• $367 million loss equates to more than 2,600 nurses
• $367 million loss equals 2,200 paramedics and more than 1,300 doctors
• Crisis will only grow as Ferguson fails to stand up to Turnbull on crucial funding
• Ferguson playing petty politics while health system descends further into chaos
Tasmania faces a new and looming health and hospital catastrophe as a potential $367 million cut to GST revenues puts jobs on the line within just three years.
Shadow Health Minister Sarah Lovell said while the Royal Hobart Hospital had been at escalation level four until late this morning with patients ramped in ambulances, Health Minister Michael Ferguson was today more interested in spinning political lies than standing up to the Turnbull Government and finding a solution to the state’s health emergency.
“Michael Ferguson is fully aware that after four years of overseeing a crisis in Tasmania’s health and hospital system, there is now a new and unprecedented risk to the State Budget with hundreds of millions of GST dollars at stake but, again, he has done nothing,” Ms Lovell said.
“Michael Ferguson knows that a $367 million cut to GST revenue in in 2021-22 equates to 2,200 paramedics.
“He knows losing funding to that extent equates to 2,606 nurses.
“Michael Ferguson is aware that $367 million equals 1,329 doctors.
“Mr Ferguson knows that kind of cut to GST revenues would cripple Tasmania’s public services and would be a catastrophe for our health and hospital system.
“Yet today while the emergency continues at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Michael Ferguson is too busy making up lies about Labor to be paying attention to the crisis.
“He is too distracted to pay any attention to staff who are under incredible pressure or to patients who are receiving inadequate care – let alone what may be coming into the future.
“We are not even at the height of the flu season yet but Michael Ferguson continues to chronically underfund health with no vision for how the crisis would potentially become much, much worse in the future.
“Instead of playing pathetic, unfounded political games, Mr Ferguson should be doing what Premier Hodgman has refused to do – getting on a plane to Canberra to stand up for Tasmania and try and avoid an impending disaster.
“The Health Minister needs to do what taxpayers pay him to do – stand up for the state, govern for Tasmania and provide a fix instead of presiding over a crisis.”
Sarah Lovell MLC Shadow Health and Preventative Health Care Minister 5 June 2018