Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Okay. I withdraw! I withdraw! I withdraw! It's withdrawn. It's gone. I'll stop telling the truth. No I won't! And speaking of the former Liberal government, the Guardian in 2019 stated that 'this reckless government'—that's your mob over there—'are determined to damage superannuation'.

More recently, we saw calls from former government MPs to bench their own legislative timetable to increase the superannuation guarantee charge from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent by 2024. I'm not making this up. It's all there for everyone to see. Then came the calls led by—you will remember—former Liberal MP Tim Wilson to allow people to raid their super for a housing deposit, the result of which would have seen a soaring price bubble in the market. Then came the pandemic, and the government's shocking decision to allow workers facing economic hardship to pilfer their super savings to survive the recession. Richard Wood, a senior journalist with Nine News, reported in an article published on 16 March that more than 2.6 million Australians drained their superannuation accounts at the height of the pandemic, with, unfortunately some spending the money on takeaway food, gambling and buying furniture.

The Brisbane Times reported that a study released in March showed that people during the health emergency accessed $38 billion under the former Morrison government's early release stimulus program. The study said that those people who use the scheme have deprived themselves of $120,000 in retirement savings. The then Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, talked up the policy, saying it was 'the people's money, and this is the time they need it most.' Researchers from the Australian National University and George Washington University and Harvard University in the US looked at what people spent their super money on and the occupations of those who used the scheme. They found the accounts of up to one-quarter of applicants were emptied within days of the scheme's launch. From those who accessed the early super scheme, 75 per cent withdrew the maximum $10,000 available to them. Gambling, they say, was one of the biggest expenditures for the withdrawn money. Sadly, they said it was with an average spend per person of $293—that's the average spend per person. They are quite alarming numbers. Spending included furniture and office equipment, supermarkets, restaurant or takeaway meals, and at department stores. The researchers warned accessing and spending super money had a huge impact on retirement nest eggs, and we can understand that is the case. People who used the scheme slashed their super balance by an average of 51 per cent.

Let's talk about medicines and about urgent care clinics. I want to turn to what the government is doing to deliver cheaper medicines, increased bulk-billing and our election commitment on urgent care clinics. Don't believe any of the misinformation and scare campaigns pushed out by those opposite. The government has already delivered major changes that are bringing down the price of medicines.

In July last year, we delivered a 25 per cent cut to the safety net, which has reduced the cost of medicines for pensioners. In September last year, we cut the price of 2,000 brands of medicines, which has put $130 million into the pockets of hard-working Australians—$130 million! On 1 July this year, we delivered the biggest cut to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS—yes, the biggest cut ever. Starting on 1 September this year, Australians with a chronic health condition—sadly, there are too many—will benefit when 100 common medicines listed on the PBS will shift to 60-day dispensing. This will be the first phase of changing the prescription dispensing arrangements for 300 commonly used medicines. This change will deliver cheaper medicines for patients and make it easier for people to get an appointment with their local GP. Every year, nearly a million Australians are forced to delay taking go without medicines that they need for their health—think about that. The shift to 60-day dispensing for many of the medicines needed to treat chronic conditions will halve the cost of those medicines for millions of Australians, importantly, including our pensioners.

Labor proudly took a commitment to deliver 50 urgent care clinics to the last election. I have good news for everybody: the May budget contained funding to deliver not 50 but 58 urgent care clinics. Not only are we delivering on our promises and election commitments but we are over-delivering. Sixteen of these clinics are already up and running. They are in Albury, Wentworthville, Randwick, Wollongong, Launceston, Sunbury, Shepparton, Geelong, Heidelberg, Ballarat, Werribee, Narre Warren, Prahran, Frankston, Perth City and Rockingham. The urgent care clinics are essential to delivering the care that people need when they need it. Urgent care clinics will be bulk-billed, operate seven days a week for extended hours and are there to treat non-life-threatening emergencies. How good is that?

Labor's cheaper medicines and urgent care clinics are already making a real difference. These significant changes, along with the indexation of Medicare, the tripling of bulk-billing from November and the strengthening Medicare grants will be a real shot in the arm for general practice, which, as we all know, is the backbone of our health system.

Concession cardholders will continue to be bulk-billed, medicines will be cheaper, and Australians will be able to get emergency health care they need and, guess what? It will be bulk-billed. These are all proudly brought to you by the Albanese Labor government.