STATES CONDEMN MALCOLM TURNBULL'S LATEST DENTAL CUTS

In an extraordinary step, six states and territories have written to Health Minister Greg Hunt to highlight the disastrous impact of Malcolm Turnbull's latest cuts to dental funding.

 

The letter from Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory calls out the "severe price funding cut" and "significant reduction in the level of Commonwealth investment" in the National Partnership Agreement on Adult Public Dental Services. 

 

This Agreement is meant to support the provision of dental care to vulnerable Australians. But the states' letter makes clear that Malcolm Turnbull's cuts will lead to "fewer people being seen and longer wait times".

 

The states' intervention comes on top of new figures revealed by Senate Estimates, which show that Mr Turnbull's cuts are already forcing people to wait more than a year on average for public dental care.

 

The last federal Labor Government budgeted $391 million a year for adult public dental services. But the Abbott-Turnbull Government has cut at this funding time and time again, with total cuts of around $300 million a year. As a result, every year more than 300,000 Australians will miss out on critical public dental services.

This cut is in addition to Malcolm Turnbull's attempt to abolish the Child Dental Benefits Scheme, a separate program that provides dental care to eligible children. Labor blocked that cut in the Parliament, but the adult program is not protected by legislation.

The states' letter is more evidence that the Government's Budget was all smoke and mirrors, and that when it comes to health there’s nothing that Malcolm Turnbull won’t destroy.