Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for hosting me in his beautiful electorate last week. He still pulls shifts at the emergency department at the Wyong Hospital, which is why he's known affectionately as Dr Gordon in that community. Importantly, he knows more than most the benefit of a well-functioning primary care system.

He also knows that when we came to government in 2022, bulk-billing rates in this country were in freefall. Just in that one year alone, bulk-billing rates plummeted by more than 10 per cent, and it's no mystery why. It's because, for years and years, those opposite froze the Medicare rebate, strangling the income of Australia's general practitioners and forcing them to put in place gap fees. That is why, in our first budget, we tripled the bulk-billing incentive for Australia's pensioners and concession card holders. I'm pleased to report the latest data indicate the bulk-billing rate for those Australians with that concession card is now around 93 per cent.

Unfortunately, the bulk-billing rate continued to fall for those Australians who didn't have a concession card, so last year, for the first time ever, this government extended bulk-billing support to every single Australian, not just those who had the card. We also offered a significant incentive to those general practices who decided to bulk-bill all of their patients all of the time. I'm pleased to report that, after only a few months, that is already making a huge difference. Since 1 November, more than 1,400 general practices have shifted from charging gap fees to becoming 100 per cent bulk-billing. The bulk-billing rate to the end of March—in just a few months—for those Australians without a concession card has already climbed by around nine per cent, delivering millions of additional free visits to the doctor already.

As the member for Robertson and his colleagues in that region know, those benefits are not being enjoyed by Australians everywhere. In Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, parts of the Hunter and the Central Coast, the number of 100 per cent bulk-billing practices is about half the New South Wales average. The bulk-billing rate in some of those communities is around 20 per cent below the New South Wales average and a whopping 30 per cent below the rates you see in Western Sydney and south-western Sydney, with absolutely no rational explanation. That is why this budget is funding six new fully bulk-billing clinics in those regions—to ensure that there is competition within general practice in that region and to spread the benefits of bulk-billing to that terrific community that the member for Robertson and his colleagues represent. Our plan to strengthen Medicare is a plan for all Australians.

See this speech in context