John Watson (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

If, as you say, Senator Bernardi, the waters are murky, people become suspicious and they are not happy. That is an unfortunate situation. This is a hospital system which has been badly neglected by the Tasmanian Labor government over many years and this lifeline has been snatched back just at a time when additional resources are so badly needed. That is unfortunate. Then we have the changes to the Medicare levy, which are certain to lead to severe reductions in the numbers of Australians with private health cover and will only serve to put even more pressure on a ramshackle state hospital system in Tasmania.

The Tasmanian hospital system has got to use more computerisation to reduce its high labour costs and get a better ratio between people who are helping the sick and those who are administering records.