Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the less than 12 months since we first saw the idea floated in the public arena, Tony Abbott has announced a $7 GP tax, a $20 cut from the rebate to doctors and then a $5 GP tax. Today we have heard rumours that cabinet has dumped the GP tax, but the public of Australia will not be fooled, because every time the Abbott government say they are walking away from the GP tax it seems they take a step closer to it. This is a government with a product it was to sell—a GP tax. The problem is the Australian public knows a faulty product when it sees it.

The electorate of Chifley, which I represent, has the highest rate of bulk-billing in the nation, at 99 per cent. Why? Because doctors in our area know income should not be a barrier to getting quality health care. They also know that seeing a GP helps avoid patients turning up at our hospitals with more serious conditions later.

Labor built Medicare. Labor believes in Medicare. Labor will fight for Medicare. This government has spent 18 months at war with doctors and patients—18 months in a war with Medicare. This is a war we cannot and will not let Tony Abbott win.