Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the last sitting period, I tabled a petition of more than 8,000 signatures from the Scullin electorate calling on this parliament to save Medicare and, in particular, to ensure that the government scraps the iniquitous GP tax. Since then, many more constituents have contacted me and signed the petition. They are not alone, of course, in standing up for universal health care and the fundamental principle that sick people ought not be discouraged from seeing their doctor. The AMA, the College of GPs, nurses and the Consumers Health Forum, amongst many others, all agree with my constituents.

Recent events show that the position of this government is not just hard-hearted; it is also short-sighted. The government's own Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have produced statistics today which demolish the government's claims. They have belled the cat on this ideological agenda. As the AMA president, Professor Brian Owler, has said, these figures actually show that healthcare spending is certainly not out of control and that there is absolutely no need for them to introduce a GP co-payment. And Professor Stephen Duckett, a former secretary of the health department, says that if just one person in 50 who cannot afford to see a doctor because of the GP tax ends up in hospital all savings would be wiped out. It is mean, short-sighted and, of course, a broken promise. But this GP tax and the threat to universal health care is also breaking a fundamental social compact that Australians treasure and need.

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