Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor's homegrown inflation crisis, driven by government spending, is leading Australians to neglect their health. Dining out has gone and people are choosing between heating their homes and eating a meal. Now, in desperation, they are also sacrificing their health. Three in five Australians are delaying visits to their GP because they worry they cannot afford it, while three in four people say that the cost of living has impacted their health decisions. According to the Australian Healthcare Index's survey of over 9,000 Australians, almost one in three Australians are delaying necessary health tests and more than 50 per cent are avoiding the dentist due to money worries. People are taking health risks because the Prime Minister has broken promises to cut electricity bills, to provide cheaper mortgages and to ensure that families will be better off on the cost of living under Labor. Electricity prices are up 22 per cent, there have been 12 mortgage rate hikes, and food and grocery prices are up by more than 11 per cent. Now Labor's homegrown cost-of-living crisis is putting Australian health at risk.