The Queensland state government has criticised the Federal Budget, claiming it fails to address long-term problems such as climate change and issues in the health care sector.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state had been poorly considered in the budget, critiquing the federal government for failing to match the state’s $350 million flood resilience package to buy back or flood-proof flooded homes.
“These measures are temporary, their benefits are fleeting,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“A splash of cash is nice but protecting people from floods is far better.
“It failed the 7000 families hoping for a permanent solution to their homes constantly flooding.”
The premier added the budget did not consider solutions for issues such as a lack of social housing and climate change.
“It failed to factor Queensland into the future,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
The state government had called for half of health and hospital funding to be covered by the Federal Government.
The Palaszczuk government said instead funding was cut by $21 million.
But the cut is owing to the reduction in funding for public health responses to COVID-19, while funding for hospital services has increased.
Ramping issues in hospitals remains a huge problem across the state.
Sources told 9News that over the weekend, there were at times 30 Code One, highly urgent cases pending across the south-east with no ambulances available.
Source: 9News
