“About once a fortnight, I see a group of Aboriginal people grieving on the footpath next to the hospital car park, because there’s no dignified space for them to offer for their loved ones in the morgue.”

So says psychiatrist Associate Professor Robert Parker, current president of the AMA NT, talking about the Royal Darwin Hospital.

He has long believed the NT is another country — at least in terms of the health funding it receives. He is currently lobbying the Federal Government to address the shortfalls through the next health funding agreement.

In an open letter to Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last month, he wrote that the health system should be seen as an “engine room” that can Close the Gap of disadvantage.