Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Around 500 people gathered at the 'Save Medicare' rally in Belmont this weekend to protest against the government's attack on our healthcare system. I was proud to march, as part of the community's fight to protect universal health care, from the Medicare office to the Belmont foreshore. It was interesting to note that, when asked how many in attendance had never attended a protest rally before, around 80 per cent of the crowd raised their hands. These were not seasoned activists. They were seniors and families with young children. They were not experienced campaigners. They were ordinary people united by their belief that everybody should have access to quality health care.

At the rally we heard from a local pensioner who said the $7 payment to see a doctor or specialist would hurt those on fixed incomes most—age pensioners, people with disability and families with young children. In the Hunter region, the GP tax will increase the cost of health care by more than $28 million in the next year alone. For many pensioners and people on income support payments this is a cost they simply cannot bear.

The rally also heard from Jake Howell, a local nurse and delegate to the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association. As a front-line worker, Jake knows our hospitals do not need any more pressure; but the introduction of a tax will see people put off going to the doctor when they are unwell—in many cases, leading to more serious illness which will ultimately see the problem transferred from the GP clinic to the emergency ward. Coupled with a $220 million cut in federal funding to the Hunter and Central Coast hospitals beginning on July 1, I hold grave fears for the ability of our public hospital system to cope with the strain.

I welcome the efforts of Labor in New South Wales who have introduced legislation which will ensure a co-payment can never be charged in public hospitals. I note that that bill is yet to be supported by the Premier, but I look forward to Mike Baird and his Liberal colleagues supporting Labor's position on this. I think it is particularly important if Greg Piper, Andrew Cornwell, Tim Owen and Garry Edwards are serious about representing our region that they support this important legislation in the New South Wales parliament.

Labor has a proud record of investing in preventative health and medical research in the Hunter. The former Labor federal government delivered close to $50 million to build the world-class Hunter Medical Research Institute, located within my electorate, which is home to more than 1,200 researchers and staff who are leading the way in the search for treatments and cures for a range of serious illnesses. This is the way to drive medical research. You don't do it by taxing sick people and stopping them going to their GP.

Labor in government also drove the creation of Medicare Locals, which strengthen primary care and make it easier for people to see a doctor. The Hunter Medicare Local are a forerunner in this field. Their model sets the benchmark and incorporates more than 20 years of knowledge in serving the Hunter community, firstly as the Hunter Urban Division of General Practice, then as GP Access and now as the Hunter Medicare Local. It defies logic to cut Medicare Locals, particularly given the pre-election commitment of those opposite that they would not do so, but the reality is that that is what they are doing in government. By replacing the existing network with fewer organisations, they are not only creating a tender process which many less-established providers will struggle to navigate, they are also cutting the current level of funding for the Hunter Medicare Local by around 10 per cent and at least nine jobs have already been lost. The Hunter Medicare Local have confirmed their intention to tender to become a provider under the new system, which I welcome. However, this presents a significant challenge. A lot of work will need to be done to ensure they are best placed to secure this bid and they will have to adjust their structure in order to deliver it.

The government has also provided no certainty around the delivery of primary health services currently provided by Medicare Locals, which in the case of the Hunter Medicare Local includes the Headspace and Partners in Recovery mental health programs, the Connecting Care program and the popular GP Access after-hours service at Maitland, Belmont, John Hunter and Calvary Mater hospitals as well as at the polyclinic in Toronto. The government's proposal to charge patients $7 to see a GP or specialist could further undermine this service, should it continue. Even if public hospitals do not charge the fee, are services such as GP Access required to administer and collect the $7 fee from each patient they see in the hospital setting? If the Medicare benefit schedule is reduced, what impact will this have on their cost structure, given staff would be required to process transactions, IT equipment would have to be acquired and security measures taken? Across the board, from patients to providers, the impact of this government's attack on health care is being felt. The people of the Hunter voiced their opposition to this on Saturday. We will continue to voice our opposition and fight this unfair attack on our healthcare system.