Yesterday’s unveiling of a $31 billion plan to drive improvements in the delivery of public medicine is, by his own admission, overdue.

Many Australians will be wondering how such a radical plan can ever be implemented when there is already strong and vocal opposition to it.

State and territory leaders have suggested they would fight any move by the Commonwealth to fund up to 60 per cent of public hospital costs.

Voters could well doubt the Federal Government’s ability to introduce and effectively manage such a huge change, especially given the difficulties it has faced with other big-ticket election promises of 2007.

For its part, the Opposition must wrestle with the realisation that a lot of what was unveiled yesterday bears a remarkable resemblance to suggestions on health that Tony Abbott has been talking about in recent times.

But what the voters - especially those in central Victoria - really want to know is what effect these proposals will have on the public health system as we know it and experience it.

This will be especially pertinent as the need becomes stronger for a new $700-odd million (and rising) hospital in Bendigo.

Local reaction yesterday to the Prime Minister’s health package was muted, and we hope that in coming days there will be more discussion on what all this could mean for the region.

What do you think?

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