Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It is good to get this question on health because what it reminds me is that when the opposition were in government they ripped out $1 billion from hospitals. For far too long hospitals had been starved of money. The previous government cut $1 billion from public hospitals, and of course that $1 billion cut from public hospitals was not only from New South Wales and Victoria; it was also from Queensland. That is what the opposition did.

Of course, what this government has done is step up to the plate to ensure that hospitals receive funding from the federal government. The Rudd government immediately acted on health. On coming to office the Rudd government grasped the nettle to ensure that there was reform of health funding, with an immediate injection of $1 billion last year, as a down payment. Now there is a massive $64.4 billion health deal with the states including Queensland—up to $22.4 billion more on the old agreement. Under stage 1, the $600 million elective surgery plan we funded, we negotiated for public hospitals to perform an extra 25,000 operations, including in Queensland, and 41,500 extra procedures have been carried out, including in Queensland. It is important to note that what this government has done, in relation to health, is take the initiative and ensure that funding flows to states through a range of mechanisms. We have allocated, in addition to simply hospital funding, an additional $275 million for 31 GP superclinics, for which nine contracts have been signed. That will include matters right across Australia. (Time expired)