Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the past week, we've heard the government talk endlessly about their success on Medicare. We've seen them roll out an advertising campaign—'Mediscare' 2.0. The only 'Mediscare' 2.0 that applies in my electorate is the fall in bulk-billing rates, from 96 per cent in 2019 to 84 per cent today. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the government is waxing lyrical over there about their Medicare success, yet the people in my electorate of Forde are paying the price for their failure each and every day. They are seeing fewer and fewer bulk-billed medical services and are paying an increased cost to get health care.

So whatever this government says in this space, I say to the people in the electorate of Forde: do not listen to what the government is saying to you, because nine times out of 10, it is completely and utterly the opposite of what they're doing. They have presided over a fall in the provision of bulk-billed Medicare services in the electorate of Forde since 2022. We see that in the figures each and every day. The people in Forde are paying higher fees as a result in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Shame on this government for their failure!