Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was only one month ago to the day that we as Australians were celebrating the 33rd birthday of the Hawke government's revolutionary Medicare reforms. I could spend the rest of my five minutes discussing how great Medicare really is—how many lives it has saved, how many good people it has enabled to live normal and also extraordinary lives and how much good it has done for the Australian people—but I will not because we all know this, right? Even the opposition who have fought so hard over these past three decades to tear down our country's globally renowned universal healthcare system could not argue against this, because they know it too. They have used it and so have their constituents.

Despite their knowing that Medicare bettered the lives of 21 million Australians last year alone though quality and affordable GP visits, vital tests, scans and hospital treatments, they continue to pursue their remorseless attacks against it. They continue the trend of breaking pre-election commitments that has become commonplace in Liberal-National administrations. Right now, I think I need Medicare myself because this government's sheer neglect for the Australian people makes me sick. I am sure it makes the 170,000 constituents who make up my electorate sick too.

In mid-December last year, I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr Steve Osman-Toddhall. He practices as a GP at the Hub Medical Centre in Burpengary. It was just over three months ago that I spoke with him. Not six months prior to that, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised that, under his government, nobody would pay more to see the doctor as a result of the coalition's extended freeze on the Medicare rebate. I can tell you that this government has forced Dr Osman-Toddhall to cease bulk-billing new patients between 18 and 65 years of age and, in many cases, to drive up costs by more than $20. Sure, this might not mean much for the opposition. It might not mean much for the minister or the assistant minister. But for the people of Longman this can mean the difference between sickness and health.

Do you know what the median total personal income in Longman is? It is $27,000 a year. Think about that for a moment. That is just over $500 per week. The ordinary, hardworking members of Longman struggle to put food on the table as it is. How are they expected to respond to the unforeseen medical costs that undoubtedly surprise us all from time to time? I was speaking with a local woman, Christine, the other day. She is a resident in my electorate. She reached out to me. She was appalled and disgusted by this government's decision to force her elderly mother to pay an extra $83 every couple of months to have a special heart blood test. She needs this test; it is vital for her health. She used to receive it under Labor's Medicare. The Liberal government have turned their backs on this poor woman. They would much rather line the corporate pockets of their friends with some questionable tax cuts. It is not just this elderly person in my community who needs Medicare either. It is everyone.

Let me quickly return to that income that I talked about earlier—that $500 a week. $500 a week is the median personal income for people in my electorate. That figure is going to drop very soon, too, if this government gets its way, because that $500 a week includes income secured through penalty rates for some people who live in my electorate. Up to 700,000 Australians are going to be affected by this government's unfair, unacceptable and undeserved cuts to penalty rates. Just imagine if you were counting on that extra income to pay the exorbitant medical fees that are being inflicted by the Prime Minister. Imagine that you are on $500 a week and part of that money comes from penalty rates and they are going to be cut.

I know the opposition across the floor feel threatened by Medicare. It is the pride of our nation and the envy of countries all over this world. It signifies one of Labor's greatest achievements. We, the Labor party, the architects and protectors of Medicare, will not sit by and watch this government put people's health at risk.

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