Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to be part of a government that is committed to bringing the budget back into balance, and our track record on economic growth has seen 17 months of jobs growth. It also allows us, as a government, to invest in the services that Australians deserve. We're providing record funding for new medicines and mental health services and a record investment in hospitals in every state and territory. The Commonwealth contribution to state and territory public hospitals has increased from $13 billion in 2012-13 to a record $22.7 billion in 2020-21—70 per cent over the period.

Moving forward beyond 2020, the government has put forward a generous offer to states and territories. We've committed an additional $30 billion for public hospitals, which will provide almost $128 billion over the five years from 2020. Every state would have a record funding amount—in each and every state and territory—meaning more doctors, more nurses and more services. New South Wales and WA have signed the heads of agreement, but unfortunately our home state of Victoria hasn't. Under the new deal, Victorian hospital funding would increase from $24 billion in the five years from 2019-20 to more than $31 billion in 2020-24. Daniel Andrews and Jill Hennessy have been putting politics ahead of patients in our home state, turning their backs on the more than $7 billion in extra funding for Victorian hospitals that is on the table. But, looking at the front page of the Herald Sun, they've had other things on their minds. I encourage the Victorian Labor government to follow the leadership of their WA colleagues and sign on to our hospital agreement, which will deliver recording funding support for the people of our home state.