2017-01-18
Rewarding Greg Hunt with the health portfolio after his disastrous turn as Environment Minister shows just how out of touch Malcolm Turnbull is, leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale said.
“Greg Hunt nearly killed the Great Barrier Reef, imagine what he’s going to do to our health,”
“Hunt has an opportunity to show right away whether he’s prepared to put the interests of regular Australians before wealthy corporations. He should immediately rule out the exorbitant increase in health insurance premiums demanded by the industry and reverse the cuts to children’s dental care announced by his predecessor.”
“This was also an opportunity for Malcolm Turnbull to make his cabinet better reflect the people he serves. Instead we’ve lost another female minister, bringing representation to just 5 of 22.
“Malcolm Turnbull also missed a golden opportunity to sack the Government’s most incompetent minister, Peter Dutton. If Turnbull was serious about turning around his under-performing Government, he would have sacked Dutton, whose management of the offshore detention camps in Manus and Nauru has been not only cruel but incompetent.”
“If losing $2.2 billion of taxpayer dollars through sheer incompetence doesn’t earn Dutton a fast trip to the backbench, then what will? This just shows how weak Turnbull is and how beholden he is to Tony Abbott and the far-right wing of the Liberal Party.”