Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose this matter of public importance put forward by the opposition.

When we talk about public importance there is nothing that is more important than ensuring the future viability of universal health care. And that is exactly what this government is doing. Medicare is a great system, which we all support. The health reforms in the budget are all about making sure that Australians continue to have access to affordable health care and ensuring that the system is viable in the long term.

Like other speakers in this debate, I want to debunk the whole premise of this MPI, that funding is being removed from the health budget. Budget Paper No. 1, page 6-25, clearly shows that Commonwealth health funding will grow from $64.5 billion in 2013-14 through to $78.8 billion in 2017-18. This is an increase of $14.3 billion over the next four years. We have kept in place all vital safety nets to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected, especially the concession card holders, of whom there are currently about 8.9 million in this country.

But we are implementing reforms that will ensure that problems like overservicing and duplication of services are addressed. We are making some important decisions, including the introduction of a co-payment that will act as a price signal and help ensure the future viability of the scheme.

Labor has been claiming hysterically that this is the end of Medicare; nothing could be further from the truth. This is exactly the medicine that Medicare needs to stay strong. I ask members opposite to stop with the scaremongering and to be honest. Be honest, and recognise the fact that the co-payment is very low by world standards. Other countries with universal health care have much higher co-payments. For our neighbours in New Zealand it is $17; for those in Sweden it is between $20 and $30; and in Finland it is $20. Co-payments help to make universal health care viable.

Labor used to recognise this important fact. It was Labor themselves who introduced the co-payment on pharmaceuticals. The Hawke and Keating governments may not have been perfect but 'Old' Labor certainly looks like responsible managers compared to 'New' Labor, who learned all they know under the spin and mismanagement of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments.

'New' Labor appear to live in some magical fairyland, where everything is free and you do not have to worry about how to pay for things. You can make promises that you will spend billions of dollars in 10 years' time without having to find the money, and then act outraged when someone asks you how you intend to pay for it. You can promise to cut waiting lists and never deliver. In fact, hospital waiting times for elective surgery grew from 34 days to 36 days under Labor. You can promise 64 GP Super Clinics but only deliver 33. You can promise not to touch private health-insurance but then introduce $4 billion in cuts. You can do nothing about cost blow-outs. What are a few billion dollars more on the debt?

This is the world the 'New' Labor in habit. It must be a very cosy place, where you can be all-caring and promise the world. It is where you can self-righteously oppose the tough decisions that are necessary to fix the mess that you created. This is 'New' Labor: all care and no responsibility.

They do not even pretend to offer an alternative. The Leader of the Opposition stood up in his budget reply speech and offered the Australian people absolutely nothing. It was quite unprecedented in the history of this place. He offered nothing but confected outrage, scaremongering and some sympathy—much like the Labor speakers in this debate.

That is not what responsible leaders do. That is not what good government is about. Good government is about ensuring that the things we value, like universal health care under Medicare, are managed properly and are viable long term. Good government is about planning for the future and having a practical vision, like building the world's biggest medical research fund that will help deliver better health care.

If those opposite had a modicum of decency, they would stop their scaremongering on health, they would step out of their 'New Labor Fairyland' and recognise that this government is taking the responsible decisions necessary to strengthen universal health care and make sure it is available for all Australians well into the future.

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