Senator DI NATALE (Victoria) (12:21): I move: That the Senate— (a) condemns the reduction in National Health Reform funding to the states indicated in the Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook; (b) expresses its concern over whether the methodology used to justify these reductions, especially in regard to population growth estimates, was correct and applied in good faith; (c) calls on the Government to restore funding to the National Health Funding Pool to all states in 2013 and over the forward estimates; (d) is concerned that the direct payments to Victorian hospitals announced by the Government undermines the Government's own National Health Reform Agreement; and (e) condemns the long term underinvestment by some state governments in their public hospitals. I seek leave to make a short statement. The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator DI NATALE: This motion relates to the debate we have seen in this chamber about hospital funding. There has been a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing over this issue. We have heard the government claim that it has increased funding to the public hospital system and that is true. The pertinent point here, however, is that they have increased funding by less than what was promised. If I can give an analogy, if you negotiate a three per cent pay increase with an employer and at the end of the year you receive a one per cent pay increase, that is effectively a cut. This is a $1.5 billion cut over four years, and it comes on the back of a chronic underinvestment by state governments in the hospital system. The government's announcement to return money to Victoria is not good enough. It needs to do that to all states, particularly Queensland and New South Wales, who have been hardest hit, and it needs to honour its own agreement and ensure that funding is done through the National Health Funding Pool. The PRESIDENT: The question is that the motion moved by Senator Di Natale be agreed to.