The recent debate over Kevin Rudd’s healthcare reform has been a very complicated one to say the least. Everywhere you turn in the media you’ll find different opinions on it; some supporting it, some opposing it.

Before we decide if Mr Rudd should be trusted on health, let’s look at facts—cold, hard facts. It’s a fact that Kevin Rudd and the ALP were elected to federal government in 2007. It’s also a fact that Mr Rudd has made a lot of promises on health since then.

Let’s look at those promises.
• A $150 million “blitz” on hospital waiting lists, to be completed by mid 2009. A 2009 report by the Australian Medical Association stated there was “no evidence” of even a single bed opening due to this program.
• The “GP Super-Clinics” program, already criticised as a wasteful duplication of services that disregarded rural communities, promised 36 new clinics. More than two years later in late January 2010, the Federal Health Minister opened only the third clinic.
• A total of 2500 new aged care beds were promised; so far only 52 have been opened.
• A program to attract 7750 retired nurses back to the workforce barely made a dent too. Just 752 nurses rejoined—that’s less than ten per cent.

Add to this a list of other broken promises such as GroceryWatch, the so-called “education revolution”, and a $2.5 billion program that’s built just eleven of 2650 promised trades training centres. It’s no wonder the ALP quietly removed their list of election promises from their official website.

There was one healthcare promise he’s made good on though—during his time as the top state bureaucrat under the Queensland Goss Government, he promised to cut costs. He did that by closing 2200 hospital beds, which lead directly to the disarray we see in Queensland’s hospitals today. The residents of Wright can only be thankful that his attempt to close Laidley Hospital as a “cost-cutting” measure failed when the LNP were elected in 1996.

Whenever you read an opinion that says Kevin Rudd’s healthcare reform is a good thing, stop and consider if it’s anything at all in the light of Labor’s past promises on healthcare. Are Australians really going to see improvements?

I think the facts speak for themselves.