Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

no cuts to health and pledging to continue with Labor's 50-50 hospital funding agreement. Do you know what the Liberal state government tried to do in New South Wales? They tried to privatise five public hospitals, including mine, at Wyong, on the New South Wales Central Coast—an area of need. Luckily, the community stood up and fought, so those public hospitals are still in the community's hands. In their first budget, they tore up Labor's agreement and reverted to the previous failed funding formula, resulting in a $57 billion cut to hospitals—$57 billion!

I worked in public hospitals in New South Wales for almost 10 years. I have so much regard for the dedicated, trained, expert staff who work there, who are working under enormous strain because of these cuts at a state and federal level. It has to be changed. Health can't wait in regional and remote communities.

In their first budget, the government tore up that agreement. They then made a further $10.4 billion in cuts to Medicare and other health programs, including to preventive health care.

What else did they try? The infamous $7 GP co-payment. On the one hand, the minister is spruiking listing things on the PBS; on the other hand, the government tried to increase the co-payment for medicines. You can't have it both ways. The PBS is about affordable medicines. The PBS is about universal access to medicines. It's outrageous!

In 2014, the budget also included the Medicare rebate freeze—which was later expanded, and persists to this day—ripping $3 billion out of Medicare. It also began the process of inviting the private sector to take control of the Medicare payment system, a plan Labor campaigned strongly against in 2016. In the wake of the public backlash against the 2014 budget, the Liberals abandoned some, but not all, of these measures.

Since then, Australians have had to endure endless cuts to health and hospitals. They particularly affect vulnerable people, particularly the young and the old in our community, those living with mental health problems and those in crisis. This government's shameless cuts to health and hospitals, at the same time as spruiking the PBS listing of medicines, is outrageous. It has to stop.

The only answer is a change of government. We need a change in attitude to health care in Australia, and the only answer is a change in government at both state and federal level. I'm standing here today as a health worker and as someone who is a former mental health worker. For the people of my community, we need a change and we need it now.

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