Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Instead of giving an $80 billion handout to big business, why won't the Prime Minister support Labor's commitment to invest $10 million to establish a chemotherapy treatment service at Caboolture hospital, meaning cancer patients in Longman won't have to travel long distances to get the care that they need?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll ask the Minister for Health to add to this, but I want to record, with respect to Caboolture Hospital, the shocking lies that are being told by the Labor Party in Longman. These are the facts: the government is spending a record amount on public hospitals in Queensland and, in particular, in the metro north hospital network. The truck that the Labor Party is towing around Longman saying that the federal government is cutting funding to hospitals in Queensland, let alone at Caboolture Hospital, is a lie. It is an absolute lie. In fact, we've seen a 53 per cent increase in funding to local hospitals in that area, including to Caboolture Hospital, and there is record GP bulk-billing in that electorate of 93 per cent—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat on a point of order.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's on direct relevance. It was a question around $10 million—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat will resume her seat. The Prime Minister has the call.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll ask the Minister for Health to complete the question, but the bottom line is this: Labor is lying about health. Every day Labor goes out saying that funding to hospitals and Medicare has been cut, it is a lie. Funding is going up every year, and in particular in that metro north hospital area.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me give some very simple facts which deal with Labor's lies on hospitals: $21 billion, $22 billion, $23 billion and $24 billion—record federal funding to hospitals each and every year in every state and every territory. But, more significantly still—as the Prime Minister referred to the situation around the metro north area, which Labor has been parading around without even saying a word about the truth of what state Labor has done to that region—our funding in the last full financial year went up not by $10 million, not by $20 million and not by $30 million but by $120 million. How much do you think Labor added to its own metro north area where Caboolture Hospital is located? It didn't add $10 million. It didn't add $20 billion. It certainly didn't add $30 million or $120 million. It cut hospital funding to its own hospitals in the Caboolture area by $21 million. If there were a skerrick of honesty on health on the other side, they would have said something about that. Yet we've had the shadow minister, the leader and Susan Lamb say nothing. They are the Marcel Marceaus of hospital funding when it comes to Queensland Labor. In the end, we're increasing; Labor's cutting. (Time expired)