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

Thank you to the member for Bendigo for that question. When we came to government after a decade of cuts and neglect, bulk-billing was in freefall, and it was really hard to come across a doctor. That's why the member for Bendigo and the rest of the Labor team made such a clear commitment to strengthening Medicare, and I'm pleased to report that our record investments in Medicare now mean we have more doctors and more bulk-billing and that we're opening more Medicare urgent-care clinics.

In regard to doctors, in the past two years, we've seen the biggest increase in the number of doctors in Australia in a decade. I'm particularly pleased that the number of junior doctors choosing general practice training is up by 25 per cent. It's 12 months now since our record investments in bulk-billing took effect, with the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive. Bulk-billing had been 'in freefall', to use the words of the College of General Practitioners, so the first and most important objective of our investments was to stop the slide. For a Labor government, that was absolutely critical. Maybe it would not be for the Leader of the Opposition, who famously said there were too many free Medicare services, but, for Labor, bulk-billing is the beating heart of Medicare.

I'm pleased to report that we have stopped the slide, but, more than that, we've seen a rebound in bulk-billing in every single state and territory. In the seat of Bendigo, bulk-billing is up by more than eight per cent, thanks to the energetic promotion of our investments by the local member. Across the country, in just 12 months, there have been 5.4 million additional free visits to the GP, with 40 per cent of them in rural Australia. At the same time as that, almost 900,000 Australians have been seen at our Medicare urgent-care clinics, with every single one of them fully bulk-billed.

We know that Medicare is still under very serious pressure and that there is still much more for us to do, but these investments are making a real difference, with more doctors, more bulk-billing and more urgent-care clinics. But we also know that that progress is under serious threat from those opposite, who are a reckless opposition. The shadow Treasurer has made it clear that our additional investments in bulk-billing and the rest are on the chopping block if they win government. There will be no more support for bulk-billing. The urgent-care clinics are going to close. You just have to look at the Leader of the Opposition's record to see that he has form in this area. We remember that, when he was health minister, he tried to abolish bulk-billing altogether. He tried to cut $50 billion from our hardworking public hospitals. Just imagine how bad things will be if he ever gets his hands on Medicare again.

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