Labor’s alternative budget a disaster for health

With Labor continuing to carp from the sidelines rather than engage sensibly with our efforts to fix the broken health system, it is clear that they have no policies and no plan.

It is just as clear after their shambles of an alternative budget reply that Labor would once again wreck the State Budget that we have worked hard to fix so we can make record investments in health.

As Labor’s health spokesperson in health, Rebecca White has personally promised almost $450 million in extra deficit due to poorly thought through health promises.

She has committed Labor to spend more than $220 million to unwind the 2014-15 savings measures in health, substantially adding to the bureaucracy and administration in the Department of Health and Human Services.

They are also on the hook for $80 million per year from 2018-19 for the Greenfield Hospital they backed because Ms White thought the Royal Hobart Redevelopment was too far gone after the damage they did to the project.

There is no explanation of where $30 million per year to pay for a ten percent increase in nurses would come from.

Labor would have to close the Mersey Hospital to pay for their reckless and irresponsible promises in health to date.

This is all added to her ever-growing list of complete clangers in health.

Labor’s total accumulated deficits based on their policy positions would be more than $1 billion. They are simply addicted to spending and would never be able to afford to make the investments in health we are making.

They would happily wreck the budget again and have to repeat the savage cuts we saw in 2011-12 and 2012-13, sacking nurses, closing hospital wards and regional hospitals.

Tasmania just could not afford Ms White as Health Minister.
Michael Ferguson, Minister for Health