Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I can assure the honourable member that spending on health in his state, and indeed in every state, increases every year. The honourable member will have seen that, at the recent COAG meeting, we committed to an additional $2.7 billion of spending and entered into a reassuring agreement. The growth in spending was set at 6.7 per cent, and the agreement that we entered into with the Tasmanian government specifically was to ensure that, notwithstanding that the growth rate had changed—and, of course, actually had increased—there would be no detriment or disadvantage to Tasmania because of the manner in which the formula was applied. So I can assure the honourable member that the government is very aware of the demands of the health sector and hospitals in Tasmania. We are spending more money every year. We are keenly alert to it and we are absolutely committed to ensuring that Tasmanians have the support from the federal government to ensure that they have health services on a par with Australians elsewhere in the country.

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