2025-01-30
Lines attributable to Shane Rattenbury, Leader of the ACT Greens:
“This morning Canberrans have woken up to the Labor government trying to paint a rosy picture of what is in reality, a $227 million planning gap in funding to primary and emergency health services in Canberra.
“During post-election discussions, Labor repeated ad-nauseum how they could not spend any more money to make Canberrans lives better. But what’s becoming clear is that, in trying to prioritise their budget bottom line, Labor had already under-estimated the health service needs of Canberrans.
“There are still significant questions about this news that the government must answer, including needing a deeper understanding of the underlying drivers of these 85,000 extra episodes of care in our health system.
“These questions are crucial. As the Greens have emphasized for months, we urgently need to rethink how we deliver health services in Canberra. This includes a focus on providing more preventative primary healthcare, including initiatives such as government support for bulk-billing doctors' clinics.
“Given the importance of quality health care to Canberrans, and the significant portion of the ACT Budget that goes to health, the Government can’t just slap a $227 million band-aid on this issue. Instead, we need an open and transparent conversation with the community about how to more sustainably manage the health budget going forward while delivering better services.”