Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It will not come as any surprise to the honourable member for Richmond that I do not, in any way, shape or form, support the motion on dental health currently before the chamber. The only way that I would support such a motion would be if the Commonwealth were to take over the administration of health nationally from the states, given the fact that the states right around the country—including in my home state of Queensland—have comprehensively failed in this area.

You cannot have a situation in a federation where there is supposedly a division of powers between the Commonwealth and the state governments but whenever the states drop the ball and do not meet their constitutional obligations they come cap in hand to the Australian government and say, ‘Well, it’s now your responsibility to fund dental services,’ in this particular case, or for that matter in other areas. In fact, there is an increasing tendency in Australia for everyone to contact the Commonwealth government when states are letting down the community.

The reason we have such a large number of mendicants coming to the doors of the Treasurer and the Prime Minister wanting Commonwealth funding is that this government, over the last 10 or 11 years, has shown responsible economic management and the government therefore has the economic ability—now that Labor’s debt has been paid back—to fund extra services. And this is what the government has been doing. But you have to draw the line somewhere and if Federation is to mean anything then one ought to recognise that the provision of dental services in the public area ought to be the responsibility of the states of Australia.

We have a situation where, for a short period between 1994 and 1996, the Commonwealth dental program existed but it was never intended to be a takeover of funding responsibilities for dental health. It was simply a short-term program to address the growing waiting lists that people were experiencing as a result of the dilatory approach of various state governments.

We also ought to recognise that every last cent of the goods and services tax goes to the states. This should give the states the ability to spend extra money on roads, schools and hospitals. In fact, we have a situation where the level of government who has constitutional responsibility for a particular area has now the economic wherewithal to fund that responsibility. Before the goods and services tax came in, before our new tax system was fully established, we had a situation where the government that spent the money was not always the government that raised the money.

When one looks at the amount of money going to the various states as a result of the GST, there is absolutely no excuse for the states not to provide adequate dental health services for needy Australians. In New South Wales the goods and services tax will put $10.9 billion in the current financial year into the coffers of the New South Wales Labor government, compared to $10.3 billion the year before. In Queensland, the figure this year is $7.9 billion, up from $7.6 billion the previous year. Victoria received $7.7 billion in the last financial year, and this will increase to $8.5 billion this year.

The Commonwealth dental plan ended in 1997, when waiting lists returned to manageable levels, but unfortunately the states have introduced no initiatives to address the underlying problems and waiting lists are once again growing. The states have acknowledged that dental care is their responsibility, and it really is important that state governments right around the country meet that constitutional responsibility and do away with the appalling situation where dental health is not being addressed.

It is a sad indictment that the member for Richmond finds it necessary to stand in the parliament just before the looming state election to talk about the federal government picking up this state responsibility. Labor has had years to fix the problem and has not, and it really ought to be recognised by the people in New South Wales that the state Labor government has failed. The alternative government, Mr Debnam’s coalition, has pledged to spend an extra $208.5 million on public dentistry, and I hope this fact is recognised when the New South Wales state election comes along. I know that the member for Richmond is simply playing politics. I know that she is trying to divert attention from the woeful performance by the state Labor government, but she has no credibility. (Time expired)

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