Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Just as I was the best friend of Medicare as health minister, I am determined to be the best friend of Medicare as Prime Minister. All of our changes in health are designed (a) to protect the vulnerable, (b) to ensure that our health system is strengthened for the long term and (c) to guarantee that our health services get better and better over time. That is why the health minister is now engaged in very extensive consultations and dialogue with a whole range of medical professionals, and I can assure the member and the House that the government will not be taking further proposals forward in this area without the backing of the medical profession.

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