Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to also oppose this unfair medicines tax. This is essentially what it is. This bill increases the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme co-payment for general patients by $5 to $42.70 and by 80c to $6.90 for concessional payments. It is an unfair measure and a cruel measure as well. In fact, it is part of the government's unfair and cruel measures in their budget of broken promises. Before the election, we had all the Liberal and National candidates in my area in the north-coast of New South Wales running around and telling everyone: no cuts to health, no cuts to education and no changes to pensions—but that is exactly what we have seen. The budget will have a devastating impact on regional areas such as in my electorate of Richmond, particularly the $7 doctor tax and the petrol tax. There is also the $80 million that is being ripped out of health and schools, and of course the cuts to pensions. In my area we have a lot of older Australians. This has just been devastating. This latest attack—the increase in the PBS—is another cost increase for them, particularly on the back of the doctor tax. They are extremely concerned. A number of weeks ago I had a rally in my electorate, and over 300 people attended. One of the big concerns people had with the budget were the health cuts and how they were going to impact the elderly.

This bill is about the ideological views of those across the chamber in terms of dismantling Medicare and destroying access to universal health care. In regional areas, this will impact so much more harshly. It is one of the major issues that people have brought up with me since the budget. As we have said, Labor will oppose this $1.3 billion tax increase on medicines, because it will have a devastating impact right across this country. As we have heard, the COAG Reform Council report that was released in early June found that 8.5 per cent of people in 2012-13 delayed or did not fill their prescription due to cost. In disadvantaged areas, this figure is 12.4 per cent; for Indigenous people, it is 36.4 per cent. So we can see that people are making those very conscious choices about accessing medicines, depending on their capacity to pay—and that certainly goes against everything in terms of universal health care. The last time a Liberal-National government increased the tax on medicines, which was in 2005, prescriptions for in essential medicines fell by as much as 11 per cent. So this measure is really devastating for people right across the country but particularly for those in regional areas.

We have already seen so many people within the medical profession—many senior doctors, many nurses right throughout the health community—who have signalled their concerns about these changes to the health system. In my area, many people have expressed their concerns about them as well. The latest increase that we are talking about today, this medicines tax, comes on the back of all the other harsh cuts in the budget and will be devastating. When we were in government we made changes to the PBS that put it on a very sustainable footing; but what we are seeing from this government is just another tax being placed upon people. You saw under us that the PBS was growing in a sustainable way, and that happened because of the very good measures that we took. But when it comes to this government, they are saying that the sick should pay—and they are making them pay more, through increases such as in this bill. What is really devastating is that it is making those who are most vulnerable pay for it. The people who are most vulnerable are those who need to access health services but who will now have to pay so much more to do so.

It worries me that today we heard the Treasurer on radio saying we may need to look at other savings. What does that mean in terms of future cuts to our health and hospital systems? What else is he potentially proposing on top of things like the $7 doctor tax that he will be applying and this medicines tax? What other potential cuts will we be looking at? In question time the Prime Minister refused to rule out further cuts to hospitals and schools and family support. People have had grave concerns about the impact of this budget so far and they are particularly worried about possible future cuts. I am worried about those who need health care, particularly those in regional areas and especially those elderly people who do have much more complex care needs. We saw a report released the other day indicating that in areas like mine we have people who have a higher incidence of stroke, and that is because of the number of elderly people who live there. The very people who need to access health services regularly are those who have complex health needs, and these are the people who will be impacted on the most when they are going to their doctor or getting blood tests or X-rays done or are purchasing medicines. It is these people, who can least afford it, who will be devastated. That is why I am opposing this bill.

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