Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Access to quality, universal health care is vital for all Australians if they are to live a prosperous life. Universal health care, ultimately, is an economic issue. So that all Australians, regardless of their postcode, their socioeconomic status or their bank balance could have access to world-class health care, Labor proudly created Medibank under the Whitlam government. A conservative government sold it with the same kind of reflex which exists among conservative governments now, and Medicare was then introduced by the Hawke government. Medicare is the foundation of our health system. It affords health care to all Australians at the swipe of a Medicare card, not just to those who can afford to swipe their credit card. Without Medicare, many constituents would not have access to vital healthcare services.

Last year, in my electorate of Corio, 80 per cent of all medical interactions were bulk-billed—that is, eight in every 10 visits to a GP or dentist, diagnostic-imaging services and pathology orders were last year bulk-billed. According to Medicare Locals statistics reports of the Barwon area, for the latter half of last year there were over 530,000 professional medical interactions bulk-billed. This includes close to 350,000 consultations with a GP and almost 40,000 consultations with specialists bulk-billed by Medicare. Further, under the dental benefits schedule, over 15,000 services for the last six months of last year were bulk-billed. In this Barwon region, there are currently approximately 1,000 medical professionals who bulk-bill their patients through the Medicare system.

I have done a number of Facebook posts around Medicare and the response has been extraordinary. From this, I was contacted by Mr James Wallace, a constituent living in my electorate. When asked about the importance of Medicare for both himself and his family, he said: 'Medicare is the reassurance that my government has my back and, the most important thing to me of all, my family's backs, when we need it the most.' Mr Wallace, like many hundreds of constituents who have sent messages of support for Medicare to me via letter or email or through Facebook, knows the importance of Medicare. For the most part, Australians are aware of the security which arises from knowing that, in an unforseen circumstance where a member of his or her family becomes unwell, Medicare is available to provide medical assistance and ease the financial burden that would otherwise exist.

Not long ago, the Abbott government's instinct was to sell Medicare; now the Turnbull government wants to privatise it. Whilst it is unclear exactly which direction the government endeavours to take Medicare in, one thing is certain: under this current government, Medicare is not safe. Without Medicare, constituents like Mr Wallace will be on their own in circumstances where they require medical assistance. For many, this means they will go without the vital medical assistance that they need. In modern Australia, this is completely unjustifiable.