Catherine King

Catherine King

CATHERINE KING MP
Federal Member Ballarat
Shadow Minister Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Development

T (03) 5338 8123
Email: Catherine.King.MP@aph.gov.au

Catherine King MP
Electorate Office
5 Lydiard Street North
Ballarat, VIC 3350

Bacchus Marsh
(every Friday from 10am to 3pm)
Lerderderg Library
Geoffrey Hine Room
215 Main Street
Bacchus Marsh, VIC 3340

Open in Google Maps
  • ABOUT
  • BALLARAT
  • MEDIA
    • LOCAL MEDIA
    • NATIONAL MEDIA
  • POLICY
  • CONTACT US
Thursday, 05 November 2015 / Published in MEDIA

INQUIRY EXPOSES TRUE COST OF TURNBULL HOSPITAL CUTS

Damning evidence the Turnbull Government’s $57 billion hospital cuts is the equivalent of closing two major hospitals in one state is just the tip of the iceberg, with every state and territory hit by the blatant broken promise.

The acting secretary of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services has told the inquiry Victoria will lose $17.7 billion over the next decade as a result of the cuts, the equivalent of 23,000 elective surgeries every two years, or the closure of two major hospitals.

But Victoria’s experience is far from isolated, with every state and territory suffering as a result of the decision to tear up the hospital funding agreement.

The Queensland Health Department has estimated its share of the cut at $11.8 billion or the equivalent of 4,500 doctors, nurses and allied health practitioners.

NSW will lose over $16.5 billion, South Australia $4.6 billion, Western Australia $4.8 billion, Tasmania $1.1 billion, the ACT $900 million and the Northern Territory $600 million.

The evidence provided by Victoria will be repeated in every state and territory with tens of thousands of elective surgeries cut, hospital beds closed, and thousands fewer doctors nurses and other health workers.

The Government has repeatedly denied making any cuts to hospitals, but this has been repeatedly exposed as a lie by both the Parliamentary Budget Office and by its own Treasury in this table provided to estimates last year.

These cuts were made in breach of a clear promise by the Liberal Party to maintain Labor’s funding formula in its 2013 Election Health Policy

These These cuts are the single biggest contribution to the reduction in spending being claimed by the Government in its Intergenerational Report.

In addition, the Government has cut a further $3 billion from Australia’s public hospitals over the next four years by abandoning funding guarantees under the National Health Reform Agreement and changing indexation arrangements.

State premiers have warned the cuts are unsustainable and simply amount to a massive cost shift onto patients, and the states.

This latest evidence just confirms these cuts will increase emergency department waiting times, increase elective surgery waiting times, and reduce the number of hospital beds across the country.

Tagged under: 2015

What you can read next

HOCKEY MUST RULE OUT GP TAX BY STEALTH
STORY OF ST PATRICKS OLD BOYS ON THE FRONT LINE
HOWARTH FAILS ON MRI LICENCE FOR REDCLIFFE HOSPITAL – BUT LABOR WILL DELIVER

FILTER BY TYPE:

  • MEDIA
    • LOCAL MEDIA
    • NATIONAL MEDIA

FILTER BY YEAR:

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

© Catherine King. Authorised by Catherine King, Australian Labor Party, Canberra

Noise Birds

TOP