Rockliff’s pinnacle objective

The Health Minister is not responsible for making Tasmania the healthiest state in the nation by 2025, the governmenthasmadeclear.

The Liberals on Thursday saidtheystood100percentby the aspiration, which was set in 2015, but achieving it was the job of Mental Health and Wellbeing Minister Jeremy Rockliff,notSarahCourtney.

LaboronThursdaysaidthe two ministers needed to start talkingtoeachother.

Ms Courtney was criticised by Labor after the objective disappeared from Health Departmentstrategydocuments.

In 2015, then health minister Michael Ferguson released a white paper with the vision to make Tasmania the have the healthiest population in Australiaby2025.”

The goal is missing from the Our Health Care Future document released this month. It is not clear how well Tasmania is progressing five years into the quest, but Mr Rockliff said the government was “100 per cent committed” to the target.

“Earlier this week, the government highlighted our plan to update and release a new Healthy Tasmania Plan in 2021 next year, which follows five years of significant and successful health outcomes in the state,” he said.

“This document will continue to include our aspirational target – and we have no intention of walking away from it.”

Labor’s Bastian Seidel said it didn’t make sense that the portfolio was split.

“If the government is serious about making Tasmania the healthiest state – the two responsible ministers better start talking to each other,” Dr Seidel said.

“They have done nothing forfiveyearsandtheyarerunning out of time. Meanwhile, ordinary Tasmanians are left suffering. Minister Courtney does not seem to care much about being Minster for Health. She seems to have morphed into minister for waiting lists, bed blocks and ambulanceramping.

“Government is now left scrambling to come up with a new health strategy after they havebeencalledout.”