00a0Are you concerned,\u00a0or should the public have been made aware that this had happened and that\u00a0perhaps there\u00a0might be wards\u00a0within the hospital that had to be\u00a0temporarily closed?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0Well\u00a0I would hope that the Health Minister is communicating regularly with her hospital managers,\u00a0because\u00a0there’s\u00a0no doubt action would have been taken at the time to make sure both patients and staff and any visitors to the hospital were informed of this and kept safe.\u00a0So\u00a0I’d\u00a0ask that those questions be directed to the Health Minister to properly explain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0Just on fuel, Angus Taylor and the Premier are out at a farm today.\u00a0They’re\u00a0looking at some of the work that\u00a0farmers are doing, particularly with diesel.\u00a0Tas farmers\u00a0have come out today saying that they\u00a0don’t\u00a0think that\u00a0there’s\u00a0enough supply of diesel, particularly in that they understand it could run out as early as April 20 in Tasmania. Is that concerning? Is that misinformation on their part?\u00a0What’s\u00a0your perspective?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0So\u00a0the Energy Minister’s giving daily updates to the country on our diesel supply and\u00a0our\u00a0unleaded supply in each state and territory\u00a0jurisdiction. And tomorrow, which is his regular Saturday update,\u00a0he’ll\u00a0provide an explanation to Tasmanians and Australians on what supply is coming into the country. My understanding is that there is consistent supply of fuel into Australia until at least mid-May, and\u00a0that is to be delivered right around the country.\u00a0It’s\u00a0up to the Tasmanian Government to explain if there are any issues that\u00a0they’re\u00a0seeing across the community here in Tasmania and I know that the opposition leader was standing with the Tasmanian Premier who I hope was able to explain that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0And are you concerned perhaps from a local agricultural perspective\u00a0and a food security perspective, these farmers are coming into harvesting season and also planting season, and they said that they might be able to harvest everything, but we could see food issues or shortages later on. Are you concerned that potential diesel shortages could\u00a0impact\u00a0Tasmania’s food security?<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0I think there\u00a0is a reason to be genuinely concerned about fuel supply when you look\u00a0at\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0happening globally. And that’s why the Energy Minister’s been so transparent in providing daily updates about\u00a0what’s\u00a0happening across the country but also weekly updates about supply coming into the country. I know from speaking to representative groups across Tasmania, including\u00a0TasFarmers, that there are genuine concerns about making\u00a0sure\u00a0there’s\u00a0no disruption to\u00a0the harvesting and the planting\u00a0that’s\u00a0occurring across the agriculture sector. I also understand there is concern about the broader supply chain impacts because of cost escalations. This is\u00a0a very complex\u00a0and\u00a0serious issue\u00a0and that’s why the government’s called together national cabinets so that\u00a0we’ve\u00a0got representation from every\u00a0jurisdiction\u00a0working collectively on sure that\u00a0we’ve\u00a0got consistency of supply going to the places where\u00a0it’s\u00a0needed most. There has been prioritisation of delivery of diesel to regional and rural areas\u00a0in particular because\u00a0we know how vital it is for our farmers and other producers in those parts of our economy to\u00a0make sure\u00a0they’ve\u00a0got fuel supply. Because without them being able to do their job, we\u00a0don’t\u00a0have food coming into supermarkets and we\u00a0don’t\u00a0have supply chain security. So that is something\u00a0we’re\u00a0very aware of and working hard with those industries to make sure\u00a0we’ve\u00a0got solutions for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0And Minister, I’m sure as you’ve been driving around the community seeing those petrol price boards, they’re\u00a0significantly\u00a0higher than they were six weeks ago, even before Easter\u00a0they’ve jumped up quite considerably, almost absorbing the fuel excise tax that was introduced to lower those pressures. Are you concerned by the increasing costs? There was one insider who told us that they think diesel could rise by as much as 61 cents this week. Is that concerning for you?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0I think many Tasmanians\u00a0are really feeling the pinch when it comes to the cost of fuel,\u00a0and it\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0matter if\u00a0you’re\u00a0a farmer or if\u00a0you’re\u00a0a motorist just getting your kids to school.\u00a0It’s\u00a0hard for people\u00a0at the moment\u00a0to absorb those rising costs and\u00a0that’s\u00a0why\u00a0we’ve\u00a0cut the excise on fuel\u00a0and\u00a0we’re\u00a0looking at what else we can do across the supply chain to make sure there’s continued\u00a0delivery,\u00a0so we\u00a0don’t\u00a0have\u00a0further disruption.\u00a0I accept that this is a really challenging time. There\u2019s global uncertainty. The global uncertainty\u00a0and disruption to supply chains has\u00a0impacted\u00a0on\u00a0nearly every\u00a0single economy across the world. Australia is not immune from that,\u00a0and we’re working really hard with our partners, it’s why the Prime Minister is in Singapore today, to make sure we’ve got\u00a0a\u00a0continual supply\u00a0of fuel into our country,\u00a0and that it’s being distributed around our continent to the places where it’s most needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0In Queensland \u2013 last question \u2013 in Queensland,\u00a0the Premier there supported opening refineries to, I guess, create some sort of sovereign domestic supply. Would you support something similar happening in Tasmania?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0We’ve\u00a0got two\u00a0refineries\u00a0in Australia, down from six when we were last in government. Unfortunately, four of them closed under the Coalition’s watch. So that does mean that we are\u00a0somewhat constrained\u00a0with respect to how we\u00a0maintain\u00a0sovereign capability in this country. And\u00a0that’s\u00a0why\u00a0we’re\u00a0working so closely with our partners, particularly in the South Asia region, to ensure\u00a0we’ve\u00a0got supply coming into the country because we have a co-dependency on them. And that’s why the Prime Minister’s in Singapore having those conversations. It is important that we recognise\u00a0the fact that we are very\u00a0connected. We need to make sure\u00a0we maintain those relationships \u2013\u00a0which we are doing, we have strong relationships \u2013\u00a0because as a country we do depend on not only supporting the refineries we have here,\u00a0in Australia, those two, and keeping them operating, but working with our partners to bring fuel into the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JOURNALIST:\u00a0But would you support opening more, particularly one in Tasmania?\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHITE:\u00a0I\u00a0don’t\u00a0expect\u00a0that’s\u00a0a very quick process. We are dealing with an emergency\u00a0right now,\u00a0we do have reliable supplies of fuel\u00a0coming into the country, but\u00a0it needs to be refined fuel. We only have two refineries in the country. It would take quite a while I\u00a0imagine\u00a0to establish\u00a0a new refinery, and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0not something\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0aware is being proposed for Tasmania.
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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