Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Prime Minister. I ask whether the Prime Minister agrees with the President of the Australian Medical Association, Professor Brian Owler, who said in referring to this year's budget:

If the rebates don't rise, those costs have to be passed on in out-of-pocket expenses—we will see less bulk-billing, and there is the possibility of seeing a co-payment by stealth …

Won't the Prime Minister's four-year freeze on the MBS rebate mean patients will be hit with a new $8 GP tax every time they visit the doctor?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No.