Turnbull Government’s Unfair Priorities: $715 Million Cut From Public Hospitals While Giving Big Business $65 Billion Tax Cut

The Trumbull Government is in the process of cutting $715 million from the public health system against the backdrop of giving multi-national companies, with foreign owners, a $65 billion tax cut.

The $715 million cut to Australia’s health system is equal to:

• 2,010 nurses a year

• 198,000 cataract extractions

• 27,000 knee replacements

• 118,000 births

Hospital across Australia saw a record number of people, with 7.8 million presentations.

Labor’s Catherine King says,”Every dollar cut from our public hospitals is a dollar cut from our sickest and most vulnerable patients.”

“Access to health care should be determined by your Medicare card – not your credit card. ”

Under the Turnbull Government Patients presenting to emergency departments requiring urgent medical attention are being left in emergency departments for longer, with only 66 per cent of urgent emergency department patients in 2016-17 seen within the recommended 30 min. While more than 50 percent of public hospital doctors are working unsafe hours that put them at significant risk of fatigue – including 75% of intensive care specialists, with the Australian Medical Association saying “the strain and the pressure on our public hospitals is having a detrimental impact on the health of our doctor.