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

I move general business notice of motion No. 73:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that the Prime Minister promised 71 times to Australians that 'all you need is your Medicare card, not a credit card' and that it would be 'free to see a GP';

(b) notes that, despite the Prime Minister's promise, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:

(i) while the Prime Minister was busy waving around his Medicare card claiming it is all you need to see a doctor, Australians have forked out almost $2 billion to see a GP in the past year,

(ii) in May 2025 alone, during the election campaign, Australians paid a staggering $166 million in combined out-of-pocket costs, and

(iii) Australians need their credit cards more and more, as well as their Medicare card, to see a GP under Labor;

(c) condemns the Prime Minister for not being truthful with Australians during the Federal Election campaign; and

(d) calls on the Prime Minister to admit that he misled Australians about Medicare.

Today, I stand to speak on the general business motion that I have moved in this place. I moved this motion because of my extraordinary concern about the Prime Minister and the government misleading Australians about a crisis befalling our healthcare system at the moment, most particularly a crisis in access to general practice, which is access to primary care. I say this—and I'll provide evidence as to why I'm concerned—because during the election campaign the Prime Minister, the leader of our nation, promised Australians that all you need is your Medicare card, not your credit card, when you visit your doctor. He also said it would be free to see a GP. After he made that commitment to Australians—71 times at least that we can identify—Australians quite rightly expect that, when they see their GP, they will not have any out-of-pocket expenses. That means, when they go to see the GP, they will provide their Medicare card, and that will be the only card that they require.

However, we knew all along this was unlikely to be achieved. We remained very concerned throughout the campaign while the government, particularly the Prime Minister, in his shady stunts, was running around, wielding his plastic card as if somehow that was going to be his whole platform for winning the election. We constantly said throughout the campaign that we believed the Prime Minister was misleading Australians and giving them a false sense that their health care was about to become free. Australians know, as they have experienced it over the last three years in particular, about how much costs for accessing their GP have gone up. In fact, they have gone up on average by 45 per cent; the out-of-pocket costs of going to see a GP have risen.

Immediately following the election we found out, on the incoming government brief, that the Department of Health and Aged Care advised the Prime Minister and advised the government prior to the election that, in fact, there was no possibility every person would be able to see their GP for free. That FOI identified that, even on the conservative estimates of the Department of Health and Aged Care, the department believed that a quarter of GP clinics across Australia will not bulk-bill, despite the Australian Labor Party government's promises to Australians during the election campaign.

This data shows that millions of Australians will still need their credit card, something that the Prime Minister promised them they would not need. So, quite clearly, the Prime Minister's own Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has actually belled the cat on the fact that he not only misled Australians during the election campaign but did so knowingly. But, as I said, the worst part of it is that not only did he mislead Australians about how much money they were going to have to pull out of their own pockets when they go to see a GP; right now, that amount is higher than it has ever been before.

But the other telling thing was, this week, the Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, on morning television, said:

We never said there'd be a hundred per cent bulk billing.

What I'd really like to understand from the Prime Minister is how, if all you need to visit your doctor is your Medicare card, that cannot mean you're telling the Australian public that they will get their primary health care for free. How is saying, 'It will be free to see a GP,' not telling Australians that every Australian will get to see their GP for free? The Prime Minister knew it wasn't true. He knew it wasn't true when he was saying it. He knows it's not true now. He continues to say it, and yet his very own health minister is quite happy to admit that what the Prime Minister is saying was never actually true.

Quite clearly, what this tells us is that we have a prime minister who is prepared to use a disingenuous stunt that he knows to be not true in order to win an election. He is prepared to use something as important as Australians' affordable access to primary care as a stunt in order to win an election. I think this reflects incredibly badly on the Australian Prime Minister.

The reality is that, while the Prime Minister has been wandering around and waving his Medicare card, in May 2025 alone—that's the first month of the new government's reign; this is not in the previous term but after the Prime Minister had made his promise to Australians—Australians forked out $166 million in out-of-pocket costs when they saw their GPs. In the first month of this government's reign, after that promise, not only have we got the department of health saying it's not possible; we actually have the facts that say, at a time when we've got a cost-of-living crisis and Australians are struggling to meet the costs of everyday life, Australians had to fork out $166 million—hardworking taxpayers' money—despite the Prime Minister telling them that they weren't going to have to pay anything at all. And, in fact, last year it was $2 billion in out-of-pocket expenses. That is the Prime Minister's $2 billion lie. Quite clearly, the facts are the facts, and creating a false expectation amongst Australians at a time when they are under immense financial pressure is not only disingenuous; it's, quite frankly, cruel.

We knew already that this prime minister couldn't be trusted when it came to Medicare. But quite clearly he's prepared to say and do anything to cover the abject failings of our healthcare system as we stand here today. By absolutely every metric, the Albanese Labor government failed Australians on healthcare in the first three-year term of their government. I hope they don't do it in the next three years, but I fear they probably will, because they're much more interested in headlines than they are in actually delivering for Australians.

You say, 'Why do I say that they have failed on every metric?' Despite what the Labor Party will tell you—because quite clearly they're happy to tell you anything to cover up their failings—bulk-billing has fallen from over 88 per cent to 77 per cent in the three years that they've been in government. They'll say to you, 'But those figures were inflated, because, of course, they were figures as we were coming out of COVID.' Well, let's disregard the COVID figures. In 2019, bulk-billing rates were 86 per cent, and they're now 77 per cent. From pre-COVID till now—bulk-billing rates plummeted nine per cent in that time but 11 per cent in the first three years of this government's term.

The other thing is that, as I said, out-of-pocket costs have never, ever been higher. There has been a 45 per cent increase in out-of-pocket costs over those three years. So that means Australians are paying more out of their pocket than they have ever paid before when they go to visit a doctor. It doesn't matter how many times the Labor Party comes in here and tells you a story about how wonderful everything is. Australians know the difference, because they feel it every time they go to their doctor. They feel it in their hip pockets.

But more egregious than that—more egregious than the fact that they're having to fork out so much more when they go to see their doctor, despite the promises of those opposite—is that 1.5 million Australians last year chose not to see their doctor because they said they couldn't afford to do it. They made the very difficult decision of not seeing the doctor because they had other pressures on their family budget—pressures about putting food on the table, paying the mortgage, filling up the car with fuel, paying for their insurance and paying for the stuff that their kids needed when they went to school. Those were the decisions that Australians had to make. They forwent going to a doctor because they had to make those very difficult decisions about how they were going to spend their money. And, as a result of not seeing their doctor, Australians got sicker. We have seen increased pressure on our emergency departments and we have seen ramping accelerate in every state and territory around the country. Not only does that mean that Australians are getting sicker, so it's very bad for Australians; it also means that, by the time they go to see a doctor, the cost to our healthcare system and our hospitals is so much higher, when it could have been prevented if they'd simply had access to their GP.

So, as I said, we've seen an increase in ramping, an increase in emergency presentations, an increase in out-of-pocket costs, an increase in people not seeing the doctor and bulk-billing rates falling. I don't know how this government can congratulate itself on health. They should put down their smokescreen, they should put down their disingenuous stunts, and they should actually accept the fact that we have a challenge and a crisis in our primary-care system and in our healthcare system and that we should be addressing that. Don't pretend it doesn't exist, because that won't solve the problem.

The government's very good at making sure that all they do is denigrate the record of the coalition. Well, let me put it on the record tonight. The disgraceful scare campaigns that have been run by those opposite for the last three elections actually fly in the face of the facts. Funding to Medicare under the coalition government increased every single year, from $18.6 billion when Labor left government in 2012-13 to more than $30 billion in 2021-22 when we were in government. Significantly, bulk-billing was much, much higher when we were in government. It consistently rose the entire time that we were in government.

The other point that's worth making—despite those opposite once again telling the Australian public things that are not correct about the coalition's track record on the PBS—is that we are proud supporters of Australians getting access to affordable medicines. We want Australians to get access to cheaper medicines. In fact, we listed 2,900 new or amended medicines during our time in government. We made a commitment that, if the process through the TGA and PBAC approved a medication, we would list it on the PBS. The last time the Labor Party were in government, back in 2012, they stopped listing medicines on the PBS because, by their own admission, they had run out of money to do so. That is in stark contrast to the absolute commitment from the coalition government during its time to make sure that all medications approved by PBAC were listed on the PBS.

What we saw in the last term of this government, despite the fact this government claims that it's the best friend of our healthcare system, was that they were the ones who, for the very first time, put a cap on the number of medicines that could be listed for a PBAC meeting. In effect, this is another backhanded way of not listing medications that might otherwise have been listed—because, if you can't get it onto the PBAC agenda, it can't be approved by PBAC, so therefore you don't have to list it. So this government continuing to perpetuate its scare campaigns and misinformation and to try to rewrite history and change the facts does not hide the fact that, by every single measure, the Albanese Labor government has been the worst government for Australian's health in history.

In conclusion, there is one other element of our healthcare system that I'd like to draw attention to, and that is the absolute epidemic that we have at the moment in relation to mental health. What this government did in its last term of government, in the three years from 2022 to 2025, is it got rid of the Mental Health Commission and it did not renew the funding for national suicide prevention research. They managed to chase the head of Mental Health Australia out of his position. He ended up giving up being the chair because he said that it was a pointless exercise because the Prime Minister was not listening to Australians who had challenges with mental health and was complete disregarding the sector.

This government, the Albanese Labor government, has failed Australians on health care and failed Australians when it comes to their mental health. And, yet, to this day, as we're standing in this parliament, they are still prepared to come in here, ask questions in question time, do an address in reply and make speeches that continue to perpetuate the lies. It must stop. (Time expired)

Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In contributing to this debate this evening, I'm going to tackle three key areas of health care which people in the community have said to me are urgent priorities. We must recognise that people in our community are struggling through a cost-of-living crisis, struggling to keep the roof over their heads, struggling to afford the weekly shop—and, yes, struggling to be able to access the health care that they urgently need.

First, let us look clearly at this question of access to general practice, of being able to go and see your GP. If you cannot access a GP when you need it because of cost, there are so many negative health consequences. In my home state of Western Australia, the average out-of-pocket cost for a 20-minute GP appointment is $42.66. Now, to some in here that might sound like not too much. Why are people complaining? Why is that a struggle? If you're a shadow minister, a minister or even an assistant minister, that might just pass off the top of your bank account, and you wouldn't even notice. Well, for most people in the community, for most people in WA, that amount of money is just not doable, not if you are also balancing feeding your kids or paying the rent, or cobbling together enough for the mortgage. You just can't do it.

While it is welcome that the government has introduced bulk-billing incentives, what we see from the Cleanbill report is that what has been done so far is not enough, that about 750 clinics are estimated to have actually increased their rate of bulk-billing. That is nowhere near enough to get to the target of enabling people to see the GP using their Medicare card, which was what was promised at the election—nowhere near enough. So people in my home state are continuing to go without the access to the health care that they need. And they cannot make up the difference between their weekly expenses and paying those prices by making some papier-mache objects to sell, using the press releases that this government put out during the election—and still puts out now—congratulating themselves on what a great job they've done.

People cannot pay their GP using the self-satisfaction of this government nor does it help anyone to sit and listen to a debate where the Liberal Party—who have had a great time this week, eating themselves alive in front of the entire parliament—disingenuously claim that, if they were still in government, Medicare would be better. Give us a break! If you want to join in at this time and be genuinely interested in building the healthcare system in this country, then good. It's about time. And, if you over there, in the Labor Party, want to actually get yourself off your high horse for being part of Medicare's establishment decades ago and actually engage with the reality of the people who need health care and who live and die on the question of whether or not their services are bulk-billed or whether or not they can get to see a doctor, then it's about time. Join in with the rest of us that are actually responding to the community demand for action.

The ability to see the GP for free for everyone—that is what is demanded. That is what is needed. That is what the Greens went to the election proposing to establish. And before anyone asks any questions about how it might have been paid for—by making big gas corporations pay their fair share of tax. Now, if you did that, you may not be invited to be on the board of Woodside or BHP after you end your political career, but I would hope that you would be able to sleep a bit better at night knowing that you put your community first.

We are at a moment in time in 2025 where our healthcare system does not recognise the fact that the mouth is part of the body. Dental care is excluded from Medicare. That makes no sense at all. The Greens have long advocated for the establishment of a universal dental system so that people can live free of dental pain and free of gum disease, and where people can once again eat the foods they used to, so they could be saved from the experiences of diabetes, heart disease and dementia, which we know are so deeply related to poor dental and oral health. I was very proud to lead a parliamentary inquiry in the last parliament that explored, in great detail, what it would actually mean to establish universal access to dental care in Australia. It is clear to anyone looking that this is a change whose time has come. Maybe there are those in this parliament that are not ready to come all the way with the Greens to a space where we have universal access for all in our community. But let us begin.

Between 2010 and 2013, the Greens were able to work—thanks to the support of the community—across the parliament to establish the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. We could expand that scheme to cover all children. We could implement the recommendations of the aged-care royal commission and establish a seniors' dental benefit scheme so that those older Australians who are right now living in perpetual agony, unable to eat the foods that they love and unable to smile without fear of causing fear, could actually live with hope and free of pain again. We could finally close the absurd loophole in Australian cancer rehabilitative treatment which sees every other part of rehabilitative cancer treatment and care covered by Medicare except that related to the mouth, to the teeth, to the gums—the maxillofacial loophole. Let us begin, because people need access to dental and oral health care. They cannot continue to bear the pain, to bear the weight and the burden of having to burrow into their retirement savings, having to siphon off their super to fix their teeth. This isn't okay. This isn't fair or just. Let us get this done.

Finally, in the context of some of the debates we've had this week that have been so hurtful and so unnecessary towards members of our community who are trans and queer folks, let us work together to make sure that Medicare and the healthcare system fully supports trans people, provides what is needed to trans folks to live with pride and dignity, and puts a great big barrier between people's individual health care and the bigoted views of politicians who would seek to whip up hate and fear. It is hard enough being a queer person in this country, a trans person in this country, living every day knowing that you will experience discrimination and you will experience exclusion as much as, if not more than, you will experience love and inclusion, without worrying that the health care that you need will not be accessible, will not exist at all in your community, or will be subject to so many bureaucratic, nonsense, paper-pushing processes that you won't even get it in time. In my state of WA, the situation we have right now with trans health care is a shame. It's a shame on the state government and it's a shame on the federal government. It is so unnecessary and causing so much harm. It's not okay.

Let us work together to build a healthcare system that actually meets the needs of the community. It is not good enough for politicians in this place to set their standard of success at the level of ambition that they personally believe is good enough. We must set our level of ambition and we must judge ourselves against the extent to which we meet the needs of the community, the actual needs of the people who send us here. The resources to do it are there if we would but take them. If we could find in ourselves and in our positions of power the courage to confront powerful vested interests and corporate influence, then we would find enough resources to get this done. Not only would we find enough resources to get it done; we would not have to be in an absurd situation where a government elected on a platform of supporting disabled people in our community turns around, as this Labor government has done, and decides to implement cuts to the very National Disability Insurance Scheme it promised it would preserve.

Today I tabled a petition from 60,000 people who do not and will not cop the cuts from this government to our NDIS that risk the removal of the vital allied health supports, the support coordinators and the plan managers. They will not cop it and will not be silent. They understand the connection between disability supports and Medicare. They understand the commitment that those who sought to keep the Liberals out of power made at the election, and they understand that if you do not intend to keep your word, then there will be electoral consequences for you and your party. But before we get anywhere near that place, at the beginning of this parliament let us come together around some of the most basic opportunities for progress and change—getting dental care into Medicare for seniors, for kids and for those recovering from cancer. (Time expired)

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Following the Treasurer's injunction in terms of productivity, the amount of hours that we engage in work here and the output—we've had a very good week in terms of legislative outcomes for the government—I don't propose to make a contribution on this matter, and I understand that there are no further speakers. As it is after 4.30, the advice that we're getting is that we'll need to go to a deferred vote on this question.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Ruston be agreed to. A division is required. As it is after 4.30, this division will be held over to the next day of meeting, which is 25 August.

Senate adjourned at 16:38