Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before the last election the Prime Minister announced no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS. For every clause in that statement the Prime Minister has delivered a broken promise. It is a remarkable achievement for a Prime Minister who made trust his number one election pitch, and what I can tell the Prime Minister today on behalf of the people of Chisholm is that he has failed on trust and he has failed on fairness.

Of the many complaints I regularly receive from across my electorate, one of the most common is people's fear about whether or not they or their families will continue to be able to get affordable and timely access to quality medical care when they need it. They are right to be concerned. They are living with a government that simply cannot be trusted to provide fair access to health care and absolutely cannot be trusted with protecting Medicare. In last year's budget, the Liberal government cut $60 billion to health funding. In Chisholm, that means that Eastern Health, which runs Box Hill Hospital and the Peter James Centre, has lost $1 billion from its budget over the next decade. Box Hill hospital has been recently refurbished by the state government and it is a marvellous facility, but how can it survive with $1 billion worth of cuts? Monash Health, which operates the Monash Medical Centre—a huge facility catering not only for people in my electorate but the whole of Victoria and indeed the country—has lost $1.7 billion from its budget. These are figures produced by the Victorian health department and they show just how devastating these cuts are to my community.

The budget has cut a further $2 billion, which includes a cut of $69.6 million to the dental and allied health budget for veterans. This is a devastating blow to veterans in my electorate, and I can promise the government it has not been welcome news in the RSLs across Chisholm. Having recently commemorated the Centenary of ANZAC, This cut sends a particularly galling message about the value this government places on the health requirements of our current veterans. As reports have said today, this is not just about veterans from World War II—these are veterans who are returning from conflicts and now and need ongoing health support.

The budget has also cut $20.1 million from dementia and aged care service funding and $40.2 million from the Aged Care Workforce Fund as part of a $100 million cut to the aged care budget. This is more funding loss to an already underfunded area and an area in crisis, and it is the completely wrong direction for our country where adequately caring for our ageing population is one of our most significant challenges. My electorate is home to a large retiree population—indeed, we have one of the oldest populations in the country. There are more 100-year-olds in my neck of the woods that in most places. I met a phenomenal one last night who probably is not going to need health services any time soon, but they are out there and they do need our support in the aged care sector. Indeed, my electorate is dealing with a woman who has multiple needs at the moment. She has been advised that she is on a waiting list for 12 months to get in-home care. If she waits that long, what is inevitably going to happen? She will end up in hospital and need more services. These are just ridiculous cuts that do not need to be made, and they are putting a greater burden on my community.

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