Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that 2024 marks 40 years since the introduction of Medicare;

(2) acknowledges this was one of the most transformative moments in Australian history and meant access to health care became a right that all Australians could share, regardless of their income or background;

(3) further notes that to mark this historic occasion and anniversary, the Government has launched the Stronger Medicare Awards in recognition of primary healthcare professionals from all corners of the country who have gone above and beyond to improve the lives of all Australians;

(4) congratulates the finalists and winners of the Stronger Medicare Awards;

(5) extends its gratitude to every general practitioner (GP), nurse, midwife, pharmacist and allied health professional working in primary care, for the work they do to keep our communities healthy;

(6) recommits to the fundamental belief that it is your Medicare card, not your credit card, which should guarantee access to quality health care; and

(7) further acknowledges that:

(a) as the Minister for Health, the current Leader of the Opposition:

(i) tried to introduce a tax on visits to GPs;

(ii) froze Medicare rebates;

(iii) cut $50 billion from our hospitals;

(iv) said there were 'too many free Medicare services'; and

(v) was voted by Australia's doctors as the worst health minister in the history of Medicare; and

(b) only the Government can be trusted to keep Medicare strong as we build Australia's future.

There is no higher priority for the Albanese Labor government than health, by strengthening Medicare and rebuilding general practice. Our government's 2024-25 budget provides $2.8 billion to continue to strengthen Medicare. This is in addition to the historic $6.1 billion investment in Medicare in the 2023-24 budget. We are taking the key steps needed to address the pressing challenges in our healthcare system.

The Albanese Labor government has delivered more than double the amount of indexation to Medicare than those opposite did in almost a decade. In 2023 we delivered the biggest indexation boost for Medicare in 30 years, and this year we have delivered the second-largest increase, with almost $900 million in additional funding for Medicare. We are delivering for Australians and we are delivering for my electorate of Solomon—for Darwin and Palmerston.

It doesn't stop there. Bulk billing was falling off a cliff because of the six-year freeze on Medicare rebates by those opposite, which is why we tripled—that's three times—the bulk-billing incentive from 1 November last year, in the largest investment in bulk billing in history. Since we tripled the investment, we've seen a turnaround in bulk billing, with a national increase of 1.7 percentage points in the first year, and 5.4 million additional estimated visits. My electorate saw an increase of 6.1 per cent in the bulk-billing rate. Obviously, this is incredibly helpful for families. We saw 61,000 additional estimated visits to health professionals in the Northern Territory.

Cheaper medicines is another area. Our government went to the election promising Australians that we would make medicines cheaper, and we are delivering on that promise. We have delivered the largest price reduction in the 75-year history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. People now pay no more than $31.60 for medicines on the PBS. We've introduced 60-day prescriptions for around 300 common medicines, meaning that millions of Australians are not only saving time but saving significant amounts of money as well. Australians have saved $1 billion on cheaper prescriptions so far. That is real cost-of-living help.

Urgent care clinics are making a real difference for patients and for busy hospital emergency departments. We have opened 77 urgent care clinics across Australia, including one in my electorate in Palmerston. There have been almost 860,000 visits to Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia, and all of those visits have been completely bulk billed, which helps with the cost of living, of course, and making sure Territorians and all Australians get the care that they need. We know that the opposition have never supported Medicare urgent care clinics, because they have never supported Medicare. The shadow Treasurer has made it clear that our additional investments in Medicare urgent care clinics are on the chopping block, and that is a choice that Australians will have next year. These urgent care clinics are benefiting our community, but, if those opposite were to be on this side of the parliament, that would all be in jeopardy, as they would close. I know this would be of a great detriment to our community in Darwin and Palmerston and across the country.

Finally, but most importantly, the workforce who run our system—like you, Deputy Speaker Freelander—are the backbone of our system, and I was delighted to see the Territory's midwifery group practice be recognised as Medicare Champions in the recent Stronger Medicare Awards, recognising them as outstanding health professionals. Since the Albanese Labor government's record investment in Medicare, our general practitioner workforce is growing. The health system added one new doctor every hour on average last year, with more doctors joining in the last two years than at any time in the past decade, and I'm really proud that, next year, Charles Darwin University will start having its own medical program. In the last two financial years, an additional 17,846 new medical practitioners have been registered to practice, which is really significant.

See this speech in context