Senator NASH (2:48 PM) —My question is to Senator Ludwig, representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. Given that the Prime Minister said that the health buck stops with him and that he campaigned on the promise that ‘Kevin Rudd will fix our hospitals’, what urgent action is the government taking so that Dubbo hospital can end the practice of using veterinary bandages on their patients?

Senator LUDWIG (Minister for Human Services) —I thank Senator Nash for that excellent question. The Commonwealth is implementing lasting reform to improve the Australian health system. In terms of hospitals, the Commonwealth is working cooperatively with the states and territories and has already made tangible progress in achieving positive outcomes in our health and hospital system.

We have committed an extra $1 billion in public hospital funding. This is the largest single year increase in almost a decade. The Liberals on the other side, when they were in government, did not commit $1 billion in a single year. On top of this, the Commonwealth is investing an extra $600 million in the Elective Surgery Waiting List Reduction Plan to reduce the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for elective surgery. The latest indication shows that there is an increasing number of elective surgeries being provided under the 2008 blitz and the Commonwealth continues to monitor this increase in supply. We have committed to investing a further $10 billion in the health and hospital fund to help states to increase their capital infrastructure in the long term. We are boosting our hospital workforce by investing $34.9 million over five years in the Bringing the Nurses Back into the Workforce program, which will provide cash bonuses for nurses and midwives returning to work in public and private hospitals and residential aged-care homes as well as funding up to an additional 1,170 ongoing university nursing places per year. That is what the Rudd government are doing in respect of how we are working through COAG to help hospitals in states throughout Australia. We are keen to improve accountability in hospitals through performance reporting for both the public and private sectors. Better reporting will ensure that we can pinpoint what is and is not working and fix what needs to be fixed. It will also offer patients the chance to see exactly how the health care they are receiving stacks up.

Senator Nash —Mr President, I rise on a point of order on relevance. The Dubbo hospital is having to borrow bandages from the local vets. I specifically asked the minister: given that Kevin Rudd has said he will fix our hospitals, what is he doing to address this issue and take action?

Senator Conroy —Mr President, on the point of order: what actually happened then was that Senator Nash reinvented her question. To call a point of order to ask you to bring the minister back to the question clearly was an attempt to waste this chamber’s time. It is a consistent pattern from those opposite to take points of order when all they do is waste the chamber’s time and slow down question time.

The PRESIDENT —There is no point of order. As the senator knows, I cannot instruct the minister how to answer the question. I can draw the minister’s attention to the relevance of the answer. In future, as part of the question, the Prime Minister should be referred to by his correct title, Senator Nash. It does not make any difference, but he still needs to get his correct title. Senator Ludwig, you have one minute and 39 seconds to continue your answer.

Senator LUDWIG —We are keen, as I have said, to improve the accountability in hospitals. There is an exciting reform agenda that has a number of concurrent streams to do precisely what Senator Nash is referring to—to look at how we address, through COAG, state hospital systems from the Commonwealth. We are developing a new Australian healthcare agreement, due to be signed in December 2008. I am sure that the Liberals do not want to hear that we are in fact fixing the system. We are actually turning our attention to how we address this issue with a commitment—

Senator Abetz interjecting—

The PRESIDENT —Order! It is not debating time, Senator Abetz. It is time for Senator Ludwig to continue answering the question.

Senator LUDWIG —Of course, the new funding agreement will be implemented from 1 July 2009. The new agreement will be very different from the current set of agreements as not only will it refer to base funding in indexation but it will also focus on prevention. In respect of the specific matter that was raised by Senator Nash in relation to Dubbo hospital, I do agree. I find it extraordinary and simply unacceptable that the hospital cannot pay its bills, forcing staff to buy supplies from their own pocket. The New South Wales government must act immediately to ensure that staff have all the supplies they need to care for their patients.

Senator NASH —Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Given that the Prime Minister has said he will fix our hospitals, what action has the government taken to help build the desperately needed fourth wing, the emergency wing, at Port Macquarie hospital, and isn’t this just another example of the neglect of the public hospital system by the Labor government?

Senator LUDWIG (Minister for Human Services) —What I am disappointed to hear from the Liberals on the other side is that Senator Nash, in pre-preparing her supplementary question, did not listen to the primary answer that I gave in respect of her question. On top of the Commonwealth investing $600 million in elective surgery, on top of $1 billion in public hospital funding, we have committed to investing a further $10 billion in the health and hospital fund to do precisely what Senator Nash is talking about—to help states increase their capital infrastructure in the longer term. It is disappointing that Senator Nash managed not to hear the answer to the primary question and wishes to ask it again in the supplementary. We are also boosting the hospital workforce by investing the $34 million. But, in addition to that, what we are doing is actually doing something, unlike the Liberals when they were in government and failed to address it— (Time expired)