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

Australians are rightly proud of our healthcare system. For decades, Medicare has been a lifeline for millions of people, giving access to life-saving cancer treatments, surgeries and essential health care when needed. At its heart, Medicare is built on two fundamental principles: universality and comprehensive coverage. But, sadly, these very principles are under threat. Successive governments from both major parties have cut funding, failed to expand coverage and allowed out-of-pocket costs to soar. As a result, too many people in our community are being forced to try to find other ways to pay for vital, often urgent, medical treatment. For some, that means draining their superannuation, maxing out credit cards, turning to buy-now pay-later schemes or relying on predatory lenders that sometimes charge up to 47 per cent interest. No-one wants to do this, but it's what people are having to resort to because the government has failed to invest in our healthcare system.

Last year, more than 63,000 people in Australia withdrew some $1.4 billion from their superannuation just to cover medical costs—$817 million of that amount was for dental care alone. We are in a cost-of-living crisis. Going to the dentist is completely and wildly unaffordable. Even the most basic dental treatment is out of reach. People are being forced to raid their financial future to pay for essential health care. We know that when you take money out of your super you don't just lose the amount that you need to withdraw; you lose the compound growth that it would have earned over your working life. That means that every dollar withdrawn today could cost you twice as much, if not more, in retirement. No-one should have to drain their superannuation to access health care. Labor must reform dental care so that it is affordable and accessible for everyone.

As this gap in public health coverage continues to widen, capitalism's worst actors are moving in. We're talking about predatory lenders, profiteering credit schemes and buy-now pay-later companies, exploiting people's desperation to turn a profit from pain. So let's talk about buy-now pay-later vendors like Afterpay and Zip Pay. You can stroll into dentist offices and psychologist clinics today and often see advertisements encouraging people to use these services to cover treatments that Medicare doesn't cover. This kind of marketing is borderline predatory. After all, we would not accept advertising for credit cards or high-interest loan sharks in a healthcare setting. If you need further proof that these companies are exploiting people to turn a profit, consider this: they've actually hired executives with titles like 'Head of Healthcare Payments'. There are currently no obligations to stop these companies from targeting healthcare providers and their patients directly. And the result? Members of our community are being left thousands of dollars in debt simply because they need to access essential health care. I totally get why people turn to these services, but—let's be clear—they shouldn't have to.

The latest Australian Healthcare Index found that three-quarters of Australians said that cost-of-living pressures had caused them to delay visiting a GP, seeing a dentist or even buying prescribed medicine. That's 76 per cent of Australians making decisions about health care based on cost. Amongst young people, that number jumps to 86 per cent. Of those, 44 per cent are now using buy-now pay-later services to fund their health care. These aren't just statistics. They represent real stories of real people.

One such story brought to my team's attention was a constituent struggling to pay for healthcare services that their child desperately needed. They shared with me that they had to take out a loan of $6,000 so that their child could undergo urgent dental surgery under a general anaesthetic. After the interest, the fees and commissions, the total repayment will reach around $10,200 over three years—all so that their child doesn't have to live in pain. No-one should ever have to choose between their health and financial ruin.

Let us talk about the money involved here. Block, Inc. the parent company of Afterpay, made $8.89 billion in gross profits in the 2024 financial year—all while Australians are being forced to raid their life savings just to access essential health care. Billionaire corporations are making massive profits at the expense of our literal pain and suffering. This ends now. This government must act. It must do more to regulate buy-now pay-later schemes and other credit providers that are embedding themselves in our healthcare system and preying on people in crisis. No-one should have to risk financial ruin to get the health care they need when they need it.

The Greens have been out there, knocking on doors, talking to people about just how broken our healthcare system and our hospital system have become. We have a healthcare system that no longer has universal coverage and a public hospital system on the brink of collapse. Healthcare workers are fleeing the sector and patients are taking on thousands of dollars in predatory debt. At Royal Perth Hospital, in my home town, the drinking water is unsafe because of the presence of legionella bacteria. And, almost every month, we seemingly break a new record for ambulance ramping. We can no longer just sit here and say, 'If we don't do this, the health care system will collapse.' It is literally collapsing before our eyes.

We saw during COVID that, when a government commits to serious and significant investment, it can get it done. It is a question of political will. The Albanese government must find the political will to fix our healthcare system and to fix the broken hospital system. If they are looking for money to do it, may I suggest that they consider redirecting some of the many tens of billions they are currently committing to passing off to US arms dealers to keep the Trump administration happy.

It doesn't have to be like this. We can make Medicare the pride of our country once again and make our hospitals world leaders in patient care and research. All it takes is the right initiatives and a bit of political courage. We must get dental care and mental health care into Medicare. We must lower the cost of accessing urgently needed care where those cost barriers exist. Many love to call Australia the lucky country. Many in here love that quote and use it often. But I'm here to remind you that so many people in this country do not share the luck of the powerful in this place. (Time expired)