Federal Labor to try to woo Barry O'Farrell over health reforms

HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon will meet with new NSW premier Barry O'Farrell as soon as possible to seek his support for Labor's health reforms.

HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon will meet with newly-elected NSW premier Barry O'Farrell as soon as possible to try and secure his support for the Gillard government's health reform package.

Ms Roxon said the government's health shake-up, supported by former premier Kristina Keneally at February's COAG meeting, would give NSW a better deal.

She hoped Mr O'Farrell would back the plan.

“We are very confident that the deal of national health reform is a good deal for New South Wales,” she said.

“We're looking forward to sitting down with him as soon as possible, as quickly they are willing and able to do it. And we will make ourselves available.”

Ms Roxon said she was optimistic Mr O'Farrell would see the value of the government's package, which would see the commonwealth matching 50 per cent of hospital growth funding.

Mr O'Farrell has warned he will use his mandate to take the fight to the Gillard government on a range of contentious federal-state issues, including health reform.

He has flagged support for Victorian Liberal Premier Ted Baillieu's campaign to change the formula under which hospitals will be reimbursed according to the “efficient price” of the procedures they perform.

“It's about making sure we are clear about the benefits flowing through, clear about the impact of the efficient price on rural and regional hospitals and about ensuring that both governments are genuinely committed to the devolution of responsibility to district health boards,” he said.

Ms Roxon today tried to allay Mr O'Farrell's concerns about the setting of the efficient price, saying that block funding would be provided to those rural hospitals unable to meet new price standards.

“We do understand that particularly for small regional hospitals they won't necessarily be able to perform according to a national efficient price. We've made very clear in the negotiations that block funding will continue for small regional hospitals.”

Ms Roxon stressed she was also addressing concerns raised by the new Victorian Liberal government about the number of the federal government's Medicare Locals it will receive.

School Education Minister Peter Garrett also responded to Mr O'Farrell's concerns with the government's national curriculum, which will operate in 2013.

Mr O'Farrell believes the national curriculum could dumb down education in NSW, dropping standards below those already in place.

But Mr Garrett told The Australian Online through a spokesman that the national curriculum had received input from the states, including NSW.

“It's a high-quality curriculum developed by ACARA with input from all jurisdictions including NSW. It's an important national reform and the states and territories have the flexibility to deliver it according to their own needs,” he said.