Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Whoever you voted for at the last election, no-one voted to pay more to see the doctor and no-one voted to pay more for their medicines or for their tests. It is no wonder that the health minister, who gagged this debate, is not in here during the detail stage to defend it, because this is one of the most unpopular measures of the Abbott budget—and it is up against some pretty stiff competition. We are at a fork in the road where we decide whether Australia is going to retain a universal healthcare system or go down the American road where, when you get sick, the first thing that they check is not your Medicare card; it is your credit card.

It is very clear that if this were at all evidence driven this government would not be here with this bill because there is no evidence that Australians are being overserviced by medical practitioners. There is no evidence that our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is being misused. The cost of medication for chronic diseases and the sustainability of the PBS should be considered as part of an overall health policy. Yes, it is true that some costs are increasing as new medications come onto the market. But the government is not offering a vision or a blueprint for overhauling how we deliver health services. There is no vision for the workforce, chronic illness or managing aged care. All we have is fabricated panic over costs and budgets. This confected panic is taking this country in the wrong direction.

If they want to balance the budget, there are options available to the government. The government could go to the likes of Gina Rinehart and wealthy mining companies and say, 'You've got to pay the same tax on your fuel as everyone else in the country does when they go and fill up the bowser.' If you took that and other concessions from mining companies into account, it would generate $13 billion over the forward estimates. The government could go to the big banks and say, 'The IMF has said we are giving you somewhere in the order of $2 billion to $3 billion of subsidies every year. Perhaps you ought to pay for that. Perhaps you ought to contribute that.' That would give us $11 billion over the forward estimates. But no. It takes courage to stand up to the wealthy and the powerful and ask them to pay their fair share. A coward takes the axe to the young, the sick and the poor. That is what this Prime Minister has done, and this bill is an example of it.

The government is going to create a far bigger social and economic problem that all Australians will face in the future if this bill passes. We currently pay in this country the third highest out-of-pocket expenses in the OECD. By world standards the proportion of GDP that Australia expends on health is comparatively low, and it has remained low for decades. Australians already pay more than their fair share in meeting their health costs. Australians already have one of the best-performing health systems in the OECD. This government is suggesting, as part of a deterrence measure, that the cost of seeing a doctor should go up and the costs of getting tests and getting medicines should go up. It is $5 here and $7 there, but this government does not seem to realise that in one visit to the GP you can be whacked multiple times. There is a proposal for $7 extra to visit a doctor. If the doctor sends you off for a test it is another $5. If they send you want to get a prescription after that, there is another $5. If you do that a couple of times a year, taking your kids to get their vaccinations or other family members for tests, the costs will add up.

Over the last three years, we have had confected outrage from the Liberal Party about how they supposedly care about the cost of living. They come in here and say, 'We've got to get rid of the carbon tax because of the impact it is having on cost of living.' Then they turn around and in the same breath say, 'We are going to make you pay more to see the doctor. If you get sick, we are going to make you pay more for that. If you need a test, we are going to make you pay more for that. Meanwhile, we will let the likes of Gina Rinehart off the hook. We will let the big banks off the hook.'

There is a reason that around this country tens of thousands of people are out in the streets regularly marching against this budget. There is a reason why if an election were held today this government would be smashed. That is because, whoever you voted for, what is becoming now clear is that this government lied its way to power. It is the job of this parliament to hold the government to account. The Greens will stand steadfast in opposing this government's move to dismantle universal health care in this country.

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