Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

In 2007 the Prime Minister told Australians that he would take responsibility for fixing our hospital system and that the buck would stop with him. If this is the case, can the Prime Minister please tell me why healthcare facilities in Paterson are still not up to par? Health services in my electorate of Paterson are becoming a shambles. Take for example the Cape Hawke—now named Forster—Private Hospital saga, which began many years ago with a public campaign for 20 beds to be leased by the New South Wales government. The next closest hospital is Manning Base Hospital, located 35 kilometres away in Taree. With very little public transport between the two areas, there is little choice for residents in the region. The issue culminated in September 2007 when Reba Meagher, the then health minister, finally made an announcement committing 20 public beds to be made available at the public hospital by December 2007. This promise never eventuated—there was just red tape and delays.

I have worked with Terry Clout, the former CEO of the Hunter-New England Area Health Service, and his replacement Nigel Lyons, but the bureaucracy has reigned supreme. All Paterson constituents and I continue to hear about are more delays and more issues. All the time the Forster-Tuncurry community has been purposely disadvantaged. I am now informed after all this time that the ‘contracts’ were signed in January but—now for new delays—the contracts are waiting on the desk of the New South Wales Department of Health for Minister John Della Bosca to sign off on.

Since September 2007, almost monthly promises have been made. When will the minister see fit to stop punishing the people of Forster-Tuncurry? When will beds be provided for palliative care, low-level care, respite and accommodation for the aged waiting to be placed in aged-care facilities? It is about time the New South Wales Labor government pulled up their socks and delivered on the promises that will assist Forster and Tuncurry residents rather than continuing to put their needs on the backburner. Perhaps the Prime Minister should step in and take control of the situation, just as he said he would.

The wait that sick and needy Forster-Tuncurry residents have had to incur is unacceptable. These beds are needed now. The New South Wales Labor government has dragged the chain for long enough. For years, Forster and Tuncurry patients’ quality of life has been hampered due to the New South Wales Labor government’s inability to act efficiently and to commit sufficient funding for rural hospitals. The government needs to stop playing the blame game and coming up with lame and offensive excuses. They need to act and they need to act now.

In stark contrast, the coalition’s commitment to improving health care was paramount. The former Howard government strengthened Medicare with the addition of the Medicare safety net to help with out-of-hospital expenses such as specialist visits. We increased bulk-billing to the highest rate ever. We strongly encouraged people to take responsibility for their own health insurance by introducing the 30 per cent private health insurance rebate and Lifetime Health Cover, which allows health funds to charge different rates for people who join at different ages. We massively boosted immunisation coverage to both protect and reduce future costs. However, in just 15 short months, the Rudd Labor government and the New South Wales Labor government have let the people of Paterson down and, furthermore, people across the entire nation are without hope.

Treasury estimates that the Rudd Labor government’s decision to increase the Medicare surcharge threshold will force more than 500,000 people to drop their private health insurance and join public hospital queues. This will cause havoc in public hospitals. For public hospitals like those in the Paterson electorate such as Gloucester, Bulahdelah, Dungog, Tomaree and Maitland, which are already struggling with limited resources, the Rudd Labor government will not stand up and take charge as they promised.

While the Rudd Labor government have promised $950 cash flashes for countless Australians in their proposed $42 Nation Building and Jobs Plan, did they forget about our hospitals when they neglected to allocate funding for the healthcare system, which is currently buckling under pressure due to increased financial strains imposed by the federal government? And, Prime Minister, can you please explain why there are no GP super clinics up and running across Australia, as was promised by you to be the case by the end of 2008? We are all waiting; and not so patiently, I might add. I remind you of your words, Prime Minister, when you announced in the lead-up to the election, ‘I have a long-term plan to fix our nation’s hospitals. I will be responsible for implementing my plan and I state this with absolute clarity: the buck will stop with me.’ Again, Prime Minister, the people are not only sick and tired but sick and dying, as they wait for you to deliver on your promises.

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