Mr BAKER (2:54 PM) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister inform the House of the federal government’s proposal to preserve the Mersey hospital and would he report on discussions held in Tasmania yesterday?

Mr ABBOTT (Minister for Health and Ageing) —I thank the member for Braddon for his question. I appreciate how important this issue is for him and for the people of north-western Tasmania. Let me say that north-western Tasmania has never had a better representative than this member for Braddon. Let me make it absolutely crystal clear—

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting—

The SPEAKER —The member for Gorton!

Ms Vamvakinou interjecting—

The SPEAKER —The member for Calwell!

Mr Hayes interjecting—

The SPEAKER —The member for Werriwa!

Mr ABBOTT —I hope the people of north-west Tasmania are listening to the caterwauling from members opposite. If the members opposite have something to say to those people, let them say it and not cackle like hyenas in this parliament. Let me say to the people of Devonport, La Trobe, Kentish, Sheffield and Ulverstone that they deserve a comprehensive general hospital that delivers services suitable for a catchment of that size. The situation is very simple. The state Labor government wants to destroy Mersey hospital as it has been known, and the Commonwealth government wants to save it. The state government says that it has a plan for hospital services in the north-west. It is true; it has produced hundreds of pages of paper. It has not committed a single dollar—and, without a dollar, its plan is not worth the paper that it is written on.

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting—

The SPEAKER —The member for Gorton is warned!

Mr ABBOTT —It is a paperweight and not a plan. The Commonwealth have a plan; we have a very good plan.

Mr Swan interjecting—

The SPEAKER —The member for Lilley! Order! The minister has the call and the minister will be heard.

Mr ABBOTT —There are three essential elements to the Commonwealth plan. The Commonwealth will fund the hospital, the community will control the hospital and the hospital will deliver the same level of services that it safely and effectively delivered for many years before the state government started the downgrade. The Commonwealth plan means there will be $45 million more for health services in north-west Tasmania. The Commonwealth plan means one level of government funding the hospital and it means that the community that delivers the services and receives the services is the community that controls the services. This is a good model for public hospital service delivery. It is potentially a better model than that currently practised by the state governments.

Let me make this point: a state government that refused to accept what was, in effect, a $45-million free gift in health services for the people of north-western Tasmania would be insane; and a federal opposition that supported such a state government would be equally insane. This is a real challenge for the Leader of the Opposition: does he support what the Commonwealth is doing here? On Radio National, on Monday, he was given a chance to say where he stood five times. He wimped out five times—and he is turning his back now.

The people of Australia do not want a wimp for a Prime Minister and they do not want an alternative Prime Minister who swivels around in his seat like this whenever he is put under pressure. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: it is time to be a leader and not a follower; and it is time to be a decision maker and not a fence-sitter. He now says that he is some kind of a Liberal in disguise, but he cannot even be trusted to support Liberal policy.

Ms Macklin interjecting—

The SPEAKER —The member for Jagajaga is warned!

Mr ABBOTT —He can never be trusted to deliver Liberal policy. The fact is that the people of Australia know what this guy is. He is just a phoney—a simple phoney.