Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister advise the House of the importance of pursuing reforms to our health system?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for La Trobe for her question. I know that she is deeply concerned about health services in her community, not only today but for tomorrow. As she would be aware each and every year health costs continue to rise. I refer the House to some Treasury analysis: the Treasury projects that health spending alone will absorb more than the entire revenue collected by all states in around three decades. I think people should think about the force of that number and that if we do not act—if we continue to say to state governments that they should have the disproportionate responsibility for funding hospital costs—then, looking at the next 30 years, what we are saying is that it would take more revenue than the states actually collect. This is not a sustainable position.

We want Australians to have great health services today, decent health services, health services that meet their needs, and we want that to be the case in 10, 20 and 30 years time. In order to achieve that we need to deliver fundamental health reform, including the federal government stepping up to being the dominant funder of health. That is what our health reforms are all about. Those health reforms are about making sure that the federal government has the majority share for funding hospitals and that we fund primary care 100 per cent. Obviously, how well primary care, the first instance care that people need, is going determines the later burden on our hospitals, because too many people end up in hospital because they have not had the appropriate primary care at the right time.

To deliver this health reform, we have entered into an agreement with states and territories around the nation—we are still in discussion with Western Australia—and we need to legislate in this parliament.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Canning.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And the agreement that we reached with the states was that we would on average take one-third of their GST, but there would be variation from state to state, and that has always been clear.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Swan.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It has always been clear in the government’s own budgets. I would refer people to the fact that estimates of the amounts of the states’ total revenue that would be dedicated to health were fully reported in the budget and the most recent estimates were included on page 114 of the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook. This information has been there for members of parliament and interested members of the public to digest.

Now, apparently, the Leader of the Opposition is going to pretend he did not know about this in order to try to clutch for an excuse to wreck health reform. Members of this House should recognise that, if the Leader of the Opposition gets his way and wrecks health reform, he is then wrecking plans to do things like deliver $7 billion in funding to improve our health system, starting from 1 July this year—that is, wrecking things like an additional $15.6 billion in funding to address increased demand from 2014, and wrecking things like our ability to provide more doctors, more nurses and more hospital beds. There will be 6,000 more doctors, 1,300 new hospital beds and 2,500 new aged care beds.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Dutton interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Dickson.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians want improved health services. They do not want the wrecking of the Leader of the Opposition.