Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

except perhaps those in Senator Bernardi's home state of South Australia. So it would be nice if Senator Bernardi were to speak up in his caucus and stop these outrageous attacks on health. But, no, he is silent on this issue. We now learn that the Prime Minister has been working on a plan to privatise Medicare payments. He is considering a plan to allow private insurers into Medicare and he is now looking at killing off Labor's dental scheme for kids. How much more can this heartless government do in their arrogant grab for more money?

This week we will be continuing to debate the Senate reform legislation—the legislation where the dirty, grubby deal was done with the Greens behind closed doors—and that will mean that, if this government are re-elected at the election in July, they will have outright control in this chamber. That will mean that every health cut will go ahead; every attack on older Australians will go ahead; every attack on education will go ahead; and there will not be any hope whatsoever of the Gonski funding for years 5 and 6—everything attack that we on this side of the chamber have spoken up against. And have no doubt at all that the GST increase will be back on the agenda. Along with further cuts to health, we will see an increase in the GST.

In the Howard years, when I first came to this place, I had to experience what it was like when a government controls both houses of parliament. They just ram through all their legislation. We have just seen a touch of that this afternoon. Since we came into this place today, we have seen the dirty, grubby deals that have been done by those opposite behind closed doors with the Greens, even by Senator Bernardi—of all people to get into bed with the Greens! Australians cannot afford this. In my home state of Tasmania, the Liberal state government have said time and time again that they want their money back from this government because the real health cuts—the cuts of $57 billion—are going to have an enormous impact on whether or not GPs will be able to get their patients into hospitals.

The minister comes into this chamber and says, 'Trust me; don't trust the AMA, because they have got it wrong.' But she does not even know what is in her own government's budget papers. Enough is enough. The Australian people will not support a government that continually attack those who are most vulnerable in the community. And those on that side who have failed to speak up on these very important issues should hang their heads in shame.