Topics: Federal funding for health, COAG meeting, ABCC Bill and negotiations with the Senate crossbenchers.
E&OE…
NAT BARR
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison are apparently preparing to ditch Tony Abbott’s big cuts to hospital funding. Now, the Australian newspaper reports this morning the revised deal will be put to a meeting of state and territory leaders on Friday. The backflip would result in a $5 billion hit to Mr Morrison’s first Budget. Vocational Training Minister, Senator Scott Ryan joins me now. Morning to you.
MINISTER RYAN
Good morning Nat.
BARR
Did this meeting happen? Will the states be getting a boost to hospital funding at Friday’s meeting?
RYAN
Later this week the Prime Minister will meet the premiers, but the discussion won’t just be about funding it will be about how to make our health system more effective. Thousands of people every year go to hospital because of medicine mistakes, thousands of people go to hospital because they do not have plans to manage chronic disease like diabetes. Making the health system more effective frees up all of those dollars to be spent on other patients who are waiting to be treated. So, money is part of it, but making the health system more effective is what the Prime Minister is interested in.
BARR
But if they met…first of all can you confirm whether they met yesterday?
RYAN
Oh look, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer – as I understand – did meet over the weekend, and that is in normal preparation for the big meeting later this week with all of the state premiers.
BARR
And it would be significant, because it would be a wind-back of Tony Abbott’s policy, and also where is he going to get the extra $5 billion which would be the hole that this would create?
RYAN
It is firstly important to remember Nat that there were no cuts to spending and hospitals; we just slowed the rate of growth. And as the country became less wealthy and as the mining boom tailed off we had to slow the rate of growth because the money wasn’t there. I think it is important that we give the Prime Minister and the premiers time to talk about this, it is not just about money as I mentioned it is about making sure we spend all of our dollars in the health system effectively. And there is huge savings to be made which can reinvested for improvements for patients.
BARR
So, there were no cuts to hospitals? Because I think some of the premiers thought there were.
RYAN
There was a reduction in the rate of growth, and that is something we don’t walk away from…
(Interrupted)
BARR
And a reduction in the rate of growth – is that not a cut?
RYAN
No, I think when you have increasing spending year on year in health and hospitals every single year, I think it is misleading to say that that is a cut. It is a slower rate of growth and the country had to do that because we simply are not as wealthy as we thought we were going to be a few years ago. So, that is a responsible way to balance the Budget.
BARR
Okay, so how will we get rid of this $5 billion hole that the increased rate of growth, that goes into the hospitals will create?
RYAN
I don’t think that it is appropriate to be commenting on every number that appears in a newspaper. As I understand, discussions are ongoing they started with officials a couple of weeks ago and they will culminate with the elected leaders – the Prime Minister and the premiers – later this week. There are lots of discussions going on and lots of numbers floating around, but as I said, what the Prime Minister is also interested in and the Treasurer is making sure of, is that the money we spend is spent most effectively. And at the moment we know that we can make it spent much more effectively.
BARR
Let’s move on, Seven News revealed last night that the PM has told the Family First Senator, Bob Day, he is open to changing that legislation that would re-establish the Building and Construction Commission provided some of the crossbench Senators agree to those amendments. Is the Government negotiating with other crossbench Senators?
RYAN
We have made it clear that we will listen to all the crossbenchers when they propose amendments, but the test has to be: does it strengthen the ABCC and the need to fix the crisis in our building sector, the unlawfulness that we see particularly in my home city of Melbourne. And secondly, we are not interested in any more Senate games, six of the eight Senate crossbenchers need to support the amendments and the Bill. And if that doesn’t work, and they cannot do that, then the people will decide at an election held in July. That is the way the system is meant to work.
BARR
But, is your Government going out and talking to those eight crossbenchers and trying to convince them that this legislation should go through?
RYAN
We have been doing that since the day we were elected, Nat. This is a longstanding Coalition policy – John Howard legislated it, Bill Shorten and the Greens got rid of it, we said we would bring it in at the last election and we have been trying to talk to the Senate crossbenchers about this every time it has come before the Senate. We haven’t been successful so far, we are giving the Senate one last chance when it has been recalled for three weeks to think about it, and if it doesn’t then the people will decide at an election.
BARR
Alright, okay, thanks very much for your time.
RYAN
Thanks Nat.
(ENDS)