Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has turned his back on his fellow Queenslanders and has effectively abandoned Stranded Australians stuck in our hospital beds.
The Federal Budget provides no new funding announcements to provide the specialised care patients languishing in hospitals need, despite the Prime Minister acknowledging at Federal Cabinet in January that this is firmly a Commonwealth responsibility and cutting $37.8 billion out of the NDIS.
Current projections are that Queensland alone will require a further 30,000 aged-care beds within the next decade but only 5,000 beds per annum have been offered by Federal Labor across the entire nation.
Queenslanders have been further shortchanged in regard to Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, receiving just one in Caloundra, and nothing for regional and remote communities where the need is high. In comparison, NSW is receiving six additional bulk billing GP clinics.
The Budget also hits older Queenslanders further by cutting $3 billion from the private health insurance rebate support for over-65s who are paying their own way.
This means more pressure on Queensland hospitals, more pain on the ramp, and less access to health services for all Queenslanders.
