Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ludwig, the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. I refer the minister to the report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare into hospital statistics, which notes that visits to emergency departments in Australia are growing by five per cent a year. In the Australian Capital Territory an average wait time in an emergency department is 10 hours. Bearing in mind the Prime Minister’s promise to fix the public hospital system by next Tuesday, I ask: does the minister regard people waiting for 10 hours for treatment in emergency departments as the kind of fix the Prime Minister had in mind?

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

What we do regard as good health and hospital reform is putting $64 billion over five years into it—unlike those opposite, who thought the good for the health system was in fact to remove $1 billion from it. Unlike those opposite—it is very disappointing to hear those opposite complain—I welcome the latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the contribution it makes to the accountability and performance of hospital systems. It is clear that public hospitals are continuing to experience pressures in relation to elective surgery and emergency department activity. The government is implementing lasting reform to alleviate this pressure on the hospital system.

I think the real issue is we are implementing lasting reform. We have a COAG agreement. We have looked at both health and hospital funding, but we have also said that we would put $64 billion over five years, which is provided through the national health care special purpose payment, which now goes beyond hospitals and covers other areas of the health system, and through the National Partnership Agreement on Hospital and Health Workforce Reform, preventative health and Indigenous health. The National Partnership Agreement on Hospital and Health Workforce Reform provides funding of $2.5 billion, including $154 million for a more nationally consistent system of activity based funding. It also provides $1.1 billion to train more doctors and ensures the training of nurses and other health professionals. There is also $500 million to improve sub-acute care services. In addition, when you look at the achievements within the ACT and break that down—and I know those opposite, particularly the senator for the ACT, would be interested in knowing that—the ACT government has received $10 million— (Time expired)

Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I am glad for that clarification. I had thought the Prime Minister, when he was promising to fix the hospital system, was talking about outcomes, not inputs. The same report from the Institute of Health and Welfare indicates the median waiting time for elective surgery across Australia was 34 days last financial year—two days more than the previous financial year. Again in the ACT it is more than double that—72 days wait for elective surgery. What does the minister suggest that I say to my constituents, who were promised a system that would be fixed by now but instead have a system which is actually falling apart?

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

It is one of those areas that I know the Senator for the ACT has an interest in. I know he prefaces all his remarks to the constituents, but when he was in government he participated in ripping $1 billion out of the health and hospitals system. We have said time and time again that we have been in government for 18 months and we have put our money where our mouth is. Those opposite did not do that. When you look at emergency department funding, the Rudd government will deliver $750 billion to state and territory emergency departments. The ACT received $10 million of that. That is $10 million that was not there and that is now being provided for elective surgery. There is also stage 2 of the program to ensure the ACT can also get $6.6 million for capital works at Canberra and Calvary hospitals, because it is not going to be a system that is fixed overnight after the mess the Liberals left it in. We will need to ensure that we provide both the capital funding— (Time expired)

Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Will the minister have the decency to admit to the Senate today that, five days before this dramatic ‘we’ll fix the system’ promise deadline is reached, that the promise—

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cameron interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! What you are doing is disorderly, Senator Cameron. I have reminded you on a number of occasions. You must desist.

Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Will the minister admit that this promise is in its terminal phase and should now have its life-support system turned off by admitting that there is no fix coming down the line, that the government has lost interest in a referendum to put this issue to the Australian people and that it has abrogated all responsibility for reform to its National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission?

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

I thank the ACT senator for his question, but the difficulty always is, of course, whether he has the decency to tell his constituents that when the Liberals were in government they took a billion dollars out of the health and hospitals system. What this government is doing is putting in $64 billion over five years to address the neglect that you left. And if you want to tell us about what your plan is, I am only too happy to hear it. I suspect it is a piece of paper that is blank, quite frankly, because what this government is doing is ensuring that we are addressing the neglect that the previous government left the health and hospitals system in—12 years of neglect. And of course those opposite do not like what I am saying. I understand that. I understand you do not like it because of course you are responsible for the neglect. You are responsible— (Time expired)

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. Immediately before question time, during my submission on the Car Dealership Financing Guarantee Appropriation Bill 2009, Senator Abetz took a point of order in which he said that it would have been inappropriate for him to vote on the matter of reference to the Standing Committee of Privileges this morning. However, he also said that he had been paired. I ask you to look at that matter, Mr President, and come back to the Senate to let the Senate know whether a pairing is not in effect a vote. If so, Senator Abetz has said it would be inappropriate for him to have voted, so the matter may be recommitted to the chamber.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take that away and review it and I will come back to the chamber with a response.