When Kevin Rudd proposed it - his hospital funding plan looked likely to be approved by the all Labor state regimes. He would up the Federal money from forty percent to sixty percent - in exchange for grabbing thirty percent of each state's GST returns.
Julia Gillard faces a different equation. West Australia and Victoria now have Liberal regimes - and New South Wales is likely to follow next month. Any hope of these states signing off on the Rudd plan is - negligible !
Gillard has abandoned the exchange of GST for hospital funding - and suggested that the Feds will up their contribution from forty percent - to fifty percent. On the surface - that can only be a massive win for all of the states.
But - there is always that old adage that " the devil is in the detail " - and so far we have not been given even a tiny glance at the small print that goes with this deal.
Beware of prime ministers bearing gifts ! It falls into the category of those who still believe that they are entitled to a " free lunch " and that the tooth fairy is still doing rounds.
Welcome to the real world !
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