Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. As I commence, I note that this bill is in response to the Philip review, which identified a range of issues that need to be addressed to ensure the effective operation of the Medicare system.

As someone who has been in this place for a while now, I can very confidently assert the coalition's support for a strong Medicare system, one that serves the Australian people well, that seeks to provide efficient service and good access to health services for the Australian people, and, in that context, that stands by the coalition's record of ensuring that Medicare continues to do that. This is despite what you might hear from some of those opposite, particularly when it comes to election times, when the Prime Minister decided to spend his time wandering around the country waving a Medicare card and suggesting that the coalition might be doing something negative in the context of Medicare. If you look at the actual performance of the Labor Party compared to the coalition with respect to Medicare, it's actually the other way around. If you go to the provision of primary care services, for example, you see that, since this government came to government in 2022, the bulk-billing rate has plummeted from 88 per cent to 77 per cent—an 11 per cent reduction. Yet the Prime Minister has the gall to go around the country suggesting that Medicare will be stronger under Labor.

We welcome the arrangements that are being put in place through this piece of legislation. It is obviously backed by the Philip Review and also by a Senate inquiry that reported during the caretaker period, and so we will be supporting the legislation. What we are not going to tolerate is a continuation of the fabrications that are being put out by Labor about our performance in government with respect to Medicare. If you look at the facts, as opposed to the rhetoric and the BS that's put out there by the Prime Minister, the fact that funding for Medicare increased from $18.6 billion under Labor in 2012 or 2013 to more than $30 billion in 2021-22 under the coalition demonstrates that there has been an increase in funding for Medicare. Medicare bulk-billing funding was higher under the coalition. We're funding more services. Bulk-billing continuously rose under our entire term of government. The Labor Party cannot say that about what has happened during their time in government—it rose to 86 per cent before the pandemic and it was a record high of 88 per cent when we left government. It's now 77 per cent. In the coalition's last year in government, 167.2 million free GP services were delivered—an increase of 61 million from when we came to government. We have a very strong record with respect to support of the Australian people.

Let's not forget that, if you look at the PBS—and I think this is a very important area to consider—during the chaotic Rudd-Gillard years, the then Labor government stopped putting medicines on the PBS because they couldn't manage the finances of the country. They stopped listing new medicines because they couldn't afford to do so. Yet, when we came to government, we made 2,900 amended or new listings on the PBS. Having worked very closely with then minister Hunt, I know how focused he was on making sure that Australians had access to the best and the latest medicines and that we didn't fall into the trap that Labor fell into when they were last in government of not being able to afford to list medicines because they'd run out of money. They cannot manage the budget. Now we're starting to see those things happen again. Treasury is telling us that the budget is under stress. Where are the negative decisions going to come from under this government when they start running out of money? We know that Labor can't manage the budget. Historically, that's been one of their traits.

Of course, one of the scourges that we're seeing here in Australia, particularly post the pandemic and in the period immediately post the pandemic, is the issue relating to mental health, particularly for young Australians. What did the Labor Party do? They cut the number of services available to Australians to deal with mental health issues in half. They reduced it from 20 to 10, and, despite every recommendation that they've received since, they refuse to do anything about it. Yet they had the gall to go to the last election suggesting that people would be worse off under a coalition government, who were promising to increase it back to 20. They were not meeting that commitment. So, when we hear the crocodile tears from Labor or the entreaties about how wonderful they are at looking after Australians, remember that 75 per cent of people who are seeking mental health support are people under the age of 25, yet it was this Labor government that cut the number of mental health services available to young Australians—to Australians generally—from 20 to 10. They refuse to return it to where it was, despite all of the professional recommendations that they've had. Then they have the gall to run their fourth straight 'Mediscare' campaign, which leads me to a point that I made in this place yesterday.

You cannot believe what the Labor Party are telling you. We all remember the promise of a $275 reduction in power prices. We all remember that. We know that it will never be delivered. We know that they promised a lower cost of living and they promised higher real wages. We know that real wages have gone backwards in excess of six per cent since this government came to office. They promised us cheaper housing. How's that going? It's not. Housing is getting more expensive, and the things that the government are doing are making it more expensive. Their refusal to bring organisations like the CFMEU properly to heel are exacerbating cost issues in the housing industry. Then they have the gall to go to the election for the fourth time in a row running a 'Mediscare' campaign.

The Australian people cannot believe what the Prime Minister is telling them. It has been proven so many times now that he will say one thing, particularly in the lead-up to an election and then that will disappear. It'll disappear into the ether once the election has gone. We will not tolerate the myths that Labor continues to put in front of the Australian people. He did it again at the last election when he stood up in front of the Australian people—and I don't know how many times he did it—suggesting that the only thing you would need when you went to the GP was your Medicare card. Now, we know that that's not true and we know that will never be true. That promise will go to exactly the same place that the promise for a $275 reduction in energy bills went. It will never be delivered. We cannot believe what the Prime Minister says in respect of that.

Not even members of the Labor Party believe what the Prime Minister said. The Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania, Dean Winter, just last Saturday night, said in his speech after the election in Tasmania, 'Too many Australians can't get in to see a doctor, and they can't afford it if they can.' So even Dean Winter, the Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania—I'm not sure how long he'll hold that position, mind you—doesn't believe Prime Minister Albanese when he says, 'The only thing that you'll need to go to the doctor is a Medicare card'—if you can get in to see a doctor, that is. The promise made by the Prime Minister during the last election campaign was simply a hollow one, like so many other promises that the Labor Party have made. The reality is that, at a time when they can least afford it—Dean Winter has confirmed it—Australians are forking out more than they ever have from their own pocket so that they can get access to Medicare services, despite the promises of the Prime Minister.

The really insulting thing in relation to that promise is that his own department's data indicated that it wasn't true. His department has said that a quarter of Australians won't be able to just walk into a doctor's surgery and use their Medicare card. Yet these are the false promises that the Labor Party continue to make to Australians—the deceptive promises. There's the $275 reduction in your power bills, a promise that will never come to pass. In fact, when we get to the end of this year, when the power bill subsidies run out, the cost-of-living relief will be gone and the higher power bills will remain. They will be over $1,000 more than when this government came to office. They've got your vote. They only extended the income relief for six months to get them past the election. Now, you're on your own. You're stuck with your higher energy bill now. This government has got the vote; they're happy. They can tell us to get out of the way. They can run their hubris lines across the chamber and say we should just get out of the way and let them govern. You're hearing it in their speeches already. That's the arrogance of this government who can't keep their promises.

We are going to hold the government to their promises, and we're going to remind the Australian people every day of the broken promises. The $275 promise will never go away, and the 23 per cent—the quarter of Australians—who can't just walk into a doctor's surgery and use their Medicare card will be reminded every day, as well, that they were promised by the Prime Minister last May that all you would need to go to the GP was your Medicare card, not your credit card. It was a false promise; it was a scam. It was a scam run by the Labor Party.

We will remind the Australian people every day between now and the next election of the $275 scam, the cheaper-housing scam and the Medicare GP scam because they need to understand that that's what this government continue to do. Then they roll out their hubris and suggest that we just get out of the way and let them get on with it without raising any objections. Well, we won't.