Hospitals need gov't funding
Newcastle Greens
29 September 2006
Hospitals need government funding
The Greens candidate for the state seat of Newcastle, Cr Michael Osborne, today called on the State and Federal Governments to stop their petty party and territorial squabbling, and start directing funding to areas of high need, such as public hospitals.
"Ordinary citizens know that something is deeply wrong with our political system when, on the very day that the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, is announcing a record Federal budget surplus of $15.8 billion, our local media is reporting that our region's hospitals have only 80% (780) of the (900) beds needed to cater for our population."
"Instead of the two major parties arguing over who is going to run Australia's hospital system, the Federal government should be channelling funding to such priority areas of need," Cr Osborne said.
"Ordinary Australian citizens are the losers when the major parties are more interested in party-political point-scoring and obstinate territorialism than in acting in the public interest."
Cr Osborne said that both major political parties were moving away from one of the central roles of government: to provide core public services.
"The NSW Labor government's Public-Private partnership at the Mater Hospital is a good local example of this.
"Ordinary Australians should not have to depend on the private sector to provide essential government services, such as hospital care, especially when there is clearly enough money in government coffers to fund these services, if not for the inability of State and Federal governments to agree.
"Perhaps they've forgotten that looking out for each other used to be a fundamental Australian value," Cr Osborne said.
Cr Osborne also called on the Sydney appointed ALP candidate for Newcastle, Jodi Mackay, to declare her position on the Mater Hospital public-private partnership.
