Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday the Prime Minister said he was totally committed to Medicare, but this morning it was revealed in a Senate estimates committee that the Prime Minister established a 20-person task force at a cost of $5 million to taxpayers to oversee his radical plan to privatise Medicare. Isn't this just another case of the Prime Minister saying one thing and doing something completely different?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The scare campaigns come thick and fast from the opposition. The government is totally committed to Medicare, as every member of this House knows.

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gorton is warned.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The examination of a more efficient way of transacting with citizens and patient-consumers is obviously a high priority for this government. It should be a high priority for any government. We are in 2016. This is the 21st century. People are transacting with their banks and e-commerce—eBay, Amazon and so forth. They are doing all that on their phones. They should be able to deal with Medicare like that as well.

This move into the digital world is hardly a secret. It was actually announced in the 2014-15 budget. So obviously the Leader of the Opposition thinks it was hiding in plain sight. There was an expression of interest called for in August 2014. The current request for quotations is all part of a carefully considered approach. Any outsourcing would apply only to back-office operations and the administrative actions—

Ms King interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat will cease interjecting.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

of making payments to individuals and providers. It would not include setting fees or rebates and it would not have any impact on the cost of health care other than that it may result in services being—

Ms King interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat is now warned.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

delivered more efficiently.

The goal, as with all of our digital transformation measures in the whole digital transformation agenda, is not to cut costs, although we believe that a customer focused approach which ensures that citizens can engage with government—not just with Medicare but with every aspect of government—more readily, more simply and more conveniently will inevitably not simply result in a much better quality of service and level of engagement from customers. It will also in due course result in cost savings not least on the side of business and the consumer. After all, the complexity of dealing with government and Medicare imposes real costs on businesses and families. So, really, the Leader of the Opposition is going to have to do better than this. He knows we are committed to Medicare and, by the way, we are committed to the 21st century. He plainly is not.