Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It does seem a bit long-stretched to say that that question relates to the first question but what I can say in response is that the average waiting times for elective surgery in New South Wales dropped significantly over the past three years; from 3.6 months in June 2005 to 2.8 months in March 2008. The New South Wales spokesperson said: ‘The Rudd government has already done more for public hospitals in New South Wales since being elected than the Howard government did in 11 long years.’ It was also said that more people are having their elective surgeries completed within the clinically recommended time frames. The number of patients waiting more than 12 months for elective surgery has plummeted from more than 10,000 to 255 in March this year; This is much more than the Liberals did. (Time expired)