❓ Shadow Treasurer Sandra Brewer questions the Minister for Health on health funding relative to transport spending, citing ambulance ramping and surgery waitlists. The Minister defends the government's health investments, refuting the figures and highlighting increased beds, workforce, and initiatives like the WA virtual emergency department.
AnsweredQoN 297Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Health—Funding
297. Ms Sandra Brewer to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the
government's repeated claims of record investment in health. How can the
minister justify her government allocating only 10% of what the government has
spent on transport to health in the last eight years while Western Australians
face record ambulance ramping and the longest elective surgery wait lists in
our state's history?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
297. Ms Sandra Brewer to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the
government's repeated claims of record investment in health. How can the
minister justify her government allocating only 10% of what the government has
spent on transport to health in the last eight years while Western Australians
face record ambulance ramping and the longest elective surgery wait lists in
our state's history?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
AnswerView source ↗
Member, you are
wrong.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members, the question is to the Minister
for Health.
Ms Meredith Hammat: Yes, you are wrong, member. It is
great to have the opportunity to talk about some of our investment in health. I
would urge the member to check her figures; she is the shadow Treasurer so I
urge her to do a bit more work in that regard.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: Member, we are incredibly proud of
the work we have done and the investments we have made into our health system.
Since winning government, we have been working hard to strengthen our health
system in a variety of ways. That is why we have added more than 900 beds to
our health system—923, to be exact—and why we still have
hundreds of beds in the pipeline to come. It is why we have increased our
health workforce by 30% since 2021. There are 1,800
more doctors and 4,400 more nurses. It is also why we are looking at doing
a range of things to improve access to health care right around the state. We
are really proud of the work we are doing with the WA virtual emergency
department. Since this was introduced, over 70% of people who have contacted it
have been able to receive appropriate care without the need to return to an
emergency department. We think this is an excellent initiative and we are very
hopeful and excited about the work that we will see in the future.
We have also introduced
things like the State Health Operations Centre, a key part of ensuring that our
health system works as a system to be able best ensure that people get access
to the care that they need. The Minister for Aged Care and Seniors talked about
some of the initiatives we have in our aged care area, which again are
incredibly important to delivering care to people right across our system. We
are also facilitating better access to care with things like ensuring that
pharmacists have the ability to refill scripts or treat urinary tract
infections, and we are extending the list of treatments that they are able to
treat. We are also expanding Hospital in the Home, with $5.2 million. Our
government is delivering the Hospital in the Home program. It is a really
important way in which people can get access to care in the community that
better meets their needs.
In this budget alone
we will provide $3.2 billion in infrastructure over the forward estimates. We
have an enormous program of work that we are delivering. My colleague the
Minister for Health Infrastructure is focused on ensuring that those
infrastructure projects are completed.
Ms Sandra Brewer interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Cottesloe!
Ms Meredith Hammat: We have uplifted $829 million of
additional funding in this budget alone for the hospital system to respond to
increased demand. We are making significant investments in our workforce and
significant investments in mental health. This is something we have been
working on consistently since being elected because of the years of the neglect
of the Liberal–National government, which did not invest in more staff.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: I am really proud of our
government's work in health. We take the health of Western Australians
seriously. We are working hard to ensure that Western Australians get access to
the health care that they need no matter where they live in this state.
wrong.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members, the question is to the Minister
for Health.
Ms Meredith Hammat: Yes, you are wrong, member. It is
great to have the opportunity to talk about some of our investment in health. I
would urge the member to check her figures; she is the shadow Treasurer so I
urge her to do a bit more work in that regard.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: Member, we are incredibly proud of
the work we have done and the investments we have made into our health system.
Since winning government, we have been working hard to strengthen our health
system in a variety of ways. That is why we have added more than 900 beds to
our health system—923, to be exact—and why we still have
hundreds of beds in the pipeline to come. It is why we have increased our
health workforce by 30% since 2021. There are 1,800
more doctors and 4,400 more nurses. It is also why we are looking at doing
a range of things to improve access to health care right around the state. We
are really proud of the work we are doing with the WA virtual emergency
department. Since this was introduced, over 70% of people who have contacted it
have been able to receive appropriate care without the need to return to an
emergency department. We think this is an excellent initiative and we are very
hopeful and excited about the work that we will see in the future.
We have also introduced
things like the State Health Operations Centre, a key part of ensuring that our
health system works as a system to be able best ensure that people get access
to the care that they need. The Minister for Aged Care and Seniors talked about
some of the initiatives we have in our aged care area, which again are
incredibly important to delivering care to people right across our system. We
are also facilitating better access to care with things like ensuring that
pharmacists have the ability to refill scripts or treat urinary tract
infections, and we are extending the list of treatments that they are able to
treat. We are also expanding Hospital in the Home, with $5.2 million. Our
government is delivering the Hospital in the Home program. It is a really
important way in which people can get access to care in the community that
better meets their needs.
In this budget alone
we will provide $3.2 billion in infrastructure over the forward estimates. We
have an enormous program of work that we are delivering. My colleague the
Minister for Health Infrastructure is focused on ensuring that those
infrastructure projects are completed.
Ms Sandra Brewer interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Cottesloe!
Ms Meredith Hammat: We have uplifted $829 million of
additional funding in this budget alone for the hospital system to respond to
increased demand. We are making significant investments in our workforce and
significant investments in mental health. This is something we have been
working on consistently since being elected because of the years of the neglect
of the Liberal–National government, which did not invest in more staff.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: I am really proud of our
government's work in health. We take the health of Western Australians
seriously. We are working hard to ensure that Western Australians get access to
the health care that they need no matter where they live in this state.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.