Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It may have been a good idea for the member for Solomon to have made some references to the needs of the Indigenous community that she represents in this place.

I would like to start by saying that one of the iconic reforms of the Whitlam government was the establishment of Medibank, a universal healthcare system that provides access to best-quality health care and medical services to all Australians, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Universal healthcare cover has since become the Australian way of life, a system of health care that is highly valued by our community because no-one in this country has ever had to worry about forgoing medical attention. Nor have they had to worry about becoming ill or dying because they cannot afford to go to the doctor. In fact, Australians, and in particular my constituents, have never had to be concerned about the size of their cheque books or wallets when it comes to health care.

That is why this MPI is very important, because it puts this government on notice that the opposition, together with the Australian people, will fight hard and will fight long to protect our universal healthcare system because we all believe that access to health care for all is a right and not a privilege.

Perhaps this government has not learnt from the Howard government's attempts to tamper with Medicare and bulk-billing in the past. Or perhaps they have learnt, as the member for Griffin said earlier on, that if you want to attack Australia's universal healthcare system you do not let the public know in advance. That is why they deceived the public in the lead-up to the last election by promising no cuts and no new taxes. My constituents are livid at the broken promises and are prepared to fight this government's attempts to change the universality of our healthcare system.

In the time that I have been the member for Calwell, the availability of bulk-billing and after-hours GP services, which are a lifeline for the health and wellbeing of my community, have always been a priority. The proposed $7 GP tax, the $5 hike in medicines, the $50-billion cut from the public hospitals, the $400-million cut from the dental programs and the shutting down of 61 Medicare Locals is going to have far reaching ramifications in my electorate. I am concerned about this because I have a very large multicultural community, an ageing community and the general socio-economic status of my electorate is such that any additional cost will be a financial burden to the point where my constituents will be forced to make choices about going to the doctor—choices they have never had to make before.

So when the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association reports that the effects of scrapping the bulk-billing incentives on diagnostics will mean that patients will have to pay a minimum of $90 for an X-ray or $380 for a CAT scan or $190 for an ultrasound or a person with lung cancer will have a minimum upfront payment of $320, my community and I become very alarmed. I have an electorate where, statistically, people are more likely to become ill than those in wealthier electorates. We cannot afford a situation where people cannot afford to go to the doctor.

I am particularly concerned about the impact of the GP tax on mammograms. Women in my electorate face paying a minimum of $160 for a mammogram, and especially alarming is the prospect that a woman with a lump in her breast will have to spend at least $280 upfront to have her cancer diagnosed. I spend a lot of time advancing awareness about breast cancer in this place and I know how important preventative measures are because early detection is critical to survival rates. I not only know how important it is for a woman to have a mammogram but I also know how difficult it is for many women, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds, to make that decision. We work hard to encourage those women, but I can tell you that the burden of cost will be a deterrent. One in nine women get breast cancer. When a woman gets breast cancer, a family and a community is affected. Increasing the costs of visits to GPs will be a deterrent and that is just not acceptable.

For those of us on this side of the chamber and for the Australian public at large, Australia's universal health care system is to be treasured and maintained; it is not to be undermined.

See this speech in context