Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to be really clear on what the member for Forrest is arguing here—really clear on what the member for Forrest and members opposite, members of the Liberal Party and members of the National Party, are arguing for here. What they are arguing is that we should not fund GPs to have every patient that walks through their door be bulk-billed. The members opposite are arguing that, when people walk through a GP's front doors, they should not just need their Medicare card. The members opposite are arguing that, when people walk through those GP's front doors, they need to have a copayment. We don't have to imagine what the coalition's policy would be when it comes to health care. We don't need a crystal ball to find out what the coalition's policy would be when it comes to health care. We don't have to be Nostradamus, because not only do we know what they did when they were in government but we also know what their plans were to get into government when it comes to health care.

We know that those opposite wanted a copayment. They want people, when they walk through the doors to get health care in their local suburbs, to have to put down money, not just use that green card. We know that those opposite wanted and indeed cut billions of dollars from the healthcare budget. We know that they had the distinction of having the worst ranked health minister in over four decades, and we know that they extended a two-year Medicare freeze to six long years without an increase to Medicare.

It was only at the start of this month that I stood in this chamber and spoke about Medicare. I'd like to thank the member for Bowman for giving me another chance to speak about the Albanese Labor government's commitment to Medicare. I'm a little surprised, however, to be given this opportunity, because after all the coalition's record on Medicare is absolutely dismal, and it's indefensible. In fact when I talked about freezing funding to Medicare, it was the opposition leader who, when she was health minister, did not increase Medicare rebates by even one dollar.

The member for Bowman would have you believe that Medicare is being used as, in his words, 'a political football'. Well, I can assure you that the Albanese Labor government is not here to play games. Instead, we are a government that is utterly focused on easing cost-of-living pressures, and our initiatives to strengthen Medicare are doing just that. The headline news is that Labor is delivering the single largest investment in Medicare since it was created by a Labor government four decades ago. The coalition may think health care is political fodder, but we believe it is essential. We believe that a strong healthcare system is an absolute pillar and foundation of a strong society. That's why Labor built Medicare, and it is why Labor continues to fund and invest in Medicare to make it better, not just on one day but every single day.

The foundation of this investment is the $8.5 billion being directed to delivering an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits. The first of this month was a special date, because it was when Labor expanded bulk-billing incentives for all Australians. This built on the 2023 bulk-billing incentive that focused on children under 16 years of age and Commonwealth concession cardholders. We are already seeing the impacts of this. We're seeing them in our local communities, we're seeing them at our GPs and we're seeing them in our suburbs. And it's not only in Medicare bulk-billing GP practices. There's another type of place where all you need is your Medicare card, and that's your local urgent care clinic. We've got one in Oxley at the Canossa, we've got one at the bottom of the PA and there are 90 in operation across the country, with another 47 on the way.

This is not about politics; it's about health care. And it's about the importance of every Australian having access to it with just their Medicare card.

Debate adjourned.

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