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Status quo remains in Tasmania
The Gutwin Government has been reelected in Tasmania and will govern in majority after winning 13 of the state’s 25 House of Assembly seats.
The remaining 12 seats will be held by the Labor Party (nine seats), the Greens (two seats) and newly elected Independent MP Kristie Johnson.
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Before the 1 May poll, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Tasmanian Committee sent an election statement to the major parties. The statement identified six key focus areas relevant to surgery. These issues were:
• Compliance management and research at the Tasmanian Health Service
• Elective surgery waiting lists
• Rural health
• Tasmanian Audit of Surgical Mortality
• Use of the title ‘surgeon’
The statement provided background information on each of these issues and then posed a series of questions. To view RACS’ Tasmanian election statement, as well as responses from the Liberal and Labor parties, please visit the RACS website.
Following the election, it was announced that the state’s new Health Minister will be the Deputy Premier, the Honourable Jeremy Rockliff. RACS congratulates Minister Rockliff on this appointment. The Labor Party Shadow Minister for Health is Bastian Seidel.
Over the next four years, the committee will continue to meet and work with the government and the opposition to progress issues of public health, particularly those raised in the election statement.
The Tasmanian election was the third state election to be held this year, with governments also being easily re-elected in Queensland and in Western Australia. There are no more state or territory elections scheduled for 2021. However, it is anticipated that an Australian Federal election will be held either late this year or early next year.
Once a federal election is called, RACS will once again send a national election statement to all major parties contesting the election. If you would like to find out more, or to suggest key topics that you would like the College to raise prior to the election, please contact the RACS Policy and Advocacy team at racs.advocacy@ surgeons.org
