Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to reflect on the comments of my colleague the member for Rankin and the Special Olympics Logan, and commend them for what sounds like good work. I also commend them on the fact that they have actually seen the member for Rankin shoot a basketball, because this has been a thing of myth. I have seen the member for Deakin and I have seen the member for Gellibrand do it, but I remain to be convinced about the skills of the member for Rankin.

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will be waiting a long time. I want to talk about the importance of young people being active and getting involved in sport. The health benefits are critical and preventative health is a big focus for people across the country. Primary health care is the best way that we can see movement on this front. I remain stunned that we have a government actively considering the application of a $6 co-payment on Medicare visits. In the Chifley electorate, 99 per cent of the services provided by GPs are bulk-billed and there is an important reason for that. People in Chifley deserve the health care that they need not the health care that they can afford. The stats that came out today about the impact of that are remarkable. If the co-payment is applied, Chifley families will be forking out $8.2 million. This is unacceptable and it should be stopped.