Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think we need to correct some of that. It was beautifully spoken and designed to create a sense of belief that the Liberal and National parties have ever done anything innovative and are determined to make sure Australians actually get proper access to health care. But that is a myth. Australians, while they live their lives, don't see everything that goes on in this place, but they are entitled to the truth. And the truth is the party that established Medicare is Labor. Every chance the people opposite and their forebears had in government, every time the Liberal and National coalition got into government, they did every single thing they could to wreck the health system, to make you as an Australian pay more and to try and get rid of your Medicare card.

When they came to government under Tony Abbott, in 2013, I was actually paying attention. Other people were getting on with their lives across this great nation, but I went across this country, to regional, rural, remote and city locations, to document what they did. Let's be clear. There was $52 billion for a 10-year national partnership health agreement that was supposed to proceed. Mr Abbott and the team that is now Mr Dutton's ripped up that agreement and, in doing so, pulled apart and completely dismantled across this country the opportunity for our state governments to deliver primary care.

We heard Senator Ruston talking about primary health. I can tell you what happened. When they last got a go at government, under Mr Abbott they ripped up that agreement, and that meant every single bit of preventive care and community health care fell away. States kept their tertiary institutions, their hospitals, open. That's what they had to do. People who had been looked after no longer got health care. In addition to that—because they think they know something about businesses—they decided to have a crack at the businesses that were being run by our GPs. They wanted to put a $7 tax on. They implemented a freeze on the Medicare rebate, which basically kicked the legs out from under the business model of Australian GPs. That is why we have a crisis. We ended up with the massive crisis of people not being able to go to their GPs, and, because they couldn't go to a GP, they ended up in our hospital emergency centres.

We've got a few doctors in the Labor Party, and they know exactly what is being faced by Australians who seek health care. Amongst them is a very good friend of mine from the beautiful Central Coast, Dr Gordon Reid, who continues to this day, for no fee, to offer his services to support emergency care on the Central Coast. He's joined in such work by Dr Mike Freelander, who, at Campbelltown Hospital, continues to provide support for people who need it. They know a thing or two about the health system. They are the GPs and the specialists who've been at the front line. They tell the truth. And they saw the system decay before their very eyes. Dr Gordon Reid, very wisely, pushed for and had accepted by the Labor Party the urgent care clinic model. Now, across this country, every seat in the country is begging for an urgent care centre, because the need is so great.

There were no Medicare cards for any Australian before Labor brought them in. There were no mental health services through headspace before Labor brought them in. There were no urgent care centres for this country till Labor brought them in. There's a pattern there! The biggest threat to communities, the threat that will take away urgent care centres, is the election of a Peter Dutton government. Those opposite have absolutely no commitment to the policy innovation that gives Australians access to the health care they need through urgent care centres across this country. The biggest threat to your health is a Dutton led government. Give Labor your vote. Hang on to Medicare, hang on to headspace and hang on to our urgent care centres.