Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Longman for his question. He takes a particular interest in our government’s health policies, having recently secured $7 million for 12 new dialysis chairs in his electorate. But he asks particularly about the Medicare levy surcharge. Members might recall yesterday that I enlightened the House as to the reasons behind the setting of the surcharge, introduced by then health minister Michael Wooldridge, who told us that this threshold was devised over a bottle of Jameson’s whiskey late one night. I thought it might be a good idea to let the House know about a few other comments that Dr Wooldridge has made about this surcharge.

When the surcharge was first introduced, he said:

High income earners will be asked to pay a Medicare levy surcharge if they do not have private health insurance. These are people who can afford to purchase health insurance.

Now we have the current-day Liberal Party with the firm opinion that someone who earns over $51,000 is a high-income earner. Never mind that somebody earning that rate is now earning less than the average wage; in the Liberal Party’s eyes, if you earn more than $51,000 a year, you are a high-income earner. You are rich if you are over Michael Wooldridge’s Jameson’s whiskey threshold—hardly something to be proud of. But I am informed that this morning in the House, a Liberal senator for Queensland—in fact, I think the same—

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