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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-22 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:27): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about the new national health reform agenda, as agreed by all states and territories at the recent COAG meeting?

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) (15:27): I would like to thank the honourable member and congratulate—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Bragg!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —him on his new role as parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Health and the southern suburbs. I understand he has already started his role with great enthusiasm and vigour. A truly national agreement was reached last week at COAG—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —when premiers and chief ministers signed a deal that paves the way for a real partnership to deliver better health services. Health is critically important for this government, and since our election in 2002, health expenditure has more than doubled. We have employed more than 4,000 extra nurses and more than 1,000 extra doctors.

Ms Chapman: You were going to give away our GST last time.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: It is interesting that the honourable member wanted to interrupt on a point. Since we have come to office, more than double the expenditure on health and an extra 1,000 doctors and an extra 4,000 nurses, more than there was when the Liberals were in power when they wanted to run down our health services.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, the member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: I thought the question was about the new health agreement, not about someone's vacant idea of history.

The SPEAKER: I presume you are talking about relevance. I presume that is your point of order. I am sure the Premier will return to his answer.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: In addition, every metropolitan hospital is now being either rebuilt or redeveloped in the most comprehensive upgrade of our public health facilities in decades. I want to congratulate the Minister for Health for his advocacy around the cabinet table in the lead-up to each budget.

These include major upgrades of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Women's and Children's Hospital, the Lyell McEwin Hospital and Flinders, of course. We are also building a brand new Royal Adelaide Hospital with construction due to start soon.

Our state has a very good healthcare system, and we have been working consistently to make it a great healthcare system. However, to achieve better results for South Australians, we needed a fair funding agreement from the commonwealth government. While we have been putting more and more funding into our health system, the previous federal Liberal government was reducing its share. And who was the health minister? Tony Abbott.

The agreement reached at COAG on Sunday 13 February opens the door to the federal government jointly funding growth for the future. That means that by 1 July 2017 efficient growth will be funded equally by the commonwealth and the states on a fifty-fifty basis.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am trying to hear the minister's response.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: That means that every dollar we commit to health system growth, based on the efficient price, will be matched dollar for dollar by the commonwealth and we will not be required to forgo the 30 per cent GST revenue.

The commonwealth has backed its commitment with an extra $16.4 billion for hospital funding across the country between 2014-15 and 2019-20. This is more than the $15.6 billion promised under the National Health and Hospitals Network Agreement, of which South Australia was expected to receive $1.1 billion over that period.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I am particularly pleased that I was able to secure a written guarantee from the Prime Minister that South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —would be no worse off when compared with the funding under the arrangements agreed last year. No worse off. Those arrangements of course, need to be renegotiated due to Western Australia's refusal to sign. The federal government has also guaranteed that all states will be better off in the long term relative to existing arrangements in the healthcare specific purpose payments, the $15.6 billion guarantee in the National Health and Hospitals Network Agreement, and the $3.4 billion National Partnership Agreement on Improving Hospital Services.

Under the COAG reforms, the commonwealth and the states and territories will establish a single national funding pool, administered by an independent body, to start in July 2012 so that we can track every dollar. Every dollar the state spends, every dollar the federal government spends. People will be able to know, just as they do with My Schools, where the money goes. The commonwealth will contribute to capital projects through specific grant programs such as the current Health and Hospitals Fund.

The agreement includes strong national standards, including, of course, our own commitment to a four-hour national access target to reduce emergency department waiting times. To put that into perspective, what we want to achieve in this state is that 95 per cent of patients going into an emergency department will be able to be seen, treated, discharged or found a bed within four hours.

In the meantime, we have secured $306 million extra for the South Australian health system over the next three years to accommodate growth, including extra beds, more doctors and nurses and extra elective surgery procedures. This government has opened 200 additional beds in our public hospitals since 2002. And there are a further 250 beds planned and budgeted by 2015-16.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Just remember the beds that you closed, including the beds you closed in country hospitals at record levels. This is in addition to the transition arrangements negotiated with the commonwealth as we move to the new funding arrangements. By adopting these reform proposals, we can finally create a seamless national healthcare system and patients will be the beneficiaries.

I am also pleased to inform the chamber that I have been able to secure mental health reform as a formal component of the future COAG health reform agenda. Since 2007, and in line with Monsignor Cappo's Stepping Up recommendations, South Australia has been investing in significant reform of our mental health system. Central to this reform is the new state-of-the-art $128.2 million Glenside mental hospital, along with a stepped system of care, that ensures that people are able to access at the level of care they require close to their own community.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I am delighted that the Prime Minister and the other premiers agreed to allow us to be addressed by the likes of Patrick McGorry and David Cappo on national mental health reform. We want to be partners in mental health reform with the commonwealth through the COAG health reform agenda. Every Australian government has committed to sign a full national health reform agreement by July next year. The next step in COAG reforms will be further reforms in mental health, dental health and aged care over the next three years.

I would like to congratulate the current federal government for being a partner in health reform and funding which ensures South Australians can continue to receive world-class, universally-accessible health care long into the future. What a change the change in government made when we could not actually talk about these things at COAG meetings.

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