Rudd will meet with state premiers on Monday to convince them to accept his controversial proposal for the central government to take control of funding for state-run health by seizing a third of consumption tax revenue usually reserved for states.
"Today we have an historic opportunity to act. No ifs, no buts, no maybes," Rudd said in a YouTube video ahead of the meeting, lifting pressure on states to accept a plan which if rejected will hurt Rudd's election strategy to focus on health.
At least two state leaders oppose the plan because they fear it could be a precedent for the national government to raid their share of consumption tax, or GST, revenues in order to fund future reforms in other areas, eroding their power even further.
"The show-stopper for Western Australia is the GST issue," said Western Australia state Premier Colin Barnett on his way into the meeting, which could run for days.
A Nielsen survey of voters, published in Fairfax newspapers ahead of the talks, showed overwhelming support for Rudd's proposed changes to $45 billion in health funding, with 62 percent of respondents wanting the states to support the reforms.
But the poll also showed a 2 percent drop in overall support for the ruling Labor party, though Labor still leads the conservative opposition by an election-winning margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.
"The public wants change. It's high risk. I think people are really tired of the way things have been done in the past," Health Minister Nicola Roxon told local television.
Rudd remains on course for victory in elections due later this year, but his popularity has been shaken by his inability to deliver key first-term promises, including difficult health, climate change and education reforms.
In a bid to counter critics and win back straying voters, Rudd in March proposed the biggest health shake-up for 30 years, promising to cut waiting lists for state-run public hospital surgery and take control of other health services.
