Victoria's Health Minister Martin Foley says there will be "less nurses and less doctors" on the floors of the state's hospitals after a $93 million funding cut was revealed in the federal budget.
Key points:
- Victoria's hospital budget is cut by the federal government, one year after an agreement was made
- The state will receive little federal infrastructure funding in the year ahead
- A record mental health investment has been welcomed
This morning, Mr Foley said it "beggars belief" that federal funding would be reduced for Victoria's allocation of the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) during a pandemic.
"It means less services, less nurses, less doctors, and less support at a time when the entire Australian community has placed unprecedented demand levels on those same services," Mr Foley said of the cuts.
Last year, the federal government pledged $133.6 billion to the states as part of the five-year agreement, with the money flowing to emergency departments, hospitals and community health settings.
Overall, the 2021-2022 federal budget includes $121.4 billion in national health spending in the next financial year.
The Victorian government has been underwhelmed by last night's federal budget, with less than $400 million in new infrastructure money to be spent in the next four years.
In a win for the state's coffers, revenue from GST is forecast to be higher than expected with the economy rebounding quicker than anticipated.
RMIT emeritus professor David Hayward said Victoria should feel disappointed by the federal budget especially on infrastructure.
"It's very disappointing on infrastructure,'' Professor Hayward said.
The budget papers show just $397.7 million of new infrastructure spending has been allocated to the state over the forward estimates. That money is for existing road and car park projects which require more cash.
The Morrison government also says $2 billion will be made available to build an intermodal freight hub once a site is determined and Victoria matches the payment. The state wants the project built in Melbourne's west.
The Commonwealth is already contributing $5 billion to the Airport Rail Link, which has been commitment-matched by the state.
There is still also $4 billion on the table to build the East West Link, which the Andrews government has rejected.
The budget assumes that international borders will remain closed until at least mid-2022 which will further damage the economy with international students still locked out. Higher education is one of the state's most profitable exports.
"Victoria should be concerned about international students,'' Professor Haywood said.
The vice-chancellor of Ballarat's Federation University, Duncan Bentley, said the loss of migrants and international students was tough to overcome.
"We've got to be able to support a skills pipeline for our regional employers," Professor Bentley said.
"We have to find ways to reskill and upskill because there aren't enough people to fill the jobs."
While Professor Bentley said he would have liked to have seen more direct funding for universities, he was "absolutely delighted" by measures in the federal budget that focused on jobs, innovation and the digital economy.
Mental health funding welcomed, more expected next week
Nationally, the aged care sector will receive an $18 billion boost over five years, while a further $2.3 billion was allocated to mental health services over four years.
The record mental health investment was welcomed by charity Beyond Blue, whose chief executive Georgie Harman described it as a "substantial down payment to begin to build a mental health system for all".
Mr Foley also welcomed the funding announcement, but said it was still not enough.
"We would question whether that is going to go anywhere near meeting the demand in services," he said.
State Treasurer Tim Pallas will next week outline more mental health spending in Victoria's budget, including how the government will respond to the recommendation of a levy or tax to fund mental health programs.
In March, a royal commission report into Victoria's mental health system found it had "catastrophically failed to live up to expectations" and needed to be rebuilt.
Premier Daniel Andrews said his government was committed to adopting the report's recommendations, something that was likely to cost billions.
Quarantine hub remains in budget black hole
Supplied
)The state government's ambitious bid for $200 million in last night's budget for a purpose-built quarantine hub was left unfulfilled.
The states have been growing increasing vocal about the Commonwealth playing a greater role in quarantining returning Australians, including setting up alternatives to hotel quarantine.
This argument has been amplified in the last 24 hours following a Victorian man contracting the virus in an Adelaide quarantine hotel.
The Victorian government has earmarked a site at Mickleham, 30 kilometres north of the CBD, with the building costs to be anywhere between $200 million and $700 million, depending on the size of the centre.
Construction would not begin until at least September.
The plans for the Howard Springs-style centre were only announced two weeks ago, but Mr Foley said he was disappointed last night's federal budget did not include any money for it.
"If we want to have a safe system that protects us from this raging pandemic, as the Prime Minister described it last night, it is going to be by having the best possible quarantine system in place,." Mr Foley said.
Supplied
)But the state has been buoyed by comments from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
"The Victorian government has put forward, I think, a very good proposal and we're working through the detail of that right now,'' Mr Morrison told ABC News Breakfast.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTA1LTEyL3ZpY3Rvcmlhbi1ob3NwaXRhbHMtaGl0LXdpdGgtZnVuZGluZy1jdXQtZmVkZXJhbC1idWRnZXQvMTAwMTMzMzg00gEoaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEwMDEzMzM4NA?oc=5
2021-05-12 04:07:08Z
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