Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I would have thought that Senator Bushby would have a better understanding of the Tasmanian community and the level of concern that is in that community when it comes to health cuts. If he cannot speak up in his own caucus to support his state colleagues, that is something that he will have to deal with. But, as I said before, I for one am not going to sit by and allow this government, without being challenged, to continue to cut health funding, because those cuts affect everyone in this country.

For a woman who has suspected breast cancer, the cost that she will have to meet upfront is $554. There are a lot of families across Tasmania and the rest of the Australian community who would not have that sort of money—and I am surprised that those on the government side who are in the chamber would not appreciate that. These are the real implications of the savage cuts the government is making when it comes to health in this country.

Government senators interjecting—

We can go on talking about the rest of the cuts. We can talk about your agenda for trying to dismantle Medicare. I am quite happy to talk about that day in, day out. Only last month we had before us motions on ovarian cancer, and a lot of people spoke and supported those motions. Before this year is out, 1,500 Australian women will have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. There is no screening test and no method of prevention, and it is very hard to detect. So the last thing that we want is for women to not go and seek assistance if they have concerns.

We do not want women, men or children's health to be put at risk because they or their parents do not have a big enough credit card. We know those opposite are all about credit cards when it comes to health and education, but we on this side will never inflict on the Australian community the situation where the provision of health in this country is determined by the size of your credit card. We will not do it. We will not just stand by and let this happen. We will always bring to the public's attention the concerns that we have with the attacks on health. (Time expired)