Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The chaos around the GP tax shows just how divided and shambolic this Liberal government is. Is it in, or is it out? Dead or alive? Either way it stinks. It is bad policy. It is bad for the community, bad for patients, bad for health professionals and bad for service providers. The thousands of people in Newcastle who have attended rallies, talked to me at community offices or signed my petition against the GP tax know this is an unfair tax.

My GPs are telling me that Novocastrians have already been putting off going to see their doctor because they think the tax is already being applied and they cannot afford it. A local GP told 1233 ABC Newcastle this morning that she would be very pleased if the GP tax was abandoned. Another area of concern is the impact of the tax on diagnostic imaging. With up-front costs of up to $500 for patients, service providers and specialists are telling me that there is a high risk that patients will decide that they cannot afford to be diagnosed, which will have devastating impacts for those patients and increase downstream costs for the broader health system.

In response to the ongoing misinformation from this government, the AMA tweeted this morning:

Our Health spending growth at record lows. Government claim that it's out of control is completely wrong.

We know this is part of the government's plan to end Medicare and universal health care as we know it. Labor will stand up to the Prime Minister's $3.5 billion GP tax— (Time expired)