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

Whether you have a robot or not, they are not making full use of IT facilities that the private sector is using in industry. This is the challenge: get the experts in to ensure that the health dollar is spent on the sick and the needy. I know that other states will have to confront similar challenges when about half a million Australians currently entitled to private health cover line up at government hospitals. So the issue is: where is the extra Commonwealth funding coming from for the 385,000 who will effectively be thrown onto the government healthcare system?

Similarly, in areas such as the Regional Partnerships program, much of the great incentive for private enterprise and community groups will be scuttled. It was something where we had the community working together, often in more regional areas with great difficulties.