Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens will be supporting this bill to reduce the general copayment of PBS items from $42 50 down to $30. We know in doing this that this is in fact the bare minimum that this government could be doing to improve access to medical supports that members of our community need at the moment. I hear from many members of our community, particularly from young people, that when they seek support, particularly mental health support, they are confronted with a system that either does not have the capacity to see them in a timely manner or simply costs too much.

Members of our community need access to affordable and accessible Medicare services like never before. They need their dental care to be covered under Medicare. They need their mental health supports to be covered. They need their GP to be affordable and to be well trained. Tax cuts for billionaires, like those which were provided in the budget last night during a time when people can't afford to see the dentist, to go to a doctor, to access mental health supports when they need them, is a completely unjustifiable move by this Labor government.

I will flag in this contribution that the Greens will be supporting the amendments offered by Senator Pocock. The amendments to this bill offered by the senator relate to section 100 to ensure that decisions made under the section 100 powers are always created as legislative instruments, allowing them to be scrutinised and to be disallowed, ultimately, should the Senate see fit. I have actively questioned the health department at Senate estimates about the section 100 programs under the National Health Act, particularly in relation to the opioid dependency treatment program. Opioid dependency is a complex health condition that requires long-term support and long-term care. Such treatment programs for opioid dependency make a real impact on people's lives. I will say that again: programs like the opioid dependency treatment program make real impacts on people's lives. These are real programs that shape people's lives every single day and this particular program, as constituted and enabled under the section 100 provisions, has come into being and been enforced through an instrument that is not subject to the scrutiny of this parliament. Scrutiny in these issues is so vitally important because it acts as a counterbalance on government, particularly when government thinks that it can get away with mistreating people—when it thinks it can get away with placing burdens upon communities because those communities are subject to stigma. And that is very much the case with those who access this particular program.

I'll say this again very clearly: the National Health Amendment (General Co-payment) Bill is the bare minimum that the Australian community needs. Let's get the Australian community the health care that they actually deserve. Let's get dental care into Medicare. Let's get mental health into Medicare. Let this Senate proclaim the radical proposition that the teeth and the brain are part of the body! The Greens will continue to make this logical case for the expansion of Medicare and to work with our community to drive out stigma and barriers, where they exist, and to work to reshape the system in line with community need.