Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the latest bulk billing data for the March quarter 2025-26 shows bulk billing has increased in every state and territory;

(2) commends the Government's record $8.5 billion investment to strengthen Medicare with more bulk billing and doctors and nurses which is delivering free health care for Australians; and

(3) acknowledges there are now more than 3,800 bulk billing practices across the country, with over 1,400 of these switching from mixed billing thanks to the Government's investments.

Medicare is one of the most precious of Australian promises—that the health care you receive should depend on your Medicare card, not your credit card. It speaks to who we are as a country that, when you're unwell, you get the care you need no matter who you are and what your circumstances are. It's a proud Australian tradition and a proud Labor legacy. Labor created Medicare, Labor will always protect Medicare and Labor is strengthening Medicare for the future.

But that promise hasn't universally been supported by all sides of politics. When the coalition were last in government, they weakened and undermined Medicare every chance they got. When we came into government in 2022, it had never been harder or more expensive to find a doctor, because the coalition had frozen Medicare rebates for six long years. Every year that the freeze stayed in place Medicare covered less and less of the real cost of seeing a doctor. That meant more pressure on GPs, more pressure on clinics and more pressure on patients. And let's not forget they tried to introduce an infamous GP co-payment. They wanted Australians to pay more just to see a doctor. Bulk-billing was in freefall after a decade of cuts and neglect. That should tell you everything about the coalition's approach to Medicare. They cut, they froze and they tried to force Australians to pay more for health care every single chance they got.

Then there is One Nation. On Medicare, like everything else, One Nation is all slogan and no solution. They say they support bulk-billing, but, when it comes to the serious work of strengthening primary care, supporting GPs, training more doctors and nurses and making it easier for Australians to see a GP for free, they have nothing serious to offer.

Medicare and bulk-billing aren't strengthened by a press release or a dog whistle slogan. Neither One Nation nor the coalition have any plans to strengthen Medicare. They've only got grievance and noise. Australians don't need Medicare turned into another culture war. What they need is a government that truly believes in Medicare and wants to strengthen it, and that's exactly what we get with the Albanese Labor government.

Our government has made the single largest investment into Medicare ever—$8.5 billion to deliver more bulk-billing practices, GPs and nurses to help ensure all Australians have access to free and quality health care. We have the numbers to back it up, because it's working. From March 2025 to March 2026, bulk-billing increased in every single state and territory. It's now up to 81.9 per cent nationally, up more than 4.6 per cent in a year, with more than 3,600 practices fully bulk-billing. Bulk-billing rates in my electorate are now up to 88 per cent, with a total of 39 Medicare bulk-billing practices which fully bulk-bill every patient with a Medicare card. That is 59 per cent of all GP clinics in my community.

When it comes to strengthening Medicare, bulk-billing is just the tip of the iceberg. We promised to deliver 137 fully bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinics for free, urgent health care. They're open until late, open seven days and accessible without appointment so that we are able to free up our emergency hospital rooms. We have kept our promise; we have established all 137 Medicare urgent care clinics, including one in my electorate, in Burwood, at 8 Elsie Street. It opened in December last year and has already treated thousands and thousands of patients.

In this year's budget we made Medicare urgent care clinics a permanent part of Medicare. We've made medicines cheaper, with PBS medications to cost no more than $25 for the first time since 2004. Labor is the only party that is delivering on Medicare. We are the only party that will protect and strengthen Medicare.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Reid for moving this motion. I'm happy to acknowledge that bulk-billing rates increased in every state and territory in the last quarter. The Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program is having a measurable effect, and the government deserves credit for that.

However, for the GPs and the patients of Kooyong, the experience of Medicare in 2026 is much more complicated than the headline figures suggest. In south-eastern Melbourne, the bulk-billing rate is essentially static—it's just over 74 per cent—and for those patients who attend practices that aren't able to bulk-bill, the average out-of-pocket costs increased by 9.4 per cent in the last 12 months. It is now $93.44. According to Cleanbill, 147 electorates out of the 150 in this country have experienced an increase in out-of-pocket costs on average to see a GP in the last year.

The Medicare Benefits Schedule was built around short, episodic consultations, but that model no longer reflects the reality of general practice. More than half of all Australians have at least one chronic condition, and a growing number have two or more. Managing complex multimorbidities takes time, but GPs who do that are financially penalised for doing so. Recently, the Grattan Institute found that GPs are paid as much as $15.41 per minute for a two-minute bulk-billed consultation, as opposed to $3.30 a minute for consultations for more complex issues that take as long as 20 minutes. That's not a sustainable model when we have an ageing population with increasing rates of chronic illness.

The government continues to fail to overhaul how Medicare rebates are designed, and the rebates are not keeping up. The Medicare rebate was indexed by 2.6 per cent this year. That's against general inflation and wage growth much higher than that. Every year that the rebate is indexed below the annual cost of running a practice—lower than wages, rent, compliance and insurance—that's a year in which the gap between what it costs to deliver a bulk-billed service and what Medicare pays for it widens further.

A recent Consumers Health Forum survey gives us a really clear idea of the current patient experience in Australia. Almost half of all respondents, 49.8 per cent, said that they had missed health care that they needed in the last year, and the leading reason for that was cost. Two in three, 67 per cent, of those who skipped dental care said that they just couldn't afford it. More than half, 54 per cent, of those who failed to fill a prescription said the same. Only one in three Australians felt confident that they could afford medical care if they became seriously ill. When even the most transparent, most accessible part of our healthcare system is generating that level of cost anxiety, it tells us something about the pressure that the whole system is under—cost pressures on patients who need care and cost pressures on practices to maintain bulk-billing.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the changes to assignment-of-benefit requirements announced by the government late last week. Prior to that change, bulk-billing in many practices, community health centres and aged-care facilities was under immediate threat. For patients who can't easily engage with a digital consent workflow—children, people in mental health crises, people with intellectual disability, elderly patients who don't have a smartphone, people from non-English-speaking backgrounds, aged-care residents—a failed consent capture means that either their bulk-billed service goes unpaid or it's converted to a private bill.

I wrote to the minister several times, raising urgent concerns about this proposal. The last-minute extension of the current arrangements, which came at the end of last week, was after sustained pressure from the RACGP, the AMA and other expert groups. In response to that advocacy, I'm glad to see the government extend verbal assignment of benefits until July 2027. Without that change, our bulk-billing system would have been under immediate administrative threat.

Bulk-billing increases are real in some parts of this country, and they're certainly welcome. But Medicare's long-term health depends on rebates keeping pace with the actual cost and complexity of care, and on the administrative architecture supporting access, not undermining it. I ask the government to turn its attention to both of those things.

Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I am proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which is investing $8.5 billion to strengthen Medicare and deliver more free health care for Australians. This free access to a GP is life-changing for many Australians because it means they can go to the doctor when they need to, not just when they can afford to. Labor has made it easier for Australians to see a GP for free by expanding bulk-billing incentives and boosting payments to GP clinics that bulk-bill every patient. Our most recent reform came into effect on 1 November last year. From that date, and for the first time, bulk-billing incentives are paid to GPs for every patient they bulk-bill. Previously, these incentives were only available to children under the age of 16 and concession card holders. This investment means that patients will save hundreds of dollars a year in out-of-pocket costs.

I'm delighted to say that the latest data shows Labor's bulk-billing policies are delivering excellent results. The national GP bulk-billing rate was 81.9 per cent for the January-to-March quarter, a 4.6 percentage point increase on the same period last year. Bulk-billing has increased in every state and territory due to our reforms, including a rise of four percentage points to 85 per cent in my state of New South Wales. In my electorate of Whitlam in 2023, bulk-billing rates were at 73 per cent. In 2026, due to our government's incentives, bulk-billing rates are close to 90 per cent. The bulk-billing rate has risen for every age group as a result of Labor's reforms, including a particularly strong increase of almost eight per cent to 76 per cent for patients aged between 16 to 64 years. There are now over 3,800 Medicare bulk-billing practices across Australia, and I note that more that 1,400 of these were previously mixed billing clinics. In my electorate of Whitlam, the number of fully bulk-billing practices has jumped from nine to 28 due to Labor's incentives. Approximately 97 per cent of the Australian population is now within a 20-minute drive of a bulk-billing practice, which is a wonderful outcome.

Another major bulk-billing reform implemented by this government is the rollout of Medicare urgent care clinics which are open for extended hours seven days a week with no appointment needed. Patients can walk in and see a trained doctor or nurse, and the services are bulk-billed, and they do not pay a cent. A network of 137 Medicare urgent care clinics has opened over the past three years, including two in my electorate of Whitlam—one in Dapto and one in Shellharbour. Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia have seen over three million presentations since the first sites opened in 2023, and there have been over 33,000 visits to urgent care clinics in my electorate of Whitlam. A significant benefit that flows from opening an urgent care clinic is that it takes pressure off local hospitals. In my electorate, that includes Shellharbour and Wollongong hospitals, where more than half the presentations are non-urgent or semi-urgent presentations.

Labor has also cut the cost of everyday medicines on the PBS to $25, the lowest co-payments since 2004, and it's just $7.70 for concession card holders to get their medicines. This is helping millions of Australians afford the medicines they need. Over three million cheaper PBS scripts have been filled in my electorate alone, and that's delivering over $19 million of savings to people in my community.

Labor built Medicare, and the Albanese government is strengthening it after a decade of neglect under the coalition. When Labor came to government in 2022, bulk-billing was in decline, GP clinics were under pressure and people were putting off seeing a doctor because they simply couldn't afford it. The Albanese Labor government has stepped up and reversed that trend, recognising that health care must be based on need, not wealth. Bulk-billing is the beating heart of Medicare, and the Albanese government is successfully delivering more bulk-billing for more Australians. By strengthening Medicare, expanding bulk-billing and making essential medicines cheaper, the Albanese Labor government is restoring confidence in a vital system that defines who we are as a country.

Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Every year, more than 22 million Australians see a specialist general practitioner for essential health care, making GPs the most accessed health professionals in the country. We know high-quality general practice reduces emergency department presentations and hospital admissions and improves long-term health outcomes. The latest quarterly bulk-billing data is encouraging, particularly the rise in bulk-billing for non-concessional patients to 72.5 per cent—up 8.5 percentage points over the year. But more than one in four non-concessional GP visits are still not bulk-billed, meaning too many Australians still face out-of-pocket costs. The government should treat these figures as a foundation for further reform. As a priority, we must ensure that people who need more time with their GP can access this care.

More than two-thirds of GPs nominate the increasing complexity of patient presentations as the greatest challenge facing the profession. Last year's Health of the nation report showed that 84 per cent of GPs want to provide more preventive care, but only one in three have time to provide it. The average GP appointment is now 20 minutes long, and three in five Australians live with at least one chronic health condition, yet Medicare rebates still fail to reflect the time, complexity and continuity required in modern general practice. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has again called for GPs to be properly remunerated for longer consultations, including most recently at the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability inquiry into the health impacts of alcohol and other drugs in Australia.

In alcohol and other drug care, as in so many other areas of health, GPs need time to have those sensitive conversations, identify risks early, coordinate care and support recovery for complex conditions. Many leading patient and health organisations agree. To quote just a few, Chris Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of Kidney Health Australia, says:

Kidney Health Australia supports GPs to take the time needed to identify those at risk of kidney disease, enable early diagnosis, and ensure the latest evidence-based medications and support programs are appropriately utilised—drastically improving outcomes and slowing disease progression.

Daile Kelleher, CEO of Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia, says:

Longer GP consultations are essential in sexual and reproductive healthcare. They enable meaningful conversations, support informed decision-making, and ensure patients feel comfortable raising sensitive issues. Adequate time leads to earlier intervention and better health outcomes.

Professor Tanya Buchanan, CEO of Dementia Australia, says:

It is vital that the estimated 446,500 Australians living with dementia have access to affordable long GP consultations to ensure they receive timely, comprehensive and coordinated health care tailored to their needs.

What is key is that, when GPs have more time with patients, care is earlier, safer and more effective.

In 2024, Deloitte Access Economics found that a 40 per cent increase to patient rebates for level C and D consultations would lift the bulk-billing rate to 85 per cent, halve out-of-pocket costs for patients who are not bulk-billed and deliver around $339 million in annual health savings to the system. Out-of-pocket costs disproportionately affect people with chronic and complex health conditions, particularly those on low incomes; carers; and people unable to work because of their poor health. If patients cannot afford high-quality general practice care, they delay treatment, become sicker and are more likely to end up in hospital.

If we are serious about improving Australia's health, easing cost-of-living pressures and reducing pressure on hospitals, we must strengthen general practice. That means supporting GPs to spend the time their patients need with them, investing in preventive care and ensuring Medicare rebates reflect the complexity of Australia's changing healthcare needs.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Medicare has been the backbone of my professional life as a paediatrician for over 40 years.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear, hear! And a very good one you've been, too, I've heard.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member. In fact, I opened my paediatric clinic in Macarthur the same day that Medicare was launched by the Hawke government in 1984. In that time, I've seen the transformational significance that Medicare—and bulk-billing, for that matter—has had on communities like mine in Campbelltown and Camden.

I've seen many efforts to downgrade Medicare, from the Fraser government destroying Gough Whitlam's Medibank to the Howard government attempting to destroy Bob Hawke's Medicare. We even saw attempts under the Abbott government to introduce a co-payment, a way of rationing health care, particularly to people who are disadvantaged. When we came into government in 2022, we saw firsthand what a decade of cuts and neglect had done to Medicare. It had never been harder or more expensive to find a bulk-billing GP, and this was having a real effect on the health and wellbeing of people in my electorate. It was having an impact on our local hospitals, too; our emergency departments became overcrowded with patients who couldn't afford to get into bulk-billing GPs sooner.

Fortunately, Labor understands Medicare. It is a part of our DNA. No-one should forget that. We are the one party of government in Australia that supports our universal healthcare insurance system, known as Medicare. So we've got on with addressing the serious shortfalls that were affecting bulk-billing rates across the country, particularly with general practitioners.

This was led by our historic $8.5 billion investment into Medicare—the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago—which has delivered more bulk-billing, and more doctors that bulk-bill, so that Australians can see a GP without added costs and get access to health care in an affordable and timely manner. I know the member for Mackellar, who spoke prior to me, as a very highly respected general practitioner in her electorate, also understands the importance of Medicare. Australians know the importance of Medicare, and, to be honest, it was one of the reasons that we had such a resounding win by the Albanese government in the last federal election.

I'm very proud that, after this historic investment in Medicare, bulk-billing rates in Macarthur have risen to an incredible 98 per cent of GP visits as of March this year. Bolstering this is the number of Medicare bulk-billing practices in Macarthur, which has now grown to 45, an increase of 14 since our historic investment into our beloved Medicare system.

Aiding our GP clinics and helping reduce pressure on our emergency departments are our innovative Medicare urgent care clinics, and I'm proud to have one which is working very well in my electorate of Macarthur. It opened in December 2023 and, since then, has seen over 32,000 presentations. Around the country, we've opened all of the 137 urgent care clinics we promised to deliver during the last election, with more than three million presentations having been made to urgent care clinics across the country.

Whether it's leaving a bulk-billing practice or the urgent care clinic with a script, patients are still benefitting from the strong investment into health care and historic improvements from our cheaper medicines policy, which is saving them money every time they go to the pharmacy and ensuring those needing medication can afford and access it. In Macarthur, there have been over 2.3 million cheaper medicine scripts prescribed to individuals, resulting in over $14 million of savings to patients in the Macarthur electorate.

Considering that we inherited a broken bulk-billing system and a neglected Medicare, I'm very proud of the tremendous work that our government has done during the four years that we have been in federal power. There's more to be done, I agree—there certainly is more to be done. The college of GPs recently presented to the health committee the importance of more prolonged consultations for things like addiction medicine, for dealing with mental health challenges and for some of the chronic illnesses that many of our constituents suffer from. But I'm very proud of what we've done. There's more to be done. It is part of our DNA. We will make sure that our health system is strengthened every time we can. I'm very proud of the actions of this government in health care.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Macarthur was going so well until he started bagging the coalition out. But I do want to just acknowledge the member for Macarthur because I think he's a decent fellow and he is a lifelong paediatrician who has served his local community. Good on him. We need more paediatricians. You should go back and be a paediatrician, serving your local community that way. Those members opposite often talk about how they're the champions of Medicare. Well, I've got to tell you that the coalition absolutely supports Medicare. It absolutely supports it. The last thing we would want to see in Australia is a US-style healthcare system where, if you get sick and seriously sick, then that could often be a death sentence to you, or certainly a life-changing situation. The beauty about a universal healthcare system in this country such as Medicare is that it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter how wealthy you are, it doesn't matter what your job is and it doesn't matter what your postcode is; you will be able to get the world's best treatment at a tertiary hospital, provided you live in the cities. For those people who live in the bush or live in rural and regional Australia, it's a lot harder. They have to often be transferred to a tertiary hospital through organisations like the Royal Flying Doctor Service, who do incredible work. But the coalition is absolutely supportive of Medicare because it does provide access to world-class doctors and world-class medical treatment.

The motion that's before the House today notes that bulk-billing has ticked up in the March quarter. The motion congratulates Labor on spending $8.5 billion of taxpayers' money. It pats itself on the back for 3,800 bulk-billing practices. But it says nothing about the Australians who still can't find a doctor, still can't afford one and still see their local services being hollowed out. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare tells us that, after peaking at around 89 per cent in 2020, the national GP bulk-billing rate fell to 77 per cent in 2023 and only inched back to 78 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024, still well below where it was under the coalition. For the key working age group, 16- to 64-year-olds, bulk-billing sits at around 69 per cent. Labor's so-called 'free health care' is least available to the Australians most likely to be juggling work, children and mortgages. Out-of-pocket costs have surged. Independent analysis shows that, in two-thirds of electorates, average out-of-pocket fees for a standard consult now exceed $45 and, in some electorates, the total cost of a visit is pushing beyond $100. In my own electorate of Fisher, non-bulk-billed patients are paying significantly more than they were just a couple of years ago, even after Labor's so-called Strengthening Medicare reforms. That is not a system delivering free health care; that is a system shifting more costs onto ordinary patients.

This motion doesn't mention that Labor's incentive has sent more money into already well-served communities while underserved regional, rural and outer suburban areas see clinics close, doctors leave and patients travel further and pay more. It doesn't mention that 12 leading nursing and healthcare organisations have warned a Senate inquiry that Medicare policy is materially compromising timely access to care in rural and regional Australia. Under Labor, nurse practitioner bulk-billing has fallen sharply, and regional patients are being slugged more at exactly the time they can least afford it.

The coalition is absolutely committed to Medicare. It always will be in the future. Medicare is a vital part of the health services in this country— (Time expired)

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I also really want to thank my colleague the member for Reid for bringing this very important matter to the House today. Indeed, like the member for Reid's, my electorate of Chisholm has thousands of people in my community that are dependent on accessing Medicare bulk-billing services. Instilled in me from a very young age—with a GP for a father and a nurse for a mother, who ran their own medical practice—was the importance of everyone in our community being able to access health care.

When I speak about Medicare bulk-billing services, I'm speaking about pensioners, concession-card holders and families with children who benefited from our initial $8.5 billion investment in Medicare. I think, when I speak about Medicare bulk-billing services, about every Australian worker in my electorate who, since 1 November last year, has also benefited from Labor's further investment in Medicare bulk-billing. They include the more than 4,000 retail assistants, the 1,500 registered nurses and the many thousands of teachers, carers and aged-care workers who live in my electorate.

On this side of the House, we know that Australians don't hope to get sick at all—none of us do. And, when you do get sick, you shouldn't think about how you're going to pay for being sick, and what the impact of going without income may be.

I'm really proud to be part of a government that values Medicare, and we know that, when you value something, you invest in it. So I'm really pleased that we have been investing significantly and consistently in Medicare. Whether it's through the Albanese Labor government's record investment to strengthen Medicare with more bulk-billing, or through cheaper medicines, we're continuing to deliver high-quality, low-cost health care for Australians.

It should be no surprise to anyone that, when you triple the bulk-billing incentive, you create the conditions that enable medical practices to deliver increased bulk-billing services. That's precisely what we've seen happening on the ground. This includes more than 1,400 mixed-billing practices across Australia switching to bulk-billing.

The delivery of bulk-billing services across Australia, throughout Victoria and in my electorate of Chisholm has increased by every measure. That means that there are more than 3,800 bulk-billing practices across the country, including more than a thousand in Victoria and 31 bulk-billing practices in my electorate of Chisholm. We've seen that increase in practices leading to an increase in bulk-billing rates since our investment in Medicare, resulting in real and practical cost-of-living relief for Australians right across the country.

This is the kind of real help Australians are looking for and our government is providing. Minister Butler said that Labor built Medicare and we are strengthening it for all Australians. This is a really important mission that we have in government, and we will continue to keep our focus on investing in health care.

As I mentioned, we tripled the bulk-billing incentive in 2023 and again further stepped up to invest in Medicare and strengthen it by expanding that incentive from November last year. Our incentives are helping more people see the GP for free and delivering the biggest boost to Medicare ever. The 31 Medicare bulk-billing practices in my electorate of Chisholm are now bulk-billing all their patients all the time. Almost 50 per cent of GPs in my electorate are now in bulk-billing practices. I'm really proud of the fact that that bulk-billing rate has increased since I was first elected in May 2022. I am really pleased that the bulk-billing rate in my electorate sits at 80 per cent. This is a significant achievement and it's something that I'm really pleased to have been able to deliver for my community in government. I really want to thank all of those general practitioners and the staff in those practices for the important work that they do every day, keeping our community healthy.

One of the other significant ways that we've invested in Medicare bulk-billing is through investing in our Medicare urgent care clinics. We've got a Mount Waverley urgent care clinic which opened on 24 September, and we've had over 21,700 presentations in that time, which has made an enormous difference to people in our community, and I hear positive feedback all the time from people in my electorate.

Labor built Medicare. We will always do what we can to defend it and to strengthen it so everyone in our communities can get the health care they need when they need it. I'm proud to speak on this motion today.

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion in relation to bulk-billing, and I say to the Australian taxpayer who may be watching: this is what we're actually using taxpayer funds to debate. We've got a government motion—so a motion that's moved by a member of the Australian government—that commends the government's record and that thanks the government for its investments.

When I came to this place, I came here—maybe I was aspirational or hopeful—because I thought that we would actually be having conversations about how we can make this country better and how we can take this country into the future, not just come and speak on motions that are congratulating the government, which is something that we seem to do very often in this place.

But, if the government wants to speak about bulk-billing and if the government wants to speak about health, let's speak about it, because the simple fact is that Labor's bulk-billing rates are lower than the bulk-billing rates under the coalition. We've seen a government which has attacked private health care and older Australians in particular over the last couple of months in a way that is not only negligible but absolutely unconscionable. Labor's urgent care clinics look far too much like political infrastructure instead of health infrastructure, and the reality of bulk-billing is that Labor says it's strengthening Medicare, but patients are asking, including in my electorate on the Gold Coast, why it's actually costing them more to see a GP.

In 2021-22, when we left office, GP bulk-billing was at around 88 per cent. But by 2023-24 it had fallen to 77 per cent, and the July to March 2025-26 year-to-date figure is around 79 per cent, still far below what it was under the former, coalition government. In fact, bulk-billing rose under the previous, coalition government, from around 83 per cent in late 2013 to around 88 per cent in 2022. That's the reality. Those are the facts. If the government wants to speak about it, let's talk about it.

There's private health insurance and older Australians. What we've seen over the last couple of months is a decision by this government to cut the private health rebate for around 3.2 million older Australians, which will hurt our most vulnerable people at the time of their life when they need it the most. Labor is testing the resilience of our health system at the expense of older Australians, and that is wrong. It is wrong on so many levels.

If we're looking at urgent care clinics, Labor is failing on health, but it's always ready to use health and to use health care when it comes to political advantage or political opportunities. Nowhere is that clearer than in Labor's Medicare urgent care clinics campaign. We've run the numbers, and what we've come up with is actually quite interesting. Labor electorates are around 3.5 times more likely than coalition electorates to have two or more urgent care clinics. I think that's quite surprising, especially when you take into account the size of coalition electorates, which are on average larger and more regional and rural. So you'd expect them to be prioritised on the basis of size and service need, but that's not something that we're seeing from this government. What we're seeing is a Labor government that's using taxpayer funded clinics to shore up its own marginal seats. Again, that is wrong.

The assault by this government on older Australians and on people who depend on our healthcare system seems to have no bounds. I represent an electorate on the southern Gold Coast which has an average age demographic that is slightly higher than the national average, so people are speaking to me day after day about these changes, because they're feeling them and they're feeling them compounded with what's happening as a result of the government's cost-of-living crisis.

So I'd say to the government: look at what you're doing. Instead of just coming in here and moving motions congratulating yourselves and patting yourselves on the back, bring the facts. Let's talk about them, because what we need to do is come up with system that protects those Australians who depend on our healthcare system, not punishes them. Labor promised stronger Medicare, but Australians are getting higher costs and fewer bulk-billing options, which is putting more pressure on the healthcare system, and older Australians are being hit. Patients are being required to pay more, and health funding is being used for political gain.

Labor can spin the figures, but Australians know the truth when they pay at the GP counter. It's not a record to celebrate. It's a record that Labor should be ashamed of and should be held accountable for.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.