May 29, 2007
Surpisingly, during Costello's parliamentary budget speech for his 12th budget the word 'Indigenous' was never uttered despite a $10 billion surplus. Systemic biases are perpetuated given the marked segregation of health standards between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians.
Alan Moir
The aggregate commitment on health is $30 million per annum, about 7 percent of the $460 million that the AMA and Oxfam say is needed to start closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and other Australians. Health can't be ATSIC's fault, as it is administered by Tony Abbott's department.
The Australian Medical Association has estimated that Labor's plan to close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians within a generation will cost $2 billion.That's a lot of money, but it's just about what the Government will have spent on advertising by the next election.
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