Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I think the minister has just confirmed to everybody who is listening that they have indeed done nothing since the election. Nothing has changed since the election. Nothing has changed since Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister, said that he had learnt his lesson. Only days after the election, he actually said, 'We have to do more to reaffirm the faith of the Australian people and our commitment to health and Medicare.' That is what the Prime Minister said just days after the election.

What have we seen since? We have not seen anything since the election from the government because the Australian people know that this government cannot be trusted when it comes to health policy in this country. They know they cannot be trusted to look after Medicare and to keep Medicare in public hands. They know this government cannot be trusted. They know it because everything this government has done before and since the election shows that this government is not committed to better health outcomes for Australians and they are not committed to keeping Medicare in public hands. Two months on we are still waiting for the Prime Minister to convince Australians that he is serious about what he said prior to the election and just after the election.

We all remember the election campaign, where they were so worried about Medicare and the fact that people understood what their plans for Medicare were that he had to get out the corflutes—and they were very reminiscent, actually, of the Gonski corflutes, and they will probably go the same way: they cannot be believed, just like the Gonski ones. Remember when he signed this corflute about Medicare just before the election. And what have we seen since the election?

This government has done nothing at all to restore Australians' faith in the Medicare system whatsoever—nothing. It has not taken off the rebate freeze on GP visits. We still have GPs in this country going round and talking to patients, putting up signs in their surgeries, saying that people will have to pay to go to the GP because of this Medicare freeze. This freeze is scheduled to be there for a long time, and this bulk-billing situation is going to get worse over that period if this government continues to do nothing. We have people on low incomes, people on concession cards and healthcare card holders who will be in a position where they are going to have to make a tough decision about whether or not they can afford to go to the doctor. Not only are they going to have to make a decision about whether they can afford to go to the doctor but, because of this government's plans, they are going to have to make a decision about whether they can go to the chemist afterwards and pick up their prescription. That is what you are doing to the Australian people—to low-income Australians and Australians on healthcare cards.

Mr Laming interjecting—

You seem to think it is funny. You seem to think that this is not real. It is real, and it is happening out there. We have already heard that one in 20 Australians do not go to a GP now because of the cost. Already we can hear this. Already it is happening, and you actually have done nothing about this. You are making it worse, and you do not intend to resolve this issue, clearly.

It is not only the freeze and the cost of prescriptions but also diagnostics and blood tests. People with chronic illnesses on a low income are going to have to pay up-front to get their blood test at their local clinic. They are going to have to pay up-front to find out whether or not they are getting better and to get their test results.

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