Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In fact, the chamber is clear. There are only three opposition members left, plus a couple who are leaving. Clearly the opposition do not think this is an important issue. It is lucky that the government is committed to the sustainability of Medicare.

Medicare costs this country over $19 billion a year. In fact, Medicare has doubled in the last decade, from $8.6 billion in 2003-04 to $19.1 billion in 2013-14. Over the next decade Medicare will see an increase of about 80 per cent, with spending projected to reach $34 billion by 2023-24. If you average that out across every single Australian taxpayer—the first $2,000 tax you pay goes towards paying for Medicare. I think that that is a great thing, but it is a lot of money. Can we afford to continue to pay that amount in the future and then see that much of consolidated revenue go to Medicare? In 10 years time the $2,000 will have blown out to $4,000 a year for every single taxpayer. How are we going to look after the sustainability of Medicare for our children and our grandchildren? In fact, we are stealing from our children and our grandchildren.

If Labor is truly honest about Medicare they need to plan and tell us their vision for this blow out. How are they going to plan for the blowouts to Medicare as our population ages? It is crunch time. It is time for the responsible government that we are to make decisions to make Medicare sustainable well into the future.

Those opposite have already straddled us with what is projected to be a $300 billion debt cheque. Labor has made such a mess already of the budgets that we are cleaning up. We need to look at how we are going to support Medicare. We need to look at the health of future generations.

I commend the Treasurer, the Minister for Health and the former Minister for Health for establishing a medical research fund. In Western Sydney we are building a medical research facility. We are pairing with international institutions such as the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, with which we will be looking at how you can fuse Eastern and Western techniques. The medical research fund will provide Australia with the opportunity to have a healthy population and also to lead the world in medical research. It is important for Australia. It is important for jobs. It will create jobs for people right around our country. The science park we have built in Luddenham will mean 12,200 jobs in the medical research space. There will be a further 10,000 students who will be studying medical research. Sydney Science Park in Werrington will create a further 6,000 jobs in medical research.

Those opposite are not interested in technology. They are not interested in looking after the country. They are not interested in how they are going to make Medicare sustainable well into the future. They are not even interested in their own MPI. Out of the entire opposition there are only three members in the chamber. This is their question. They wanted to know the answers. The government is here. The government is telling them exactly what it is working on. But those opposite are clearly not interested. All they are interested in doing is grandstanding and pretending they care, when what they are going on with is absolutely useless.

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