Rudd Labor abandons hospitals in regional Australia

Regional Australia has been cruelly cheated, with the Rudd government now giving up on its pre-election promise to fix public hospitals, according to NSW Nationals Senator Fiona Nash. “Federal Labor Health Minister Nicola Roxon claimed on Sunday there had ‘been ‘significant developments’ and ‘positive signs of improvements’ in public hospitals. (source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/government-cool-on-hospital-takeover-20090524-bjj5.html) “That shows Labor is completely out of touch with regional Australia. Our public hospitals are clearly in deep and worsening crisis because of NSW Labor’s inept management and ongoing funding cuts,” Senator Nash said. She said the specific Rudd Labor pre-election promise was: “If State Governments have not improved services by mid 2009, a Rudd Labor Government will seek to take control of all Australia’s 750 public hospitals.” (source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/23/2012915.htm ) “Ms Roxon’s extraordinary claims about non-existent improvements to hospitals follow the federal Budget which allocated just $9.2 million in new funding for Health Care Infrastructure in Rural Australia, compared to $3.9billion for pink batts and solar water grants,” Senator Nash said. “Before the election Mr Rudd proclaimed that ‘when it comes to health, the buck stops with me’, but now he is passing the buck like a hot brick, right at the time regional patients desperately need Government investment in the crumbling public hospital system.” “The fact that Labor’s few regional MPs like Janelle Saffin (Page), Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro) and Justine Elliot (Richmond) stand by and let this happen shows just how ineffective they are,” Senator Nash concluded. Contact: Murray Lees, media adviser, 0417 406 338

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