THERE is no hiding the fact that rural families have been abandoned in this year’s budget with cuts to regional road maintenance, higher water bills and next to no relief for those struggling with cost-of-living pressures.
Our taxes have delivered record revenue to Treasury, but we still have record ramping, record reckless spending and record debt which now is predicted to reach $44 billion for the next generation to pay off.
Over the past three years, Premier Malinauskas has thrown an extra $7.1b at the annual health budget of $8b; but who can really say the system is better off?
When something goes wrong in the middle of the night, country patients don’t have many options, which is why we should expect to receive appropriate treatment from a GP at our nearest regional hospital.
Currently, it is a tale of two cities, where country patients are charged a gap fee at the regional emergency department but not at the city hospitals.
How is that fair? Clearly there is a new financial pressure on GP Clinics since July 1 when the State Government started charging the GP payroll tax.
Those costs are now being passed on to us as consumers and in the worst case some clinics will have to close their doors and patients are likely to defer and delay their treatment.
At a time of national shortage, set to get worse by 2030, country doctors must be sup- ported to remain focussed on treating patients instead of billing them, which is why the Liberal party would abolish Labor’s tax grab if elected.
Without accessible and affordable regional health service, country patients are forced to travel, at cost, to the broke city system.
Penny Pratt, Member for Frome
