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Australian Policy Feed Page
Leaders set to clash on health policy
7:45 PM
Read more [Channel 9: National]
Leaders set to clash on health policy (AAP)
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott plans to "counter lies with fact" when he debates Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on a national showdown on health on Tuesday.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
The US healthcare bill for dummies
So you want to get all outraged about the US healthcare bill and whether it passes or not, but are perhaps slightly unsure of exactly what it means? Salon provides the ten facts you need to know.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Abbott Doorstop - State elections in South Australia and Tasmania; Saxon Bird; health debate
Subjects: State elections in South Australia and Tasmania; Saxon Bird; health debate. E&OE TONY ABBOTT: I want to congratulate my State colleagues, Isobel Redmond and Will Hodgman, for absolutely outstanding results. To get a swing of well over seven per cent against the Labor Party in South Australia and in Tasmania was just very encouraging for Liberals everywhere and it suggests to me that the Australian public are getting heartily sick of governments which are more spin than substance. This is Mr Rudd’s problem. He’s all about political management, not really about making a difference and I think there is a very clear message to Mr Rudd here – get on with the job of making a difference, let’s have less bureaucracy, let’s have more direct action, that’s what the Australian public want. QUESTION: They still voted in Labor, though, haven’t they? How disappointed are you that you didn’t get over the line? Well, you shouldn’t assume that we can’t form governments but I think in anyone’s language a seven per cent plus swing against the Labor Party is very bad news for Labor everywhere, including Mr Rudd. QUESTION: But were there any Federal issues that played a role in these results? TONY ABBOTT: Certainly in Tasmania, Mr Rudd featured prominently in the Labor Party’s advertising. He therefore I suppose has to be at least in part responsible for the outcome. QUESTION: Just on another topic, the tragic death of Saxon Bird. I understand you’re a member of the same Surf Life Saving Club. How are the members dealing with it today? TONY ABBOTT: Look, he was a fine young man and everyone associated with the club and with surf life saving more generally is in deep mourning. QUESTION: There’s concerns again today over the Facebook memorial site that was set up for him that got vandalised. Is this sort of thing starting to… TONY ABBOTT: Look I just can’t comment on that. QUESTION: But should these things be policed? TONY ABBOTT: Look, I’m just not going to comment further on it. QUESTION: Can I just ask back to the election, I mean to what extent do you think it can be tied to the Federal Labor Party and Mr Rudd? TONY ABBOTT: Well I think it’s about Labor’s style. They’re all about political management. They’re much more about political management than they are about making a difference and I think the Australian people expect governments to make a difference and inquiries, committees, reviews, that’s all about process it’s not about outcomes and people like Mr Rudd who are always talking about problems but never actually solving them I think are starting to wear pretty thin with the Australian people. QUESTION: Is it likely that the Greens will form a coalition with the Liberals in Tasmania to form government? TONY ABBOTT: My understanding is that the Liberal Party clearly is the party with the most number of votes. Certainly, in South Australia we have the most votes, we have a two party preferred majority. This has been a very, very good outcome for the Liberal Party but it’s particularly a good outcome for Will Hodgman and Isobel Redmond. QUESTION: Certainly not as bad a result in South Australia as you were predicting? TONY ABBOTT: It’s a really bad result for the Labor Party. QUESTION: But it’s not as bad as you were predicting. TONY ABBOTT: What prediction was this? QUESTION: Well, during the week. TONY ABBOTT: No, I made no prediction. QUESTION: Well certainly the Liberal Party was predicting that Labor would…there would be a bigger swing against… TONY ABBOTT: No, no. The Liberal Party always expected to do well but never expected to win. I don’t think anyone expected a swing of this size and to have a seven per cent plus swing against the Labor Party in two states obviously is bad news for Labor everywhere. QUESTION: So there was no sense of disappointment yourself? TONY ABBOTT: I think that the South Australian and the Tasmanian public are the ones who are likely to feel disappointed this morning because they plainly voted to change governments and at least in South Australia that may not be the outcome. QUESTION: In the debate on health against Mr Rudd on Tuesday, are you planning to release any details of your health policy? TONY ABBOTT: I’m the opposition. My job is to ask the questions. My job is to scrutinise Mr Rudd’s proposals and the problem with his proposals is that they’re not going to make any difference for patients any time soon. There’ll be no more beds, no more doctors, no more nurses and no more money until 2014 at the earliest. QUESTION: Isn’t your job to provide an alternative for the public to look at? TONY ABBOTT: I have already said that what public hospitals need is local control and more beds and we already have a policy out there for local control of significant public hospitals in New South Wales and Queensland. QUESTION: So is that the extent of your policy? TONY ABBOTT: I want to solve problems. The last thing the Australian public needs is experimentation with something as important as public hospitals. We do not need amateur hour experimentation with Australia’s public hospitals. Australia’s public hospitals need more beds, not more bureaucrats and what they’re going to get from Mr Rudd is a great big new bureaucracy. Thanks so much.
TONY ABBOTT:
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Abbott asked to spell out hospital plan (AAP)
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott won't be forced into detailing his health policy ahead of a debate with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Tuesday.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Abbott interview (Radio 2ST) - Visit to Gilmore; roads funding; health; debate with Kevin Rudd
Subjects: Visit to Gilmore; roads funding; health; debate with Kevin Rudd.
E&OE NICK LOWTHER: Good morning Tony. TONY ABBOTT: Good morning Nick. How are you? NICK LOWTHER: Not too bad. Thank you very much for joining us. You have a busy schedule today so we appreciate a few minutes of your time. Now, first of all you are travelling around some various areas today. Can we ask what you’re up to today here in the Shoalhaven? TONY ABBOTT: Look, essentially I’ll be with Jo Gash for the day. There’s quite a few community events where I’ll just be listening to local people. I will be going to the Future Park though at the Shoalhaven Campus of Wollongong University to talk about the plans that people have got to try to develop more high tech industries and businesses in the Shoalhaven district, and I’ll also be talking quite a lot about local health issues – a need for a cancer care centre, the threat that Mr Rudd’s public hospital plan poses to smaller public hospitals in the Shoalhaven region which could be closed under his casemix funding model. So, I’m looking forward to do the day and it will be good to be in the company of friend my Jo Gash. NICK LOWTHER: Ok. Now, Mr Abbott obviously traditionally a safe seat like Gilmore has been held for many years during the Howard years. Jo Gash has been a long serving Member for Gilmore. Last election we saw a significant swing and it now has become really into that marginal territory. What are some of the policy platforms that Gilmore, now that we are out of safe seat territory into that marginal mode, what are some of the policy platforms that should be put in place for 2010? TONY ABBOTT: Well, Nick it hasn’t always been safe. I can remember when Jo first took the seat it was I think the margin was about two per cent in those days. NICK LOWTHER: Now that was a while ago though… TONY ABBOTT: …yeah that was 1996… NICK LOWTHER: …traditionally during the Howard years, yeah, it has stood steady and the south coast benefited from that, but I guess you could say towards the last years of the Howard Government, that was when things began to change. Now, it’s a brand new year, a federal election year, what are some of the policy platforms for Gilmore for 2010 that you’d like to see in place? TONY ABBOTT: Yeah well I think the important thing is to try to ensure that basic services are as well delivered as possible and I think the two great concerns that people have got is first of all they need better public hospitals and I know that cancer care is a big issue because as the Health Minister I announced $3 million towards a linear accelerator in the course of the last election, and I don’t think the need for a new cancer care centre has gone away at all… NICK LOWTHER: …if not increased… TONY ABBOTT: Exactly right. As the population increases and ages the need for cancer treatment becomes more urgent not less. The other issue obviously is the Princes Highway and I’ve been on that road dozens of times. It’s ok until you get to Kiama. I know they’re improving the road further south, but once you get past Gerringong it becomes a goat track, and that’s in some cases tragic because if we had better roads we’d obviously have a lower road toll. NICK LOWTHER: I was only speaking to Jo yesterday. Is there a federal idea, I guess you could say in regard to national highways because the Pacific and the Princes are the two causes of alarm in New South Wales – look, the Pacific is a little bit more urgent than the Princes – but is there an idea within the federal Opposition of how to address the road situation should you return to power? TONY ABBOTT: Well, I certainly think that in principle we’ve got to have proper freeway standard highways linking our major capitals and I think that means that making sure the Pacific Highway is a four lane freeway standard from Sydney right through to Brisbane, and that of course would service all those growing areas on the coast of New South Wales – and frankly the Princes Highway for much of its distance really should get the same treatment. I mean it unquestionably should be four lanes all the way to Nowra. I think you’d want it to be four lanes at least as far as Batemans Bay because these are now not only significant population centres but they’re also incredibly important tourist destinations, and in the case of the Shoalhaven pretty important economic hubs too. NICK LOWTHER: Now, Mr Abbott you’ve been very vocal on your opposition to the federal Labor scheme of taking over health from the states. Now, some states have been quite receptive. We’ve heard this morning South Australia has been very receptive; New South Wales seems to be lukewarm on the idea. Obviously in New South Wales the health system is a shambles. What can the federal Opposition do that the current Labor Party aren’t doing now? What can be done differently? TONY ABBOTT: Well you know there’s a good Hippocratic motto, the doctors oath, start with the principle do no harm, and my worry about Mr Rudd’s proposal is that there’s an amateur hour quality to it. It doesn’t appear deeply thought through and public hospitals are too important for experimentation and that’s my anxiety with Mr Rudd’s programme. The fact that he didn’t feel the need to even discuss it with the state Premiers before announcing it makes me think that it will turn out to have lots of holes in it. NICK LOWTHER: See one argument there is though that the states are the people holding up health reform. You were federal Health Minister for a number of years and you suffered the anguish of having every other Labor government, I guess you could say, not being as cooperative. The situation is now that we may two Liberal governments returned this weekend in South Australia, Tasmania. The tide may turn. If you were to become prime minister post November 2010 at the latest, you know where is federal health reform headed? Obviously there needs to be an immediate address and you may not be able to get the states on side either? TONY ABBOTT: Well, I think the two things that we most urgently need. We do need local control of public hospitals and I think I very much made the running on the need for local hospital boards, certainly for significantly sized hospitals we’ve got to have local boards. The other thing we need, we just need more beds. Now, the problem with Mr Rudd’s plan is that there’ll be no more nurses, no more doctors, no more beds, no more money until 2014 at the earliest. Now, I think a fair dinkum federal government would want to get extra beds open within six months. NICK LOWTHER: But would you agree at the moment there is money being wasted the way it is? TONY ABBOTT: I think the short answer is yes, money is being wasted big time. And just to give you one example, after the Garling Report into New South Wales public hospitals, which identified extraordinary red tape and bureaucracy choking the system, particularly choking the work of nurses, the New South Wales Government didn’t cut the bureaucracy, it didn’t cut the red tape, they didn’t add to the number of nurses, they appointed an extra 500 administrators. Well I mean it’s a crazy way to approach…. NICK LOWTHER: Yes. At the other end of it, it seems to be, there needs to be I guess you could say a federal approach to health reform. Obviously that’s going to be debated out. Now yesterday Question Time got rather heated. Could we ask why did the Federal Government continue to let you speak, why did Anthony Albanese continue to ask for an extra 10-5 minutes for you to continue to speak yesterday? What was the motive behind that? TONY ABBOTT: Well look, I fail to understand what goes on in Anthony Albanese’s mind pretty often because I think it was basically an own goal decision. I mean… NICK LOWTHER: Was there a thought that you were going to hang yourself? That’s what the big question is this morning. Political analysts seem to be waiting for you to trip up in that 20 minutes and make a fatal error. Did that seem to be the front foot, that’s what we wanted to know this morning? TONY ABBOTT: Well I suspect this was his view, but it is typical of the arrogance of these people that they think no one else has any competence or no one else has any skill and I think that my record as a health minister stacks up pretty well and while sure there was more to be done, there’s always more to be done in a field like health, but a lot did get done over my four and a half years as health minister and I just wish the Labor Party would stop telling so many outrageous lies. NICK LOWTHER: Now, Kevin Rudd and yourself set to front off in I guess you could call it a mini debate next week in regard to the Press Club, why has that been called so early Tony, there’s not even an election being planned, not even a date being thrown around and now it will remove one of your debate opportunities, pre-election. Why the call so early? TONY ABBOTT: Well it shouldn’t you see. I mean I think the fact that Kevin Rudd has called this debate shows that he is panicked, he is rattled and there’s no way he can call this an election debate unless he calls the election next week. He promised three election debates and if they’re going to be election debates they’ve got to be debates that happen in the course of the election campaign. So… NICK LOWTHER: So you’ll still push for those three election debates? TONY ABBOTT: Oh absolutely and I’m confident Nick that people like yourself will be barracking for that because obviously if we’re going to have a proper contest, if we’re going to have as much information as possible before the public, well then we need as many debates as possible and I think three is the minimum that we ought to expect. NICK LOWTHER: Tony, we appreciate your time this morning, very busy. You’ve got a number of visits to make and we hope you enjoy your time here in the Shoalhaven. TONY ABBOTT: Thank you so much.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Abbott Doorstop - Princes Highway; The Coalition’s Direct Action Plan on the Environment and Climate Change
Subjects: The Coalition’s Direct Action Plan on the Environment and Climate Change; Princes Highway; President Obama’s visit; health; the Coalition’s plan for paid parental leave. E&OE TONY ABBOTT: I did stop off at the Mount St Thomas Public School at Wollongong on the way down where there’s white hot anger about what they see as a crime against the tax payer taking place, namely a two-and-a-half million dollar hall that’s not big enough for the kids while at the non-government school just up the road a much bigger hall was built for less than half the price because it wasn’t being project managed through the New South Wales Government under the Rudd Government’s rules. So, as I said, thanks for your patience for the change in timetabling. Look it’s great to be here with Jo Gash. Jo has been a very important member of the Coalition for a long time now. Obviously this is going to be a challenging election for all of us including Jo, but there is no harder working local member than Jo Gash. Evidence of Jo’s hard work is the fact that the Howard Government spent $64 million on upgrading parts of the Princes Highway and I regret to say that the Rudd Government thus far has spent zero, a big fat zero on the Princes Highway even though it is one of the busiest roads in this state and even though it has one of the worst fatality rates of roads in this state. It’s great to be here at the Future Park. I congratulate everyone involved with the plans for the Future Park. This is the kind of innovative relationship between science and business that we need to see more of in this country and I think that it’s the kind of thing that certainly could potentially apply to the Coalition’s Emissions Reduction Fund for funding because seaweed has a lot of potential as a way of cutting down our carbon dioxide emissions. So, it’s great to be here with Jo. She’s got a fairly busy afternoon of community events planned and I look forward to hearing more of the issues here in the Shoalhaven. Obviously apart from the highway there are health issues which I’m looking forward to discussing. I know there’s a lot of concern here in Shoalhaven about the potential threat to regional hospitals, to local hospitals, posed by Mr Rudd’s plan. Casemix funding is all very well for large teaching hospitals, but it won’t replace the funding that small hospitals currently get. You’ve got Berry Hospital, you’ve got Milton Ulladulla Hospital, you’ve got Batemans Bay Hospital, further down the coast you’ve got Pambula Hospital, all of which would be under very serious threat if Mr Rudd’s plan for casemix funding gets through. QUESTION: You’ve had your own brush with danger on the Princes Highway a few weeks ago, albeit in Victoria. Can you offer any hope for additional funding? TONY ABBOTT: Well, I’m not here to make specific commitments on highways today, but, as I said, because of Jo Gash’s representations with the former government, $64 million more was spent on the Princes Highway in this part of the world. I think the Coalition has a very good record when it comes to road funding and certainly the proof of that is in the record of the Howard Government for the Princes Highway. QUESTION: Will you be making any more specific announcements on health or hospitals before the big debate next week? TONY ABBOTT: Look, my job as Opposition Leader is to subject to appropriate public scrutiny the plan that Mr Rudd has put forward. Now, Mr Rudd’s plan is very light on detail. That’s why it’s being questioned or rejected even by the state Labor premiers. As Mr Rudd has put forward so far, there’ll be no extra beds, no extra doctors, no extra nurses and no extra funding, at least until 2014. It’s not good enough. He says that it will be nationally funded but locally run. Well, that’s if the states let him and as things stand it’s very hard to know exactly what sort of permission he will get off the states. So, my job is to scrutinise. Mr Rudd’s job is to explain. My job is to ask the questions on behalf of the Australian people. Mr Rudd’s job is to give clear, comprehensible, simple answers. QUESTION: But isn’t your job also to have an alternative policy? TONY ABBOTT: And well before the next election people will know exactly what we propose for public hospitals. Certainly our proposal for local boards seems to have stimulated action from the Rudd Government. Their local hospital networks seem to be some kind of a version of the local hospital board proposal that we put up earlier in the year and which has now, to some extent at least, been copied by the Rudd Government. QUESTION: On the subject of next week’s debate, what will the rules be or the structure? TONY ABBOTT: Look, I think that as far as Mr Rudd is concerned he’s probably going to tell a lot of lies about the Coalition’s record in health. I’m very proud of my record as the Health Minister under the Howard Government. We resolved the medical indemnity crisis. We got bulk billing rates to record highs. We brought allied health professionals into the system for the first time. For the first time we brought dentistry significantly under the Medicare umbrella. The Howard Government commenced nine new medical schools; there was a fifty per cent increase in medical student numbers, and a 30 per cent increase in nursing student numbers. So a very, very good outcome for health under the Howard Government which was why I used to say that the Howard Government was the best friend that Medicare has ever had. QUESTION: Given the state of the Princes Highway, what do you think needs to be done down this way and do you think there’s a case for the federal government to take over full funding? TONY ABBOTT: Well, plainly the Princes Highway should be a freeway standard four lane road at least to Nowra and there are a lot of black spots beyond Nowra that really need to be looked at. There really are some terrible stretches of this road. I’ve driven this road often; I tend to holiday on the South Coast. It’s a beautiful area and it will be much better for both residents and other Australians visiting the area if the highway is upgraded. Now, it is the fundamental responsibility of the New South Wales Government, but the Howard Government certainly was prepared to help and I wish the Rudd Government had been prepared to contribute but sadly so far, zero from the Rudd Government. QUESTION: Are you disappointed in Obama delaying his trip? TONY ABBOTT: Naturally it would be nice if that visit could have gone ahead now but I fully understand the political situation back in Washington and I can understand why President Obama puts governing America first and I sometime think that Mr Rudd would be advised to take similar advice. QUESTION: You’ve copped a bit if criticism in recent days, first from Paul Keating which I suppose is expected, but also from Peter Costello, formerly quite a close ally and friend. How do you respond to that? TONY ABBOTT: And will always be a close ally and friend. I was delighted and privileged to serve with Peter Costello in the best government in Australia’s modern history and, look, everything that Peter says is worth listening to, it’s worth listening to with respect. I talk quite often to Peter, I expect to continue to talk quite often to Peter; I just happen to respectfully disagree with him when it comes to paid parental leave. QUESTION: When you read his words, what went through your mind? TONY ABBOTT: Well, I think that that was the attitude of the Howard Government to paid parental leave but we’ve moved on. I think it’s time that we really did give all Australian families a fair go. I think that it’s easy to forget that times change and something like 62 per cent of women are in the workforce just prior to having a baby. Those women deserve a fair go. It’s almost impossible to run a household these days on one income. It’s almost impossible to pay the mortgage these days on one income. If we’re going to give women a fair go, if we’re going to give families a fair go, we’ve got to give them the chance to earn an income and have a family at the same time, and that’s what our policy does, that’s what Mr Rudd’s policy doesn’t do, and of course Mr Rudd this week has been criticising the Coalition for obstruction – he has not even introduced his parental leave scheme into the parliament. So on this as on so many other issues Mr Rudd is turning out to be a bit of a fraud, a bit of a phoney. Thank you.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Abbott Doorstop - GenerationOne, health debate and Kevin Rudd’s bungled home insulation programme
Subjects: GenerationOne; health debate; Kevin Rudd’s bungled home insulation programme; President Obama. E&OE TONY ABBOTT: It is good to be here this morning to support GenerationOne. I want to really congratulate Andrew Forrest. The fact that one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs is prepared to devote a significant part of his life to addressing aboriginal disadvantage shows how far we’ve come as a nation, it shows just how important this cause is and I think it should give all Australians hope and confidence that we can actually beat these problems. Just on wider political issues. I’m looking forward to my debate against Mr Rudd on health policy next Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean he can squib three election debates. The debate next Tuesday is very important because we can’t have amateur hour experimentation with our public hospitals. But Mr Rudd’s commitment was for three election debates, not just for three debates and until the election is called these are not election debates, important though they are. The other issue that I think needs to be raised this morning is the way this Government has completely lost control of its spending programmes. Every morning we learn of more problems with the home insulation programme. Today we learn that some home owners can’t get insurance until they have their roofs inspected after the Government’s botched insulation programme. This is a terrible problem for these people. It means that people can’t feel secure in their own homes and it is absolutely urgent that the Prime Minister fixes this mess and the first thing he’s got to do is get all 1.1 million homes that have been insulated inspected, otherwise people can’t be sure that their home is safe. But you know what’s also apparent is that the Julia Gillard school halls programme is the next pink batts programme. Every day we hear of new rip-offs. Just today we discover that a public school in Wollongong has been charged $2 million for a hall that’s too small. Just down the road the non-government school got a much bigger hall for less than half the price, and you just can’t trust these guys with money. That’s the problem. QUESTION: How prepared are you for next Tuesday’s debate and did it take you by surprise? TONY ABBOTT: I think that the Government were the people who had the wind taken out of their sails because as a former Health Minister I do know a little bit about public hospitals. Kevin Rudd had 15 minutes to prepare his speech and then had nothing to say. So, I’m looking forward to the debate. QUESTION: Any particular rules you’ll be pushing for? Would you like to see it fairly open? TONY ABBOTT: Well, I’d like to see the Labor Party stop telling lies about the work of the Howard Government. I was proud to be the best friend that Medicare has ever had when I was the Health Minister. We increased public hospital funding by $10 billion over the life of the health care agreement while I was the Minister. Bulk billing was up to 80 per cent, a record. Under the Howard Government there were nine new medical schools, a 50 per cent increase in medical student numbers, a 30 per cent increase in nursing student numbers. We brought in the Medicare dental plan; we put allied health professionals into the Medicare system for the first time. I solved the medical indemnity crisis which was taking doctors out of public hospitals. So I’m pretty happy with the record. QUESTION: Any reaction to President Obama’s decision to postpone his trip? TONY ABBOTT: It’s disappointing but I can understand it. Obviously his number one priority is trying to get the American health system under control and there’s a lot that he could have learnt here from our Medicare system and we look forward to a visit whenever it happens. QUESTION: Were you expecting to meet him during the trip? TONY ABBOTT: That’s my understanding, but obviously it can’t happen this week. I look forward to it happening later in the year. Thanks so much.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Labor's lies on health
When it comes to health Mr Rudd and Labor are all talk, no action. Three years after Mr Rudd said “the buck will stop with me” on hospitals, he’s announced a proposal that delivers no new money and no new beds and doesn’t take effect until 2013 (two elections later). So, it’s no wonder Mr Rudd and his colleagues are now trying to attack me personally. Unfortunately for Mr Rudd, the facts about health funding under the Coalition Government paint a very different picture to his lies about me. It’s a record of which I am proud: It was an enormous responsibility and a great privilege to have served as Health Minister from October 2003 to November 2007. As illustrated by the graph below, Commonwealth funding for public hospitals increased every year during this period. In addition to increased funding on public hospitals, the Coalition Government: We know Mr Rudd will continue to mount personal attacks - most likely on yet another one of his photo-opportunity hospital visits. But unlike Labor the Liberals will continue to focus on delivering real action on health and hospitals now. We’ve already announced a direct action plan to put decision-making back in the hands of local doctors and nurses. I hope you will join me in standing up to Labor’s lies and demanding real action on health. Labor and their union mates are already spending millions of dollars on negative attack ads. You can help us stand up to their lies by making a donation – it all helps.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Fulbright scholarship awarded to e-health expert (Media Release)
A leading CSIRO scientist who is using innovative imaging technologies to prevent blindness was today named as a recipient of a 2010 Fulbright Senior Scholarship.
Read more [Australian Government Media Releases]
Twisted logic hijacks healthcare debate
REPUBLICANS and vested interests are throwing all they have at Obama's reforms.
Read more [The Australian: Opinion]
Abbott Doorstop - Kevin Rudd's failed border protection policy
Subjects: Kevin Rudd’s failed border protection policy; health; Kevin Rudd’s performance; racial discrimination act; Newspoll. E&OE TONY ABBOTT: The situation on our borders is getting worse. We’ve had 24 boats arrive since the beginning of the year, almost 1,200 people. This is a classic case of failure by the Rudd Government. The Howard Government found a problem in this area. It carved out a solution. Mr Rudd found that solution and he’s created a problem. The problem is just getting worse. We’re getting 10 boats a month at the moment. It’s the highest rate of boat arrival in our history. It’s all started because Mr Rudd wanted to parade his compassion credentials before sections of the Australian population. But it’s part of a pattern of failure. This is a government that is chronically incapable of delivering sound government. It’s failed on border protection. It’s monumentally and tragically failed on the home insulation programme. It’s failed to deliver good value to taxpayers with the so called Building the Education Revolution programme. Now of course it’s a government that wants to reform public hospitals, the same people who gave us the pink batts disaster, who’ve lost control of our borders, expect us to believe that they can fix public hospitals. The problem is that Mr Rudd cannot focus on problems and he cannot deliver solutions and his incapacity to control our borders is the latest classic example of this. QUESTION: [inaudible] plan for regional hospitals, what would you do differently to what the Government’s proposing? TONY ABBOTT: Well, if the Government was serious about sorting out the hospital problem it would go to the immediate difficulties and the immediate difficulties are chronic bureaucracy, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, and that would be solved by local hospital boards in those two states. The other big problem is the chronic lack of beds and that would be solved by a rapid substantial injection of new beds. They’re the problems in our hospitals and that’s what we need. We don’t need Mr Rudd’s medicine which is a great big new bureaucracy. A great big new bureaucracy which will just continue the mismanagement. QUESTION: Mr Abbott why do you think voters are turning their backs on Kevin Rudd? TONY ABBOTT: I think that the more they see of the current Government the less they like it. I think over time there might even be some nostalgia for the former government. I think that people are starting to see the inner bully in Mr Rudd. I think that footage of him giving Kristina Keneally the cold shoulder in every sense last week has been very damaging for Mr Rudd, particularly on top of the temper tantrum he had with the RAAF flight attendant last year. I think people are getting to know the Prime Minister and what they’re discovering is that there’s not that much there. QUESTION: The problems in our health system aren’t something that have just happened in the last two years, so obviously you resided over Health Minister before that, do you think that you did everything in your power and everything you could to improve the health system? TONY ABBOTT: I’m not saying that everything went swimmingly when I was the Health Minister. But certainly the federally run parts of our health system were working pretty well under the Howard Government and yes, we were about to start tackling the public hospital system when we lost office. But I think if you ask any credible, serious health professional about the stewardship of different ministers over the health system, I think that my record would emerge pretty well. QUESTION: Has the Coalition back-flipped on its support for the racial discrimination act? TONY ABBOTT: No, no, the Coalition supports the principle of welfare quarantining, that’s what we support. Now, we would prefer that the Government didn’t unwind welfare quarantining in the 73 remote Northern Territory communities, but we’re pleased that the Government is proposing to extend automatic welfare quarantining more widely, initially throughout the Northern Territory, but eventually at least to certain categories and beneficiaries right around Australia. Now, this is a positive change. It’s a change for the better and that’s why even though it involves one step back in one area, it involves at least one and a half steps forward in another area and that’s why I’m inclined, subject to party room processes, to try to amend the bill, but if that can’t be done to support the bill. QUESTION: You say your record as Health Minister was good but didn’t you chop a $1 billion out of the public health system? TONY ABBOTT: This is an absolute lie. It’s a complete lie and it’s a symptom of the fact that Mr Rudd is so ethically challenged when it comes to his political presentation that he keeps repeating this lie. The Coalition Government constantly increased funding for public hospitals. At one stage there was an adjustment to the forward estimates but the actual quantum of funding for public hospitals constantly increased, massively increased over the term of the Howard Government, as all credible observers acknowledge. QUESTION: John Howard seems to think that your response…that he’s responsible for you being the Liberal leader today, would you agree with that assessment? TONY ABBOTT: John Howard certainly has been a giant of Australian politics and after Menzies by far the most significant figure in the Liberal Party’s history. I regard him as a great friend and a great mentor. He’s certainly been a great teacher to me and I look forward to enjoying his counsel and friendship for many years to come. QUESTION: This morning a Labor backbencher said that Julia Gillard was Kevin Rudd’s obvious successor, do you think that she would do a better job? TONY ABBOTT: Oh, I think there’s no doubt that Julia Gillard has an authenticity which the Prime Minister lacks and I think the public are starting to appreciate that. Look, she’s very left wing. I don’t think she’d be a great Prime Minister. But there’s something that’s a bit fair dinkum about Julia Gillard which you don’t get with Prime Minister Rudd. QUESTION: What do you take away from the polls this morning because Kevin Rudd is obviously losing popularity? The Coalition on a two-party preferred basis isn’t gaining that much ground? TONY ABBOTT: Ah, I try not to pay too much attention to polls. Obviously I have noticed that the Prime Minister’s popularity is sinking fast. Our challenge is not just to be an effective Opposition but also to be a credible alternative government and that’s a challenge which I think we’re rising too. But there’s obviously a fair way to go. Thanks very much.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Kevin Rudd's failed border protection policy
Subjects: Kevin Rudd’s failed border protection policy; health; Kevin Rudd’s performance; racial discrimination act; Newspoll. E&OE TONY ABBOTT: The situation on our borders is getting worse. We’ve had 24 boats arrive since the beginning of the year, almost 1,200 people. This is a classic case of failure by the Rudd Government. The Howard Government found a problem in this area. It carved out a solution. Mr Rudd found that solution and he’s created a problem. The problem is just getting worse. We’re getting 10 boats a month at the moment. It’s the highest rate of boat arrival in our history. It’s all started because Mr Rudd wanted to parade his compassion credentials before sections of the Australian population. But it’s part of a pattern of failure. This is a government that is chronically incapable of delivering sound government. It’s failed on border protection. It’s monumentally and tragically failed on the home insulation programme. It’s failed to deliver good value to taxpayers with the so called Building the Education Revolution programme. Now of course it’s a government that wants to reform public hospitals, the same people who gave us the pink batts disaster, who’ve lost control of our borders, expect us to believe that they can fix public hospitals. The problem is that Mr Rudd cannot focus on problems and he cannot deliver solutions and his incapacity to control our borders is the latest classic example of this. QUESTION: [inaudible] plan for regional hospitals, what would you do differently to what the Government’s proposing? TONY ABBOTT: Well, if the Government was serious about sorting out the hospital problem it would go to the immediate difficulties and the immediate difficulties are chronic bureaucracy, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, and that would be solved by local hospital boards in those two states. The other big problem is the chronic lack of beds and that would be solved by a rapid substantial injection of new beds. They’re the problems in our hospitals and that’s what we need. We don’t need Mr Rudd’s medicine which is a great big new bureaucracy. A great big new bureaucracy which will just continue the mismanagement. QUESTION: Mr Abbott why do you think voters are turning their backs on Kevin Rudd? TONY ABBOTT: I think that the more they see of the current Government the less they like it. I think over time there might even be some nostalgia for the former government. I think that people are starting to see the inner bully in Mr Rudd. I think that footage of him giving Kristina Keneally the cold shoulder in every sense last week has been very damaging for Mr Rudd, particularly on top of the temper tantrum he had with the RAAF flight attendant last year. I think people are getting to know the Prime Minister and what they’re discovering is that there’s not that much there. QUESTION: The problems in our health system aren’t something that have just happened in the last two years, so obviously you resided over Health Minister before that, do you think that you did everything in your power and everything you could to improve the health system? TONY ABBOTT: I’m not saying that everything went swimmingly when I was the Health Minister. But certainly the federally run parts of our health system were working pretty well under the Howard Government and yes, we were about to start tackling the public hospital system when we lost office. But I think if you ask any credible, serious health professional about the stewardship of different ministers over the health system, I think that my record would emerge pretty well. QUESTION: Has the Coalition back-flipped on its support for the racial discrimination act? TONY ABBOTT: No, no, the Coalition supports the principle of welfare quarantining, that’s what we support. Now, we would prefer that the Government didn’t unwind welfare quarantining in the 73 remote Northern Territory communities, but we’re pleased that the Government is proposing to extend automatic welfare quarantining more widely, initially throughout the Northern Territory, but eventually at least to certain categories and beneficiaries right around Australia. Now, this is a positive change. It’s a change for the better and that’s why even though it involves one step back in one area, it involves at least one and a half steps forward in another area and that’s why I’m inclined, subject to party room processes, to try to amend the bill, but if that can’t be done to support the bill. QUESTION: You say your record as Health Minister was good but didn’t you chop a $1 billion out of the public health system? TONY ABBOTT: This is an absolute lie. It’s a complete lie and it’s a symptom of the fact that Mr Rudd is so ethically challenged when it comes to his political presentation that he keeps repeating this lie. The Coalition Government constantly increased funding for public hospitals. At one stage there was an adjustment to the forward estimates but the actual quantum of funding for public hospitals constantly increased, massively increased over the term of the Howard Government, as all credible observers acknowledge. QUESTION: John Howard seems to think that your response…that he’s responsible for you being the Liberal leader today, would you agree with that assessment? TONY ABBOTT: John Howard certainly has been a giant of Australian politics and after Menzies by far the most significant figure in the Liberal Party’s history. I regard him as a great friend and a great mentor. He’s certainly been a great teacher to me and I look forward to enjoying his counsel and friendship for many years to come. QUESTION: This morning a Labor backbencher said that Julia Gillard was Kevin Rudd’s obvious successor, do you think that she would do a better job? TONY ABBOTT: Oh, I think there’s no doubt that Julia Gillard has an authenticity which the Prime Minister lacks and I think the public are starting to appreciate that. Look, she’s very left wing. I don’t think she’d be a great Prime Minister. But there’s something that’s a bit fair dinkum about Julia Gillard which you don’t get with Prime Minister Rudd. QUESTION: What do you take away from the polls this morning because Kevin Rudd is obviously losing popularity? The Coalition on a two-party preferred basis isn’t gaining that much ground? TONY ABBOTT: Ah, I try not to pay too much attention to polls. Obviously I have noticed that the Prime Minister’s popularity is sinking fast. Our challenge is not just to be an effective Opposition but also to be a credible alternative government and that’s a challenge which I think we’re rising too. But there’s obviously a fair way to go. Thanks very much.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Health ID cards unleash ’scary’ Little Brothers
The Healthcare Identifiers Bill introduced last Wednesday is sketchy at best, and Health Minister Nicola Roxon has already been forced into releasing an equally sketchy draft of the accompanying regulations on Friday.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Will US healthcare reform pass?
Reminiscent of the infamous Aussie election worm, Slate has created a fancy 'whipometer' with a quivering arrow to judge how likely it is that Barack Obama can get US health care reform passed.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Abbott Doorstop - Health Reform Announcement
Subjects: Health reform announcement.
Joint Doorstop
E&OE TONY ABBOTT: Ok, I’m very pleased to be here with the Shadow Health Minister, Peter Dutton, just to offer an initial response to the announcement earlier today from the government. Everyone likes the idea of more health professionals, we all like that idea, but as always the devil is in the detail. This is a government which is very good at announcements, but very bad at programme delivery and you’ve got to suspect that this is another case of the government being all announcement and no follow through. There are two particular issues that I want to focus on. Its all very well to announce extra millions for medical training places but to get the training places, you’ve got to have arrangements in place with the state governments, with the universities, with the public hospitals and with the medical profession, because none of this training can be delivered without an appropriate clinical setting and already the public hospitals are under great strain. In order to effectively deliver this training you’ve got to have the senior doctors who will act as the trainers, you’ve got to have the state governments who are prepared to put in their funding to make sure the registrars are available and can get paid and you’ve got to have the infrastructure to make sure that it will all work and what we’ve seen from this Prime Minister over the last few weeks in particular, is ending the blame game to be sure, its been replaced by the bullying game. Anyone who has been watching the footage of the Prime Minister and the state premiers would know that co-operation between them has all but broken down. That picture of the Prime Minister and Premier Keneally did not lie in the way that press releases can so easily be misleading. The other point that I should make is that, yes there are a lot of dollars in this announcement today but you’ve got to ask yourself how much of this money is actually new money. There has been a lot of money for medical and health training in the COAG pipeline for quite some time, including from the time of the former government and it would be good to know from the government, how much of this really is new. The other thing that would be good to hear from the government is how much of this money is going to have to be recouped from savings elsewhere in the health budget, because the last thing that patients and health professionals would welcome is an increase in medical training if its going to lead to cuts in other parts of the health budget, because its the whole of the health budget that is under pressure, it’s the whole of the health system which is under pressure, not just the workforce which is under pressure. PETER DUTTON: Just a couple of points. Today was the first time that Kevin Rudd and Nicola Roxon acknowledged the good work that Tony Abbott had done when he was Health Minister. The projections are over the next five years, the number of medical graduates will double and that’s the reason for extra training places. Of course what they neglected to say but what needed to be said in that press release was that all of those training places, all of those university places were created under the Howard government. This is a case which every day in Question Time you see the government trying to bag the record of the Coalition government on health and it doesn’t stand up. By their own admission by way of press release today, they acknowledge that none of these university places were created by the Rudd government – all of them were created in the time that we were in government, that the Coalition was in government and that Tony Abbott was the Health Minister. So when you cut through the rhetoric and understand the situation as it is, it paints a very different picture to the spin that Mr Rudd goes on with. I also want to point out, too, another couple of realities. The reality is that when Mr Rudd makes promises on health, he never delivers on them. If you look at they’re bringing the nurses back into the workforce programme, they promised about 7,500 places over four years. In 18 months, they’ve delivered 500 nurses into that programme, a massive failure. They promised 36 GP super clinics. After two-and-a-half years, they’ve delivered on two of them. They delivered promises of extra beds, of more doctors, none of that has happened over the last two-and-a-half years. Mr Rudd when he was chief bureaucrat in Queensland as you all know closed hospital beds down. So, when you cut through all the hype, the travelling road show that is the Prime Minister and look at what his promises, as to what he delivers in health, there is a very, very big difference and that’s why I think today is significant, that for the first time Mr Rudd is acknowledging that Tony Abbott did a great job as Health Minister. QUESTION: I think you must’ve just made a mistake, just to clarify here. You said that Tony Abbott created the university positions and the training places, that’s not true. PETER DUTTON: University. So the training places come online at the time of graduation. It’s the university places, that’s right. QUESTION: But they needed to be funded, didn’t they? Or else there’s no point in having student graduates? TONY ABBOTT: Look, obviously it was very important to increase the size of the health workforce and just in a nutshell, under the Howard government there was a 50 per cent increase in medical student numbers, there was a 30 per cent increase in nursing student places and there was a 30 per cent increase in GP training places. Now, the graduates are now starting to come out of that very big expansion of the university health professional training programme and it is to capitalise on the good work of the Howard government that the current government is doing what it announced today. QUESTION: But Mr Abbott, isn’t the fact that you were actually correcting a mistake of the Howard government in its early days by freezing the number of places and you were correcting a situation that was getting worse and worse? TONY ABBOTT: That’s not actually true, Paul. Medical school places were frozen in the early 80’s by the Hawke government and medical student places basically didn’t expand from the early 80’s until the late 90’s and then beginning with Michael Wooldridge and Kay Patterson, but accelerating dramatically when I was the Health Minister, we had this massive expansion. In fact, there were nine new medical schools created under the Howard government, most of which in my time as Health Minister. QUESTION: So isn’t this just a natural extension of that good work, then? TONY ABBOTT: The interesting thing about this government is it’s big on announcements but it’s bad on follow through. They’re good at announcing new policy, they’re very poor at delivering. As I said before, Mr Rudd is all hat and no cowboy. He’s all announcement and no follow through and none of what is announced today is going to make any big difference any time soon and that’s assuming that he’s got the arrangements in place with the State governments and with the various medical training bodies to make it work, and given the Rudd government’s absolutely appalling record at programme delivery, typified by the pink batts programme, you’ve got to really doubt whether there’s anything of great substance behind today’s announcement. QUESTION: Well, then how do you actually tackle chronic workforce shortages? TONY ABBOTT: We tackle chronic workforce shortages by training more people at universities and by then ensuring that they have got the appropriate professional training. I’m not questioning the principle of more training. What I’m questioning today is whether the Rudd government has done the homework that’s needed to really deliver these places and whether it has the competence in follow-up to make sure that what is supposed to happen really does happen in practice. QUESTION: You would know form your own experience it’s very difficult to get agreements with medical specialist colleges to provide the specialists to oversee the training, isn’t it? TONY ABBOTT: Look, it’s not easy, which is one of the reasons why it is a big mistake for the Prime Minister to pat himself on the back, say ‘I’ve made an announcement, problem solved.’ There are all sorts of issues in the health sector which are extremely difficult to address in any permanent way. Basically these are issues that you’ve got to keep returning to again and again and again. Almost everything in health is a work in progress. You can only make a difference in health through sustained application and commitment. You can only make a difference in health if you have the capacity to actually focus on this for the long term. The problem with the Rudd government is that while the Prime Minister is focused the government is engaged, but the Prime Minister finds it almost impossible to focus on anything for any length of time. I mean, let’s face it, now he wants to say that health and hospitals are the big issues but it was only a couple of months ago when he was telling us that the greatest moral challenge of our time was climate change. QUESTION: Mr Abbott, are you going to be champion of the State Labor Premiers? I mean, you were very frustrated with them as Health Minister, you wanted to take over their hospitals. Now you’re saying that Rudd’s bullying them. Perhaps they need a bit of bullying? TONY ABBOTT: Well, the interesting thing is that it was in fact Mr Rudd who said that he was going to end the blame game, but plainly what he’s done is ramped up the blame game and indeed replaced it with the bullying game as we saw on graphic display with Premier Keneally last week. QUESTION: Mr Abbott, you’ve been very critical of Kevin Rudd’s hospital funding plan. Would you be urging your Liberal counterparts at a State level, in West Australia and, should they be successful, in South Australia and Tassie, to oppose it? TONY ABBOTT: Well, I would be urging everyone to be deeply sceptical of the promises that this government makes given its appalling record when it comes to actual programme delivery. I mean, the big question for the Australian public is why would you trust Kevin Rudd to fix the public hospital systems when he’s made such a hash of everything else that he’s done, most notably the pink batts programme. Thank very much. Thank you.
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Roxon uncomfortable with sex selection (AAP)
Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the federal government isn't pushing for a ban on baby gender selection technology.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Roxon says $15b pharmacy agreement close (AAP)
Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the government is a step closer to a $15 billion agreement to deliver cheaper medicines and improve access to pharmacies.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Court battle over healthcare trademark
PRIMARY Health Care has taken action against the Australian General Practitioners Network to prevent the network's use of the name Primary Health Care.
Read more [The Australian: Business]
Court battle over healthcare trademark
PRIMARY Health Care has taken action against the Australian General Practitioners Network to prevent the network's use of the name Primary Health Care.
Read more [The Australian: Business - Healthcare]
Rural concerns to be heard on hospitals (AAP)
Minister Nicola Roxon has promised to take the unique needs of rural communities into consideration when implementing the government's planned hospitals reform.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Health vote 'possible without Senate' (AAP)
The federal government could still hold a referendum on hospital reform even if the Senate rejects the idea, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
National Health and Hospitals Network Good for Rural Health
Rural and regional health services stand to benefit from the National Health and Hospitals Network announced by the Prime Minister, Treasurer and Health Minister.
The National Health and Hospitals Network will be funded nationally, but run locally.
Read more >
Read more [Australian Labour Party RSS Feed]
Urgent, risky and complex
KEVIN Rudd and Nicola Roxon have swung the election year decisively to Labor's terrain of health and hospitals with a reform blueprint that is risky, complex and a huge change in power within Australia's system of government.
Read more [The Australian: The Nation]
Urgent, risky and complex
KEVIN Rudd and Nicola Roxon have swung the election year decisively to Labor's terrain of health and hospitals with a reform blueprint that is risky, complex and a huge change in power within Australia's system of government.
Read more [The Australian: The Nation]
Department of Health & Ageing -National Health and Hospitals Network Good for Rural Health
Rural and regional health services stand to benefit from the National Health and Hospitals Network announced by the Prime Minister, Treasurer and Health Minister. The National Health and Hospitals Network will be funded nationally, but run locally. Under the reforms to hospital funding announced by the Government this week, Local Hospital Networks in rural areas will be paid directly for the services they provide.
Read more [Australian Government Media Releases]
Rural Health Services to be Big Losers
Kevin Rudd and Nicola Roxon need to explain the impact their funding model will have on hospitals in rural and regional Australia
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Virgin romps into UK healthcare
RICHARD Branson stepped boldly into healthcare with a controlling stake in a UK operator - only to see its shares tumble 13 per cent.
Read more [The Australian: Business]
Virgin romps into UK healthcare
RICHARD Branson stepped boldly into healthcare with a controlling stake in a UK operator - only to see its shares tumble 13 per cent.
Read more [The Australian: Business - Healthcare]
Roxon rocks on and gives Health a genuine feel
Nicola Roxon may be an economically illiterate Labor hack, but she knows how to answer interview questions and stick to her talking points, which is more than can be said for Peter Dutton.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Hospitals plan may need tax hike: Roxon (AAP)
Federal health minister Nicola Roxon has not ruled out raising taxes to pay for the government's proposal to overhaul public hospitals.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Tough medicine left for another day
KEVIN Rudd sauced his health policy pie with more blokey charm at yesterday's launch, likening the past two years to the tedious but necessary process of sanding the cracks before painting a wall.
Read more [The Australian: Opinion]
Roll out, roll out: new health policy comes complete with snappy slogan
Today's health reform package enables the Government to get voters’ attention back onto an issue that, for all the criticism of Rudd for delay in launching the package, presents substantial advantages for Labor, writes Bernard Keane.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Interview | Prime Minister of Australia
PM: Well it's great to be here with Bernie Ripoll, the local Member, and here at Redbank State School. JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said that you expected to cop a whacking in the polls, that hasn't happened. But my fundamental point is this: Mr Abbott was Health Minister for four years, ripped a billion dollars out of the public hospitals of Australia, and didn't reform the health system one bit.
Read more [Australian Government Media Releases]
Public consultations on e-health
The Government is giving the public and stakeholders an additional opportunity to find out further information about Individual Healthcare Identifiers and provide feedback on the proposed legislation.
Read more >
Read more [Australian Labour Party RSS Feed]
Barnett defends NZ transplant for junkie (AAP)
West Australian premier Colin Barnett has defended his health minister's decision to send a young drug abuser to New Zealand for her second liver transplant.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Department of Health & Ageing -Further public consultations on e-health
I n recognition of the ongoing community and stakeholder interest in e-health, the Government has referred the Healthcare Identifiers Bill to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs. This gives the public and stakeholders an additional opportunity to find out further information about Individual Healthcare Identifiers and provide feedback on the proposed legislation. The Committee will report on 15 March 2010.
Read more [Australian Government Media Releases]
Senate Inquiry Into E-Health Legislation
Given the sensitivity of this legislation it is important to allow all stakeholders and interested members of the community the opportunity to have their say
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Libs adopt a ‘Just Say No’ health policy
As the Rudd Government continues its work on the most significant health reforms since the introduction of Medicare, the Opposition have adopted a ‘Just Say No’ policy in health.
Read more >
Read more [Australian Labour Party RSS Feed]
My life as an unqualified, untrained government insider
Former speech writer for Nicola Roxon, Myles Peterson, spills on the secret life of working in a government department. From wasting public money on "training", to launching large health reforms with no prior planning, the state of our public service is deeply worrying.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Minister shows her unhealthy obsession
Nicola Roxon shouldn't loathe private-sector health providers
Read more [The Australian: Opinion]
Roxon flags rises in health premiums (AAP)
Health Minister Nicola Roxon says customers shouldn't expect good news when she announces the 2010 health insurance premium rises next week.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Qld rejects Abbott's hospitals plan (AAP)
The federal opposition's plan to roll out local hospital boards is a "smokescreen", Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas says.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Memo to Rudd: here is how you can win cred on health reform
What if the sum total of health reform in the Rudd government’s first term amounts to a big fat zilch? Health ministers are meeting today and Croakey's experts have gathered to give their advice.
Read more [Crikey Politics]
Healthcare IT Dilemma: iPad Lust Meets Software Reality
In addition to being a top priority for legislators and the press, healthcare has become a major target for IT vendors. Driven by economic pressures that force hospitals to merge and consolidate, regulations that force better documentation and security, and legislation that may fundamentally change the industry's business models, healthcare companies will spend more on technology this year than any other type of company, according to a study released Jan. 31 by Enterprise Strategy Group.
Read more [CIO Government]
Healthcare IT Dilemma: iPad Lust Meets Software Reality
In addition to being a top priority for legislators and the press, healthcare has become a major target for IT vendors. Driven by economic pressures that force hospitals to merge and consolidate, regulations that force better documentation and security, and legislation that may fundamentally change the industry's business models, healthcare companies will spend more on technology this year than any other type of company, according to a study released Jan. 31 by Enterprise Strategy Group.
Read more [CIO Executive Briefing]
A bill for a secure e-health system
Electronic health (e-health ) can help reform Australia's health system by improving the quality and safety of health care, reducing waste and inefficiency, and providing better continuity and health outcomes for patients.
Read more >
Read more [Australian Labour Party RSS Feed]
PBS to cost $13B by 2018: report (AAP)
Health Minister Nicola Roxon has suggested further reforms to the PBS may be necessary, with independent modelling showing costs could blow out to $13b in 2018.
Read more [Yahoo 7: News]
Health change deniers
Having failed to deliver on their promises to fix health, Kevin Rudd and Nicola Roxon are now trying to re-write history
Read more [Liberal Party News]
Humiliation for Health Minister - Cataract Backdown
Nicola Roxon's humiliating backdown on cataract surgery rebates showed how ill-conceived her decision to attempt to slash them by 50 per cent was in the first place
Read more [Liberal Party News]
