Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister outline to the House how the government is taking action to guarantee Medicare and fully fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme?

Is the minister aware of any threats to these important services that Australians rely on?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Fisher for his question. He fought very hard for the $5 million investment into youth anxiety, depression and suicide prevention through the Thompson Institute at the University of the Sunshine Coast, as well as for support for the $64 million investment into breast care.

Like every member of this House, he also fought hard to ensure that we are guaranteeing both Medicare and the NDIS. In terms of Medicare, there is the investment in the GPs and in the broader medical community through the partnerships we have struck—the landmark agreement—with the GPs, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the AMA. And there is the work done with Medicines Australia and the Pharmacy Guild. These things are actually delivering real results in our GP practices and in our pharmacies.

We are guaranteeing Medicare at a higher level still through the $2.4 billion that is being invested in support of Medicare. The Medicare Guarantee Fund will ensure that Medicare gets the first call on the budget every year and, of course, through the Medicare levy. The Medicare levy does not just guarantee Medicare; it also guarantees the NDIS. And why do we need to do that? Because the NDIS was never fully funded. Those opposite left a $55 billion black hole in the NDIS budget. They know it and we know it. Their shadow cabinet knows it.

The Leader of the Opposition refused to fund the NDIS fully when in government. He refused to fund it when we offered savings to do the job. And now he refuses to fund the NDIS from his own levy. We have heard about Craig Emerson today and we have heard about John Della Bosca. But what is it that disability and medical groups say? We know that the AMA and that the Royal Australian College of GPs support the disability levy. We know that People With Disability Australia, National Disability Services, Mission Australia and UnitingCare Australia all support the NDIS levy. Interestingly, the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations said of the levy:

It will also provide assurance for all Australians – if they or someone they love acquires a disability, the NDIS will be there for them.

But the Leader of the Opposition will not.

Why is this the case? When he was in government he said of anybody who opposed the levy that 'it would be dumb'. No-one could be that dumb is what he said. So we have the situation now where a Leader of the Opposition, who believed it was critical and fundamental to support this—and dumb not to—now opposes it. He should be supporting this. It is the right thing to do it, his party knows it, his cabinet knows it, his rival knows it and he knows it. At the end of the day, he is not— (Time expired)