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

Thank you, Mr President. Perhaps the opposition are not listening to what I am saying. We have been going through the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s recommendations and we have indicated that we are not ruling anything in or out. I ask the opposition to engage in the process, rather than being sideline critics of it. We have held 75 consultations across all states to seek people’s views on directions for health reform. The health reform system is becoming unsustainable and has reached a tipping point, after 12 years of neglect by the Howard government, by those who sit opposite us today. We realise our population is ageing, health costs are rising and there also severe shortages— (Time expired)