Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Isn't it great to hear those opposite with their impassioned speeches about how exciting this government is? It is an exciting time to be alive, according to the peacock Point Piper prince, the Prime Minister. Let us have a look at what is going on here today. What we see is that every single state and territory is suffering because of Malcolm Turnbull's decision to tear up the hospital funding agreement. The Prime Minister is leading a government that is systematically attacking Australia's healthcare system and putting Australians' health at risk. The $57 billion cuts to health funding mean that more patients are being forced into overcrowded public hospitals. For the Turnbull government and its view of the Public Service this means staff cuts in Medicare and the Department of Health. On the front line it means fewer doctors, nurses and other health staff. It means cuts to elective surgery, hospital beds closing and waiting lists blowing out.

Not content with cutting hospital funding the government then attacked bulk-billing by slashing rebates for pathology and scans and by freezing the rebates to GPs, ensuring that more people will head to the overstretched and underfunded emergency departments. Cuts to health funding mean massive costs being shifted to the states, medical centres and patients. It means additional stress for Australians who may not get the medical attention they need at the time it is required.

Managers of bulk-billing medical centres in my electorate tell me about the struggle to provide services to our communities. For regional areas in particular it is already difficult for medical centres to attract and retain doctors. I was amazed to hear that an overseas qualified doctor with permanent residency in Australia has greater restrictions put on their ability to work in medical centres than someone with temporary residency.

A medical centre in my electorate was forced to close down its after-hours service between 4 pm and 9 pm because of the doctor shortages. Where do these patients go? They go to the hospital, putting more pressure on already strained hospital resources. What happens when, with the cuts from the Turnbull government, a hospital is forced to close? Patients then go to the next available medical centre or hospital, increasing the pressure on those locations until they break. With local medical centres being forced to close due to doctor shortages, what outcomes can we expect?

We need to support our community medical centres and ensure that they have the staff and the procedures in place to meet their needs. Medicare is so understaffed that the delays in assessing provider numbers mean that one medical centre I spoke about earlier, which helps 130 patients each day, will be forced to reduce the number of patients being seen. This means that medical care for people in our community will be compromised. We are entering the cold and flu season. To have to close down a bulk-billing medical centre at its busiest times—after hours—is unsustainable. In the real world this is when most workers and employers are likely to seek medical attention.

The Prime Minister spoke about Medicare during question time today. It is pretty clear that he has given the house a lick of paint before he puts it on the market. How about we put some money into staffing Medicare to ensure that it is able to support GPs and medical centres—the front line of Australia's healthcare system? Instead, this government directly attacks Medicare services. It is putting personal patient data and the jobs of more than 1,400 Australians at risk. Selling Medicare means that its services will be delivered for profit, not for the interests of Australian patients. It means that the most critical, confidential and intensely private health information of Australians could be sent overseas. It is the Turnbull government making health care less affordable. This is the Turnbull government trying to make a buck out of Australia's healthcare systems.

Today's revelations confirmed yet again only Labor can be trusted to defend Medicare and Medicare will never, ever, ever be safe under the Liberals, regardless of who the leader is. This discussion today is backed up by Premier Mike Baird, that great socialist man in New South Wales. He also said that these cuts from his Liberal mates are 'a kick in the guts' and mean that the healthcare system in New South Wales is 'simply unsustainable' and said, 'The states do not have the capacity to meet the healthcare costs on their own.' Even Jill Hennessy has warned that these cuts will have a massive impact on Victorians who are sick and need healthcare treatment, because you simply cannot pull $17 billion out of a healthcare system and expect there not to be any consequences. This government has continued changing leaders but is failing Australians where it matters most—our healthcare system. (Time expired)

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