Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to outline this government's failure—failure to build the for-purpose quarantine facilities that have been needed for at least 12 months; failure to secure enough vaccine or run an effective rollout, including, sadly, aged-care residents and workers in the disability sector; and failure on robodebt. But the worst of the robodebt was their failure to learn, when they persisted time and time again with using a system that was flawed.

But worst has been their failure to learn about Medicare and the changes to the MBS that we heard about recently. In 2018 there were 70 changes, and we know they caused havoc; they caused chaos and they cost patients and doctors. Did the government learn? No, they didn't. Now we're going to roll out 900 changes. They expect a different outcome because they're incapable of learning. What are they doing again? Short time lines. What are they doing again? Misinformation or a lack of information. Who's going to pay? Patients and doctors. Ultimately, this could mean higher gap fees for patients all around the country.

I'll tell you who has learnt. We've learnt, over here. We've learnt that those sitting on this side created Medicare, and we will always act to protect Medicare. This government fails at every turn. They need to start learning.