Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It was members opposite in government under Bob Hawke that brought in a PBS co-payment. If it is perfectly right and proper to have a PBS co-payment, it is perfectly right and proper to have a modest Medicare co-payment. Let me just remind members opposite of what the then health minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Brian Howe, said back in 1991 when introducing a GP co-payment: 'The measures being introduced in this budget relate to the preliminary findings of the national health strategy. They are the first steps in dealing with the structural problems in the healthcare system.' He said this strategy outlined as a priority for reform, 'the judicious use of price signals to encourage both doctors and patients to be more selective in their use of medical services'. Who ran the national health strategy?

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