United Voice

Mr Ripper today reaffirmed Labor’s opposition to the privatisation of services in Western Australia’s public hospitals and schools.  Mr Ripper also committed a future Labor Government to doing everything it could to end a future Barnett Government contract with Serco and bring Fiona Stanley Hospital back into public hands.
LHMU Secretary Dave Kelly said there was now a clear point of difference between the policies of the Barnett Government and the Opposition.

Barnett Ignoring Community Opposition
“Colin Barnett is ignoring the wishes of the community and marching on with privatisation plans that will see private companies running services in our public hospitals and taking big profits out of Western Australia’s health budget,” Ms Smith said.
“Mr Barnett seems hell bent on signing a contract with Serco that will see 31 services at Fiona Stanley Hospital privatised.
“Fortunately, Labor is listening to community concerns about privatisation and has committed to doing anything it can to clean up the privatisation mess that the Barnett Government will leave behind.
“We are still hopeful that the Barnett Government will realise that it has misread public opinion and abandon its privatisation plans.  However, it if presses on, voters will have a choice between re-electing a Barnett Government who is committed to privatisation and a Labor Government that believes WA deserves quality, publicly run hospitals.”
“It is vital voters know where each of the political parties stand, with the government’s negotiations with Serco still to be completed.

Will Cost Tax Payers More
“Privatisation cannot save taxpayers money without resulting in cuts to services.  Eric Ripper understands this and that is why he is taking such a strong stance against privatisation.
“Every dollar of profit that Serco pockets at Fiona Stanley Hospital is a dollar not spent on providing health services to the WA community.  How can this be the right thing to do?
“Colin Barnett is misleading the public into thinking only a small number of Fiona Stanley services will be privatised.  However, an internal Serco memo described the contract as its biggest ever and lists more than 30 services that it will be providing.  These include cleaning, sterilisation and medical record keeping – all absolutely vital services in a hospital.
“Western Australia is a wealthy State and the Barnett Government can afford to provide us with quality publicly run hospitals.  I welcome Mr Ripper’s stance against privatisation and Labor’s commitment to our public health system.”