Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the government's proposed changes to pathology and radiography imaging in this country. Like all senators in this place, I have received many emails but, unlike most senators in this place—in fact, unlike any senator in this place—I have responded. Many of those people who have emailed have told me that I am the only Western Australian senator who has responded to their emails. People who have emailed me are concerned that they will not be able to access quality health care, that they will have to pay upfront for vital tests, including cancer tests—and it is true that they will have to pay upfront—that they will have to travel further to have samples collected and that they will have to wait longer for results. So they are very concerned that these proposed changes to the way billing is done will disadvantage the elderly, the seriously ill, pregnant women and parents with young children.

One woman I will call June—we have emailed her to ask if we can use her name but have not heard back from her so I will give her a new name—came back to me today very grateful I had responded to her email. She told me that she has the high-risk breast cancer gene. Obviously she has to have ongoing breast x-rays to ensure she remains cancer free. Not only is this very sad for June and she is very concerned about future costs but her grandson has a rare malignant tumour of the retina that affects young children. Children with this diagnosis have to have many ultrasounds at a cost of $186—and this is now going to be an upfront cost—and CT scans at a cost of $396 for ongoing treatment, along with a lot of pathology and other imaging tests.

June has the high-risk breast cancer gene—she has a defective gene; it is a mutation that can affect one in 500 people—and will need a lifetime of annual mammograms. It will cost at least $85 every time she has a mammogram to ensure that she remains cancer free. June will also have to have MRI scans, which we know are prohibitively expensive if you have to pay for them upfront. They are around $400, but obviously that is a base cost and could cost more than that. Those are the sorts of costs that June will have to face with the proposals that were put forward during the Christmas holiday period when Australians were not really watching. They were trying to enjoy Christmas and the holiday season. There are those who do not celebrate Christmas with family and friends; nevertheless, the Turnbull government tried to sneak this through.

June knows from personal experience, both for herself and her grandson, that under Medicare rules any patient charged these fees must pay the entire amount upfront. This is the sort of pain that the Turnbull government continues to inflict on ordinary Australians who are trying to keep healthy. They will no longer be bulk-billed and the Medicare arrangement is such that, if bulk-billing does not apply, you have to pay upfront. Obviously the Turnbull government knew that at the time—and, if they did not know it, well, quite frankly, they were incompetent.

I have had many emails like this. This means that families like June's can be $1,000 out of pocket. Tell me which ordinary Australian working family has got that sort of money. These changes proposed by the government are absolutely unfair and Labor will continue to vote against them and to push the government to back away from this so that people like June can manage their health without the Turnbull government imposing massive costs on their family, which certainly they and others cannot afford.