HEALTH MINISTERS' CONFERENCE

Ms PORTOLESI (Hartley) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Health. What progress was made at Friday's Australian health ministers' conference?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:55): I thank the member for this important question. Last Friday I met with my fellow health ministers to progress the negotiations for the next Australian Health Care Agreement. That is an agreement which is signed every five years; the current agreement finishes in the middle of this year. I am pleased to say that the meeting reached unanimous agreement on a number of things, particularly on the need to develop and publicly report on a comprehensive set of performance measures across the entire health system.

In stark contrast to its predecessor, the current commonwealth government has agreed to put itself under the same scrutiny as it demands from state and territory governments. Standards to be measured will include hospital performance reporting and measures of access to GPs across regions. This is particularly important, because one of the reasons we have pressures on emergency departments is because people cannot get to see GPs in their communities. Reporting on performance measures will provide greater transparency and will hold both the state and the commonwealth accountable for their actions. This will lead to better health outcomes for all Australians.

I was, therefore, amazed that I was criticised by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for agreeing to these measures. The member for Bragg told ABC News the following:

It's absolutely incredible that they've conceded to provide transparency and direct accountability to the commonwealth in exchange for funding, but there's no consideration paid, there's no money on the table.

Not only did I agree to the transparency and accountability measures, but I actively sought the outcomes. I actually believe that we should be transparent and put on the public record what we are doing. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, is saying that we should only do that if we get paid for it.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: 'Absolutely!' she says; she is reaffirming that we should be transparent and open only if we get paid for it. That is the deputy leader's position.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: As a state government, we already report on many things. Amongst other things, we provide quarterly summaries on services provided in emergency departments and public outpatient clinics, and waiting times for both emergency department admissions and elective surgery. We also report on workforce numbers, bed numbers and health spending across our various institutions. For the benefit of the house, this data and much, much more can be found online at the Productivity Commission Report on Government Services and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare websites. In contrast, it would appear that the South Australian Liberals oppose accountability and transparency.

The Prime Minister has said that the commonwealth will put more money into health as long as we continue the process of health reform and are publicly accountable for our health system. We certainly support that. Again, that is in contrast to the attitude of the former federal government. Under the current five-year Australian Health Care Agreement, which, as I said, expires in the middle of this year, and was negotiated by the Howard government, the commonwealth underfunded South Australian hospitals by $408 million in the current financial year and a massive $1.2 billion over the course of the past five years.

It will, obviously, take time to undo the damage done over the last 11 years of that government. But, I am very optimistic that a fair and equitable funding arrangement between the states and the commonwealth will be achieved in the current environment. There was at this and previous health ministers' meetings a healthy appetite to tackle the fundamental issues affecting health care across Australia in a collaborative and constructive fashion.