Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hear this interjection. Does it not exist? Stand up for it—does it not exist? It does exist. At first glance you may think, 'Finally this government is doing something for our health care.' But, as with most of the Turnbull government's initiatives, what may sound good on the surface is truly anything but. This task force is not about hearing from all manner of stakeholders to deliver what is best for Australian people; this task force is another way for the government to outsource public hospital discussion to private interests. If you look at the list of participants from this secret task force, you will notice people from all manner of private organisations. What you will not see are people from public hospitals. You will not see consumers on this task force and you will not see people from the state health departments on this task force. What you will see is Prime Minister Turnbull selling off health care, and selling off the livelihoods of Australian people, right to the highest bidder.

I ask you: how could anybody refer to this vicious budget as a Labor budget? It is absolutely not. Labor is the party that sought to implement the National Broadband Network to deliver fast, high-speed internet connection to every single Australian household. Labor is the party that introduced Medicare—the equitable healthcare system which is the absolute envy of countless other nations. Labor is the party of looking forward and taking risks to ensure that Australia thrives now and long into the future—long after any of our current members here have retired. What Labor is not is a party that plays to the self-serving, closed-minded interests of corporate friends. It is not a party that turns its back on its constituents. We are not a party that would ever deliver an atrocious budget like the one that has just been handed down.

Debate adjourned.

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