Report says $2bn cash diverted from GST

THE state government had shortchanged the Tasmanian health system by diverting $2bn in spending over five years to other purposes, an independent health analysis says.

Martyn Goddard (pictured) released a report entitled Health Funding in Tasmania on Wednesday.

He said the state is allocated additional commonwealth funding to run the local health system.

“This takes into account the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s assessments of this state’s funding needs, compared with the rest of the country,” he said. “The Commission calculates that our health system needs 22 per cent more state government money than the national average, and allocates to Tasmania a greater share of GST revenue to pay for it.

“As well, the Commission also provides the Tasmanian government with extra GST to compensate for this state’s lower than average capacity to raise money from its own taxes.

“But little of that money is being spent in health.”

The report calculated the shortfall between 2014-15 and 2018-19.

“Over the period, $1.17bn in healthspecific GST was diverted into other areas of the state budget,” it said.

“Overall, the government spent $1.99bn less than the amount required to deliver national-standard care to Tasmanians.”

Mr Goddard noted that the Royal Hobart Hospital has the nation’s fourth-worst case of bed-block – the inability to move patients from the emergency department to admission on a ward. The nation’s worst on that measure is the Launceston General Hospital.