Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Nash. Can the minister advise the Senate of the challenges that the government is currently facing in delivering a quality Australian health system?

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. The health system, as we inherited it from Labor, is unsustainable. In our country, with a population of 23 million people, the taxpayer currently funds 263 million free services a year under Medicare and, if we are to have a strong and sustainable health system into the future, that figure is not sustainable. Ten years ago we were spending $8 billion on the MBS. Today it is $19 billion, and in 10 years time it is forecast to be more than $38 billion. Australia is faced with an ageing population and with Medicare benefits growing at an alarming rate. Similarly, in public hospitals, where 10 years ago we were funding $7.5 billion, today it is about $14 billion a year, and in 10 years time the figure will climb to $36 billion. We have a growing burden of chronic disease and increasing pressures and costs on our health system. Almost 63 per cent of adults are overweight or obese and so are 25 per cent of children.

To understand what we are facing, let me further highlight it in this way: by 2020 the number of Australians with dementia is estimated to reach almost 400,000 people. In that year it is expected that 155,000 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer, up 17 per cent from 2014. These are projections for 2020 and they are a snapshot of what we can expect over the coming decades. This government intends to provide the leadership and make the tough decisions to ensure a sustainable health system into the future. We need to make changes so that we can strengthen the health system for tomorrow and make it sustainable for our future generations.

Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate of some of the factors that have contributed to the pressures on the Australian health budget?

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The waste, mismanagement and broken promises by the previous Labor government have put enormous pressure on the health budget—along with the ballooning bureaucracy that they created and a lack of focus on the delivery of front-line services. That lack of focus that we saw from the previous government has contributed enormously to the pressures on the health budget. Labor promised 64 GP superclinics and they only delivered 33 while in government. They promised to fix hospitals and, if that was not achieved, they said there would be a referendum to seek to take control of Australia's 750 public hospitals. They broke both of these promises. They promised to slash elective surgery waiting lists—they went up. In over six years in government, health bureaucracy completely ballooned under Labor.

Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate what this government will be doing to ensure the Australian health system is sustainable into the future?

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This government has a vision for the future that will ensure better delivery of health services. Labor has left the health system in a mess, but this government is committed to fixing it. Unlike the previous government, we will be fiscally responsible. This government will make sensible, well-thought-out policy, unlike the policy-on-the-run that we saw under the previous government. This government is focused on reducing bureaucracy and red tape. The pressures with us now are thanks to the previous Labor government, and it is this government's job to strengthen the health system so that our children and future generations can enjoy the health services that they deserve.