News
Health Budget 06-07: No Health From The Health Minister |
| Spokesperson: | Shadow Minister for Health - Hon Julia Gillard |
| Date: | Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
| Category: | National Health News |
| It is clear from Budget 2006-07 Tony Abbott is not running health in this country. Most health initiatives in this year’s Budget are being driven and delivered by someone other than Tony Abbott. 62 per cent of the total health budget is allocated to measures driven by the Council of Australian Governments. 20 per cent of the total health budget is allocated to measures driven by the sale of Medibank Private. Just 18 per cent of this year’s health budget measures has been left for Tony Abbott to administer, no doubt due to his complete incompetence. Tony Abbott has failed to deliver an agenda for the future of the Australian health system. He has squandered an opportunity to build a reformed health system which would meet the needs of average Australian families. The Minister for Health should be concentrating on fixing our health system and building the health system of the future. This Budget should have: • Delivered after-hours medical services to take pressure off emergency departments; • Reinstated the Commonwealth Dental Scheme to get the 650 000 Australians waiting an average of 2 years for dental care off waiting lists; • Redesigned and invested in our medical workforce supply and distribution systems; and • Reformed the relationship between the Commonwealth and State Government’s to reduce waste, stop buck passing and end blame shifting in our health system. The Howard Government has failed to prepare our health system for an ageing population and failed to reform our health system. |
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