LEON BYNER: Now, there’s been a lot of discussion, as you know, about hospitals like Moonta community hospitals, the one at Keith… the State Government are adamant that these are private hospitals and so ‘why should taxpayers’ money be used to help private hospitals when they should be able to run their own businesses?’ Then we had accusations from the Government that somehow the business model that some of these hospitals were using was flawed and that they knew better. You know what? I wouldn’t get the State Government to do anything right now because I don’t think they’re capable of it because, as you’ve just heard, governments turn mice into elephants and they’ve been very famous for doing that for years and this mob continue in the true tradition.
However, what’s happened is there’s been a bit of action in the federal Senate of Australia with regards to the funding of these hospitals. Now, of course the amount of money that the Keith hospital has had taken off it is about $340 million. Now, hang on a minute, I got my numbers wrong. I put a zero there when I shouldn’t have, but we’re talking here about $350,000. That’s right. Now, that absence of fund could mean the hospital will close which might make you think that they’re flying pretty close to the wind, so let’s find out what’s happened in the federal Senate with Senator Simon Birmingham. Simon, what’s been decided and was the Government a participant in this vote or did they not support it?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well, g’day Leon and listeners. The Senate yesterday, on a motion initiated by myself and all of my South Australian Liberal Senate colleagues and joined in by Senator Nick Xenophon… we all moved a motion calling on the Federal Government to act, to either bring South Australia into line and to get this State to recognise the error of its ways in relation to the Keith, Moonta and Ardrossan hospitals or, if they don’t do that, to actually provide the payments direct to those hospitals out of the funding that would otherwise have gone to South Australia. Now, interestingly, the Labor Party sat silent. They didn’t choose to exercise their vote. They didn’t say anything about it but they simply let this motion go through on the voices so I can only assume that South Australia’s Labor Senators, that the Federal Labor Government, do think that South Australia’s done the wrong thing here. The challenge is on them to tell the South Australian Government that, get Mike Rann to change his mind and give the money back to these country hospitals.
LEON BYNER: You know what? That’s not going to happen. [Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs] Jenny Macklin, the Prime Minister and [Treasurer] Wayne Swan have all been on this program absolutely tearing strips off this mob for including the $30 that was supposed to be quarantined by Kevin Rudd [South Australian Government for at least partly absorbing, through increased Housing SA rent charges, a 2009 pension increase] and they have just said ‘mind your own business, we’re running this state, not you’ so they’re not going to take the slightest bit of notice of this… couldn’t care less.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well, the interesting thing is, Leon, that the exact same motion was actually passed a couple of months ago by the House of Representatives as well. Rowan Ramsey and Patrick Secker, the two local federal Liberal MPs who cover these hospitals, initiated the motion in the House and I understand the same thing happened in the House, so Jenny Macklin and…
LEON BYNER: But this is all symbolism, Simon. They need the money, not the words. Can they get it?
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well, look, Leon, we are seeking some advice now. It’s an unusual circumstance to have identical motions passed by both Houses of the Parliament calling on the Federal Government to act, so we’re seeking some advice as to whether there’s some way we can enforce this. Certainly, the Federal Government has to respond to the Parliament and tell us what they’re going to do in this regard…
LEON BYNER: See…
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: … I just hope they see sense that these hospitals… you know, the real things is it’s people…
LEON BYNER: Alright, how much money do you understand is at stake? I know for Keith it’s about [$]330,000.
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well, the exact figures that we have called for, which I understand from Rowan and Patrick to be what’s needed, are that, if you made a direct payment to the hospitals instead of through the State Government, you’d be talking about $600,000 for Keith, $300,000 for Moonta and $146,000 for Ardrossan, so that’s what we detailed in the motion and, of course, when you think about the general scheme of not just Healthcare funding but money wasted on things like the set top boxes that you were talking about before and programs like that… you know, these are the priorities that government need to get right. Healthcare is right there at the top of the list and people should expect them to get this right before they worry about things like Pink Batts or set top boxes.
LEON BYNER: Alright, Simon Birmingham, thank you. It’ll be interesting to see whether a motion such as that actually means anything. I mean, I don’t mind symbolism. It’s nice, but it doesn’t pay your bills, it doesn’t pay the chemist for the prescription, it doesn’t pay for your school fees, school clothing and other things, so let’s see if the money will emerge.
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