Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Most senators, of course, would appreciate that Senator Trood has a longstanding interest in health issues. In fact, I remember when Senator Trood was campaigning for a position in this place he made a solemn promise to the people of Queensland that he would raise these sorts of issues—the wasteful use of federal funds by state governments, including and in particular the Queensland state government. The federal government provides between 46 per cent and 47 per cent of all revenue that the Queensland state government gets. Of that, up to $8 billion will be provided over the life of the 2003-08 Australian health care agreements and Queensland will receive $1.7 billion in 2006-07.

As a Queensland senator, I want to reinforce the message that the Prime Minister gave to all Queenslanders and all Australians yesterday that Queenslanders well and truly deserve to receive all those funds, and more as that state continues to grow, thanks to the policies of the Howard government. What Queenslanders expect and what the Australian people expect is that those funds be spent wisely and in the best interest of Queenslanders, particularly those who want good health care.

The question here that needs to be asked—and it is coincidental that we ask this question now—is: what in fact is happening with the health system in Queensland? New surgery figures published last month show that the number of people on Queensland Health’s official waiting list had blown out by 1,953 in 12 months and the number of people who actually received operations—and this is very instructional—had fallen by 1,336 compared to the previous year. Not only has the list grown longer but the actual number of operations is also on the decrease. Even more disturbing is that the number of Queenslanders waiting beyond the medically recommended time for treatment has increased by 1,970 to 9,451—almost 10,000 people’s lives have been put at risk by the Beattie Labor government’s failure. That does not take into account more than 80,000 people who are on Queensland Health’s unofficial waiting list who have not even been able to get to see a doctor.