Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A severe shortage of saline IV fluids has hit hospitals across Australia. Saline IV bags, as we all know, are absolutely critical to the emergency health care provided to patients in our hospitals—hospitals that are already at crisis point under this Labor government as they face escalating pressures. But it's been reported that this shortage has now reached disaster levels. Doctors in every hospital around our nation are being told to ration the supplies of saline fluid that they are using to care for their patients. This should send a chill through the spine of every Australian who relies on being able to get access to adequate emergency health care in our nation. But in this national crisis, we have been left asking: what is Anthony Albanese's Minister for Health and Aged Care actually doing to ensure we have a supply?

When asked about the issue yesterday in question time, Minister Gallagher stated that the government has been aware of the impending shortage since at least May 2023. But they set up a monitoring group last Friday, in August 2024. We are beyond monitoring, Minister. We are absolutely in need of dire and urgent action. The health minister has failed to provide a guarantee to Australians that his lack of action on the supply of this essential fluid will not harm patients. Here we are. We have a government who keeps talking about a future made in Australia but who can't even guarantee the supply of sterile salt water which is absolutely essential to the operation of our health system. This is a crisis of national importance, and the time for the government to stand up and show leadership is right now.