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Policy Committees Report NSW LABOR STATE CONFERENCE 2018 SATURDAY 30 JUNE AND SUNDAY 1 JULY 2018 STATE CONFERENCE POLICY COMMITTEE REPORT A Healthy Society Policy Committee Report…………………………………….………2 Australia and the World Policy Committee Report………………………………....…28 Building Sustainable Communities Policy Committee Report………………………50 Education and Skills Policy Committee Report…………………………………..…..125 Indigenous Peoples and Reconciliation Policy Committee Report…………..…...149 Our Economic Future Policy Committee Report……………………………..………156 Prosperity and Fairness at Work Policy Committee Report………………….……200 Social Justice and Legal Affairs Policy Committee Report…………………….….234 Country Labor Committee Report………………………………………………….…..292 1 2018 STATE CONFERENCE A HEALTHY SOCIETY The Australian Labor Party has a proud history of supporting the development of a good quality and accessible health system that goes back decades. Under Ben Chifley, Labor established the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; Medibank under Gough Whitlam; and Medicare under Bob Hawke. At the State-level, the ALP has always worked to build a strong and inclusive public health service in NSW – providing a quality and accessible health and hospital system to all citizens regardless of their income. Sadly, both the Turnbull and Berejiklian Governments are attacking the health system built by Labor. They are reducing the quality and timeliness of clinical care and driving up costs in other parts of the health system. At a State and Federal level the Liberals and Nationals have slashed billions from the health and hospital system – culminating with the Turnbull Government recently slashing $715 million out of Australia’s public hospitals from 2017-2020. The current Liberal/National Governments have got their priorities all wrong at both the State and Federal levels given their billions of dollars in cuts from both our state public health system and our aged care industry. They have also failed to keep pace with the increased demand on our Paramedics. Based on the formula used in Queensland and Victoria, NSW is some 1200 paramedics short. All these decisions place the health and lives of the people of NSW at risk now and into the future. As in previous years, the NSW Labor Policy Committee for a Healthy Society went out into the community in regional and suburban areas to discuss the concerns the community has with the health system. We engaged with doctors, nurses, paramedics, allied health workers, hospital workers and other healthcare providers along with Labor Party members to hear about their first-hand experience of the healthcare system in NSW and gather ideas about what needs to change. Since the last State conference, the committee has met with people from four State Electorate Councils (SECs), doctors, nurses, allied health and hospital workers, representatives of healthcare organisations, the Health Services Union, and importantly – patients impacted by Liberal-National cuts to the health and hospital system. We had a consultation at Gymea which included Cronulla, Miranda, Heathcote and Holsworthy SECs. The consultation and motions received by the committee highlighted a variety of issues affecting our health system. Particular themes arose and they included: The harmful impact of cuts and privatisation by the Liberals and Nationals on our health system; The need to support health and hospital workers around issues such as staffing and workloads; 2 2018 STATE CONFERENCE The need to address excessive waiting times in emergency departments and waits for elective surgery; and The need to support palliative care. A variety of solutions to these problems were proposed in discussions and proposals put to the committee, however the need to stop the Liberal-National agenda of cuts and privatisation to our health and hospital system was regularly highlighted as the first step to improving healthcare in NSW. 1. Stopping Liberal-National Privatisation Agenda The policy agenda of the Liberal-National Governments at both the State and Federal level is doing untold damage to our health and hospital system. They have an agenda which puts dollars before patients and the overturning of this philosophy is the first step to repairing NSW’s health and hospital system. At a State level the Liberal-National Government tried to privatise five hospitals, but they were forced to back down due to the strength and commitment of the HSU, the wider union movement and community activists. The Berejiklian Government have also attempted to unleash a “death by a thousand privatisations” upon the health system and the threat of this will remain until Labor governs in NSW. The committee has heard that many health services have been privatised in recent times. This includes; Renal dialysis units; Cardiac services; Entire emergency departments; Hospital sterilisation services; and Hospital cleaning and linen service. 2. Stopping Liberal-National cuts At both a State and Federal level the Liberal-National Governments have unleashed a continuous wave of cuts to the health and hospital system. The most recent Turnbull federal budget commits to billions in cuts to our hospitals. NSW Labor and a future Shorten Labor Government will tackle these cuts and ensure the federal Government contributes its fair share towards hospital funding. The Liberal-National freeze to GP bulk billing rates is putting enormous pressure on doctors and patients across NSW. Patients are struggling to find affordable primary healthcare and have been forced into our already overstretched emergency departments. The state and federal Liberal-National Governments are responsible for billions of dollars in cuts to the health and Hospital system. These cuts affect patients across NSW. There are currently 76,000 patients waiting for much needed elective surgery in NSW. These are grandmothers waiting for 3 2018 STATE CONFERENCE cataract surgery unable to see their grand kids and fathers waiting for knee replacement surgery to get back to work. There is a human face to Liberal party cuts but the Liberals are blinded by their ideology and commitment to Americanise our health and hospital system. In order to protect the most vulnerable in our community and restore good quality healthcare to everyone – not just those who can afford it – we must undo the damage brought by Liberal-National cuts. 3. Appropriate hospital and ward staffing levels The NSW health and hospital system is dealing with a growing population and so new hospitals and wards must be built to accommodate that need, but in NSW, the Liberal- National Government is not properly staffing them. Across the system, we have “ghost wards”’ which were built for purpose but due to this Government’s refuses to fund the nurses, doctors, health and hospital workers – so they remain underutilised. This has culminated in the case of the South East Regional Hospital in Bega which now has longer waiting times for many times of surgery than patients at the old hospital faced. NSW Labor is committed to upgrading and building new Hospitals in areas of need – but more importantly – we are committed to actually staffing them. 4. Hospital staffing ratios NSW Labor supports ratios that will ensure the best outcome for patients and is fair on workers. We recognise the vital role all employees in Hospitals make to patient outcomes. Our society holds a great deal of respect for health and hospital workers but often we ask them to do too much with too little. Time constraints, resource constraints, a lack of ratios and chronic underinvestment were all cited as issues affecting our state’s hard working nurses, doctors, allied health professionals and health and hospital workers. 5. Importance of Palliative care Treatment of the dying in their final days is a test of a compassionate society. That is why NSW Labor is committed to providing palliative care – especially in rural and regional areas. An overwhelming majority of patients want to spend their final days with loved ones in a familiar environment. NSW Labor will prioritise palliative care and ensure the sector receives the resources it needs. Palliative care workers are amazing people, but often they just need the support and resources to give the care they know their patients deserve. 4 2018 STATE CONFERENCE Platform Amendments 1. STANMORE CAMPERDOWN BRANCH Add a new 6.47 and renumber: NSW Labor supports consideration of a tax on sugar to reduce consumption. Recommendation: Reject. 2. UNITED VOICE Preamble: Aged care services support older people to continue enjoying life in their own homes or in supported residential communities. But since Malcolm Turnbull and Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt cut aged care funding by more than a billion dollars, service providers have been struggling and standards could slip. Every Australian should have a dignified life in retirement. Every older Australian should be treated with respect. Every older Australian receiving aged care should know that the people who care for them can be there for them whenever they need, for as long as they need. The Turnbull government has slashed a billion dollars from aged care funding - that's a cut to the time aged care professionals have to provide necessary care. It must be restored. In NSW, this underfunding has seen an increase in the use of labour hire and other insecure gig economy work. It has seen wage theft from hardworking and already low paid workers, the vast majority being women. These are the very people who care for our elderly when family is not able to provide the support needed. NSW also has a role in ensuring the health and safety of aged care workers. Underfunding has seen situations where just two workers are responsible for the care of more than 30 nursing home residents at one time. It means that the home care workers who visit the homes of our elderly alone need adequate training to deal with complex care needs that are a risk to care workers’ physical and psychological health. It’s our turn to care. Aged care workers need community support for the work they do for our elderly and all of us.

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