Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Poverty charges interest. There is perhaps no greater example of this in our healthcare system than a visit to the dentist. If you can't afford a filling today you will need to pay thousands of dollars more for a root canal in six months time—and I know this because of very recent lived experience. Earlier this year I noticed a toothache. I got an appointment at the local dentist and was told I needed a root canal on the problem tooth and a filling on another one. I knew this was going to be very expensive, even with private healthcare cover, which itself is a substantial expense on a former retail worker's wage. And expensive it was: around $3,000. My other option: have the tooth pulled out at a fraction of the cost. I sat in the dentist's chair thinking that my income and savings were about to decide whether or not I was able to keep my teeth in my head.

I'm not alone in this experience. Stories like this are true for countless Australians. People are forced to choose between raiding their savings and keeping their teeth. The problem tooth was so painful that I decided I had to address it first and leave the filling until I could save up enough money again. Flash forward to July and I go back to the dentist. I now have the funds to get the filling done, but I am told it's too late. In the absence of proper treatment, what was originally just a filling had now turned into another root canal. If I had the funds to have paid for both procedures up-front I would have saved myself money but, as a result of the barriers on my income, what should have been a cheaper procedure turned into another $3,000 one, all because I did not have the funds at the time that I needed them. The only reason I was able to afford a second root canal was being elected to this place. If I had not seen an increase in my income I would now be missing this tooth. This is a reality that Australians face every single day.

Medicare should not stop at your teeth, and economic class should not be a barrier to essential dental health care. It should not take getting elected to parliament for Australians to be able to afford the most basic healthcare services. Everyone in this country should be entitled to health care, including dental care, as a fundamental right.

The Greens were able to secure free dental care for kids under Medicare back in 2012, and it's time for a Labor government to work with us again to provide this vital healthcare service to all Australians regardless of their age. It is estimated that each year roughly 40 per cent of Australians skip going to the dentist because of the cost. Poor oral health doesn't just lead to tooth decay; it also leads to serious or even life-threatening infections, an increased risk of heart disease and complications with pregnancy. These consequences mean more trips to hospitals, putting even further pressure on our already overburdened and underfunded hospital system.

In fact, the Australian Dental Association has estimated that the avoidable costs to our country of poor oral health exceed $800 million each year. With pressure on our hospital system, costs of living spiralling out of control and many Australians in regional and rural areas not even being able to access public dental care, bringing dental care into Medicare is the path forward.

The independent Parliamentary Budget Office costed the Greens policy of bringing dental care into Medicare at $77 billion over the next decade. This figure absolutely pales in comparison with the $254 billion being given away through the stage 3 tax cuts. It is estimated that the top one per cent of earners in this country will reap at least 65 per cent of the wealth from these tax cuts. Meanwhile, middle and working class Australians are told, yet again, that the government just can't afford to make their lives easier. Well, we can afford it. It simply involves a shift in priorities: to value access to essential healthcare services over the need for further tax cuts to the wealthy.

Bringing dental care into Medicare would be a once in a generation reform that would give millions of Australians access to quality and affordable—even bulk-billed—dental care. It would be a legacy that has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of people across this country regardless of their background—to put more money into their wallets to spend on themselves and their families. It would create a truly universal healthcare system. Your bank balance should not determine how many of your teeth you get to keep. It is well beyond time that we ditch the stage 3 tax cuts and bring dental into Medicare.

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