Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Since Labor's bulk-billing changes kicked in on 1 November, we're seeing a real shift across the Hunter: more GPs, clinics signing up to bulk-bill, more doctors coming to the region and people finally finding it easy to see a doctor. That's exactly what Medicare was meant to do: give every Aussie access to care without having to worry about the cost. This government has increased the number of GPs. We've increased bulk-billing payments. We've increased the number of surgeries that are bulk billing. In fact, the only thing that this side has cut is my beard. Labor's tripling of the bulk-billing incentive is the biggest investment in Medicare history, and it's paying off. Families, pensioners and kids right across the Hunter are better off.

The Liberals froze Medicare and drove doctors away from bulk-billing. They made it harder to see a GP and pushed costs through the roof. They called it responsible budgeting. What that really was was a direct attack on Medicare and a direct attack on the people of the Hunter. But we're fixing it; we're rebuilding Medicare. We're backing local doctors and we're cutting waiting times. We're making sure no-one in the Hunter is left behind and making sure they don't have to choose between their wallet and their health. Only an Albanese Labor government cares about the people of the Hunter, cares about Medicare and cares about Australia. Back us in.

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