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

I am delighted to speak today because I've got a simple message: you cannot trust Labor to list medicines because you can't trust Labor to run the economy. How do we know this? Last time they were in government they blew the budget and the economy, and they stopped listing medicines. Seven medicines were deferred by the then assistant Treasurer, the now Leader of the Opposition—and the would-be next Labor Prime Minister—on the basis that, due to fiscal circumstances, the government would 'defer medicines until fiscal circumstances permit'.

Let me translate that budget paper to what it means for ordinary Australians. It meant that Australians were unable to get a medicine approved by the PBAC, approved by the medical experts, because of a decision by government to stop listing medicines for conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, endometriosis, schizophrenia and for women engaged with IVF. These were conditions for which the previous government, with the same people in charge as now—a Leader of the Opposition who was the assistant Treasurer, a Deputy Leader of the Opposition who was a health minister under that government and a member for Ballarat who had a certain history with regional issues and now wants to administer a $100 billion health budget—wanted to stop listing medicines. That is the reality.

You can't trust Labor to list your medicines because you can't trust them with the economy. Their track record proves this. They deliberately and consciously overrode the advice of the medical experts and hoped that it would never be realised that they were denying Australians vital medicines—after they had reached agreement on price with the companies in question. That is extraordinary and something which should never be repeated in Australia.

Let me turn to Medicare. I'm really proud of what we've done in our time, on our watch, in relation to new items being listed on the Medicare schedule. More than 200,000 Australian women a year will have access to 3D mammogram screening, there will be new MRI tests for prostate cancer and there will be better access for renal dialysis in remote and rural Australia, with a particular focus on Indigenous communities. What does that translate to? Over the current four-year period we go from $25 billion to $26 billion to $27 billion to $29 billion of investment in Medicare per year. Each year, it will travel by more than a billion dollars—a $4.8 billion increase at the last budget alone.

Listening to Labor you would think, 'Gosh, they must have had a higher figure.' No. When I looked at the figures for Labor in 2012-13, their last full year, it was a budget of $19.5 billion for Medicare. By the time this forward estimates period is over it will be $29 billion, almost a $10 billion increase in outlays on Medicare. Each year, every year, there is record investment and record increases. What we're seeing is each year, every year, a record investment in and record figures for Medicare.

What is very interesting is they did mention the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. I do actually happen to have a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It's their 2016-17 review of health expenditure. There was something I hadn't quite realised, and I apologise for not having picked this up earlier. But I'm enjoying my research, as the member of Ballarat encouraged me to do, looking to the past. I was looking at some of Labor's figures. I have been encouraged by the member for Ballarat to look back at the recent history. What did the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare say in relation to table 3.3 on total health expenditure in 2012-13? It was $64 billion. That's a reasonable figure. The growth in that year, for Labor's last full-year budget, was minus 2.6 per cent. So they cut health in their final budget dramatically. In their last full year, it was minus 2.6 per cent—a $1.7 billion cut. That was their watch, their time and their responsibility. Of all of the topics they could have picked to talk about, to have a 2.6 per cent cut to the overall health budget in their last full year in government, is a classic Labor con. They talk about a belief in Medicare and, yet, the health budget in their last full year was down by $1.7 billion. It was down by 2.6 per cent. That's not our figures. It's from the Institute of Health and Welfare to which they referred themselves.

That brings me perfectly to the question of bulk-billing. The bulk-billing rates are up. Not only are they up; they are up significantly and dramatically. Where are they now? They were at 82.2 per cent under Labor. They're at 86.1 per cent now. What does that mean? It means, for every 100 visits to the general practitioner, 86 per cent of them are completely free to the patient. They pay no outgoings whatsoever. Every 100 visits, 86.1 per cent are free. For some reason the member for Ballarat seems to dispute these figures. I also did a little bit of history. I looked at the last time there was Labor commentary from a Labor minister using exactly the same methodology and exactly the same processes. That was on 13 May 2013. The then Minister for Health, the current member for Sydney, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, crowed about bulk-billing rates for GP services reaching a new record high of 82 per cent in the March quarter—the highest rate in Australia's history, at the time. And, yet, this is using exactly the same figures and exactly the same comparator. I haven't heard the member for Ballarat say that it was all a fraud when Labor was in government. It's the same figures and same methodology, unchanged through Medicare and unchanged through the assessments. So what we see is that we've gone from 82 per cent under Labor to 86 per cent under the coalition. That's the reality. Bulk-billing rates are up almost four per cent under this government.

What that means is that fewer patients are having to pay to go to the doctor. Fewer patients are having to pay. But, even for those who are, right now we're embarking on a reform that's never occurred in Australia. The Chief Medical Officer is bringing together the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, physicians, the AMA, GPs and others to ensure that we have a transparency model for out-of-pockets, which has never occurred in this country on this scale. That's something that we initiated. It's something that I requested the Chief Medical Officer to commence and it's something which will have, I believe, an important and critical impact and will be a historic step forward in transparency.

Then we go to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. I couldn't be more delighted to discuss this topic. Bizarrely, Labor has started to question whether or not listings have actually occurred. I just want to take you to one of the more embarrassing interchanges last night, when Senator Watt tried to deal with this in estimates and Senator Dean Smith asked the departmental people exactly how many listings there were. He said, 'Did I hear, Ms Shakespeare,' the deputy secretary of the department, 'in your evidence, that there have been 1,900 new or amended listings that have taken place since 2013?' Ms Shakespeare said, 'I'll just check that number for you.' And I do apologise to the House; I haven't been completely correct—I had been saying 1,900. The evidence from Deputy Secretary Shakespeare was, '1,920 new and amended listings.' Dean Smith said, '1,920 new or amended listings have taken place since 2013; that's correct?' 'Yes, October 2013.' Dean Smith said: 'That's very specific—October 2013. So that could translate—and maths was never my strength—but that could translate to one per day?' Deputy Secretary Shakespeare from the department said, 'That's new and amended listings, averaging 31 per month, approximately one per day.' Even when they are trying to make it up, they can't get it right. So what we see is that, yesterday, we had new medicines which will help 4½ thousand patients with macular degeneration and with issues such as blood clots in the eyes. This is about giving 4½ thousand patients access to medicines that will transform their lives. In the end, we're transforming lives, we're investing in Medicare and we're giving Australians security for their health future.

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