Mr Rudd, Mr Lucas - tell us which hospitals would close?

5 March 2010 Mr Rudd, Mr Lucas - tell us which hospitals would close?

Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss has called on the Queensland Labor Government to release its list of hospitals that would be forced to close under Kevin Rudd's scheme to add another layer of bureaucracy to the struggling health system.

The New South Wales Labor Government has released a list of 117 smaller and regional hospitals that would be forced to close under Kevin Rudd's hospital funding plan.

"Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas must now tell us which hospitals in Queensland would be slated for closure under the Rudd Labor Government's proposal," Mr Truss said.

"If New South Wales believes that 117 of its hospitals could close there, how many hospitals would close in Queensland? What is the future of hospitals at Maryborough, Gympie, Murgon and Cherbourg under Labor's new plan?

Mr Rudd must give a guarantee to all Australians that no hospitals will close under his health plan.

"Mr Rudd's scheme is a contrived, convoluted new bureaucracy that would not even start until 2012, in spite of his broken election promise to fix hospitals by mid 2009."

Mr Truss also raised concerns about how Labor's health plan is to be funded.

"Kevin Rudd's hospital scheme takes GST State revenue and rebadges it as Federal money. It does not increase the amount of money available for health, but it imposes the extra burden of more bureaucracy to administer those funds," Mr Truss said.

"Will hospital services be cut? What about state revenue? Will state taxes go up to cover the loss of GST funding?

After two years of reviews and committees, Labor's new health scheme is silent on reducing waiting lists, re-opening closed beds and addressing the loss of services in regional areas.

"Kevin Rudd's scheme worsens everything that is bad in Queensland Health. It provides no new funds for front line services and adds another expensive bureaucratic layer to a health system that is already groaning under the weight of a bloated bureaucracy.

"Mr Rudd is acting true to form, it was as Chief of Staff to former Premier Wayne Goss that he created a massive new bureaucracy, abolished local hospital boards and closed hospital beds, earning him the name 'Dr Death'.

"Kevin Rudd's hospital proposal is nothing more than money churning, bureaucracy building exercise, just what you'd come to expect from the man who thinks he can change the climate with a great big new tax called a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

"The Rudd Labor Government could not give away free home without a litany of disasters. With that record, how on earth can Rudd Labor be trusted to administer our hospitals?"

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Publish Date: 06 Mar 10