Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are still people waiting on the list to get their teeth fixed. There are people who cannot afford private health insurance, who perhaps do not have a chronic illness but have worked all their lives, paid their taxes all their lives and are now on a low income or a pension and are still waiting on that list. The scheme that Abbott put up in 1997 does nothing for those people. Our scheme will ensure that they get the services that are required.

We raised this issue continually, over and over again, when we were in opposition and when I was a candidate, and the answers were always the same. It was always: 'No, no, no. We are not interested in dental care. It has nothing to do with us. It's a state issue.' I am very interested to see where this interest in dental care has come from all of a sudden.

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