Labor’s desperate scare campaign has hit a new low today.
Suggestions that the Liberal Government is responsible for the deaths of people is a disgrace.
Shadow Health Minister Catherine King should apologise for this outrageous claim.
Unlike Bill Shorten the facts don’t lie.
Federal hospital funding to the states has grown from $13.3 billion in 2012–13 to $21 billion in 2018-2019.
Growth in federal funding has outstripped state growth.
And our new five year agreement adds another $31 billion to 2024-25.
Labor should be directing their attacks at their Labor state colleagues over their funding and hospital management.
Labor should also explain why their costings have no additional funding for the states’ hospital agreement, despite their claims they will go to a 50-50 funding share.
This is a serious health con.
And just to show the level of the fraud, Labor has listed columns with zero, zero, zero and zero allocated, for ending the Medicare freeze in their costings.
The Morrison Government has ended the freeze which Labor started. We have invested $1.6 billion in primary care, working with GPs to deliver more flexible options for care and to keep patients healthy.
Labor’s attack on private health insurance will have the most significant impact on elective surgery, with Bill Shorten already cutting $115 million from the rebate, which will force people to pay back money for policies they currently have.
If private hospital cover drops to 30% of the population waiting lists for common essential procedures like knee and hip surgery in public hospitals will blow out by 91%.
Patients would be forced to wait nine months for knee surgery and seven months for hip replacements.
People should remember that Bill Shorten, as Assistant Treasurer stopped listing medicines because he couldn’t manage the budget.
By managing the economy and the budget we can deliver the important health services that Australians need.
Comparison Commonwealth vs State and Territory Funding
| AIHW Health Expenditure Australia 2016-17: Total Hospital Expenditure – Real Growth Between 2015-16 and 2016-17 | ||
| Australian Government
(% change 2015-16 to 2016-17) |
State Government
(% change 2015-16 to 2016-17) |
|
| New South Wales | 3.2% | 3.4% |
| Victoria | 8.7% | 1.6% |
| Queensland | 5.9% | 1.2% |
| Western Australia | 14.5% | -9.5% |
| South Australia | 1.1% | -5.5% |
| Tasmania | 4.0% | 7.1% |
| Australian Capital Territory | -0.2% | -2.2% |
| Northern Territory | 18.9% | -1.8% |
| National | 6.2% | 0.1% |