Stop the stunts: MP
FEDERAL Member for Capricornia Kirsten Livermore wants Opposition regional health spokesman Andrew Laming to "stop the stunts".
Ms Livermore yesterday rejected Mr Laming's claims that Rockhampton Hospital could be slugged more than $300,000 by Julia Gillard's carbon tax, accusing him of using questionable statistics.
Dr Laming said Rockhampton Hospital's 125 beds could potentially cost an additional $300,000 a year to run, based on recently revealed Queensland Treasury figures outlining cost increases attributable to the carbon tax.
He said the data revealed the tax would add $2425 per hospital bed, totalling $30 million in the first year alone.
"The carbon tax seriously risks frontline health services such as emergency department beds, elective surgery and specialist outpatient services," Dr Laming said.
"The cost of everything this hospital does will just go up and up."
But Ms Livermore said funding was not being diverted away from frontline services to pay for the tax.
"Andrew Laming has been running around the country with his cut and paste media releases, which rely on rubbery figures and statistics that even he admits are dubious," she said.
"He had to admit this recently in Tasmania when he said a similar set of figures were impossible to predict and couldn't be calculated."
Ms Livermore said the average price impact on health services, including hospitals, was around 0.3% for both the health sector and consumers.
"That's less than half a per cent," she said.
"Andrew Laming should stop the stunts and start talking about issues in the proper context."
