Australia's next health system

That’s why building better partnerships with the states and territories would be the first-term focus of a Beazley Labor Government.

However a Beazley Labor Government would also look to the long-term and be prepared to examine the need for big changes. That includes being prepared to genuinely discuss the arguments for and against a single funder for health care.

Because the real question for a major reform proposal is this: would the benefits outweigh the costs?

Sceptics make the point that better partnerships with the states could deliver many of the same practical benefits, without the significant transition costs. They also argue that whatever the barriers to getting full benefits from the better partnership approach, those same barriers apply to implementing a single funder.

Inherent in any re-allocation of funding responsibilities is a re-allocation of revenues, which would require real commitment to reform across all players, and would have to be subject to consideration of national expenditure priorities.

There would be no-one in the country who would want remote Canberra-based departmental bureaucrats trying to run our local hospitals. That would be a recipe for disaster and for the loss of community good will and support for local services.

And given the political and constitutional authority of state governments in the Australian health system, it’s clear that a move to a single funder would require a broad consensus in support of a specific model to succeed.

The one thing you can be sure of is that anyone who has already made up their mind about exactly what governments should do in this area just hasn’t thought through all the difficult issues.

It’s a complex area of national policy which we must be prepared to examine properly. So unlike the Howard Government, Federal Labor will not rule this option out without serious consideration. I certainly have an open mind on a single funder for health care.

That’s the discussion for which the next Health Care Agreements must set the scene.