Queensland $1m rugby sponsorship rapped

BRISBANE - The Queensland Government, under fire for its handling of health, has been condemned by a top lawyer for its A$1 million ($1.09 million) sponsorship of the Brisbane Broncos rugby league club.

A surgical waiting list crisis and two independent inquiries set up to probe problems in the health system were widely seen as key reasons for the Labor Government's loss of two byelections at the weekend.

State Premier Peter Beattie said on Sunday that Labor had paid the price for setting up an inquiry into the Dr Death scandal at Bundaberg.

Now Tony Morris, QC, heading the inquiry into the disgraced surgeon Jayant Patel, has attacked the health department's decision to sponsor the NRL team for three years using taxpayer funds.

A letter by new Queensland Health Director-General Uschi Schreiber given to the inquiry says that the A$1 million deal, approved by Cabinet last December, was part of an effort to reach "the broadest possible audience for education and information around critical health issues".

Morris yesterday told the inquiry that the money could be better spent addressing surgical waiting lists rather than "attracting customers".

"Queensland Health has very lengthy waiting lists - it's not immediately apparent to me that there is a need for sponsorship which is a way of attracting customers rather than dealing with the customers you've already got."

Morris also deemed the Government's choice of sport "somewhat inappropriate", saying league was "male-dominated".

"Rugby league isn't one of those sports which readily assimilates to the picture of a good health care system."

The letter says a Government drive to promote healthy lifestyles would benefit from the sponsorship deal to reach millions of television viewers and games' audiences.

Schreiber said the sponsorship deal was favoured over traditional marketing techniques, such as television advertising and written materials, which were "having a reduced impact on adults and children in lower socioeconomic areas of Queensland especially where rates of chronic disease, poor diet and lack of exercise are most often much higher than the national average".

- AAP