Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

The CDDS is flawed. It is not means tested. It has no restrictions on the type of work that can be performed. It has been complained about at an unbelievable rate. The amounts that have been overcharged are unbelievable. Why are those opposite defending such a flawed scheme? Because Tony Abbott introduced it when he was health minister. They need to defend the Abbott record. If they came into parliament and saw a scheme that was as badly abused as this they would never defend it. A scheme that was supposed to cost $90 million a year now costs $80 million a month. That is the design that Tony Abbott left us with.

Our scheme is going to be available from 1 January. We made available $515.3 million in the May budget for the states and territories from January. What do they need to do to get that money? All they need to do is agree to maintain their existing effort and show us what they are doing with the money. We are not even asking them to increase their own effort. We are just making sure that they at least maintain their existing effort. That effort is not clear in states like Queensland that are actually cutting dental services at the moment. The latest news out of Queensland is that dentists have been sacked at Brisbane hospital, dental services have been downsized at the Royal Children's Hospital and $1.4 million has been cut from the Metro North oral health budget. The member for Dickson, the shadow minister for health, has congratulated the Queensland health minister on that, saying that they are getting Queensland Health back on its feet and have done what Liberal National governments do. Yes, that is right, they have done what Liberal national governments do: they have cut services. Of course, we need to make sure that the states and territories at least maintain their current effort, but that money is available from 1 January, January this year, as soon as the states and territories sign up.

Those opposite have raised the issue of waiting lists. They talk about 650,000 people being on waiting lists. That is an exaggeration; there are around 400,000 people on waiting lists. But that proves that the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme is a flawed scheme. How can you be spending $1 billion a year and still have 400,000 people on waiting lists for public dental care? Is this some sort of alternative universe where people can think it is okay to spend $1 billion a year and still have 400,000 people around Australia on dental waiting lists? By their own admission this is a flawed scheme.

I will return to the history. The Liberals closed down the Commonwealth Dental Health Program. For 10 years they did nothing on dental care until at two minutes to midnight they introduced the flawed Chronic Disease Dental Scheme. The Liberals and Nationals are in here defending the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme, saying they will not close it down. They have also said that they want to support our children's dental scheme. I am glad they do. It is a massively popular move. We know that. The same people who come in here day after day saying: 'Where's the money coming from?', want to spend the $2.7 billion on kids and presumably on the other measures—the workforce measures and the public health measures—as well. So that is the $4.1 billion we announced in August plus, presumably, the half a billion dollars we announced in the May budget—that is a $4.6 billion investment by this government in dental health. I presume they are going to support the whole package. And they want to spend another $1 billion a year on the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme. These are the same people who come in here all the time saying, 'Where's the money coming from?' Where is the money coming from to allow you to add $1 billion a year to the bill? Where is the money coming from? Is this a firm commitment? Will you take this commitment to the next election? How will you pay for it on top of your $70 billion black hole?

There is no question that the CDDS is a flawed scheme, but I remind the House once again that this is not just about closing the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme; this is about what we replace it with. We are replacing it with a better scheme. We replaced it with half a billion dollars in the May budget: $345.9 million over three years for a waiting-list blitz, $10½ million dollars for oral health promotion, $35.7 million for expanding the voluntary dental year graduate program, $45.2 million for funding a graduate year program for oral health therapists, and rural and remote infrastructure and relocation grants for dentists. Those members who have rural and regional electorates should really think about this, because there are many places where you cannot see a dentist, even if you have money in your pocket, because there aren't dental services in those communities. We are proposing to do something about that. The Chronic Disease Dental Scheme does nothing about those workforce and infrastructure measures. And there will be $450,000 in the budget over three years for supporting the pro bono work that dentists do so well. What about what we announced in August? We announced $2.7 billion for 3.4 million Australian children who will be eligible for subsidised dental care. The member for Paterson said he is going to go back to his electorate and talk about the competing plans. He should tell the 18,060 children in his electorate and the member for Dickson should tell the 18,304 children in his electorate, who will be eligible for this free dental work, for whom it will be as easy to see a dentist as it is to see a GP now, how he is going to find the money to support both the rorted, wasteful Chronic Disease Dental Scheme and this new proposal that supports them, that gives them a firm basis for better oral health of their whole life. He should tell them what he is going to do to find that money.

What about the $1.3 billion extra for extra services for adults on low incomes including pensioners, concession card holders and those with special needs? All of them will have better access to public dental. We announced in August $225 million for dental capital and workforce measures that will make it easier to see a dentist in areas right across Australia where currently it is impossible or difficult to see a dentist.

The member for Dickson made a range of completely unsubstantiated comments including this idea that there is a 19-month gap. In the budget measures we announced in May, the spending can start in January. Every single person in this place understands that there are people, like the cancer patients mentioned, that have a desperate need for care. And those people who have income eligibility and who have that need for care will be seen in the public system. These issues and concern for the transition have been raised with me by my Labor colleagues and have been raised with me by the Independents Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie. I have been able to reassure them that the objectives and the outcomes of our agreement with the states will provide additional services for approximately 400,000 patients on public dental waiting lists, with a particular focus on Indigenous patients, patients at high risk of major health problems and those in rural areas, and expand the capacity of the public dental system to provide those increased services.

There was no concern from the Liberals when there was a 10-year gap caused by Peter Costello's closing of the Commonwealth Dental Scheme. There was no concern from them at all when that happened. There was no concern from the member for Dickson when services in his own state, in Brisbane were cut so viciously by the Campbell Newman government.

I conclude by saying this is not just about the closure of the CDDS. This is a choice of two alternate visions. Do you keep open a rorted, untargeted, overblown scheme or do you focus on kids, generations of oral health and public patients who need this support the most?

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