Australian PM Scott Morrison is promising to deliver more doctors and improved health facilities across the country with a $1.25 billion boost for health services.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Morrison will take his plan to the meeting of state and territory leaders later on Wednesday, but Labor governments in Queensland and Victoria are refusing to sign a new hospital funding deal because they say it doesn’t offer enough new cash. It is claimed that Morrison’s funding boost is $486 million more than the Labor Party’s equivalent program to be rolled out over the next four years.
“We will deliver more doctors, more nurses and more health services into every state and territory,” Morrison said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “This is the tangible benefit of strong economy and it’s why I am so committed to keeping our economy strong.”
According to academic website The Conversation, The Federal Government’s Community Health and Hospitals Program will supply funding to four key areas including mental health, preventive, primary and chronic disease management, drug and alcohol treatment and specialist hospital services such as cancer treatment, rural health and hospital infrastructure.
It follows Labor’s scare campaign from the last election.
“The last election, Labor ran a very effective, even if it was incredibly misleading, Mediscare campaign, warning that Medicare could be privatised under the coalition, that there could be cuts to health spending and Scott Morrison is determined to not let Labor go down that path again,” 7 News Political Reporter Olivia Leeming said on Wednesday’s Sunrise.
The Prime Minister is promising more doctors and improved facilities across the country with a billion dollar funding boost for health services. pic.twitter.com/MBtWSuePqh
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) December 11, 2018
“He’s promising to outspend the opposition by nearly half a billion dollars over the next four years with this new funding announcement today.”
The money would be on top of funding already set aside for public hospitals, with both parties committing to a $30 billion increase over five years from 2020. Morrison is set to make the announcement to state premiers in Adelaide.
The news follows the results of this week’s Newspoll which revealed support for the government has dipped to an historic low. Support for Scott Morrison’s government has slumped with the Liberal National Party finding themselves 10 points behind Labor at 45-55 on a two-party preferred basis for the third Newspoll in a row. According to the results, the Coalition’s primary vote is currently at 35 per cent, while Labor sit at 41 per cent, with the next federal election just six months away.
Meanwhile, new reports released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) last week found waiting times for elective surgery and emergency department care have increased. Elective surgery waiting time has increased from 36 days in 2013-14 to 40 days in 2017-18, while 72 per cent of people presenting to emergency departments in 2017-18 were seen on time, compared to 75 per cent in 2013-14.
A spokesperson from the Department of Health told Starts at 60 it is disappointed to see a lack of improvement in the time it takes for Australians in emergency departments to receive care or for Australians to receive elective surgery.
“The Department notes under the National Health Reform Agreement, the state and territory governments are the system managers of their public hospital systems and as such the responsibility for the management of the public hospital system, including waiting times and performance, rests with the states and territories,” the spokesperson explained. “The Department notes that the most recent AIHW data shows that the state and territory contribution to public hospitals grew by only 0.1 per cent in 2016-17 compared to the growth in Commonwealth funding of 6.2 per cent.”
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