The Coalition has smashed its promise not to cut health funding by cutting $500 million from health and medical research today.
Treasurer Joe Hockey today cut hundreds of millions from medical research, hospitals and programs to support cancer sufferers across Australia.
Today, Treasurer Joe Hockey cut:
• $100 million in funding for Westmead Hospital to complete the first stage of a comprehensive redevelopment. Westmead services around 1.5 million people in Sydney’s western suburbs and the redevelopment would have met growing demand by establishing an urgent care centre and providing for more hospital beds.
• $10 million from the Children’s Medical Research Institute and $12 million from the Millennium Institute – one of the largest medical research institutes in Australia working on cancer and leukaemia research, heart disease, eye and brain disease and heart and respiratory disorders.
• $15.1 million from the life-saving Cancer Care Coordinators program. Despite knowing that Australians in regional areas have a lower life expectancy and find it more difficult to access life-saving treatment the Government has decided to cut this funding.
• $6 million for Medical Resonance Imaging service at Mt Druitt, the cutting of the $10 million life-saving Queensland Cancer Package, $15 million from the Flinders Neo-Natal Unit, the $10 million Western Australia cancer team, and the $50 million stroke package.
• $3.5 million from the Biala Health Service, the only free sexual-health clinic in Brisbane. In government, Labor funded this service after cuts by Campbell Newman threatened to shut the service down – an outcome the Queensland Australian Medical Association said would have “catastrophic consequences”.
• Today’s announcement also confirms the Coalition will scrap the $100 million committed for the redevelopment of the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. This comes despite Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine continuing to assure the Victorian public that this promise was ‘rock solid’.
The funding for all these programs was budgeted for and included in the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
These are disgraceful and cruel cuts from Tony Abbott. Clearly Peter Dutton has made no attempt to stand up for Australians as the government continues on its savage savings crusade.
Before the election, Tony Abbott promised not to cut health or medical research.
The Coalition’s election policy costings document says:
“There are no cuts to education, health, defence or medical research.”
[Coalition Final Update on Federal Coalition Election Policy Commitments – 5 September 2013]
We know now that was a lie. Tony Abbott told the Australian people one thing before the election and is doing the complete opposite in power.