Kevin Rudd Clinches Health Deal
Kevin Rudd Clinches Health Deal – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday he had reached agreement with all but one of Australia’s states on major health reforms which he hopes will spearhead his 2010 re-election campaign.
Failure to clinch the $51 billion deal, which will see the government become the nation’s main health funder, would have fueled perceptions Rudd has been unable to deliver on reform promises that propelled him to power in 2007.
Rudd, who had threatened to take the reforms to a direct referendum vote, is on course to win a second term later this year, with a Newspoll in the Australian newspaper on Tuesday giving Labor an election-winning margin of 54 to 46 percent.
“We have 90 percent of the country on board for this. We have the largest states in the country on board for this. Under those circumstances we do not see the need for a referendum,” Rudd told reporters after two days of difficult negotiations.
Rudd convinced all state leaders except conservative-ruled Western Australia to sign-up to his proposal for the states to give up a large slice of their consumption tax revenue, or GST, and fund a central takeover of health funding.
Tags: Australian Newspaper, Clinches, Consumption Tax, Election Campaign, Funder, Gst, Health Deal, Health Reforms, kevin rudd, Main Health, Major Health, Negotiations, Newspoll, Perceptions, Prime Minister, Referendum Vote, Second Term, State Leaders, Takeover, Western Australia
Posted in Health, Politics
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