❓ Question concerns potential federal funding for programs successful in NSW and WA. The Minister's answer focuses on state budget pressures, reallocation of funds, criticism of federal funding cuts, and prioritisation of core health services.
AnsweredQoN 1137Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I have a supplementary question. Is the minister aware that the federal Government is giving consideration to a nationally funded program based on the success of programs in New South Wales and Western Australia? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
All members of the House must appreciate that tough decisions need to be made. The very simple reason for that is the health budget is facing enormous pressures to meet the very real needs and demands of the population. We need to assess where money can be best allocated. The easiest response would be to simply say that is all too hard and walk away from it, resulting in an enormous budget deficit yet again. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: All members of the House must appreciate that tough decisions need to be made. The very simple reason for that is the health budget is facing enormous pressures to meet the very real needs and demands of the population. We need to assess where money can be best allocated. The easiest response would be to simply say that is all too hard and walk away from it, resulting in an enormous budget deficit yet again. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
All members of the House must appreciate that tough decisions need to be made. The very simple reason for that is the health budget is facing enormous pressures to meet the very real needs and demands of the population. We need to assess where money can be best allocated. The easiest response would be to simply say that is all too hard and walk away from it, resulting in an enormous budget deficit yet again. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: All members of the House must appreciate that tough decisions need to be made. The very simple reason for that is the health budget is facing enormous pressures to meet the very real needs and demands of the population. We need to assess where money can be best allocated. The easiest response would be to simply say that is all too hard and walk away from it, resulting in an enormous budget deficit yet again. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
All members of the House must appreciate that tough decisions need to be made. The very simple reason for that is the health budget is facing enormous pressures to meet the very real needs and demands of the population. We need to assess where money can be best allocated. The easiest response would be to simply say that is all too hard and walk away from it, resulting in an enormous budget deficit yet again. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member for Darling Range presided over many of these enormous deficits, so I do not know that he is in any position to make a helpful contribution to this debate. We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
We need to deal with those areas that are at the heart of the provision of health care and are what we define as core services. We are trying to reallocate money towards those areas in the health portfolio. As I have mentioned, this is made increasingly difficult because the federal Liberal Government has taken $110 million out of our public hospital funding for the next five years. It makes our position much more difficult. I mentioned that yesterday I officially opened the new magnetic resonance imaging machine at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, for which the hospital has been arguing for a decade. That is what it wanted and needed. It was a priority because it is an essential diagnostic tool in the treatment of young children. Of course, the federal Government would not assist in that process by providing a licence. It would not take a cooperative approach to the funding of this essential diagnostic tool for our seriously ill children. The federal Government refused to pull its weight on that. Therefore, the responsibility for the ongoing recurrent funding for the machine rests with the State and will come out of the state budget. If we are to continue to meet these very important demands on our health system - and we must continue to meet the very important demands on our health system - we need some reprioritisation. We are going through each program and asking whether it is a crucial core service or something which is thoroughly worthy but with which we can do without. Last week I made a call about 29 funding items. I got one of them wrong. I am prepared to stand here and say, quite frankly, mea maxima culpa - I got that one wrong. From time to time we make calls that with the benefit of hindsight we say we should not have made. The $114 000 for the seniors mobility program has been reinstated. That was a direct service provision to senior citizens in this State. It was meeting a direct need by helping to maintain mobility and a healthy lifestyle and keep people out of our emergency departments and hospitals. Although I am not particularly happy to say so, I got that one wrong. We have corrected it. As part of this exercise, the Government is going through every line of expenditure in the health budget with a simple objective in mind; that is, to make sure that wherever there is duplication, waste or low priorities, the Government will make the hard decisions to redirect that money into the areas that really count, rather than the approach of members opposite, which is to just jump on the bandwagon and try to score cheap political points with no view whatsoever to the overall benefit of the system or to meeting the real needs of the health system. That is what this Government is about. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Kalgoorlie, Nedlands and Vasse.
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