Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kooyong for his question. He is a member in this place whom I have great respect for. However, I say to the member for Kooyong that the question he has just put is actually constructed on a false premise. The undertaking I gave the Australian people, as those opposite will be familiar with, was as follows: that if there was not substantial and serious commitment to health reform and hospitals reform on the part of the states and territories, the government would then proceed to seek a reference from the Australian people with a view to taking over hospitals from the states and territories. Secondly, since the election, as the honourable member will know full well, we have commissioned the Bennett commission of inquiry—

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