Photo © 2008 AAP Image/Dean Lewins
The period of caretaker government means decisions on matters such as the new Murray-Darling water plan, the anti-siphoning list for sport broadcasting and the awarding of contracts by the state broadband company NBN Co are all stalled.
Meanwhile, cancer patients are waiting desperately for a $2200-a-week drug to prolong their lives while uncertainty plays out in Canberra. A day before the election, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommended Erbitux be added to the benefits scheme, allowing bowel cancer patients access to the drug that can add months to their lives. But the committee's recommendation needs approval by the Health Minister, which cannot be done until the hung parliament is resolved.
Analyst Stephen Bartos says the caretaker period ''increased risks of things going wrong, so the longer it goes on, the more people worry''.
The guide to the draft plan by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority on water allocation from 2012 was delayed when the election was called. The authority says a release date will be considered within a week. Irrigators in four states are waiting to hear about their likely water allocation.
Sporting organisations and television broadcasters await the announcement of new anti-siphoning rules, which determine the events to which free-to-air channels have first rights. The lack of certainty has stymied rights negotiations, as the current list expires this year.
NBN Co said it would not issue tenders or hire staff until after the caretaker period. The stakes are high for the company, which the Opposition plans to scrap if it gains office.
