Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about the ongoing problems with Queensland Health. I rise to be an advocate for those constituents in my community who have been so adversely affected by the intransigence, the lack of action and the bumbling of the Beattie state Labor government in Queensland. I rise because those MPs who are charged with the responsibility of representing the people of the Gold Coast in Queensland’s state parliament, the parliament that is accountable for the lack of action when it comes to Queensland Health, have remained eerily silent. My concern is that Gold Coasters are forced to accept suboptimal outcomes when it comes to their health because the Queensland state Labor Premier, Peter Beattie, and the Queensland state Labor government seem unable or unwilling to do anything to fix the health crisis in Queensland.

Over the course of the past week we have seen on the Gold Coast a complete blow-out in waiting lists for operations at our public hospitals. This blow-out is all the more concerning when you consider that for a patient to be eligible to have an operation in Queensland there is a secret waiting list to get onto the waiting list. So there is a blow-out in the official waiting lists, and I can only shudder to think what the lead time just to get on the waiting list is for those constituents who are on the secret waiting list. That the Labor premier says this is all a consequence of federal government policy just highlights the fact that the Queensland state Labor government has become so arrogant and out of touch that the people of Queensland are ready to take the baton to it. We saw that in two by-elections.

I stand in this parliament to say that the Howard government will continue to channel record amounts of money into the Queensland state Labor government’s coffers in an attempt to play a meaningful role when it comes to addressing the issues of Queensland Health. Over $11 billion per annum is flowing to the Queensland state Labor government through GST and financial assistance grants. As part of this as well, the Howard government contributed $8 billion to Queensland Health over five years. That funds 50 per cent of the hospital system. Despite this, Peter Beattie and his state Labor members are contributing a miserly $440 per head of population to public hospitals. This is less than any other state government contributes to its public hospital system. It is an indictment of the Labor government in Queensland, and the fact that the Labor MPs from that state have been silent on this is completely unacceptable.

I will continue to highlight the inaction of the state Labor government, I will continue to highlight the way in which the Commonwealth government is pouring record amounts of money into Queensland and I will continue to ask, ‘Why?’ (Time expired)

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! In accordance with sessional order 193 the time for members’ statements has concluded.