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

It does seem, quite frankly, that the opposition are trying to progress their state election credentials here, but it is an important issue. What we have said in relation to the historic COAG meeting—and this is about what the opposition could not do—is they failed, when they were in government, to work through how you then reach agreement through a COAG process to ensure that you do fund hospitals and that you do address waiting lists and that you do make sure that the government can provide $64.4 billion over five years to the states and territories to improve health and hospitals. That package includes several national partnerships to strengthen our hospitals, including Queensland’s, and the health workforce because the workforce is critical to ensuring preventative health and Indigenous health outcomes. The health agreement reached at COAG— (Time expired)