Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to this electricity bill—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It matters to the people in my electorate, Prime Minister. This electricity bill, from The Bays Hospital in Mornington—

Mr Gibbons interjecting—

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bendigo is warned! The one thing that I and the person being asked do need to hear is the question. The member for Dunkley has the call and his time will commence again.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to this electricity bill from The Bays Hospital in Mornington. A statement from its CEO says that The Bays Hospital is a small not-for-profit community hospital and that the carbon adjustment costs will be $44,000, without compensation and with no ability to pass on the costs to patients. How does the Prime Minister expect the Bays Hospital to find the extra money? Or does the Prime Minister expect that it will cut services?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I would ask the member for Dunkley to table the bill that he referred to as 'this bill'.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I am happy to do that. I would actually like an answer and then—

Mr Randall interjecting—

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Canning is warned! If he wants to get into the Speaker's chair, maybe he could speak to the Leader of the Opposition about having some spots filled by opposition members.

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

To the member who asked the question: it is obviously impossible for me to address the specific circumstances of this hospital when the member will not table the account that he says he is relying on and when our experience, day after day, in this parliament is that electricity bills are misrepresented by the opposition, misrepresented in the most gross ways, misrepresented in order to further their fear campaign and misrepresented in order to deny the facts. Just to emphasise that point, we saw absurd claims made about the individual electricity bill of a pensioner in Western Australia, when anybody who had bothered to read it saw that the increase was 9.13 per cent. On health costs—

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I invite you to have the Prime Minister answer the question. The claims are from the CEO of the hospital. I am not sure that it is fair to suggest that the CEO's claim is absurd at all.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has the call.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Let me make it very clear that I am not addressing my remarks to the CEO of the hospital; I am addressing them to the member who asked the question and his refusal to table the document in order to inform this answer. And one wonders why he is refusing. On the question of health costs, the Commonwealth Treasury and the Department of Health and Ageing estimate that the impact of the carbon price will be 0.3 per cent of hospital costs.

Opposition members interjecting—

Let me repeat that again and, as the opposition interject, I am talking about figures of the Treasury and the department of health, which are the same agencies which advised the Howard government. So members of the opposition ought to treat them with some respect rather than engage in interjecting.

The impact of the carbon price will be 0.3 per cent. That is the equivalent of only 3c in every $10 that a hospital spends. When you look at what this government has determined to do with respect to funding of hospitals, you will see that it has increased funding to hospitals in a way which means that we are covering the extra costs many times over. To take just one figure: indexation of the hospital agreement will see federal hospital funding increase by 6.5 per cent in 2012-13, going up each year to more than 10 per cent indexation in 2015-16.

So let us just make that clear again to the opposition, which does not want to absorb the facts: indexation of hospitals is going up to 10 per cent. This is a stark contrast to the days when the Leader of the Opposition was ripping $1 billion out of Australia's hospital system, $1 billion as uncovered—

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

That's a lie!

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume her seat. The member for Dickson will withdraw.

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

I withdraw.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member. The Prime Minister will return to the question before the chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In returning to the question, there is no doubt, as a result of the way in which we have determined to fund hospitals, that hospitals are receiving extra resources under this government. The member should not be misrepresenting the circumstance with carbon pricing, which is the equivalent of only 3c in every $10 that hospitals spend. (Time expired)

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, in accordance with the basic courtesies of this place, I seek leave to table this document and refute the claim that there was some other motive.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Dunkley has other opportunities to do that. Leader of the House, is leave granted to table the document?

Leave granted.

The member for Dunkley may table the document.