Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Through you, Madam Acting Deputy President, I cannot wait for Senator Bushby’s contribution to prove me wrong! In the context of the debate on this bill, it is relevant and timely to review some of the history of Medicare and its predecessor, Medibank.

The Medibank scheme was introduced by the Whitlam Labor government on 1 July 1975. At the time the Whitlam Labor government introduced the Medibank scheme, Australia’s health system, particularly its hospital system, was disintegrating. It was a mess—there is no argument about that—and this was clear to everyone. The Australian public knew that the health system bequeathed to them after more than 20 years of coalition government was a disaster. Nonetheless, when the then Labor government introduced the original Medibank legislation, the Health Insurance Bill 1973, into the Australian parliament in November 1973, that proposed legislation was fiercely opposed by the coalition opposition made up of the Liberal Party and the then Country Party, now the National Party. The coalition parties were backed up and egged on by the medical profession, the private health funds and the private hospitals, all of whom were vehement in their opposition to Medibank.

It should never be forgotten that it was a coalition controlled Senate almost 40 years ago that attempted to stand in the way of a public universal health insurance scheme that guaranteed all Australians would have access to affordable health services, including free public hospital services. The Medibank scheme guaranteed that no longer would individual Australians and Australian families have to worry about whether they could afford to pay for needed health care, particularly high-cost hospital care. As history shows, a coalition dominated Senate blocked the original Medibank legislation on three occasions. It therefore unfortunately required a double dissolution election and the subsequent joint sitting of both houses of the Australian parliament to pass the Medibank legislation.

Madam Acting Deputy President, I am conscious that we have a lot on our plate today. I would like to make a longer contribution to this debate but for the purposes of time and in fairness to my colleagues who are waiting for their turn I would seek leave to continue my remarks at a later date and I commend the bill to the House.