6,000 Bucks Stop With Springborg

Media Release.

Shadow Health Minister Jo-Ann Miller says Lawrence Springborg is not fit for office if he does not front today’s meeting at Prince Charles Hospital to explain his mass sackings and savage cuts to frontline services.

“If Mr Springborg continues to fob off his responsibilities to the local regional hospital and health board then he should not be drawing his salary of $6,000 a week,” Mrs Miller said,

“The buck for these job and service cuts stops with Mr Springborg, in fact 6,000 bucks stop with him.

“If he is not doing the work of a Health Minister why should he be paid as one?

“The government is slashing 25 nursing positions so the nurses affected by this LNP government decision deserve to have this decision explained to them by the Minister not the unelected board.

“The people whose jobs are going deserve at the very least to see and hear from an elected government representative.

“Mr Springborg needs to come out of hiding. He needs to stop passing the buck to regional health boards for the decisions he and his government have made to sack staff and cut services.

“He also needs to stop claiming a rise of 21% or $600 million over four years in federal health funding to Queensland is a ‘cut’.”

Mrs Miller said Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney yesterday had no qualms about stating the government’s position on the future of Moura Hospital.

“While Mr Springborg pretends the regional health board is responsible for deciding on the future of Moura Hospital, Mr Seeney stated that hospital services at Moura are ‘clearly unsustainable’,” she said.

“That indicates the government wants hospital services gone from Moura and all the choreographed ‘consultation’ by the regional board means nothing.

“Mr Seeney has shown Mr Springborg is just using the regional boards as an excuse for not doing the hard work as Health Minister.

“Instead he is content to be the Minister for Health Cuts and Closures,” Mrs Miller said.