Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Be quiet! This change will help our very deserving self-funded retirees in accessing discounts and concessions offered by the states and territories. As well as being able to access Commonwealth Hearing Services Scheme they will also retain the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, to ensure they continue to receive energy supplements.

In health, we are increasing Medicare funding by $2.4 billion over the next four years. We will establish a guarantee fund to make sure that the same sorts of scare tactics that were used in 2016 cannot be used again. Proceeds from the Medicare levy, less the contribution for the NDIS, will be paid into the fund and topped up with a portion of personal income tax to make sure it covers the combined costs of the MBS and the PBS.

Since coming into government the coalition has listed more than 1,400 new or amended listings on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We are providing additional support for public hospitals, with $7.7 billion worth of investment. People living in rural and remote Australia will now receive significantly improved access to psychologists under a new $9.1 million telehealth initiative, set to rollout later this year. We are also providing more than $50 million for mental illness prevention and support packages for serving ADF members, veterans and their families. Enhanced access to counselling for our veterans and their families will benefit their partners and dependents. This includes over 2,000 veterans and their families living in Gilmore. And we have a number of other initiatives from the DVA.

Another thing that I am very proud to list here is that we are delivering the first comprehensive review into the family law system since the Family Law Act in 1975, to better meet the needs of Australian families. We have numbers of families who are ripped apart by the legal system at the moment, by long waiting lists. We need an alternative way of solving problems for the families which are split because they no longer belong together. We cannot use our children as pawns or as emotional targets. We have to have a better system, and I think this review is long overdue—and so do many of the custodial parents or those who are disenfranchised from their children. This is a very fair budget.

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