Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

They know they definitely won't work, and that is why they're seeking to push this piece of legislation through without the appropriate scrutiny. So many on our side of the parliament would have loved the opportunity to speak on this legislation, but, in the interests of getting it into committee—so you actually have to answer some questions, albeit in a very truncated form—they are not able to.

In saying this is a really dangerous and concerning habit that we're seeing from those opposite, I foreshadow that I will be moving a second reading amendment, Madam Acting Deputy President, in relation to the decision earlier this week by the Minister for Health and Aged Care to slash Medicare subsidised mental health support for the most vulnerable Australians. The government has prioritised pushing this piece of legislation through this place over support for Australians battling with mental ill health. One would suggest, the way things are going, that they prioritise their budget and their own ideological beliefs over the mental health of Australians. Once again, in true Labor style, they are ignoring the advice of experts—stakeholders like Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, who is calling on the health minister to resign. The Institute of Clinical Psychologists, the Australian Psychological Society, Suicide Prevention Australia, the Australian Association of Psychologists and even their own backbench are saying this is a bad decision.

As we come into Christmas, when people, particularly lonely people, often find it toughest, with COVID still rampaging on our doorstep and the cost of living going through the roof, this piece of legislation is only going to make things worse. In my home town in the Riverland we are currently enduring a creeping flood that is likely to seriously impact many livelihoods over the summer period. Right at a time when Australians need the mental health supports provided by these additional, Medicare subsidised psychology sessions, those opposite are ripping them out, and they're ripping them out even when the advice of their own report is that they be kept in.

Once again, those opposite have a track record in legislation and policy development where there's no detail; it's just: 'Let's not worry about having scrutiny of anything that we do. We do not care about the advice of the experts.' Instead, they just ram legislation through here and worry about the consequences of what they're doing later. Well, I can say that Australians will be worrying about the decisions being forced through this place today for many, many years to come. I look forward to those opposite having to look Australians in the face when their power bills go through the roof and their power gets cut off and having to accept the consequences of this disgusting legislation.