2 December 2010 Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon and Prime Minister Julia Gillard are again putting politics before patients.
Their threats to withdraw billions of dollars in health funding from the new Victorian Coalition Government is irrefutable proof that they don’t care about patients or health outcomes, said Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Acting Shadow Minister for Health.
“Instead all they are interested in is driving their political agenda of so-called health ‘reforms’ but departmental briefings, Senate inquiries and experts questions have all highlighted that the Rudd-Roxon-Gillard health ‘reforms’ are nothing more than a hastily built shell to provide the Labor Government with a political distraction from its failures earlier this year,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.
“There is nothing inside the shell, no one can provide the detail of what these ‘reforms’ will do, how they will be implemented, how they fit together, whether they can provide any better outcomes to healthcare.
“Premier Baillieu has rightly said he wants to be provided with the detail and wants to know the implications of these so-called ‘reforms’ for his state. Is Health Minister Nicola Roxon frightened of that simple question? Can’t she provide the detail?”
Senator Fierravanti-Wells said Minister Roxon’s threat to withdraw health funding from Victoria revealed that Labor would stop at nothing to have its misconceived policies implemented.
“Clearly political outcomes are more important to Minister Roxon and the Prime Minister than any concerns for patients.”