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MEDICINE AND MEDIA REFORMS LIKELY TO TEST CABINET UNITY

February 13, 2006

The Howard Government is facing a battle royal in coming months on a couple of policy issues that will reveal whether it's lost its reformist mojo. As Peter Costello and the Treasury frame the May 9 budget, there is growing pressure on the Government to take action to cut the health budget, particularly to slash spending through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Cabinet also faces the perennial challenge of wading through Australia's dysfunctional media laws, deciding whether big-bang reform is in the public interest, or is best placed in the too-hard basket.
The Australian