Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like today to talk about the government's continued assault on Medicare and the negative impact that this is having on families in my electorate of Brand. For the fourth time in just a year, the Liberal Party is again going after Medicare. Yesterday I sat in the old House of Representatives chamber in Old Parliament House, the chamber where the Liberal Party mounted its very first attacks on Medicare. If the government get their way, no-one will be bulk-billed in my electorate of Brand. Everyone will have to pay regardless of their personal circumstances. The government have never supported Medicare. They opposed its introduction and now they want to make it harder, by charging an extra fee, for people to see the doctor.

People in Rockingham, Kwinana and Mandurah deserve the health care they need, and our country can afford that. Medicare is not a consumable product. It is not made unattractive by high price. A price signal only delays people from seeking medical advice, leading to poorer health outcomes and greater expense to both the Commonwealth exchequer and state governments. My community is concerned about the relentless and ongoing reviews aimed at cutting Medicare. The Abbott government is not being transparent or fair dinkum with the electorate in regard to its plans. Recently I have had many conversations with people in my electorate about health care and about Medicare.

Emma from Baldivis told me about her husband's fight with Crohn's disease, lumbar radiculopathy and reactive depression. They are struggling to pay increased prices for consultations and medications. She has described the government's plans to me as 'attacks on the most vulnerable people in our society'.

Jacqueline, a single mother from Rockingham with a compressed vertebra, has told me, 'If I have to pay every time I go to the doctor's, well, I won't be going, so my back won't get the treatment it needs.' That will make it harder for her family, her friends and her community.

William and his wife, of Lakelands, are both self employed. They have three teenage boys, and they say: 'We rely on Medicare. Without it, we certainly would not be able to afford the minimum standards of medical care that we need.'

Dan from Parmelia suffers from kidney cancer and chronic pain and needs to be managed through fortnightly visits to his GP. Dan is unable to afford these regular doctor visits, but without them he says he faces increased pain and the fear of death.

Paul of Bertram is 35 per cent disabled due to a workplace injury. He is now out of work and finding it difficult to pay his mortgage. He said: 'Now Tony Abbott wants to restrict my ability to manage my daily pain levels. Walk in my shoes, Tony Abbott, for just a week, and see what your outlook is like then.'

Margaret of Warnbro said: 'If the doctor visit was not bulk-billed, the likelihood of me receiving timely medical advice would be zero. I simply cannot afford to pay to see a GP.'

Wendy of Warnbro is concerned that cutting Medicare will multiply the health burden on the disadvantaged. She says: 'The disadvantaged with multiple chronic conditions will not become healthier or cheaper to deal with after limiting their primary health care. Cutting Medicare will only pass on the huge financial burden of their health care on to other taxpayers and other community members.'

Amanda of Safety Bay and her two children live with a rare disease. She told me, 'We already spend a large amount of money on health care and medication.' Amanda, along with many in my community, cannot afford a GP tax. Having a rare disease is part of her family life, and she cannot avoid that.

Hayley of Warnbro tells me that, after the downturn in the mining and construction industry, she was made redundant. This is a story that, unfortunately, I am hearing more and more in recent months when talking to people in my home state of Western Australia. Hayley, like many of my constituents recently made redundant, is struggling. Her childcare fees and costs of living have continued to go up. She asked me: 'What is this current government doing, going after Medicare, cutting health care for our community members? Have they opened their eyes? Do they understand what's happening in our country and in our community?'

Jennifer of Secret Harbour told me that she regularly has to see her local GP with her eldest son to help manage his generalised anxiety, trichotillomania, disturbance of activity and attention, and depression. She regularly needs to see a GP to get referrals to specialists.

These are real people dealing with real-life problems in their community that have been made harder by the way in which the government are addressing the public policy, public administration and public side of health care through the uncertainty that they create for Medicare.

I say to the government that, with another year left before the election, there is time to calm this down. There is time to place primary health care as the primary focus of this government and to care for members of our community and not make them feel like they are expenses to be borne by an unhappy government.