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

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Health. The Prime Minister announced yesterday that he would not pursue Medicare changes without the support of doctors. He said:

It is important to maintain the support of the medical profession because, let’s face it, they have the best interests of their patients at heart.

In response, AMA president Brian Owler said:

The Prime Minister must ditch the disastrous Medicare co-payment model, the $5 cut to the Medicare patient rebate, and the freeze on Medicare rebate indexation until 2018.

It is not just the AMA's view. It is the view of every doctor I have spoken with, right across the country. Minister, will the government now explicitly rule out the co-payment and the Medicare freeze or was yesterday's statement just another porky pie from the Prime Minister?