States raise pressure on Canberra to cough up from health coffers

State and territory governments seeking billions in federal health funding have emerged from an emergency midweek meeting intent on pushing the Commonwealth to cough up the promised cash.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the meeting with other heads of state — running for 45 minutes on Wednesday morning — had been “very fruitful”.

“We’re taking this forward, and there’s a consensus position to make sure we do that, we’ll do it in a respectful but in a forceful way,” he said.

The negotiations concern hospital funding pledged to state and territory governments in 2023 by the Commonwealth, which would cover hospital running fees, and allow states to divert their own resources into dedicated aged and disability care centres.

The federal government’s promise included covering 42.5 p