Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition supports Medicare. Funding into Medicare increased every single year under the former coalition government. Every single year that the coalition was in government before the election of the Albanese government, year on year, there was an increase in Medicare funding. The first year we came into power, there had been $18.6 billion of funding under Labor in 2012-13. When the coalition left office in 2021-22, the funding was $30 billion. Under Labor in 2012-13, the figure was $18.6 billion and under the coalition, in its last term before the election, it had increased to $30 billion—an increase of nearly $12 billion through the terms of three coalition governments. They're the facts.

We have a system in our country where both parties of government support Medicare, and rightly so—absolutely. I should note also that Medicare bulk-billing was higher under the coalition than it was under the last term of the Labor government. It was actually higher under the coalition. Bulk-billing rose consistently across our entire term in government. It rose to 86 per cent before the COVID pandemic, and it was a record high of 88 per cent when we left government. In the coalition's last year in government, there were 167.2 million free GP services delivered, and this is 61 million more than the previous Labor government. I'd forgive those listening to the debate if they were surprised by those facts because of the rhetoric coming from the other side, but the fact of the matter is that the coalition supports Medicare and has always supported and always will support Medicare as being a foundational principle of making sure Australian people have access to the medical services which they expect in this country.

The coalition also has a proud record of supporting a strong PBS in this country. In government, we made 2,900 new or amended listings on the PBS to expand access to cheaper medicines. I know that some of the achievements which mean the most to representatives in the other place and the senators in this place is when they have advocated on behalf of constituents and their families who have sought the listing of a PBS medication where it has been life-changing, when families have been faced with the awful predicament where there's only one drug available to treat a chronic condition and, without it being listed on the PBS, it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and they simply wouldn't be able to afford it. I would like to place on the record in this context—and I think it's appropriate to do so—my gratitude to Senator Ruston and one of her advisers, Lilli Balaam, for the work that they've done when Senator Ruston was health minister and now in her existing role in relation to getting drugs listed on the PBS and for listening to representations I've made in that regard. It's greatly appreciated.

So the coalition has a proud record of supporting the PBS. During our last term in government, the funding for Medicare increased from $18.6 billion, when we took government back in 2012-13, to $30 billion, in 2021-22. So don't accept this propaganda, this nonsense, about the coalition not supporting Medicare, because all of the facts are to the contrary, including the money that's been spent, that increase between $18 billion to $30 billion. Those are the facts, so don't listen to the political rhetoric and the propaganda.

The coalition has also supported and focused on mental health and suicide prevention, something very close to my heart and something which is extraordinarily important to the people of Queensland. I particularly refer to those regions of Queensland which don't have access to mental health specialists and practitioners. In many cases, a few hours drive out of Brisbane, there are areas which have unacceptable rates of suicide and attempted suicide and simply do not have the practitioners on the ground to provide the services people in those areas need. I've spoken to families who've been impacted in that regard, and those discussions are absolutely heartbreaking.

In that context, I note that the Labor government took away Medicare mental health sessions from 372,000 vulnerable Australians, and in that regard they went against the advice of their own review and all of the Australian peak mental health experts. They cut away those mental health sessions, and they were critically important to some of our most vulnerable Australians struggling with mental health issues. That was a great tragedy, and I would like to see those reinstated. I dearly would, because I think that those are the things which make such a difference to people's lives.

Data from the Productivity Commission in that regard shows that access to Medicare mental health support has fallen to the lowest point in at least 10 years. We've gotten to the lowest point of access to Medicare mental health support. That's a shocking state of affairs. We all know—and people listening to this debate will know—of people struggling with mental health issues who then, when they seek help, are faced with awful waiting times to see the specialists they need to see. It's heartbreaking.

Under Labor, mental health has been completely neglected. They cut the Medicare subsidised mental health sessions in half. They abolished the National Mental Health Commission. The chair of Mental Health Australia even resigned out of frustration with the Prime Minister's neglect of mental health and refusal to meet with him. This is a crisis. There's a mental health crisis in our country impacting so many vulnerable young people in our society. This should be one of the greatest priorities of government, to try and deliver services to the people most in need in this regard.

I also refer to the Prime Minister's Medicare election promise. You all heard this many times. The Prime Minister said:

Under Labor all you'll need is your Medicare card, not your credit card

When that statement was trotted out, he would wave the Medicare card, the credit card and whatever else around. But, if you want to know what's really happening, one of the things to do is to look out for the incoming brief that the actual department prepares and submits to an incoming government, whoever wins the election. The department advises the government of the day. The department advises the government of the day, whoever wins the election, on what's actually happening on the ground.

This is what the government's own incoming government brief said. This is what the Department of Health told them. This had to be released under FOI. Someone had to go through the Freedom of Information Act process to get the truth from the government department. It estimated that a quarter—23 per cent; near enough to a quarter—of GP clinics across Australia will not bulk-bill, despite all of the Albanese Labor government's promises. That's what the specialists in the department said in the incoming brief to the government, after the Prime Minister had run around the country waving his Medicare card around and saying, 'Under Labor all you'll need is your Medicare card, not your credit card.' The government's own department, in considering the promises made by the Labor prime minister during an election campaign, actually belled the cat in relation to the issue and said that a quarter—near enough; 23 per cent—of GP clinics across Australia will not bulk-bill, despite all of the Albanese Labor government's promises.

This data from the health department shows that millions of Australians will still need their credit card—notwithstanding what the Prime Minister promised the Australian people during the course of an election campaign. What the Prime Minister said during the course of an election campaign is totally disconnected from the reality the Australian people are going to face now that the Labor government has been re-elected. The reality is going to be different from the election campaign. This data from the health department says that millions of Australians will still need their credit card, as well as their Medicare card, when they go to see a GP. Nearly a quarter of medical clinics will not bulk-bill, notwithstanding the promises and statements made by the Prime Minister.

The worst part of all this is that, when an Australian's credit card is charged to see their GP, they're being charged the highest out-of-pocket costs on record under Labor. At a time when they can least afford it, Australians are forking out more than they've ever had to before, from their own pocket, to access essential health care. It is quite appalling that the Prime Minister made those representations during the course of an election campaign and then the incoming brief—it's not like there was 12 months that passed between when the Prime Minister made these statements and when the advice was received from the department. It's not as if there was a change of circumstances that one could reasonably accept. These promises were made by the Prime Minister during an election campaign, and the incoming brief from the Department of Health, which knows the data and the reality, said: 'It can't be achieved. You're not going to achieve what you promised.' Barely a month had passed. That's the reality. This calls into serious question Labor's claims that by 2030 nine out of 10 visits to the GP will be free. How does that stack up if the department's actually saying that 23 per cent of GP clinics aren't going to bulk-bill? How do you achieve that figure of nine out of 10 visits to the GP being free? It's impossible.

The Prime Minister needs to be transparent with the Australian people: was this advice provided to the government prior to the election? Notwithstanding the Labor government's promises, did the Prime Minister know that the department of health—which knows the data, which understands the process and which is the best to give these estimates—estimated that 23 per cent of GP clinics across Australia would not bulk-bill? Did the Prime Minister know that? Did the relevant minister know that? And, if not, why not? Why not get the data and opinion from the relevant government department before you make the promise? Isn't that the way it should work? Get the data and get the opinions of the senior public servants who are across the system before you go out to the Australian people and make a promise.

Now we're in this situation where there's a complete disconnect between the promise that was made by the Prime Minister, waving around his Medicare card, and the reality as told to us by the public servants, who are the ones in charge of managing the system and who are at the coalface in terms of managing the health system. That's the situation we have.

The reality of Medicare under Labor is that Labor promised to strengthen Medicare, but it's only been weakened since they were elected. Medicare bulk-billing fell by 11 per cent under Labor. Under Labor, GP bulk-billing has fallen from 88 per cent—in the last year of the coalition government, bulk-billing was at 88 per cent—to 77 per cent. They want to pat themselves on the back as if they've achieved some great things in this space when, under their watch, there was a material decline in bulk-billing. That translates to 40 million fewer bulk-billed GP visits in the past year alone under Labor.

Australians are now paying 45 per cent more of the cost to see a GP from their own pockets, and out-of-pocket costs have literally reached the highest level on record under Labor. This data from the government's own national accounts shows that more Australians are having to use their credit card along with their Medicare card—notwithstanding what the Prime Minister promised during the course of the last election campaign—and they're being charged the highest amount of out-of-pocket costs on record. The sad reality of our healthcare system under Labor is that it has forced more than 1.5 million Australians to avoid seeing their GP because they can't afford to. It's a devastating statistic, which makes it so unsatisfactory to see Labor standing up here in this chamber patting themselves on the back.