Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Those million extra jobs are what allow us to guarantee essential services. Those essential services include: record funding for Medicare, with an additional $4.8 billion; record funding for age care, with an additional $5 billion; record funding for mental health, with an additional $338 million; and record funding for hospitals, with an additional $30 billion.

In mentioning hospitals, I should note that only a week and a half ago I accompanied the member for Brisbane to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. It's a great hospital, and we made a major announcement in ensuring there is better resistance to antimicrobial challenges, so making real progress. But I've seen something interesting about hospital funding recently. The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital is in the Metro North Hospital and Health Service area of Queensland. I saw a statement from a former member of this House, Susan Lamb, who said, 'Don't cut money from Caboolture Hospital', which is also in the metro north area. I thought to myself: 'Did we cap funds? No, we added $120 million in the last budget.' Did Labor in Queensland cut funds? Yes, they did; they cut $21 million from the Caboolture Hospital region, which is the metro north region.

You can also compare what we've done in relation to new medicines and what the ALP did. On the weekend we listed Cabometyx, a new medicine for renal cancer. This can help save people's lives and protect lives. I met Gil, who said that he believed with this medicine he would have the chance of walking his daughter down the aisle early next year. That is about saving lives. But let me say this: that has not always been the approach of the other side. They deliberately delayed seven new medicines, including for in-vitro fertilisation and endometriosis. And why? Because in the end— (Time expired)

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