Ken Ticehurst (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister update the House how the Howard government’s Medicare safety net is helping people with the cost of medical treatment, especially in my electorate of Dobell? Is the minister aware of any policies to cut Medicare expenditure and what is the government’s response?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dobell for his question. Isn’t it interesting that the Labor Party never mention bulk-billing anymore. They never mention it anymore because overall bulk-billing figures are at all-time record highs. I know that the member for Dobell will be pleased to know that the GP bulk-billing rate in his electorate has gone up by 19 percentage points since 2003, in part, because there are now 10 more doctors on a full-time equivalent basis than there were in 1996. When bulk-billing figures come out these days, Labor ignore them and instead talk about gap payments. I suppose that is fair enough, because no-one likes high out-of-pocket medical expenses. It is just that this government has a policy to deal with them. It is called the extended Medicare safety net, which Labor want to abolish. We have more hypocrisy, more double standards from the Labor Party. They complain about something and want to abolish the very program that is designed to do something about it. Last year the extended Medicare safety net stood to benefit about 1½ million Australians. Last year Medicare spent $258 million on higher rebates to people who had high health costs. In Dobell, for instance, almost 11,000 people were eligible for higher Medicare payments, thanks to the safety net.

In Gellibrand, the seat of the shadow health minister, almost 8,000 people qualified last year for higher medical benefits, thanks to the safety net. In Griffith, the seat of the Leader of the Opposition, more than 15,000 people qualified for higher medical benefits under the safety net. All of those people will have higher Medicare benefits ripped off them if Labor ever gets into government. I want to know why the member for Gellibrand thinks that people in her electorate should lose nearly $2 million in higher Medicare benefits. I want to know why the Leader of the Opposition thinks that people in his electorate should lose nearly $3 million in higher Medicare benefits. I think at least in his case there is an explanation—it is because the Leader of the Opposition is probably one of the few people in this House, certainly there is no-one on this side, who thinks that Medicare spending should be cut. He thinks that Medicare spending should be cut, as he has said before. He will be reminded of this quote day in, day out until he explains himself. He told Jon Faine:

... Well when you look at the amount of money which is wasted in duplication overlap in the health and hospital system ... I believe there is great scope to extract significant savings.

He needs to explain himself. When I asked him to explain himself last Thursday, he had a press conference. Good on him for having a press conference. I think he should have another press conference this afternoon. I suspect that questions on health this afternoon would be a welcome distraction from some of the other things he has on his mind.