Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

It does, though, bother the member for Robertson, and it bothers everyone else on this side of the House to no end. That's because, for Labor, bulk billing is the beating heart of Medicare. That is why the centrepiece of our Strengthening Medicare package in this year's budget was $3½ billion invested to triple the bulk billing incentive. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners described that initiative as a game changer, and so it is. It's a game changer for millions of mums and dads who want the confidence that, when their kid is sick, they can take them to a bulk billing doctor. It's a game changer for millions and millions of pensioners and concession card holders who have always relied on bulk billing GP services.

It is game changer for tens and tens of thousands of general practitioners—the backbone of our healthcare system—who now know they have a government in Canberra who deeply respects and deeply values the hard work that they do every day. These are practices like the East Gosford Medical Centre in the member's electorate on the Central Coast of New South Wales—a practice that services more than 3,000 patients. Before our budget, that practice was preparing to close, but now they say they can keep open. With the injection of confidence and the injection of investment, particularly into bulk billing, this practice will continue to service the needs of thousands of patients on the Central Coast. That is a Strengthening Medicare package from our budget, which is already making a difference.

See this speech in context