Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Askew for the question on the important issue of health. It's nice to get a question on such a significant matter.

In relation to announcements made by the Labor opposition in Tasmania, I'm not specifically aware of the announcement you mentioned, but we've made no secret of wanting to work with state and territory governments on delivery of hospital services improvements, and obviously there are discussions all the time with states and territories about hospital infrastructure. It was a key decision point and discussion point at National Cabinet late last year about the hospital reform agreement that's up for negotiation and the pressure that's on state and territory governments around that, so I don't think it's any secret that health systems around the country are under pressure. State and territory governments are finding it difficult to manage some of those pressures and are wanting assistance from the Commonwealth, which we're happy to engage in with the national health—