Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

They are heading north—it is very true. Premiums are heading north. Because the coalition worked on it for 11 years they were going down.

Finally, I speak briefly on mental health. The majority of funding will only become available in five years time, which will be close to the end of the next term of this government if it survives. In addition, hidden in the detail of the budget is $580 million cut in mental health programs coordinated by GPs. Next financial year, the government says it will provide $47.3 million in new funding for mental health. But it will cut $62.8 million from existing programs—when the cuts are taken into account, it turns out that Labor will only provide $583 million in new funding over the forward estimates. That is about a third of what the coalition is promising. This was not a good budget. It was dull, it was unimaginative, it hit the poor and it hit middle Australia.

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