Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Affordable, accessible health care has been an important part of quality of life for Australians since it was introduced by Gough Whitlam and then reformed into Medicare by Bob Hawke—two iconic Labor leaders. The Strengthening Medicare measures announced in last night's budget start the reform to make Medicare fit for purpose for today's Australia. We are investing a record $3.5 billion over five years to address the sharp decline we've seen in recent times in bulk-billing. We're tripling the bulk-billing incentive for children, pensioners and Commonwealth concession cardholders, including senior cardholders, and benefiting 74,000 people in my home electorate of Boothby. This includes telehealth and videoconference appointments. We're also delivering cheaper medicines for more than six million Australians who need ongoing regular medicine. Our changes to allow for 60-day dispensing will mean cheaper, more accessible medicines for more than 44,000 people in Boothby. This has already been introduced in countries such as the UK, Canada, France, Germany and more, where it led to around a 20 per cent increase in medication compliance because people could afford to buy all of their medicines. I'd like to congratulate the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the health minister, Mark Butler, on delivering a budget that will strengthen the great Australian and great Labor institution that is Medicare.

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