Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Labor aren't just environmental frauds; they are 'Medifrauds', because when they were in government they took an axe to Medicare and they took an axe to many different parts of our hospital system. Most significantly, and this is the greatest point of shame, they deliberately ignored the advice of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and refused to list seven significant drugs, including drugs for lung conditions and schizophrenia. This is an issue that should be a source of absolute and abiding shame for people who claim that they believe in Medicare. When they were in charge, when it was their watch and they were in the role, they failed on every possible front.

Let me run through a series of things. They cut Medicare for GPs by $664 million. We are still feeling the effects of that. They cut pathology Medicare payments by $500 million. They cut the Medicare safety nets by $450 million. They cut a billion dollars—and this is the fascinating thing—from dental care. We just heard a great peroration about the importance of dental care. One of the first things I did was to add $163 million to the dental budget to lift the Child Dental Benefits Schedule from $700 to $1,000. It was one of the very first things that I did—on my watch, in my time, as my responsibility.

What did Labor do? They axed the chronic disease dental care system. And why did they axe the chronic disease dental care system? Because demand was too great—too many people were accessing a form of public dental care. A billion dollars was being rorted! People with broken teeth, with damaged gums, with diseased mouths—these were the people who were rorting it. So they slashed a billion dollars from dental care and dental schemes, and, in particular, from the most vulnerable, the most at risk, and those suffering the most with chronic disease. And Labor say they are smart on dental care? This is the last place I would go if I were the Labor Party—at least out of a sense of decency if not a sense of shame.

But it was worse than that, because they also cut $2½ billion from medicines and delayed seven critical drugs—something that we will not do in our time. Our commitment is to honour and implement the PBAC decisions, which is precisely why we will follow the advice of the independent medical bodies, and why we struck and agreement with Medicines Australia to reinvest every dollar that we were able to secure by having statutory price reductions. That is why we have been able to list drugs such as Opdivo, a drug which was a $1.1 billion investment in reducing lung cancer and renal cancer.

Ms Madeleine King interjecting —

These statistics, as you call them, are human lives. Do you think we should, perhaps, not have listed Opdivo? The PBAC is an independent body, and we honour it. You denounced it, you rejected it and you dishonoured it. That is the second point of enormous shame on the ALP's side.

Epclusa is another extraordinary drug. You would not know, generally, that 800 people a year lose their lives to hep C. Those 800 people will now have a real shot at life with the listing of Epclusa. Epclusa helps up to 200,000 people in Australia who suffer from hep C. It covers all the strains of hep C, and, on our watch, we are bringing this in. Most significantly, perhaps of all of the different drugs we have been able to list, this one has an extraordinary outcome: it doesn't just treat; based on all of the medical advice, it is likely to cure 90 per cent of those who suffer from hep C. With 800 deaths a year, we are talking about, potentially, 700-plus lives. That is real medicine, delivering results for 200,000 Australians—and for all of their families and friends. There would barely be an Australian who doesn't know somebody with hepatitis C. In particular, it has an impact in so many different Indigenous communities. This is what medicine is about. This is what managing the health system is about. That is what you should do as a government, not delay seven fundamental medicines that, as advised by the independent medical authorities, should be listed.

Perhaps most significantly, Labor didn't just take an axe to the private health insurance system; they took a chainsaw to it. What did they say before they came into power? I will quote the former member for Gellibrand. She said:

… Federal Labor has made it crystal clear that we are committed to retaining all of the … Private Health Insurance rebates …

In government they took an axe to the private health insurance rebate. They saved $4 billion. They slashed $4 billion from the private health insurance rebate.

Here is what the member for Sydney said after they left government:

How did I pay for it? I paid for it by targeting private health insurance …

What does that mean? It means that when they next run for office they'll make noises about the fact that they like private health insurance, they want to do something about private health insurance, they'll protect private health insurance. But do you know what they'll do? They will slash it again. Why does that matter? Because if you slash private health insurance support you undermine the ability of Australians right around Australia to access private health insurance, and if you do that you put the private hospital system at risk. If you do that you put the public hospital system waiting list at risk. Waiting lists blow out. They are the real consequences of an alternative view which doesn't value the Australian healthcare system, with its public hospitals that are some of the best in the world, with its private hospitals that are some of the best in the world, and with a private healthcare system that provides an extraordinary balance.

Those opposite hate private health insurance. Let me repeat that: Labor hate private health insurance. How do we know that? Because when they were last in government that's what they did. That was the reality.

Ms Catherine King interjecting—

I am happy to say I love the private healthcare system. I do believe in private insurance, and we have protected it. By contrast, what are we doing? We are seeing Medicare funding increase every year, from $23 billion to $24 million to $26 billion to $28 billion. That's the reality of what's occurring on our watch, in our time. We are seeing hospital funding increase from $19 billion to $20 billion to $21 billion to $22 billion—each year, every year.

But I do want to deal with what our friends on the other side say in relation to hospitals. They talked for a long while about $57 billion, and people could have been forgiven for believing that they would go to the election with a $57 billion increase. But they took to the election only a $2 billion increase—a $55 billion shortfall. Out of $57 billion there was a $55 billion black hole on hospitals. Do you know what is interesting, Mr Deputy Speaker? That is a four per cent success or a 96 per cent failure. Anywhere in the country, four per cent out of 100 per cent is a failure—unless, of course, you happen to be filling in an HSU workplace health and safety survey for a few friends.

Most significantly, by contrast we have put in $7.7 billion of extra funding in the lead-up to and since the election—real funding increases which are seeing real projects being built right around the country. That is what we have done. Those opposite have a $55 billion black hole, which either they are not going to fill, as they didn't last time, or they were fibbing right the way through.

Ms Catherine King interjecting—

Here's a question: are you going to add $55 billion next time? The simple answer is: they're not. At the end of the day, what is occurring? We are making sure that Medicare is guaranteed. We have struck agreements with the AMA, the GPs and the Pharmacy Guild, and we have also struck agreements with Medicines Australia and the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association, the first time in Australian history that any government has had agreements with all of those bodies at the same time. When it comes right down to it, we have 'medifriends' on this side and 'medifrauds' on that side. If they ever get the chance again they will destroy private health. (Time expired)

Ms Catherine King interjecting—

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