Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Medicare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again the Turnbull government has shown that it can't manage to roll out a straightforward program, with its bungling of the My Health Record opt-out proposal. Through its incompetence, the government has managed to turn what should have been a widely supported program into a much-criticised initiative that has lost the confidence of the Australian people. Even the government's own supporters have criticised the rollout. For those people who wanted to opt out, the process was equally frustrating.

The Turnbull government's track record of failures has caused considerable criticism and loss of faith in governments. In recent times, the Turnbull government has presided over debacles with the National Broadband Network rollout, the National Disability Insurance Scheme rollout, the 2016 census, its robo-debt mess and now its My Health Record.

The My Health Record proposal is an important national initiative. It's in the public interest. It's in the government's interest. The Turnbull government should now support Labor's suggestion to refer the My Health Record system to a Senate committee, listen to the many concerns that have arisen about the government's implementation, fix the problem and get a sensible initiative back on track.