Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am rising today to talk about the shocking health cuts in New South Wales. The first Abbott budget slashed $50 billion from public hospitals around the country—cuts, of course, that every member of the cabinet signed off on. That is $15 billion out of New South Wales hospitals up to 2020-25 and $1.2 billion over the next four years alone. Then we look at the cuts the Baird Liberal government has also made: $3 billion cut from health—that is 3,600 hospital workers sacked; $2.2 billion of cuts in services; and $775 million in staffing cuts.

Government Member:

A government member interjecting—

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is in your budget papers. I do not know if you read them. A Foley Labor government will provide an additional $1.7 billion for health infrastructure in the coming years, including nurse-led walk-in centres, flu vaccinations to be delivered by pharmacists and ending co-payments for chemotherapy.

The federal budget has also cut $367 million out of preventive health programs, axing the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health. The best way of saving health dollars is to stop people getting sick and going to hospital in the first place. There is also $400 million cut from adult dental services across Australia and the end of the Dental Flexible Grants Program—a $229 million cut in dental health. Just one of those cuts, for example, is the cut to the Charles Sturt University dental and oral health clinic developments in New South Wales—a $15.2 million cut over three years gained by not proceeding with the Charles Sturt University dental and oral health clinic developments. That is something that would have greatly benefited people living in rural and regional areas.

There is also the $2.9 million cut from the National Tobacco Campaign. Again, the best way of saving dollars in the health system is to keep people healthy and out of hospital. About half of all regular smokers end up dying from smoking related causes. So the effort that we have put in to reducing smoking rates in Australia has been critical to long-term health savings. In the last budget that was also the scrapping of the Diagnostic Imaging Quality Program—a cut of $14.4 million there—and almost $90 million cut out of optometry rebates. There is also the $1.3 billion extra that this government wants Australians to pay for their medicines.

In this week, when we have the Closing the gap health statements, it is also worth noting that $165 million was cut from Indigenous health programs, including the Tackling Smoking and Health Lifestyles Program. The National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development has not been renewed, leaving 38 children and family centres facing the real risk of closure. Funding to the National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Health Outcomes was cut by $770 million. There has also been the axing of the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee without warning; the axing of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equality Council; and the axing of the Remote Eye Health Service, which has carried out 12,800 outpatient consultations. (Time expired)