Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to say thank you to the thousands of people who joined me in standing up for Medicare. We all know that cutting Medicare is in the Liberals' DNA, and what we're showing is that Macquarie will not stand for it. More than 5,000 people signed my online petition or mailed back with a strong message to the Morrison government: don't mess with Medicare. At every stage of life—young adults, pregnant women, families with toddlers or teenagers, more mature people and the elderly—people get why Australia needs a strong Medicare system. It's a matter of fairness, so that the quality of care you receive is not based on your postcode and doesn't need your credit card.

Of course, the cost of funding Medicare is increasing every year; there are more people, an older population and more complex treatments. But individuals are contributing more to the cost of their care than they ever have. The data shows that out-of-pocket expenses for people in the Macquarie electorate have risen dramatically since the Liberals came to office. The amount people spend when they visit a GP has gone up by 35 per cent, and the out-of-pocket cost of a visit to a specialist has gone up by 43 per cent. The Liberals have cut Medicare, time and time again, through changes to Medicare items and six years of rebate indexation freezes. It's what they do whenever they think they can get away with it.

Mr Speaker, parents of high school students are understandably asking questions about where younger teens fit in the government's vaccination rollout. Australia is slow to turn its focus to this group, and delta has made it much more urgent. Canada approved vaccination for 12- to 15-year-olds back in May. Other countries did it in June, and they're moving closer towards approvals for the under-12s. We still don't have approval yet for the 12-to-15 age group, except for children of that age who are immunocompromised or have underlying conditions, like severe asthma, diabetes, obesity and epilepsy, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. We're told that approval of vaccinations for the rest of the 12-to-15 age group is imminent. What isn't clear is whether and how they'll be prioritised, when 16- to 39-year-olds are the next on the list from the end of this month. It's still almost impossible to be vaccinated if you're a year 12 student living in the Blue Mountains or Hawkesbury, even though you can be in other parts of Sydney and even if you go to school in one of the areas of concern. How will this all work? Will teens go into schools or will parents have to get kids to hubs? And where there are no local hubs, like in my electorate, will they have to take them into more COVID affected areas simply to get vaccinated? Parents need to know the plan, principals and teachers need to know the plan so that they can plan, and kids absolutely need to know what the plan is to protect them.

Mr Speaker, most people have done their best to stick to the rules in this awful lockdown, but I do think there's a case for compassion. Richelle's mum, Sara, contacted my office after frustrations she was having in trying to get an exemption so her daughter could have her weekly hair wash. Richelle is wheelchair bound. She has limited and sometimes uncontrolled movement. She has a very understanding salon that looks after her. The salon owner had agreed to open up, wear personal protective clothing and, obviously, not have anyone else around so Richelle could have some dignity. This is a New South Wales matter, and I reached out to Blue Mountains state member Trish Doyle, who immediately asked the New South Wales health minister to consider this request. Two weeks later, we finally received an email refusing it.

There was a suggestion made that they consult another occupational therapist. This is what happened next. The OT suggested Richelle bend over the kitchen sink to have her hair washed. When Sara explained that Richelle's ability to bend at the neck like you or me just doesn't exist, then home modifications to the sink through the NDIS were suggested. Sara explained the time delay in doing this and the response was, 'Well, can you lay her out on the grass and use a hose?' 'Can you lay her out on the grass and use a hose'! This is a humiliating experience for the family and shows a deep lack of compassion. I know we're in lockdown—we all know we're in lockdown. I know that most people want to do the right thing, but I ask the New South Wales government to have a proper process in place where requests can be consistently and compassionately assessed in a timely way, with some dignity.