Despite the hype and ceremony, Premier John Brumby’s much anticipated Annual Statement of Government Intentions is yet another rehash of old health announcements and initiatives dressed up to look brand new, Shadow Minister for Health Helen Shardey said today.

Hidden within the 90 pages of hype in this booklet is an embarassingly meagre offering of only five pages of health statements all of which have already been announced, Mrs Shardey said.

The statement shows a heavy reliance on Commonwealth funding, with the Premier crowing about $181 million of Federal money only to admit in the next line that this will be subject to COAG negotiation.

Some of Mr Brumby’s claims about Victoria being the best-performing state for elective surgery are rather puzzling, as according to The Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2009, Queensland out-performed Victoria and Victoria was above the national average for patients waiting more than 365 days for elective surgery*, Mrs Shardey said.

The Productivity Commision’s report also indicated that one in five Victorians on the elective surgery waiting list had extended waiting times.

The Cancer Action Plan, The Tobacco Action Plan and the National Registration of Health Professionals have all been announced before.

The same can be said of the Government’s stalled WorkHealth program which, despite being announced in July last year, was only partly rolled out three months later, Mrs Shardey said.

Apart from providing some funding for already announced initiatives and highlighting some budget items, there is not one new initiative for health in this entire announcement.

After nearly ten years the Brumby Government is tired and failing to deliver basic health services to the Victorian community.

*page 10.28