Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This government's cuts to health and hospitals across the nation have been devastating, especially in regional and rural areas. We have seen cuts to hospital funding and dental care—and we have seen many versions of the GP tax. In regional areas, locals blame the National Party for these harsh cuts and hold them responsible.

When we look at hospitals, we see that this government has ripped up Labor's hospital funding agreements with the states. They are ripping more than $57 billion in funding from our public hospitals. What this means for the hospitals is an increase in emergency department waiting times and an increase in elective surgery waiting times, and it will reduce the number of hospital beds across the country. This will be even more devastating in regional areas.

We have seen so many different versions of the GP tax. This government is cutting $2 billion from Medicare over the next four years in its latest attempt to introduce a GP tax. These cuts will see bulk-billing rates plummet and will mean increases in out-of-pocket costs for millions of patients. That is the reality. An article published in the Medical Journal of Australia estimated that these cuts would see concessional patients who had previously been bulk-billed face new costs of at least $8.43 per visit—a huge increase that most people will not be able to afford.

We have also seen some really savage cuts to dental care. Across two budgets this government has now ripped around half a billion dollars from programs designed to care for the dental health of some of Australia's most vulnerable patients. Shame on this government, which has made massive cuts to health and hospitals.

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