Australian PM vows extra $5.4 bn for healthcare

It would result in patients not having to pay for 90 percent of visits to the doctor by 2030, the government said, as well as delivering extra money for training nurses and doctors.

Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative opposition, responded to the latest spending promise by saying his Liberal-National coalition would match the Aus$8.5 billion Medicare investment if elected.

“Without sound and prudent economic management — something Labor is incapable of — investments like this cannot be delivered,” his coalition said in a statement.

Support for Albanese’s Labor Party is running almost neck-and-neck with the opposition coalition, according to a Newspoll survey released this month by The Australian.

If the poll result is replicated in the election, it could lead to a hung parliament with no single party enjoying a majority, the paper said.

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© Agence France-Presse