ALP offers the healthier option

Third, the Coalition is asserting that serious work was done on Abbott's proposal to take over hospitals before ruling it out, which would seem to leave a rather large question mark over its Mersey hospital takeover in Tasmania. In any case, if this is the nub of the Government's argument, it should be prepared to back this up by releasing the relevant cabinet papers to prove that it did in fact look seriously at this option. Until it does so, this looks like lazy politicking rather than serious engagement with policy.

Finally, and perhaps most important, the suggestion by the Treasurer that renegotiating the GST deal would be too hard is sheer laziness. Negotiations with the states won't be a walk in the park, but any government that says it would be too hard has lost its taste for governing.

Labor has been arguing for months that we must end the blame game in health, take pressure off hospitals and take on the challenge posed by chronic diseases. The announcements this week were aimed squarely at tackling those challenges. This is about delivering better health care in the community.

Abbott, Costello and the Prime Minister should stop scaremongering and politicking in a desperate attempt to win votes. Governments are supposed to govern. It's increasingly clear that, 11 years on, this one has forgotten that.