Govt still talks tough on health reform

The federal government vows its health overhaul will not lead to an increased GST,
but is still under attack for not ruling out income tax increases.
The government is still out selling its plan to reform the nation's hospitals by
upping federal funding and wresting some control from the states.
But with little more than a month to win approval, the proposed scheme is facing
stiff resistance, with states and territories demanding more information before they
agree.
The opposition has also seized on the criticisms, telling Australians to be worried
that they will eventually have to fork out for the federal government's reform
package.
"Every Australian should be very concerned that (Prime Minister Kevin) Rudd and his
ministers can't rule out tax increases to pay for their experimentation with public
hospitals," Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said.
The plan had been poorly thought out and delivered, he said, pointing to Labor
premiers who have spoken out about the proposed changes.
"If Kevin Rudd hadn't been a one-man band, if he had been prepared to take people
into his confidence beforehand, he wouldn't be in this predicament now."
The opposition says the government is all talk, with no new money for health, but
still the potential for tax increases.
However, Health Minister Nicola Roxon told Ten: "We have made absolutely clear the
GST will not rise - everybody from the prime minister down is giving that
guarantee."
But as before, she could not rule out taxpayers being asked to foot the bill in the
future.
Mr Rudd's language has toughened in the past few days, with the prime minister
telling the states and territories they are kidding themselves if they think
hospitals are running effectively.
But Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was adopting a more conciliatory tone on
Sunday, saying Mr Rudd was not taking an all-or-nothing approach.
"We want to work co-operatively," she told Network Ten.
"(But) business as usual is just not going to cut it.
"He is not going to commit even more money to health when the fundamentals in the
system are not right."
So far, only South Australia and Tasmania - where state elections will be held on
March 20 - have indicated a willingness to embrace the changes.
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett said on Sunday he was writing to other premiers to
urge them to agree to the Rudd government plan.
"I understand there will be issues with some states over concerns about the shift of
some hospital and health responsibility to the Commonwealth but we need to
streamline the system we have," he said in a statement.
Others, led by NSW and Victoria, say they want some serious questions answered
before handing over any control to the commonwealth.
Mr Rudd has already accused the two states of embarking on a fear campaign by
forewarning of potential closures of country hospitals.
Ms Gillard said the reform, labelled health's biggest since Medicare was introduced
in 1984, was about getting the structure right, so that "future investment does what
we want it to do ... rather than ending up in the gaps and the holes and the waste
and the duplication of the current structure".
Mr Rudd has told the states and territories he will call a referendum on health if
they do not agree to his plan by the next Council of Australian Governments meeting
in April.
While technically the government needs the Senate to grant permission - and it does
not have the numbers to force that - Ms Roxon said the constitution provided ways
around that.