Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of answers given by the Attorney-General (Senator Brandis) to questions without notice asked by Senators Watt, Dastyari and Brown today.

The answers that we received from Senator Brandis today in question time leave me in no doubt that the people in my home state of Tasmania are the losers under the Turnbull government. After the election, Mr Turnbull said that he had learnt the lesson on Medicare, and Mr Turnbull also claimed that bulk-billing would be protected. It has taken a massive blow in the first post-election data, which shows that the Medicare freeze is indeed biting. In relation to those figures, today of course Senator Brandis was not able to give me any answers when I asked him about my home state of Tasmania. It is very good to see that two of the Liberal senators from Tasmania, Senator Duniam and Senator Bushby, are here, because really they need to be taking it up to this government and talking to their Prime Minister about what is happening in Tasmania on bulk-billing. Tasmania, of course, is already the state with the lowest bulk-billing rates of any state around the country.

What have we had from the first set of data that has been released? This data reflects what is happening after the 2 July election. These are the government's own figures, and those figures show that bulk-billing is dropping. As I said in my question to Senator Brandis today, the bulk-billing rates for GP visits in Tasmania have dropped a massive 2.4 percentage points, which in effect is 16,000 GP visits. During the election, as I have previously told the Senate, in GP surgeries there were a number of notices that indicated to patients: 'Due to the Medicare freeze on rebates, we unfortunately, as a surgery, can no longer continue to bulk-bill all concession card holders.' This is what GP surgeries were telling their patients. This is not something that I have just come in here and made up; these are notices that were in GP surgeries. That was what was going to happen after 1 July, and indeed this set of data that has been put out now, up to the quarter of September, shows that what the Labor said during the campaign would happen has indeed happened. So not only has Tasmania had a massive drop of 2.4 percentage points but, over the country, we have seen a drop of half a percentage point, which in effect is over 167,000 GP visits nationally.

We have already seen that this is just the start of the impact of this government's six-year Medicare freeze. Every time a Tasmanian goes to the doctor, they will have to pay out more money. This is what the Labor Party said would happen, and this is what this Prime Minister said would not happen. He gave a commitment about bulk-billing figures. But of course it is not just me and the Labor Party talking about what is going to happen. The dataset that has been released confirms this. Senator Brandis was unable to answer the questions that were put to him in question time today, and I was not really expecting an answer, because the answer would actually confirm the Labor Party's position: that the bulk-billing rates are falling and that Tasmania is one of the worst hit states.

We are not the only ones that are saying this. GPs are saying it. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said last month that out-of-pocket costs for a patient to visit the GP have increased by six per cent in the past year under your government, Senator Duniam. I wonder what you are going to do. Stand up for Tasmania! Stand up for Tasmanian patients! (Time expired)

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy President, as I rise to respond to Senator Brown and to those opposite, may I preface my remarks with an observation. I am new to this chamber—to its vagaries and its protocols—and perhaps my naivety means that I am willing to give those opposite the benefit of the doubt. But, having come from a business background that recognises time and human capital are the most precious resources that we have, I am continually flabbergasted at the amount of precious time the opposition waste in focusing on issues that have no impact on the lives of everyday Australians. We are five sitting weeks in, and yet—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Uh-uh—it is not as if we have not given you the opportunity to consider these important issues. Today, finally—thank you so much—we have had a question about the economy. This is the first question about the economy we have heard in five sitting weeks. Finally today we have had a question about health—the first question about health that we had heard in five sitting weeks. Finally today we have had a question about employment—the first question about employment in five weeks. My faith is somewhat restored.

Terrifically, though, I have been grateful for the inertia of those opposite over the past five weeks—though, yes, it has been bewildering—because, by persisting with the inane questions on matters entirely unrelated to the lives of ordinary Australians, those opposite have fallen into the hands of the government and given us a stick with which to beat them. Today they have actually given us an opportunity to sing the praises of this government's strong economic plan for jobs and growth and its support for Medicare.

It is extraordinary that the greatest lie ever perpetuated in a federal election persists in the face of bulk-billing rates rising yet again. The 'Mediscare' experiment has failed. This is clearly a government that supports Medicare. Medicare investment has continued to rise under the Turnbull government and so have GP bulk-billing rates. Official Medicare figures for the September 2016 quarter showed unequivocally that GP bulk-billing rates grew nearly one percentage point on the same time last year to 85.4 per cent—up from 84.6 per cent in the September 2015 quarter. This coincided with an extra half a million Medicare funded GP services for that September quarter, taking total Medicare GP investment to $1.9 billion for the period. GP bulk-billing rates remain the highest in history under the coalition, and no amount of Mediscare lies from Bill Shorten, or from those opposite in this chamber, can change that. An extra 17 million GP services were bulk-billed under the coalition last year compared with Labor.

This is also a fantastic opportunity for us to speak on the extremely pleasing economic indicators that Senator Brandis referred to earlier today. Our economy is strong. Growth is strong. The Australian economy is growing at over three per cent per annum—3.3 per cent. Our economy is growing faster than any of the G7 economies and at over double the speed of Canada's, a comparable resource-rich economy. This government's economic plan is the foundation upon which we can build a brighter and more secure future in a stronger economy with more jobs. This government is delivering on its promise of a growing, thriving and prosperous economy for all Australians—not just for Tasmanians, Senator Brown, but for all Australians. All Australians are winners in a growing, thriving and prosperous economy, and I am proud to be part of this government, which is delivering on its promises. (Time expired)

Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy President, can I begin by saying I have not had the opportunity to congratulate you on your elevation to the role of Deputy President of this place. I think it is now the 'Chair of Committees', not the 'Chairman of Committees'. I think that is a change you have begun.

The answers that were given today by Senator Brandis were extraordinary in their lack of detail and lack of knowledge of the matters that were asked about and that we were there to discuss. I want to quote what the Prime Minister himself—let me reword that: 'the Prime Minister for now'—Mr Malcolm Turnbull, said at the Business Council of Australia dinner last week. He said that, under the coalition government, economic reforms would result in 'winners and losers'. The questions that were asked today were specifically about identifying who these losers under the Turnbull government are going to be, because when millionaires are given a $17,000-a-year tax cut they are clearly not the losers of this system. When big business are given a $50 billion tax cut, they are not the ones who seem to be losing out of this. No; the losers seem to be couples with single incomes of $65,000 or less and three children in primary school. They are $3,000 a year worse off. Are they the losers that Mr Turnbull was referring to in his Business Council address? I refer to the Turnbull government's May budget, in which a single mother with an income of $87,000 and two children in high school is over $4,000 worse off. This is becoming a game of winners and losers. One group seems to be winning and one group seems to be losing.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

I will take that interjection.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

No, I will take that interjection from the good senator from Queensland. I note that when I asked my second question of Senator Brandis today, he could barely be heard over the jeers that were coming from the other side of the chamber in what was nothing more than a relentless and unfair attack on my hairstyle.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

Let me be clear: we cannot all be as fortunate as Senator Hinch, who is in this chamber today. We may all try to aspire to have what Senator Hinch has, but none of us can be that fortunate and none of us can be that lucky.

I want to quickly praise Dennis Shanahan from The Australian,who came out and defended me when I was unfairly attacked by James Jeffrey in The Australian. I know what it is like to be persecuted and I am sick and tired of being objectified in this place. But I digress—and I note that Senator Lines chose to use this as an appropriate moment to leave the chair.

Senator Hinch interjecting—

Senator Hinch, I was praising you a moment ago. The answers given today, the comments made today and the responses made today show a complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the true challenges that are being faced at an economic level—the challenges that are being faced in this system of winners and losers. What I fear is that the losers in this economy and the losers from these reforms that the Prime Minister was talking about are some of the lowest paid people and those who are struggling the most. The Australians who need the most assistance are those who are being left behind. A handful of very fortunate Australians are prospering and doing very well out of all of this, but they are not the majority. I think this chamber deserves better than the answers that Senator Brandis gave today.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Dastyari is a hard act to follow—

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is impossible.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is impossible, but I will try and stick to the facts.

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have good hair too.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I like my hair—thank you very much. Following on from the motion moved by Senator Brown to take note, I thought I might try and stick to the facts of the debate.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

Yes, I know. I am going to be boring today. What I find most interesting coming into Canberra at the beginning of a sitting week is sitting on the plane and wondering what sort of stunt the opposition is going to try and pull this week and what sort of tactic will be employed during question time by the brains trust of those opposite. This week we saw the taking out of context of three words—winners and losers—from what was probably a 15- or 20-minute speech. That was the basis for today's question time. They were three words out of a very long speech out of all of the speeches the Prime Minister has given. They have used those words as a basis to try and attack the government. They have clumsily threaded together all of these questions, trying to contrast statements made on policies against what they think to be right.

I was listening to Senator Dastyari and his characterisation of policies geared toward creating jobs and economic growth—policies targeted, in many cases, at small businesses. We are not talking about billionaires, as the opposition would characterise them. These are small business operators who employ small numbers of people. These policies create an opportunity for these people to employ more people, often in small and regional communities in my home state of Tasmania. The characterisation that these policies are all geared toward billionaires at the expense of down-and-outs in our community—or whatever they want to call them—is just wrong, and I think they need to be held to account on this. They are trying to mount a simplistic argument and they are trying to take the Australian people for mugs. I think that is something that is not right and is unbecoming of people in this chamber.

The other point that was made by the Attorney in response to questions today was the need to ensure that the system is fair and sustainable moving forward, so that it is there for generations to come. It is not a system that is going to be burdened by oversubscription and something that becomes unaffordable. Contrast the approach we employ and the policies we have outlined, which are about job creation and economic growth—everyone knows about them. They get derided by those opposite, but we have outlined them as ways forward to create jobs—against the policies of those opposite. They want to spend more and tax more and hope for the best into the future. They have no regard for trying to manage a budget and ensure essential services, like many of the welfare payments referred to by the senators who asked questions, the answers to which we are taking note of today. There is no reference to that at all.

If we stick to this theme of winners and losers that the opposition have tried to bring to the debate today, the real losers are those people who will miss out if Australians fall for the rubbish being espoused by those opposite and re-elect the Labor Party into government. What you will see is spending at record highs again, increases in taxes and an unsustainable future—a future where the welfare system that provides for so many in need just cannot be sustained. Who is going to pay for it? How are we going to manage it? We need to take that into account.

Also, with regard to Senator Brown's question about Medicare bulk-billing in the state of Tasmania: I have some sympathy for Senator Brandis, who does an excellent job of being across many, many briefs representing the Prime Minister in this place. Senator Brown did have the opportunity to ask the Minister representing the Minister for Health—and may well have been able to do that and get a more specific answer—but what became apparent to me was that Senator Brown did not actually like the statistics that were being repeated to her in the answer. The question I would like to know is where things were at in the state of Tasmania when the Labor Party left office in 2013. I know that Senator Hume, who spoke previously in this debate, has referred to some of them.

In closing, I think we need to reiterate where things are at with regard to bulk-billing: rates are 3.2 per cent higher in the September 2016 quarter, at 85.4 per cent, than they were in September 2013—Labor's last quarter in office—when they were 82.8 per cent. You only have to look at where things were throughout their term in office. They were consistently lower than where we are today. So this claim being mounted and the statistics that are being cherry-picked really show this argument for what it is: a baseless one and one without fact in its foundation. I think Australians deserve better. (Time expired)

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has spoken about the need to undertake reforms to deliver long-term gains for all Australians, which may create winners and losers in the near term. It was a fairly clear statement about how he sees that dynamic. But clearly nobody has told the Attorney-General that that is the view of the Prime Minister, because the Attorney informed this chamber earlier that nobody is a loser in a prosperous economy and this economy is prospering.

In that context it might be worth considering what the Attorney-General might consider to be a prospering economy, because he was asked very directly about the nature of the Australian economy during question time today. Are there plenty of well-paid, secure jobs? Just last week the ABS issued its latest labour force figures, and employment growth has slowed. It has slowed to 0.9 per cent, down from 1.9 per cent just months ago. There are now more than 1.8 million Australians who are underemployed or unemployed, and it is underemployment that is causing so much of the hardship that we know we see in our communities. This figure includes 261,000 young people. These are young people who maybe are on the verge of giving up on the hope of their first job, their first step into the labour market, because what we also see is workforce participation amongst young Australians also falling.

And how about wages? How are families going? What are they taking home? Wage growth has hit a fresh record low, below two per cent, the lowest in the series, with workers across all industries seeing pay increases that barely match the increased cost of living. So Senator Brandis can make all of the assertions about prosperity that he likes, but the truth is that Australians do not experience the economy at the moment as a period of prosperity, because all the risks are being passed on to them but the amount of money going home in their pockets is just not keeping up with what is needed to keep yourself together.

Perhaps Senator Brandis would consider a well-balanced budget a mark of a prospering economy. There is a new report out this morning from Deloitte which projects a further $24 billion deterioration in the Commonwealth budget under Mr Morrison, the Treasurer; and Mr Turnbull, the Prime Minister. If that projection eventuates, that is going to put further pressure on Australia's AAA credit rating.

We have had the deficit for 2015-16 blow out by eight times what was projected at the 2013 election, and today the Treasury is confirming that we will not see a surplus until 2021, and their only plan to address it seems to be cuts to essential services and, worse, a corporate tax cut that will blow the deficit out even more and that is completely unfunded and represents the height of irresponsibility.

The fact that reform creates winners and losers is unremarkable, actually, because change does create winners and losers, but what is remarkable is that under this government there is a consistent pattern. It is a pattern that emerges every single time we see a proposition for reform. That pattern is that the winners under any reform process that is commenced are the top end of town every single time and the losers every single time are low- and medium-income Australians.

There are reform agendas—real agendas for economic reform—that would share the growth, benefit middle-income Australians, benefit low-income Australians and benefit the Australian economy, but these are reforms that the government is unwilling to contemplate. They are reforms to education which would see every Australian have the chance to build the skills that they need to contribute to productivity in this country. These are critical reforms that were initiated under Labor, and Gonski is being undermined by this government. They are reforms to housing that would see the playing field levelled so that people who want to buy a home to live in—not just as an investment property—get a fair run at the auction. These are reforms this government refuses to contemplate. There are tax reforms which would ask higher-income earners to pay their fair share rather than give tax cuts to the very big corporations, but none of these reforms are contemplated by the government. That is the real tragedy here, because we know that the economy does need reform.

But Australians are right to be nervous when they hear the Prime Minister talking about winners and losers, because they know that, every time, if they are an ordinary Australian, they will lose. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.