Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be speaking on this motion today about the health system in Australia because there is a very good story to tell. It is unfortunate that it is left to the member for Hindmarsh to do the heavy lifting for the Labor Party in moving this motion because it seems that the opposition spokeswoman on health has clearly lost interest in the health portfolio and rarely uses question time to raise matters on health policy. The former Leader of the Opposition claimed that the 2004 election was:

... a referendum about the future of Medicare. It’s a referendum about the future of health care in this country.

Judging by the result it is pretty clear that the Australian people feel that their health system is in very good hands with the coalition government.

The honourable member for Hindmarsh has accused the government of failing to adequately fund the health care system and failing to address workforce shortages. This claim—at a time when 22 per cent of total government expenditure is pumped into the health system—is patently absurd. A decade ago the Labor government spent $6 billion on Medicare benefits. Today the figure is $10.4 billion. It is little wonder that the oft-quoted catchcry of the Minister for Health and Ageing is gaining traction because all the evidence backs up the fact that the Howard government is the best friend that Medicare has ever had. We have overseen the single greatest health care policy to complement the existing Medicare system with the institution of the Medicare safety net. It is a scheme that the Labor Party wants to abolish even though it is greatly assisting thousands of people in my electorate with their out-of-pocket costs for out-of-hospital treatment, something the Labor Party chooses to ignore.

We have substantially increased bulk-billing rates, including in my electorate where bulk-billing rates have been traditionally low. We keep the popular and very useful 30 per cent private health insurance rebate while Labor continues to send out confusing messages about its future. We know of Labor’s deep-seated hatred of the private health insurance rebate. It stems back to 2000 when it was claimed by the former Leader of the Opposition, Mr Latham, that the current Leader of the Opposition was going to:

... make some major policy announcements. For instance, he is going to scrap Howard’s rotten private health insurance rebate.

It is also suggested that the member for Jagajaga ‘despises the rebate and wants to pole-axe it’. The private health insurance rebate was even extended and improved for older Australians at the last election.

So much for Labor’s supposed concern at improving health care in this country. All they do is whinge and complain but never offer any detailed policy alternatives. We can only look at their recent history and the albatross hanging around their collective necks in health care. 

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