Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the Health Insurance Amendment (Extended Medicare Safety Net) Bill 2014. I rise for the people in my electorate who have experienced frustration from the health system, the people who have endured the hardship through the many years of Labor's mismanagement of our health system and the people who need the help the most but who were made to suffer the most inhumane experiences to access the health system.

I cannot believe I just listened to a speech by the member for Shortland, which typifies the hypocrisy that occurs with Labor. She attacked this bill. But this bill was a Labor budget measure put in the last Labor budget. I did not hear one single word from the member for Shortland after that Labor budget on those measures. But here today she criticises this government for implementing a budget measure put into place by the former Labor government.

This bill will amend the Health Insurance Act 1973 to increase the general extended Medicare safety net thresholds and introduce minor administrative changes. These measures are a significant change to the Medicare system. It is important to note, as I said, they were a commitment taken by the previous Labor government in their last budget. As I said, to hear the member for Shortland blame us for this situation is hypocritical to say the least. She should come in here and apologise to the people.

The previous Labor government put this measure in place to save $105.6 million and it was included in the forward estimates, so the current government is compelled to implement this change or make cuts in other areas. It is because of the financial system that was bequeathed to us by the former Labor government that we have no choice but to implement this change. We would not be in this situation if Labor had not left us in such an awful deficit position. The debt is mounting by $1 billion a month just in interest payments.

Families would not have to reach into their already stretched household budgets to fund essential treatments and keep their families healthy, pain-free and, in some situations, alive. As I said, it was implemented in the final Labor budget. For the member for Shortland to come in here has proved again she is nothing short of a hypocrite who will say and do anything to satisfy the needs of her constituents without telling the truth. I know Australians are already finding the current budget situation tight but we did not push this bill forward.

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