Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of low-income families and pensioners in my electorate of Kingsford Smith, I implore the Abbott government to abandon its proposal to introduce a Medicare co-payment in the budget this evening. Over the last month 1,600 constituents in my community have signed a petition opposing the Medicare co-payment. This will not only undermine the universality of the Medicare system; it is also a broken election commitment by the Abbott government. It hurts those who are most vulnerable in our community—the pensioner with a crook hip or a dodgy knee, the young girl with a mental illness that requires regular trips to the GP for prescription medication. These are the people who will be hurt by this government tonight if it proceeds with a Medicare co-payment.

I recently met a pensioner in Pagewood who implored me to fight this proposal. He said that he has a fixed income for each two weeks. Making a couple of trips to the doctor and having to pay for that could blow his budget. These are the people who will suffer under a Medicare co-payment. Not only is it a broken election promise but also it is also bad public policy because it will see people delay going to the GP and wait till they are sicker and sicker until they require crisis care. That will push up our public health costs. It is bad policy. It is a broken election commitment under the guise of Australians doing their bit under a confected budget emergency, and I implore the government not to introduce a Medicare co-payment.