Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support this amendment. In November 2021, six months before the last election, the financial viability of general practice was in serious trouble after the coalition's six-year freeze on Medicare rebates, which started when Peter Dutton was Minister for Health. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners took the extraordinary step of calling on every GP in the country to stop bulk-billing to maintain the viability of general practice. Dr Karen Price said, 'This is why, as a college, I am exhorting everybody, including my own practice, to move as many people as you can onto private billing.'

At the time of the last election, Health Minister Mark Butler said general practice was in the most parlous state in the 40-year history of Medicare. Bulk-billing was falling off a cliff because of the six-year freeze on Medicare rebates, which is why we tripled the bulk-billing incentive from 1 November last year in the largest investment in bulk-billing in history. I'm pleased to say that investment is working. The numbers released by the health minister today show that, in the seven months since we tripled the investment, we've seen a turnaround in bulk billing: a national increase of 3.4 percentage points, from 75.6 per cent of all GP visits being bulk-billed in October to 79 per cent in May, around two million additional estimated visits. Bulk-billing has increased in every state and territory. Members of the opposition might like to grandstand on bulk-billing as though they didn't make cuts to Medicare throughout their entire time in office, the worst of which occurred under the now Leader of the Opposition during his time as health minister, but Australians know this is a government that is committed to strengthening Medicare, and that's exactly what we have delivered since coming into office.

I commend the bill.