David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak on the incredible transformation that my home state of Tasmania—and your home state, Mr President—has seen in the last 3½ years, since the election of the first non-Labor, non-Green government in 16 years, the Hodgman Liberal government. This transformation is evident in the improved health outcomes and in how Tasmania is leading the way with employment growth and regional development, as well as experiencing the lowest increases in energy prices in the nation. Tasmania currently is the envy of Australia on so many fronts, a claim that I would not until recently have been able to make, even though it has always been the best state to live in.

Senator Polley interjecting—

I see Senator Polley over there interjecting, and I'm sure she agrees with me on that point, if nothing else.

One of the perennial issues in Tasmania is the condition of the Tasmanian health system. The Tasmanian Liberal government has been working very hard to fix the structural and operational issues left by the previous Labor government. Tasmania's Minister for Health, the Hon. Michael Ferguson, is clearly the best Minister for Health Tasmania has had for many decades. Not only has Minister Ferguson reduced waiting lists, reopened beds and overseen the redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital; he has also had the unenviable task of rebuilding the entire health system after the Tasmanian Labor Party left it in an awful mess.

Compounding that mess was Labor's comprehensive mismanagement of the critically important Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment. In Hobart, there are physical constraints on the provision of health services while the Royal Hobart Hospital is being redeveloped, and these do pose a challenge. If the former state and federal Labor-Green governments had not mismanaged this important project, or had not managed it as badly as it was managed, it would be built by now, but it isn't. That is their legacy. Despite the many challenges left by Labor's inept mismanagement of health, the Tasmanian government is opening 80 new beds and treatment recliners to take pressure off the Royal Hobart Hospital. The Tasmanian government is continuing to invest strongly in health, funding another 39 additional beds in the north and eight in the north-west of Tasmania.

There were deep failings across the Tasmanian health system, including long waiting lists and failings in governance, clinical and consumer engagement, culture and efficiency, when the Tasmanian Liberal Party came to government in 2014. These issues clearly aren't able to be fixed overnight, and the Tasmanian Liberal government and the federal government have worked together methodically and responsibly to improve the quality of health care in Tasmania.

The hand-back of the Mersey Community Hospital to the Tasmanian government is a clear example of how the two levels of government are working together to deliver excellent outcomes for the people of my home state. The federal government has provided $730 million, which represents funding for 10 years, but paid up-front, to secure the future of this important regional hospital at Latrobe, which, as I am sure you will acknowledge, Mr President, is a key asset for Tasmania's health system on the north-west coast.

Tasmania has created a single state-wide health service, working to end decades-old parochialism in health care and making real improvements to frontline patient care. In the 2017-18 Tasmanian budget, more money will be spent on health services in Tasmania than ever before. More than $7 billion has been allocated over four years. It is important to note that this is $1.3 billion more than under the former Labor-Green government in 2013. Across Tasmania there are now more doctors, nurses and allied health professionals than when the former Labor federal and state governments were last in charge of the Treasury benches in 2013.

The current federal budget shows strong growth in federal funding for Tasmanian hospitals. There is an additional $56 million in total, which is estimated to provide more than $28 million for the Royal Hobart Hospital in additional money, almost $21 million of additional money for the Launceston General Hospital and more than $8 million of additional money for the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie.

Tasmanian hospitals are performing more elective surgery per capita than any other state or territory in Australia, with more 19,000 Tasmanians receiving elective surgery just last year. This is 3,000 more than the annual average. This is a substantial increase and is driving the waiting list to a record low and reducing waiting times dramatically. The Tasmanian government is improving health services and working to address increasing demand across the state, including the rolling out of new ambulance crews and the recruitment of new paramedics, putting downward pressure on response times.

Let there be no doubt that Labor and the Greens left a mess. While there is much more work to do, the Turnbull and the Hodgman governments have delivered real improvement in the quality of health care in Tasmania and will continue to do so. I can say with great confidence that the Tasmanian health system is continuing to improve.

One of the initiatives that I am most proud of being involved with—I am sure you are as well, Mr President—is the expansion of the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme in January 2016. This came about as a direct result of the hard work over many months of the Tasmanian Liberal Senate team and the former member for Braddon, Mr Whiteley; the former member for Lyons, Mr Hutchinson; and the former member for Bass, Mr Nikolic, working together with the Hodgman Liberal state government. The extension to the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme that the Liberals negotiated has ensured that Tasmanian goods transhipped through a mainland port before being exported are now eligible for the scheme. This extension represents additional assistance to Tasmanian exporters, estimated by Treasury to be worth $203 million over four years to the Tasmanian economy.

Tasmania has gone from strength to strength over the last four years, and I commend the Hodgman Liberal government's efforts to the Senate.