Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

As the Treasurer said, we're so delighted to have the member for Gilmore back with us in the parliament. She has been a huge advocate for better health care on the South Coast. At the last election she argued very strongly for an urgent care clinic in her region, and already the Batemans Bay Medicare urgent care clinic has seen almost 5,000 patients—every single one of them fully bulk-billed for their service.

In the lead-up to the election, she was also one of many members now on this side of the parliament reporting growing concern in their community about the falling rates of bulk-billing for GP visits. Indeed, while the former government refused to publish the bulk-billing rates for GP visits in particular, when we came to government it became clear bulk-billing was in freefall. The reason why was just as clear, frankly: a decade of cuts to and neglect of Medicare—a deliberate program from the Liberal Party to undermine bulk-billing. Remember, the father of the modern Liberal Party, John Howard, described bulk-billing as 'an absolute rort'.

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