NORTHERN AND REMOTE HEALTH AT RISK UNDER RUDD’S HEALTH PLAN

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Small hospitals in Northern and Remote Australia are at risk under Labor’s new health plan despite assurances from Kevin Rudd last week that the plan would be ‘rural proof’.

The Coalition Spokesman for Northern and Remote Australia, Senator Ian Macdonald said that once again the devil will be in the detail and contrary to Mr Rudd’s claim that his new health funding regime would be ‘rural proof’, the fate of many small hospitals throughout Northern and Remote Australia is uncertain.

“Labor’s new plan for funding the nation’s health system will leave small hospitals in Northern and Remote Australia at the mercy of an ‘independent’ umpire, an umpire removed from the community with little concern about people’s access to health services,” Senator Macdonald said.

“Typically we haven’t been given anywhere near enough information and there are some very important questions the Government needs to answer.

“Who will the ‘independent’ umpire be? How will the umpire make their decisions? Who will the umpire be accountable too? These questions must be answered before Mr Rudd and his Ministers try to bully Australia into accepting their latest scheme.

“The Government expects people in Northern and Remote Australia to trust them to do the right thing on health, but you can’t trust a Government that bungled its giveaway of insulation batts to get it right on health.

“After a decade of mismanagement by State Labor Governments remote health services are already dangerously under funded and cannot survive an assault by Mr Rudd’s razor gangs or ‘independent’ umpires,” Senator Macdonald said.

END

8 March 2010

Media contact Gordon Terry      (07) 4771 3066   or   0427 960 255                                           

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