Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw. Those opposite have misled parents. Those opposite have promised dental services to 3.4 million children, but this is to be paid by $2.7 billion worth of unfunded promises. As I said earlier, the Labor government has a $120 billion black hole and it is getting bigger.

Under this new scheme adults will be forced to suffer from untreated dental problems for an additional six months. My constituents are going to have to wait 19 months for a Medicare dental scheme. This is again to be paid for by an unfunded $1.3 billion program to be given to the state and territory governments to be spent through public dental services. No longer will adults be able to obtain dental services through private providers. The Labor government just does not understand. There are over 650,000 Australians on the public dental waiting list. It cannot handle this bad Labor policy.

Earlier in the week Minister Plibersek claimed that the new scheme would crack down on millionaires who benefit from the current Chronic Disease Dental Scheme. I am here to inform the minister that the National Advisory Council on Dental Health has reported that 80 per cent—yes, 80 per cent—of all services provided under the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme have gone to those on concession cards, so hardly millionaires. It just goes to show how out of touch and ill thought out the minister's scheme is.

While Medicare is a universal scheme funded by all Australians through the Medicare levy, it is evident that the dental schemes have mostly been embraced by those on low incomes. These people on low incomes already struggle with huge cost-of-living pressures through the government's waste and mismanagement, its overspending and of course its carbon tax. Now they will have to forgo treatment or go onto the already exhaustive public dental waiting list. As I have already mentioned, with over 650,000 other Australians, it is a huge waiting list. I understand that currently in Darwin people on the public dental waiting list are generally waiting around 13 months for just a basic check-up—13 months.

The Labor government should be held accountable for their actions. The scrapping of the successful Chronic Disease Dental Scheme is going to put even further pressure on the public dental waiting list. I ask that the Labor government and the Greens to explain to the people of my electorate of Solomon why they will be forced to wait even longer now for dental care. Those currently on the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme will be forced onto public dental waiting lists. I ask again: what are the real motives of this Labor government?

I am saddened to say that this reminds me of what I spoke about in the House earlier this week, how the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments had played politics with the lives of dementia patients and their families. They are doing exactly the same now with the dental health of thousands of Territorians and thousands of Australians. I understand this government has had many failures, like the Gillard government's Building the Education Revolution scheme and revoking highly successful policies like our border protection policies, but this has gone too far.

This government, these people opposite, are now playing with the health of the people of my electorate and, as I said, people all across Australia. Playing politics with the dental health of Australians, forcing Territorians to suffer for almost two years while they wait for this bill to commence, is reaching a new low, even for this government. This is only further proof that the government have completely lost their way. Not only are they unfairly forcing Australians to wait 19 months for Medicare funded dental treatment; there is no assurance that at that time there will be adequate infrastructure or an adequate workforce to support the dental treatment Territorians and other Australians need.

Why is the Labor government shutting down a successful scheme that provides real dental assistance to Australians and replacing it with an unfunded and inadequately supported program? The government does have a lot to answer for. The lack of support Labor will provide to this scheme is another clear example of how completely out of touch they are with Territorians and the wider community. They have made another promise of money, $225 million, to develop infrastructure to support this unfunded scheme. Where is this money coming from?

I support the disallowance motion and I think that the government has done the wrong thing. We are calling on the Independents who represent regional areas to support this disallowance motion to make sure regional Australia has the appropriate dental services and to continue with a program that has proven to work.

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