Liberals ‘ban’ hospital ramping, as Premier ploughs his message

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff made a big-spending health pitch to voters, while pleading with non-Liberals to change sides to prevent hung parliament ‘chaos’.

Tasmanian Liberal leader Jeremy Rockcliff launches his re-election campaign in Sassafras. Picture: Supplied

The country’s last Liberal Premier has promised to “ban” hospital ramping in a big-spending health pitch to voters, while pleading with non-Liberals to change sides to prevent hung parliament “chaos”.

Arriving on a tractor to the party’s state election launch at his family’s northwest Tasmanian farm on Sunday, Jeremy Rockliff traded on his rural roots while addressing the government’s achilles’ heel: health.

As well as big spends on hospital upgrades, Mr Rockliff promised more medical staff and a directive that patients arriving at hospital by ambulance must be transferred to emergency department medicos within 30 minutes, “which is around the average time it takes an ambulance crew to safely transfer their patient to the care of the hospital,” he told the party faithful at the farm in Sassafras.

“Which means that effectively we’re going to be banning ramping. This will mean that Tasmanians who need emergency hospital care will get the specialist care they need, when they need it.”

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has revealed what is believed to be Australia’s largest ever election billboard, that’s twice the size of the MCG, ploughed on the ­paddocks at his mother’s Sassafras farm. Picture: Handout via NCA NewsWire

Mr Rockliff promised a fourth-term Liberal government would address the state’s other great health crisis: its severe GP shortage. “Even though this is a federal government responsibility, we’re going to step up to the plate and take action where they won’t,” he said.

This included a “GP Now Rapid Response Team” of 10 state-employed GPs to be deployed at short notice to regions where a shortage emerged, such as through a sudden practice closure.

The state would also attract up to 40 new regional and rural GPs by paying $100,000 off their university HECS fees.

Labor ridiculed the ramping “ban”. “The Liberals have had 10 years to address ambulance ramping,” said Labor health spokeswoman Anita Dow. “Instead of fixing the problem, ramping has doubled on their watch.

“Jeremy Rockliff’s announcement today that he’ll ‘ban ramping’ is ridiculous, and shows the Liberals are completely out of ideas after 10 years in office.

“This is a totally unserious policy. Who is going to care for the ambulance patients he’s planning to dump into overcrowded EDs?”

Mr Rockliff, a Liberal moderate who championed the voice, transgender rights and a republic, stressed his hard working farming lineage and commitment to family. With opinion polls consistently suggesting that the Liberals, in power since 2014, were on track to win the most seats but not a majority, Mr Rockliff pleaded with non-Liberals to switch sides in the interests of stable government.

“We are in a strong position, but we are not over the line,” he said. “There is still a way to go for us to be able to restore to Tasmanians the stability and certainty that a majority government delivers.

“My message … to those disenchanted Labor voters … to those people considering voting for the Lambie party and her network of corflute candidates, to those ­people thinking about voting independent …(is) please, think again.”

Tractors and tall tales from Tassie Liberals

Mr Rockliff said the only alternative to a majority Liberal government was “a minority coalition of chaos” of Labor, the Jacqui Lambie Network, Greens and independents. This would be “a grab-bag of political views that would make the Star Wars bar scene look positively boring – and governing near impossible”.

Mr Rockliff organised for a tractor to plough his campaign slogan “2030 Strong Plan” into ­paddocks at his mother’s Sassafras farm.

“Australia’s largest ever campaign billboard”, he described it, seeing that constitutes letters about 40m high and about 30m wide.

The whole slogan is about 350m long.