Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The last time our parliament sat for a sitting fortnight, last year, I reported to the House that the largest provider of bulk-billing services, primary care services and GP services in my electorate had announced it was moving to a private-billing model. There are 17,000 patients on its books and I was worried about the impact that that would have on the health outcomes of the people in my electorate.

Unfortunately, it has had a massive impact on the people in my electorate, just a few months after it was announced. I've heard people's stories. A person with a disability had been to see the GP but, because they couldn't afford to pay the gap fee because they didn't have the money on them that day, they couldn't book their next GP appointment. It's stories such as these, where people are not accessing GP services because they can't afford that $40 out-of-pocket gap fee, that really break your heart as an MP. It is not new—it's been happening in other clinics for a long time—but it does make me angry.

What makes me angry is that the previous government failed to invest in Medicare and left us in a position where we have people who can't access the primary health care that they need, because they can't afford gap fees. I welcome the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report and I look forward to finding out from our Minister for Health and Aged Care and from our government what we will be doing to help rebuild Medicare, because we have to. We can't afford not to for so many people in our electorates.

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