Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Will the minister outline to the House the need for a strong budget surplus to put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates and what the cost to the community will be if the opposition blocks measures to improve dental care?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Deakin for his question because, like many people in this House, he has large numbers of people in his electorate who are unable to get the dental care that they need. We have already heard from a number of ministers about the opposition’s approach to the budget and the pressure that that is going to put on inflation—the threats that will continue by raiding the budget surplus. But, in addition to those threats, there is an additional threat to the community, and the impact of the opposition’s delaying of the budget will come at a very high cost for those many hundreds of thousands of Australians who are waiting for dental care. In this budget we announced two new measures to improve dental care. Together they amount to $780 million worth of investment in dental care. The first is to implement the teen dental plan, a policy we took to the election last year. Starting in July, if the opposition does not persist with its obstructive approach, the government plans to invest $490 million to help more than one million Australian teenagers look after their teeth. Each eligible teenager will receive $150 towards an annual preventative dental check, including an oral examination, a scale and clean and X-rays where they are required. Preventative check-ups will also prevent cavities and other dental diseases and the need for more expensive dental procedures further down the track.

The second measure is $290 million to the states and territories to assist in clearing the waiting lists of 650,000 people around the country who are waiting for public dental treatment. We have to remember not only the impact on individuals but that 50,000 people every year end up in our hospitals with dental conditions that could have been prevented. So we know that helping people get early attention for their dental problems not only helps them but takes pressure off our hospitals.

So we see that the opposition’s approach is not only hurting the surplus and hurting inflation but hurting many hundreds of thousands of people. Interestingly, we know this problem is bad not just because I am telling you it is bad but also because the member for North Sydney has told us how bad it is. On 6 March the member for North Sydney said:

Dentistry remains out of the reach to those on low incomes with around 30 per cent of Australians unable to see a dentist because of cost.

Yet now we see the opposition wanting to delay this important measure. On 12 March the member for North Sydney said:

... 25.5 per cent of Australians have untreated dental decay; one in six Australian adults are limited in what food they can eat because of their teeth; and 50,000 Australians are hospitalised each year with preventable dental disease.

I wonder if that sounds familiar to any people on this side of the House, because it seems to me, when I go back and check, that the member for North Sydney was actually quoting from old Labor press releases. He seems to be singing from our songsheet. He is opening his mouth and my voice is coming out. It is quite disconcerting to think of Joe Hockey as the Milli Vanilli of the parliament. It is a worry. Just three months delay of this measure—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hockey interjecting

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did not say that, but perhaps he is right—it may be more Meat Loaf than Milli Vanilli.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Minister, I can hardly get the member for North Sydney to withdraw that remark about himself.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just three months delay in this important measure will rob the community of nearly $40 million worth of dental care at a time when we know hundreds of thousands of people need it. Their approach to the budget is a threat to the surplus, it is a threat to inflation and it is a threat to hundreds of thousands of Australians who need dental care and want it as soon as possible.