Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the MPI that we have just agreed to in relation to the Abbott government's set of broken promises. What we have seen from this government is broken promise after broken promise. These promises that have been broken go to the heart of the budgets of ordinary Australians—whether they are working Australians, whether they are pensioners, whether they are Australians who rely on benefits, or whether they are families with children. There is hardly a group in our community that the Abbott government's broken promises have not affected. The big end of town seems to be okay, but every other group in Australia has been really hit hard by these broken promises. They are very serious because, prior to the election, Mr Abbott gave absolute—what we thought were cast-iron guaranteed—commitments that there would be no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no cuts to pensions, no rise in the GST, no cuts to the ABC and no cuts to SBS.

We have seen quite the contrary on display from the government. Every single one of those allegedly cast-iron promises to the Australian public has now been absolutely broken, slashed and burned, cut up into little pieces and is now lying on the party room floor. It is an absolutely disrespectful way to treat Australians. I want to focus in particular on what the Australian public have to look forward to in the area of public health if Mr Abbott's government's cuts in that area make it through the parliament. What we have seen is an $80 billion cut to Australia's public hospitals and education. In relation to health we have seen the imposition of a GP tax, a tax on being sick, a tax on ordinary Australians when they visit their doctor. That will cost Australian families $3.5 billion a year in out-of-pocket expenses. For every single Australian, regardless of their income—whether they are a pensioner, an average income earner or have got children—that is the hit to their pocket. It is a hit on the most vulnerable in our community. People who should be supported by a safety net have seen that safety net ripped out from under them.

It is also the government's plan to end Medicare. Right back as far as Malcolm Fraser the Liberals and the Nationals have not supported Medicare. Why? I have no idea. Australia's Medicare system is a proven system, it is a good system, it is valued by countries right around the world. But it seems that this government and successive Liberal-National governments want to slash and burn Medicare. As a young parent, as a low-income earner, I absolutely struggled when I was forced to take out health insurance under the Fraser government. What that meant was that I took my children to emergency departments and went without appropriate Medicare for myself because of cost. We should never impose that on Australians. We have had that strategy before. We have seen that it does not work. It is a failed strategy. The GP tax will say that the government decides who does visit a doctor and who does not. That is not right. I have lived through those days and I would not want to put that on anyone else. It is an unfair process. Our Medicare system should be available to every person in the community regardless of personal circumstances. It is not for governments to come between a medical practitioner and their patients.

What is more, there is no evidence in Australia that GP services are being overused by patients—none whatsoever. In fact, we do want people who are vulnerable or have got persistent health problems to be visiting their GP. GPs are at the front line of our health services. They are the gatekeepers of our health services. But the Abbott government's broken promises do not stop there. We know that if you get a referral for an X-ray or to a physio there is likely to be a tax on that. If you get a prescription for pharmaceuticals there will be an additional tax on that. Out-of-pocket expenses for ordinary everyday Australians will just go on and on and on. We will see Australians lining up at emergency departments just as I did when I had young children. We will see pensioners going without the medical services they need because they will be too scared of the cost. This is extremely unfair. It is a complete broken promise. It is time the Abbott government admitted it and turned its back on this unfair tax.