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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-10 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier advise the house on the approach he intends to take at COAG this Sunday on the national health reforms?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:27): I thank the member for Little Para for asking this question. I had expected to get a question about COAG from members opposite, but then obviously they are more interested in pantomimes.

The Sunday COAG meeting will deal with a number of issues, including, of course, the recovery and reconstruction following devastating floods in Queensland and elsewhere in eastern Australia. I know that there has been a considerable number of media reports about a change in policy by the federal government relating to the growth funds for the health system that were guaranteed at last year's COAG under former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Can I say this: we fought hard, worked hard and negotiated hard to get an outstanding agreement on health, and that outstanding agreement on health involved considerable growth funding for health from the commonwealth for the future beyond 2015. Very importantly—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, continue.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Very importantly, I also negotiated for a pathway, a glide path, of extra funds—some might call it sweeteners—between where we are now to reach where we need to be in 2015. I was very pleased that we were successful in those negotiations. We have signed the agreement—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: We have signed the agreement. That is the agreement I have signed and that is the agreement that will be honoured. The April 2010 COAG national health reforms—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I am about to warn you. Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Thank you, ma'am. The April 2010 COAG national health reforms included significant extra funding for South Australian patients. Under the proposed agreement, from 2014-15, the commonwealth will become the major funder of health services, with the commonwealth providing 60 per cent and the state providing the remaining 40 per cent of costs based on a nationally efficient price.

The thing that interests me is the growth funding. That is the bottom line: the money that was promised in terms of the pathway to a new arrangement from 2015. The commonwealth has guaranteed $1.1 billion over and above South Australia's current estimates over the five years of the agreement. That is $1.1 billion extra for patients for hospital care in South Australia. It is also, of course, the first time in history that we have had a commitment from the commonwealth to provide a capital contribution to hospital services. South Australia argued strongly for an immediate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I warn the member for Norwood.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I understand that the member for Norwood has a great interest in political philosophy, including Marx. Apparently he has seen all of their movies. South Australia argued strongly for an immediate injection of funds into our health system. We argued for an injection of extra money now, not later, and the successful negotiations secured increased funds of $306 million from 2010-11 to 2013-14.

These additional funds included: $120 million for subacute beds which will be used on services and the redevelopment of the Repatriation General Hospital and more mental health beds; $60 million for additional elective surgery, and this will help us ensure that we continue to have no overdue patients; $56 million to contribute towards additional senior medical, allied health and nursing staff for acute medical units, and senior consultants and registrars rostered at nights and weekends in order to help achieve the four-hour ED target; $17 million for flexible funding over four years to support reforms in emergency departments, elective surgery and subacute care; $29 million will be provided to support long-stay older patients in public hospitals; $21 million to refurbish or renovate multipurpose service facilities or purchase equipment in rural and remote areas; and up to $3 million will be provided for early psychosis prevention and intervention centres.

Under the national health and hospitals network agreement, the state government will continue to be the system manager for public hospital services and will retain responsibility for public hospital service planning, capital planning and management.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Kavel!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Medicare locals will provide for the delivery of GP and primary health care services at the local level. So, what is the bottom line for Sunday's COAG meeting? We negotiated a deal for growth funding. That is the deal that I will be wanting to walk away with on Monday to secure the future because that is the deal we signed, that is the deal we made and that is the deal we will keep.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Can I say that there has been speculation today that there has been some change in policy over our emergency service department guarantee. Let us remember what that policy proposal is: we intend to make central to our policies that 95 per cent of patients going to an emergency department in South Australia will be treated, discharged or found a bed within four hours. We will keep to that promise and we look forward to the money from the commonwealth.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Davenport.

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