Recent stop work strikes by the Australian nursing bodies has forced the shortage of nurses in Australia to become a key issue in the upcoming election. Australian opposition leader Kevin Rudd is promising more money, including cash bonuses, to meet the national shortage of 19,000 nurses across the country.

"Across Australia nurses are the front-line troops in our health and hospital system, but right across the country we have a shortage of nurses," said Mr Rudd.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australia's universities do not have enough places to train more nurses and there are up to 30,000 Australian qualified nurses who are not working in the health sector. British nurses with Australian visas are needed to fill the gaps.

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