Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Dobell said, he is going to fight for ‘dental under Medicare’. Amen, I say to the member for Dobell. But he should have said that one, two or three weeks ago or before the election. He should have said, ‘I’m going to fight to keep dental under Medicare.’ He does not need to fight us about it. He does not need to fight Medicare about it. He does not even need to fight those who are vulnerable in his community about it. He needs to fight the minister and the Prime Minister—the same two people who have taken away real treatment—not consultation—that addresses dental problems for those who are the most vulnerable.

It is no wonder that Dr John Matthews, President of the Australian Dental Association, said that the Labor Party’s approach is ‘patchy’ and ‘piecemeal’. It takes a lot of courage for representatives of non-government organisations to speak out only three months from a change of government. It takes a lot of courage for individuals to do that. Dr John Matthews said that the approach of the new government is patchy and piecemeal—and I am sure that behind the scenes he is a little more effusive in his criticism.

It is the practice of this government to run a smokescreen. It is interesting, isn’t it, that they say one thing and do another? They say, for example, in the glossy press release with a happy smiling Prime Minister and a happy smiling minister for health at the top that they are providing $360 million over three years to the Teen Dental Plan. Then, in what can only be described as a dour press release that sits on the departmental website, they kill off the Medicare rebate.

Of course the Labor Party continue to be damned by their own words. The best illustration of this is private health insurance. Hypocrisy be thy name, Minister. We remember that, only a year ago, the Minister for Health and Ageing—the minister at the table—said that an increase in private health insurance premiums that was higher than inflation was not good news. A year ago the minister said that a 4½ per cent increase was an issue that justified holding the government to account. She said that a 4½ per cent increase was outrageous and that it was going to have an impact on ‘working families’. However, the first decision she makes in relation to private health insurance is to approve a five per cent increase, which is higher than inflation and higher than health inflation.

This is hypocrisy of the Rudd government. This illustrates what they do: they say one thing and they play cute games—be it on carers, on pensioners, on those people most vulnerable—or on Chris Planer. They are playing with the hearts and souls of those who are most vulnerable, and they are doing it because they want to pretend to be fiscal conservatives. Minister, I say to you: if you want to be a fiscal conservative, protect those who are most vulnerable and stop wasting government money on initiatives such as the Tree of Knowledge, which is a dead tree that the Labor Party is spending $2 million on, or a dinosaur museum, which the Labor Party is spending $1 million on. Do not leave those who are most vulnerable alone. Put in place a dental scheme that helps those people with the most severe dental problems. (Time expired)

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