Fed: Howard rejects criticism of hospital intervention

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2007
Fed: Howard rejects criticism of hospital intervention

By Peter Williams, Evan Schwarten and Greg Rule

CANBERRA, Aug 5 AAP - Prime Minister John Howard has defended federal intervention
in state government affairs against criticism that further bailouts of hospitals would
create a Third World health system.

Health Minister Tony Abbott will travel to Tasmania this week to talk to the Devonport
community about federal funding of the Mersey Hospital which has been dismissed by opponents
as election pork-barrelling.

The hospital is in the key marginal Liberal seat of Braddon.

Victorian Premier John Brumby today said extrapolating the $45 million-per-year bailout
in Tasmania across the nation's hundreds of public hospitals would be disastrous.

"If you want to fund every one of them and bail every one of them out as they've done
in Tasmania, you'll soon send the system back to Third World status," Mr Brumby told the
Nine Network.

"We can't afford to have a hospital on every street corner," he said.

"In Victoria, we've got some of the best hospitals in Australia but you won't find
one on every street corner.

"It's because we fund them properly, we fund them in a way which is most efficient.

"We spread services across the state in an appropriate way, not in a way which just
pork-barrels the marginal seats."

Mr Howard said he couldn't understand the criticisms from state governments of the
Mersey takeover.

"For 11 years I've heard state premiers saying that we should put some more money into
health. We're putting more money into health and they are attacking us," Mr Howard said.

He said the federal government had a duty to intervene when state governments weren't
meeting their responsibilities.

"Where the states and the territories have not done their job, it's our job to come
in and do a better job.

"If the Australian people think the federal government will do a better job, they want
the federal government to intervene.

"Where the job is being done by the states, that's fine, we have no interest in intervening."

Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd challenged Mr Howard to do something for the rest
of the nation's hospitals.

"Mr Howard in the last few days has said he has a deal for one of Australia's 700 public
hospitals, the one in Devonport," Mr Rudd said.

"Here in Queensland we've got 284 hospitals, public and private. What is his plan for
the totality of the hospital system for Australia for the future?"

Federal Finance Minister Nick Minchin said that despite the cost, he totally supported
the government's decision.

"It would be better if we didn't have to do this (but) this is a significant community
that is being deprived of some essential services in its hospital and so in response to
the concerns expressed to us we have decided to step in to assist," Senator Minchin told
Network Ten.

But he said that while the government was not ruling out similar interventions elsewhere,
public hospitals remain a state responsibility.

AAP pw/sjk/cdh

KEYWORD: STATES HOSPITAL NIGHTLEAD

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.