Labor has put hospitals at the fore of its pitch to win this week's Tasmanian election, attacking Premier Will Hodgman's record on health funding.
Labor's claim is not the full story. The $210 million figure comes from a 2014-15 budget document that predicted future savings, over four years, compared with previous budget projections. But while the Liberals did propose significant savings to budgeted spending starting four years ago, they partly reversed course, later promising an extra $100 million for frontline health services. The claim also assumes that all of the savings would have fallen on the "health" area of the Department of Health and Human Services, when many of its employees work in "human services". The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)'s latest data shows that, in its first two years, the Hodgman Government increased recurrent health funding by a combined $39 million. However, because spending failed to keep up with the state's growing demand for health services, the amount of money available for each person who needs these services decreased — though likely by less than Labor has suggested. There have also been significant job cuts under the Liberals. If redundancy payments were deducted from the AIHW's figures, total recurrent spending on health under the Liberals would likely be lower than reported.
Fact check: Did the Tasmanian Liberals cut $210m from the health budget?
['Tasmania']