Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

If the member for Dickson, instead of calling out, actually read the report, he would know that that report is based on data from June 2009—10 months before the COAG agreement was even reached. Now what we know is that the member for Dickson and the Leader of the Opposition want to rip 448 extra beds out of New South Wales hospitals. They want to rip 300-odd beds out of Victorian hospitals. I notice that the Leader of the Opposition took on the mantle he had as the health minister, going down to Victoria and standing next to Mr Baillieu and saying that together they would rip up health reforms that are delivering hundreds of millions of dollars to the Victorian health system. They have said they will cut 334 beds in Victoria—30 beds at Werribee hospital, 30 beds at Casey Hospital and 24 beds at Frankston Hospital. They will cut funding to upgrade seven new emergency departments. They will cut funding to upgrade new elective surgery facilities. And they will cut funding for medical equipment. This is just the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition returning to form. When Mr Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition, was the health minister, he ripped $1 billion out of our hospitals, and now he is lining up to rip even more out of our hospitals, just when these reforms are starting to deliver beds and services to our community.

In New South Wales 42 beds are going to Liverpool Hospital. I wonder whether the Leader of the Opposition wanted to talk to his backbench about ripping 42 beds out of Liverpool Hospital. Blacktown Hospital, in the member for Greenway’s seat, as I mentioned, is getting 18 beds. There will be 16 new beds at Gosford Hospital. I do not think our two members whose electorates are serviced by Gosford Hospital on the Central Coast will be very pleased to find out that the Leader of the Opposition intends to rip out those beds and beds that are starting to service people in communities across the country. Our health reforms are providing the funding that hospitals need to be sustainable now and into the future, and Mr Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition, has said that the opposition are determined to rip those beds out of our hospitals.

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