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

What I can say in response to the question, of course, is that what this government has done—other than take a billion dollars out of the system, which the opposition did—is that we have ensured that we have a COAG agreement with the states and territories to ensure that matters such as reducing elective surgery waiting times and providing funding for state and territory hospitals, which includes how they want to distribute within the hospital system, are there, unlike what the opposition did when they were in government. We have a healthcare agreement which delivers the $64 billion over five years. This is an increase of more than $20 billion. In fact, when you look at it in total it is a 50 per cent increase over the last agreement. So it is about ensuring that we support both state and territory hospitals, including those which you mentioned in Victoria. As for how the states themselves distribute that funding within the system, that is a matter which the overall COAG agreement seeks to deal with. The Commonwealth responsibility in this area is, as I have demonstrated, putting the $64 billion over the five years into the system. What we have already said is that, in terms of reducing elective surgery waiting times and providing support, unlike those opposite, who did not provide the assistance— (Time expired)