Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Thomson, may I take the opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. There is goodwill all round here, except for this Federal Financial Relations Amendment (National Health and Hospitals Network) Bill 2010. This bill enables the Commonwealth government to retain part of the GST for dedication to the National Health and Hospitals Network fund and about $50 billion in GST revenue over the current forward estimates will be rebranded as increased federal government spending on health. This bill does not provide the details of the new health arrangements. It simply delineates the financial aspects of the government’s new health policy.

Under the agreement, the Commonwealth will cover 60 per cent of the costs of the public hospitals and 100 per cent of a range of other healthcare services in return for the states handing over about one-third of their GST, although the exact proportion differs between states. So this is simply about shifting money from the states to the Commonwealth. Ironically, it comes from the Commonwealth, it goes to the states and now it is going back to the Commonwealth, and this is dedicated reform, according to the Labor Party in government. States will also be eligible for additional money called top-up payments.

There is no detail about the criteria under which these new payments will be provided. These will be at least $15.6 billion, although the minister can specify a lower amount. The payments will not commence until 2014-15. How convenient that might be. It just happens to fall outside of the existing four-year budget. It is amazing how these additional payments just pop up at a date well after the next budget forward estimates.

The motivations to fix the hospital system are noble—we all want to have a better hospital system—but the policy prescription is inadequate. The hospital system needs good public policy, but a simple cash grab by the Commonwealth is not the answer. The government’s new health policy aims to achieve accountability by better delineation of health responsibilities. However, the new model adds an extra layer to the administration of the health system and will not end the blame game that is the nature of health care in Australia.

Measures such as the local hospital networks sound good in practice but will do nothing to alleviate incompetent management in some hospitals. The litmus test for these health reforms will be better and more accountable service under this new system. The government has failed miserably to prosecute this case. We all know that the Labor Party just cannot manage money. The Minister for Resources and Energy knows that, and so do the Australian people. This bill drives a massive increase in revenue for a Commonwealth government that has proven itself incompetent and wasteful in the delivery of services. The total revenue redistribution that is shuffling money here and shuffling money there of $50 billion over the forward estimates involves a substantial amount of effort and it will lead to a significant increase with little planning as to how it is spent.

We are concerned about the lack of detail in this bill. Nowhere in the bill or in the explanatory memorandum is there mention of the precise amount of the GST to be taken from the states. If it was about a third, as indicated by the Treasurer in his second reading speech, it would be about $56 billion in additional federal revenue over the three years of the forward estimates—just a lazy $56 billion lying around which the federal government is just plucking out of the states. In the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, released a week after the Treasurer presented his second reading speech on this bill, it was said to be $44.6 billion over three years of the current forward estimates, excluding Western Australia. At this stage the amount involved looks to be around $50 billion. Under the proposed section 6A, the minister determines the amount of GST revenue to be paid by legislative instrument. This decision of the minister cannot be disallowed by parliament. This is an incredibly dangerous precedent for the federal government, which has shown time and time again that it will use any means necessary to pay for its reckless spending. I nearly choked on my oxygen yesterday—

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