Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nothing could better illustrate the difference between this side and that than the fact that those opposite say that they have to hand over an $80 billion corporate tax handout but don't have the money to provide healthcare support for people who need it most. In my part of Western Sydney, people have finally got MRI access through their public hospital—one that Labor had funded in government but which had then been ripped out by the coalition in their first economic statement in 2013. If people in my area need an MRI scan to work out whether or not they have cancer, they have had to pay up to $500 a scan because the Turnbull government won't provide a Medicare licence for that machine. They have money for big corporates that want to shift money offshore; they don't have money for someone living in Mount Druitt who wants to work out whether or not they need help with something that is going to have a massive effect on them. They should be providing that Medicare licence to Mount Druitt Hospital. To the hospital's great credit, they've dropped the price from $500 to $150. It's still a lot for people whose average incomes are lower than the national and state median. If there's a choice between handing over billions to big business or saving the life of a local resident Mount Druitt resident, the choice is clear. They should be giving us that Medicare licence. (Time expired)