Page 1307 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 5 May 2015
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Mr Hanson: That’s a lie!
MADAM SPEAKER: Withdraw, Mr Hanson.
Mr Hanson: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Corbell, on the question.
MR CORBELL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. As a jurisdiction we have invested over $800 million worth of capital in our health system. We continue to make significant investments in growth funding each and every year. But we cannot do it on our own. We need the commitment of the federal Liberal government; we need Prime Minister Abbott to reverse his cuts to our hospital system. (Time expired.)
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, it is very hard to sit down Mr Corbell, when his time expires, if you keep interjecting across the chamber. A supplementary question, Ms Lawder.
MS LAWDER: Minister, if Canberra’s hospitals were more efficient, would waiting times improve in the emergency departments?
MR CORBELL: We need to continue to focus on meeting demand. The question that Ms Lawder asks is a difficult one to answer. It is difficult because there are a broad range of factors influencing demand. For example, a rapidly ageing population leads to a significant increase in the complexity of the care that needs to be provided, a level of complexity that outstrips population growth.
So we need funding models that help us address this demand and we have, unfortunately, a position on the part of the federal government to shift the funding model from activity-based funding to population-based funding. Shifting to population-based funding is fundamentally unfair. It is unfair because it fails to recognise the significant number of people who receive treatment across the border and it fails to acknowledge the increased acuity and level of care that needs to be provided for an ageing population.
So as a jurisdiction we are making the case very clearly to the commonwealth that population-based funding is not acceptable. We are making clear that they need to reverse their cuts to our hospital system. They need to restore the funding that they ripped out in last year’s budget. A great opportunity to commence that is in next week’s federal budget, where they make commitments for long-term security—
Mr Hanson: Point of order, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Hanson on a point of order.
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