BILL SHORTEN MP
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
& ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS
MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
CATHERINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
MEMBER FOR BALLARAT
MORRISON’S $2.8 BILLION CUT TO PUBLIC HOSPITALS
Every patient in every hospital across the country will be better off under Labor’s plan to restore the $2.8 billion in funding that Scott Morrison is cutting from public hospitals.
As Treasurer, Scott Morrison cut $715 million from Australia’s hospitals – cutting hospital beds, cutting healthcare workers, and blowing out hospital waiting lists.
Now as Prime Minister, Scott Morrison is planning to cut another $2.8 billion from public hospitals if he wins the next election.
Figures released today show that the Liberals and Nationals will continue their cuts for the next six years. By ripping up Labor’s 50-50 funding agreement between the Commonwealth and the states, public hospitals will lose $2.8 billion from now until 2025.
Cutting $2.8 billion from our public hospitals is equivalent to cutting:
- 1,931 doctors a year for six years; or
- 3,959 nurses a year for six years; or
- 695 hospital beds a year for six years; or
- 108,284 knee replacements; or
- 782,283 cataract surgeries.
The Liberals and Nationals promised they wouldn’t cut hospitals but they broke their promise. And now they want to keep cutting.
A Shorten Labor Government will restore every dollar that Morrison wants to cut from public hospitals.
Labor’s $2.8 Better Hospitals Fund will deliver more hospital beds and healthcare workers, more capital upgrades and tackle waiting lists.
As part of the Better Hospitals Fund, Labor will negotiate a new agreement with the states and territories to deliver more funding for public hospitals.
While the Liberals and Nationals have been cutting hospitals, presentations to hospitals have hit a record eight million a year – or 22,000 hospital presentations a day.
Under the Liberals and Nationals, one in four Australians who present to an emergency department are not seen on time.
As well as stopping Morrison’s $2.8 billion cut to public hospitals, Labor will invest $2.3 billion in our Medicare Cancer Plan – delivering cheaper cancer scans, consultations and medicines in the biggest cancer package in Australian history.
Our Medicare Cancer Plan includes $500 million to blitz public hospital waiting lists for cancer patients.
While Scott Morrison and the Liberals spend billions of dollars on tax loopholes for the top end of town, they are cutting billions of dollars from public hospitals and leaving all Australians worse off.
Labor believes access to health care should depend on your Medicare card, not your credit card.
Bill Shorten and Labor will deliver a fair go for all Australians, not just the top end of town.
State-by-state breakdown of the Liberals’ cuts to public hospitals:
| State / Territory | Estimated share of cut 2019-20 to 2024-25 $million |
| New South Wales | 854 |
| Victoria | 635 |
| Queensland | 651 |
| Western Australia | 359 |
| South Australia | 144 |
| Tasmania | 35 |
| ACT | 69 |
| Northern Territory | 69 |
SUNDAY, 14 APRIL 2019