Swan won't rule out changing funding

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has refused to rule out changing the way the
commonwealth might fund its hospitals reform plan, a day out from a crucial meeting
with his state counterparts.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett believes the Rudd government's proposal to
seize 30 per cent of GST revenues to fund public hospitals directly isn't realistic.
Mr Barnett labelled the cash grab a "show stopper" on Wednesday, following a meeting
with Mr Swan and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Perth.
Asked on Thursday whether the 30 per cent figure was negotiable, Mr Swan said he
wasn't going to speculate on the government's discussions with WA.
But he left the door open for a change in formula.
"I'm not ruling anything in and I'm not ruling anything out," the federal treasurer
told reporters in Canberra.
"Those matters were all discussed in a constructive way with the prime minister and
the premier and the state treasurer yesterday."
Mr Rudd also appeared to leave himself some wriggle room when asked how he'd resolve
the impasse with the west.
The government was putting its best foot forward, the PM told reporters.
"But we'll still work through the finance details with the premiers and chief
ministers.
"Treasurers are meeting in the days ahead. Treasury officials are meeting on a
continuing basis."
The prime minister said there was still a lot of "detailed number crunching" to be
done before next month's COAG leaders' meeting on April 19.
Mr Rudd's more conciliatory tone contrasts with his previous "take it or leave it"
line of attack.
In recent weeks the PM has accused the states of "whingeing and moaning" and
threatened to put his plan to a referendum if the premiers didn't "get with the
program".
The strongest opposition has come from Victoria as well as WA.
Victorian Premier John Brumby on Thursday continued to point out flaws in federal
Labor's plan to fund local hospital networks directly, bypassing state health
bureaucracies.
The new $1 billion Royal Children's Hospital under construction in Melbourne
probably wouldn't have been built under the federal government's funding model, the
premier said.
"Under the federal government arrangements, as they are described at the moment,
where there will be a national pool of funding for capital works, I don't know
whether a hospital like this would ever be funded in the future."
Mr Brumby also reiterated his view that "the problem with the plan is that there is
no (new) money now".
"What the patients of Australia need is more support from the federal government for
hospitals now, not in hypothetically four or five years' time."
That was a tune federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was singing with gusto too.
"It's direct action that will make a difference in the next six months or 12 months,
not a bureaucratic upheaval that will only make a difference in four, five, six or
even 10 years' time," the Liberal leader told ABC Radio.
"We want to tackle the problems.
"What hospitals need is more local control and more beds."
South Australian Treasurer Kevin Foley will attend Friday's health meeting in
Canberra, after being sworn into office on Thursday following Labor's narrow
election victory.
But with the Tasmanian poll still undecided, the island state will be represented by
departmental officials.