The country’s largest union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has welcomed the Labor party’s promise to inject additional funding into frontline healthcare if it wins the July 2 election.
ANMF Federal Secretary Lee Thomas said the pledge to restore the National Health Reform Agreement would deliver much-needed funding for public hospitals across the States and Territories over the next four years.
“Nurses and midwives are feeling the effects of the billions of dollars ripped from the heath budget by the Coalition Government – the quantity and quality of care they can deliver to their patients is being severely compromised. Effectively, their hands are tied because of the lack of funding for our public hospitals,” Ms Thomas said today.
“ANMF members will be relieved that Labor has promised to invest $4.9 billion in healthcare which will start reversing the Coalition’s devastating cuts. These announcements are taking our public health system in the right direction by returning resources to assist nurses and midwives to deliver expert care to the community.
“Nurses are vital in the primary care environment, so the additional $100 million over two years that Labor has pledged for primary care, is a terrific initiative aimed at reducing the demand on hospital services.
“The Turnbull Government’s ongoing attacks on Medicare have the potential to lead to worse health outcomes for health consumers – it needs to stop. Nurses and midwives support this additional funding for hospitals which comes on top of Labor’s commitment to Medicare, protecting universal health care for all Australians. As a nation, Australia suffers some of the highest out of pocket costs for everyday healthcare in the world, so it’s refreshing to hear that Labor is now promising to help Australians have access to quality healthcare when and where they need it. This can only happen if our political leaders provide an adequate level of funding which can support nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing (AIN) who are currently working in under resourced public health settings – and guarantee their high standard of care delivery for their patients.”
The ANMF’s new multi-media campaign – If you don’t care, we can’t care – is calling on the Government, Labor and the Greens, to commit to reversing the billions in funding cuts and building a sustainable healthcare system for the sake of all Australians. Today’s announcement from the ALP goes a long way to achieving that.
For more information, go to www.ICareandIVote.com.au
