OPERATION SHOWDOWN
Libs take Labor on over health
THE Liberals will tackle Labor head-on over health policy — the very issue Opposition Leader Rebecca White says the campaign should be about.
Launching the Liberal campaign, Premier Will Hodgman outlined a $757 million health policy to the party faithful yesterday, declaring it would be the single biggest boost to health in Tasmania’s history.
The Liberal Party’s decision to make health its campaign centrepiece comes after Ms White declared at the end of last month that health would be the number one priority for her party.
University of Tasmania political scientist Richard Herr said it was a significant new tactic by the Liberal Party.
“This is an attempt to circumvent or cut off the one major criticism that the Labor Party has been able to land on them,” Dr Herr said.
The announcement was wel- comed by the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Medical Association.
But Labor — which will launch its campaign next weekend — described the Liberal health policy as a “shallow election promise” and claimed the Liberals underfunded the system in government.
THE Liberal Party has laid down the gauntlet to Labor on health as the State Election campaign enters its third week.
Launching the Liberal campaign yesterday, Premier Will Hodgman outlined his $757 million health policy to the party faithful, declaring it would be the single biggest boost to health in Tasmania’s history.
The rollout over six years includes 298 new beds — 250 for the Royal Hobart Hospital, 40 to the Launceston General Hospital and an extra eight beds for the North-West Regional Hospital — and the addition of 1332 staff statewide.
The Liberal decision to make health its campaign centrepiece comes after Labor leader Rebecca White declared at the end of last month that health would be the number one priority for her party.
University of Tasmania political scientist Richard Herr said it was a significant new tactic by the Liberal Party.
“This is an attempt to circumvent or cut off the one major criticism that the Labor Party has been able to land on them,” Dr Herr said.
The Liberal announcement has been welcomed by the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Medical Association, which said it had been calling for additional hospital beds for well over a year to meet demand and ensure Tasmanians could access a safe system.
However, Labor — which will officially launch its campaign next weekend — has described the health policy as a “shallow election promise” from the Liberals after they chronically underfunded the system while in government.
Ms White said the Liberal policy was an acknowledgment that the Liberal government health cuts had been too deep.
“Today they have realised that in order to really show Tasmanians that they are going to take health seriously they have pledged so much money that they really can’t be believed,” Ms White said.
As foreshadowed by the Sunday Tasmanian, Mr Hodgman used the campaign launch to passionately outline his plan to give Tasmania the health system it “deserves”.
“This is only possible because we have kickstarted our economy ... and we have worked bloody hard to get our budget back into balance,” he said. “That’s why we can do it now.”
Of the $757 million spend, $459 million will go to Southern Tasmania adding the extra beds and 1073 new staff, $160 million will go to the North to add 40 beds and 161 staff and $79 million will go to the North-West Regional Hospital adding the eight beds and 98 staff.
Other statewide initiatives include:
A $6.6 million Tasmanian Community Health Fund providing grants to individuals and groups wanting to improve the health of their community;
180 more nursing graduates, equating to 30 new nursing positions each year (over six years) with positions offered at public hospitals around the state.
$1.1 million each year to support the Healthy Tasmania preventive health plan from 2020-21 after current funding ceases; and
30 additional community based drug and alcohol rehab beds —— these will be new beds rolled out over the next three years.
The announcement of a record spend for the health system followed on from the party announcing a $95 million mental health package on Saturday.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson said it would be a progressive increase, year on year for the six years.
Over the next three financial years, 54 of the 298 planned beds will be delivered because of the redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital — in addition to the 120 already committed and 25 mental health ones.
Ms White said the Liberal party could not answer detailed questions including where the 1332 extra staff would come from and over what time period.
“Of the 298 new hospital beds the Liberals are promising, very few will be actually delivered in the next term of government,” she said.
“The Liberals are claiming beds that will potentially open at the Royal and the LGH in 2023 and 2024. It’s a con.”
Most of the $757 million will be spent after 2020-21, with $225 million to be allocated be- tween 2018-19 and 2020-21 — $96 million of which will be capital and $129 million recurrent.
Labor has committed an extra $560 million into its “Putting Patients First” health policy that will employ an additional 500 health workers.
“The bulk of the additional $560 million we have committed to the health and hospital system will be spent in the first two years of a Labor government,” Ms White said.