Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A story that shall stay with me forever occurred during the 2016 federal election campaign. I spoke with an elderly resident of Mount Waverley, a suburb in the heart of the electorate of Chisholm. This lovely man was emotionally distraught. Five days prior to my speaking with him, his wife had been diagnosed with cancer. A few days later, in the dead of night, he took a phone call from someone, likely a Labor union campaign worker, who said to him that the Liberals were going to sell Medicare. 'Tell me it's not true, Julia,' he said, the emotion palpable in his voice. I spent a good half an hour reassuring him that Medicare was guaranteed, and wished him my very warmest wishes for his wife's recovery.

Labor followed up this landline telephone campaign designed to attack the elderly with a text message on election day to thousands of Australians—and they were impersonating Medicare. Labor's 'Mediscare' campaign was a blatant, cruel, deceptive lie and political propaganda of the worst kind. It also did harm and incited very real emotional fear in people. All Australians, like this lovely resident, will now be protected from such deliberately deceptive behaviour with the passing of laws that make it a criminal offence to impersonate a Commonwealth entity. Labor should reflect on their disgusting behaviour with respect to 'Mediscare' and the irony of them now supporting the passing of legislation that would regard Labor's 'Mediscare' actions and tactics as a criminal offence.