Anthony Albanese to face demand for $5bn hospital boost at first national cabinet meeting

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will face state demands for an immediate $5bn funding boost for public hospitals and calls to do more on skills shortages at his first meeting of national cabinet.

The meeting with state and territory leaders on Friday will be held as the country faces a deepening energy crisis that saw the regulator shut down the wholesale electricity market on Wednesday for the first time.

Amid soaring inflation and overwhelming demand on state hospitals, state and territory leaders will present a united front on the issue of health funding, calling for the federal government to scrap a 6.5% cap on health spending and to extend a 50-50 funding agreement for pandemic health costs that is due to expire in September.

The two measures would cost the federal government about $5bn a year.

Long visa processing times for overseas workers wanting to enter Australia have seen some skilled migrants wait more than four years for their visa approval.

Perrottet has flagged the states and territories need to improve how the primary health system interacts with the hospital network. He argues there is clearly a need for reform.

He said the policy had also allowed the state to transition out of coal-fired power to more renewables while avoiding significant price hikes.

The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, said state and territory health ministers had repeatedly asked the former health minister Greg Hunt to work collaboratively on the challenges in the health system to no avail.

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, also backed the need for reform of the health system, saying there was a need to improve how primary care worked to prevent people ending up in hospital which was more costly for taxpayers.