It’s one of the more peculiar sights in recent political history: a state premier — probably the most provincial and insular of the current crop — travelling to Canberra to address the National Press Club about why his state’s health funding model should not be rolled out nation-wide.

But John Brumby is increasingly isolated on health reform, despite his best efforts to convince his colleagues to do the same to Kevin Rudd.

And Mike Rann’s revelations today that Brumby rejected a 50-50 funding split a bare 18 months ago is deeply embarrassing.  Brumby’s model was badly damaged before he even stood up to speak at the Press Club.

That’s not really the point, though, because Brumby is a provincial leader playing a provincial game: his opposition to the federal government’s proposal is a huge distraction from his own deepening political woes.

If you’ve been watching politics long enough you’ll remember that Brumby was, a very long time ago, a federal politician — he spent most of the 1980s as a backbench Member for Bendigo, before losing his seat.  That’s when he went into state politics.  His sole record as leader of the Victorian ALP was a thumping in 1996 at the hands of Jeff Kennett.  He’s had the tag of a loser ever since.  It may not be fair, but his performance since Steve Bracks gifted him complete political dominance in 2007 hasn’t shaken it off.

Now he’s at war with his own Parliament over the inquiry into the Windsor redevelopment debacle, and fighting a steady drip of small but damaging revelations about the handling of the Black Saturday bushfires.  And he faces a well-organised election year attack from the Victorian opposition on law and order, an issue that, despite some outrageous breaches of civil liberties by Brumby’s government, he remains vulnerable on.

A trip to Canberra as de facto leader of state opposition to health reform is therefore a handy distraction from a local political agenda that is running seriously against him.

Brumby is basing his opposition partly on his claim that Victoria’s hospitals are the nation’s best.  And that does seem to be reflected in the views of Victorians.  Essential Research polling in March showed Victorians had the lowest levels of support, and the strongest levels of opposition to, the government’s health reform plans, of any state.

But unfortunately for Brumby that’s all relative.  Fifty two per cent of Victorians supported the Rudd plan, and only 15% opposed it.  Victorians may not be as desperate for a Commonwealth takeover of hospitals as voters in South Australia (69%) or NSW (64%) but it’s still a high level of support for something Brumby has now set himself as dead against.

In fighting for his own political survival, Brumby clearly figures he owes his federal colleagues no favours, which is correct.  But he’s storing up a huge amount of bitterness in Canberra and if he succeeds in derailing the reform plan, he’ll find he’s got no relationship left with Kevin Rudd.