Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. GP bulk-billing rates in my electorate of Longman were at 93 per cent in 2019 before COVID. Under the Albanese Labor government, they've fallen to as low as 79 per cent. Australian families are already facing a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis and an energy bill crisis. Why are my constituents now having to endure a bulk-billing crisis under this minister?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why is there a bulk-billing crisis in Australia? Hmm! Who said, 'There are too many free Medicare services in this country'? Who tried to abolish bulk-billing altogether? And who, when he couldn't get that GP tax through, froze the Medicare rebate for six long years?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The members on my right. The minister for the environment—

Honourable members interjecting—

When the House comes to order—there's far too much noise—I want to hear from the member for Page on a point of order.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again from this minister, the point of order is hubris.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat—and you may keep walking out of the chamber.

The member for Page then left the chamber.

Members obviously want question time to be robust, but that sort of behaviour is not befitting. To simply raise a point of order to do that is completely disrespectful to every member and to every Australian that is watching question time. The minister has the call.

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said yesterday, I think in response to the member for Longman, when we came to government, the college of doctors said that bulk-billing was in freefall and that general practice was at a tipping point. It was very clear why that was—because the Medicare rebate had been frozen for six years. As I said, I think in response to the former member, six years of freezing a GP's income while their costs continue to increase is going to have a pretty obvious result. Bulk-billing was under enormous pressure. We've done a whole range of things about that. But I did want to talk about something the Leader of the Opposition said yesterday and has been interjecting across the table again, as is his want, to the member for Sydney. He has tried to draw some sort of equivalence between a measure in the 2013 budget to realign Medicare indexation with the financial year, a measure which in the budget papers that he referred to selectively yesterday—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, the minister is going to pause. The member asked a question about bulk-billing crisis, and the minister is giving contest about why he doesn't believe that is the case. It is impossible for you to raise a point of order on relevance when you have asked such a broad question, so I'm not hearing the point of order. If it is on relevance, you will follow the member for Page, so I am just giving a fair warning. The member for Longman, on a point of order?

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is, only because I did not ask about 2013.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No. Resume your seat.

Government members interjecting—

Order! Members on my right. We are going to have order today, and we are going to do question time in a dignified manner. I appreciate the member was asking the question, but when I explained to him the question about why you now have bulk-billing rates that are in crisis, of course the minister is going to give his view on why he doesn't think that or believes that is the case. I gave you a fair go. You are going to leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Longman then left the chamber.

The Manager of Opposition Business, on point of order?

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Firstly, the member is entitled to raise a point of order. He's entitled to be heard. To exercise 94(a) in the instance where a questioner was asking a question about his electorate, this was not a question full of invective. It was a question that referred to bulk-billing rates in his electorate. He's entitled to take a point of order on relevance, seeking answers for his electorate, so, Mr Speaker, we have an issue with him not being heard. Secondly, to be removed from the House for exercising his right is a huge concern.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will deal with this. I was anticipating this, so I have followed previous Speaker Smith's example, who did exactly the same thing on 29 July 2019 when he refused a point of order for exactly the same manner; on 19 August 2019, when the then minister for populations, cities and urban infrastructure was being questioned. Indeed, the manager of opposition business at the time was treated the same way, so the consistency is there. If people wanted to take points of order, they were given that. Yourself, the Leader of the Opposition, the deputy leader and the Leader of The Nationals do get certain allowances for their seniority. But to simply disrupt question time, when I made it clear to the House that the minister was being directly relevant because he asked such a broad question is entirely what has happened before and will continue in that manner. The Minister for Health and Aged Care in continuation. I will ask him to be directly relevant.

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Speaker. Explaining the answer to the last part of the member's question about why we have a bulk-billing crisis yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition tried to draw that equivalence between one measure in the '13 budget that sought to realign indexation to the beginning of the financial year to his in the 2014 budget that sought to introduce a GP tax on every single Australian patient. When he couldn't get that through in the midyear budget update later that year, it very clearly says in the MYEFO papers that—because he couldn't get that through—instead, the indexation of MBS rebates would be frozen for four long years. Now, I have said it was six years; perhaps the Leader of the Opposition only did four of those years. Former prime minister Scott Morrison extended that for two years in 2016 and 2017, and you wonder why there's pressure on bulk-billing. Unlike that, what this government did was triple the bulk-billing incentive, stop the freefall, see an increase in bulk-billing in the last12 months in every single state and territory, and last year delivered six million free visits to the doctor.