HOST: Prime Minister, of course you're please to have a deal but you've offered billions in extra funding to entice the States to agree to your plan. Where's that money coming from?
PM: Well, we'll detail all of that in the upcoming budget but we believe in fully costed undertakings and they will be fully costed as they have been in the past but the key is this - this is funding for 1,300 extra hospital beds. It's funding for a further 2,500 aged care places, it's funding for 6,000 additional medical training places for more doctors. These are big reforms on top of services for 20,000 more young people with mental health conditions. These are big reforms. They are expensive but we need to deliver better health and hospital services for all Australians.
HOST: Well based on that comment Prime Minister can you give us a date when the health system in New South Wales will be fixed?
PM: Well, these payments that we've outlined today, that is, which go to improved targets for accident and emergency at four hours, improved targets for elective surgery, 95% done on time. These reforms begin to be implemented from 1 July this year. I don't want to mislead people though. You can't turn around everything overnight. There's an implementation period which extends over a three year period and that is what we are committed to doing., that's why we've provided such significant investment today but we do need better health and better hospital services and in terms of reform, the Commonwealth, the Australian Government, for the first time, becomes the dominant funder of Australia's public hospital system, the exclusive funder of our primary health care system and the exclusive funder of aged care as well. It's a big day for reform.
HOST: Briefly Prime Minister, is WA the rouge state in all of this? Do you see them actually getting across the line with you on this plan?
PM: We'll work very carefully with our friends in the west. I want to make sure we get these extra services through to them as well because their hospital system is under pressure like everywhere else so we'll be talking to our friends in the WA government, working hard to get an agreement. I'm confident we'll get there.
HOST: Prime Minister we thank you for joining us on Nine News tonight.
PM: Thanks very much.