Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Given that just this morning the health minister refused to rule out using regulation to cut the Medicare rebate, if the government did cut the Medicare rebate by $5 through regulation it would have to apply to every person for every visit without limit. There just could not be any exemptions for pensioners, children or concession cardholders. So if the government is not willing to rule out this option, how is it going to protect the sickest and most vulnerable members of our community?