Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all of those members who have contributed to the debate on the Health Workforce Australia (Abolition) Bill 2014. I put on record the government's firm commitment to our health workforce across the country. That was evidenced in the budget, where health funding increases year on year and hospital funding increases by nine per cent next year, nine per cent the year after, nine per cent the following year and six per cent in year 4. I say thank you, very much, to those members in particular who have pointed out the fact that when this government came to office it inherited a health portfolio that, in addition to those people who are working hard within the department, had 23 outside agencies. I point the attention of members opposite to an article in the Australian. Ironically, its chief political correspondent and the author of the piece is Matthew Franklin, who went on to become a spin doctor for then Prime Minister Rudd. In his article Mr Franklin quotes Mr Tanner, the former Labor finance minister, as saying:

The indiscriminate creation of new bodies or the failure to adapt old bodies as their circumstances change increases the risk of having inappropriate governance structures,

Mr Tanner went on to say:

This in turn jeopardises policy outcomes and poses financial risks to the taxpayer.

The article further quotes Mr Tanner as saying:

The more agencies you have, the more embedded fixed costs that you have.

This government is staying true to the sentiment within Mr Tanner's contribution. Indeed, any good government would want to make sure that it had efficiency, because in the end governments are guardians of taxpayers' money. We have inherited an enormous amount of debt from the Labor Party. It is our responsibility to clean up their mess and clean it up we will.

The Health Workforce Australia (Abolition) Bill 2014 will close Health Workforce Australia and transfer the programs and functions of HWA to the Department of Health. The bill is not about a withdrawal of support or resources for the health workforce but about this government delivering on its commitment to remove duplication and red tape so that there can be more focus on the policies and programs that directly support our health workforce. We want to deliver a smaller and more rational government footprint. We know that without our health workforce we would have no healthcare system. We also know that there remain issues with the availability, mix and distribution of the health workforce, but another health walk force bureaucracy is not the way to address these issues.

Labor's policy of style and announcement over substance and delivery is on display in relation to this area. HWA has added an unnecessary level of administration and bureaucracy. Valuable resources have gone into the significant overhead costs that come with running an agency. By transferring the functions and programs of HWA to the Department of Health we can save money by reducing duplication and we can continue to support programs to build our health workforce. All priority activities will continue to be delivered. The organisations funded by HWA can be assured that all current funding agreements will be met. The Commonwealth government will continue to work with the states and territories, private health employers and the professions towards national health workforce planning and reform.

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