Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Lalor for giving me the opportunity to stand up and talk about Labor's failings when it comes to Medicare. It's really important that we have a little bit of reality, here, versus the rhetoric. Everyone would remember that the Prime Minister, during the campaign, stood up and said: 'All you'll need is one of these. All you'll need is one of these.' What he didn't tell you is that you're also going to need one of these—your credit card. For Australians across this country who are trying to see a doctor, that is not enough. That is not enough for them. I'll come to some of the stats in a moment, but it's very, very clear that Australians have been sold a pup when it comes to Medicare. They wanted to give this government the benefit of the doubt, but I'll tell you what: over the next three years, Australians will be getting buyer's remorse about this government because they'll realise that you need a credit card more than you need a Medicare card with this government.

Let's look at the facts. Under Labor, GP bulk-billing has plummeted from 88 per cent to just 77 per cent. That is an 11-point drop. Last year alone, 40 million fewer GP visits were bulk-billed. Patients are now paying 45 per cent more out of pocket to see a doctor. That's if they can see a doctor. On the Sunshine Coast, I had to actually—hello, Dr Andrew, I saw you recently—book two weeks in advance. He's such a good doctor, my GP. He's always booked out. There are so many Australians who face the same situation; they can't get in to see their GPs, but when they do, they pay for it with their credit cards and their Medicare cards. The problem with this is that over 1½ million Australians avoided seeing their GP last year because they simply could not afford it. The RACGP, in their own survey, have demonstrated that the government's push for urgent care clinics is going to make the staffing shortages of GPs even worse. When we were in government, Medicare funding rose every single year. In 2012-13, it was $18.6 billion. In 2021-22, it was $30 billion. Yet the Labor Party, when they were in opposition, continued to talk about how we cut funding from Medicare. Now, how you can go from $18.6 billion to $30 billion in a little under a decade and call that a cut—well, that's the Labor Party's economic team in fine form. In our final year, 167.2 million free GP services were delivered, 61 million more than in Labor's last year in office.

Mental health is something that I am very, very passionate about. I've always been very passionate about it, but this government's track record on mental health is just as grim. They cut Medicare funding for mental health sessions in half. It was one of the first things that this government did when it won in 2022. This has impacted 372,000 vulnerable Australians. They ignored the expert advice. The health minister ignored the expert advice from a panel that he engaged to look into this. That panel said, 'Keep them.' The government cut them in half, from 20 down to 10. Access to Medicare supported mental health care is now at a 10-year low. Shame on this government! Labor abolished the National Mental Health Commission, and the chair of Mental Health Australia resigned in protest after the PM repeatedly refused to meet with him.

Labor's record on health care is clear: they are big on promises—they're always big on promises—they're always poor on performance. They'll promise you the world; they'll give you an atlas. The coalition will continue to fight for a healthcare system where your access to a doctor doesn't depend on your bank balance.

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