Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator. The government is strengthening Medicare, which is required after nine years of cuts and neglect, and we've set up the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce to help better support patients who have ongoing and chronic illness. We have already committed $750 million to deliver the highest-priority investments in primary care in line with the recommendations of the task force. But, after a decade of failure, there is a lot of work to do, because those opposite left Australians with $1 trillion of debt and nothing to show for it: hospitals left under strain, medical staff exhausted, the bulk-billing system on the verge of collapse and out-of-pocket costs skyrocketing. Well, I suppose we should expect nothing better from a man who was described as 'Australia's worst health minister', Mr Dutton—Australia's worst health minister. This is the man who now leads Mr Morrison's Liberal leftovers—that's the opposition of today— (Time expired)