Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator McAllister. The Albanese Labor government believes in a simple principle. We believe that, no matter where you live or where you come from, Australians should have access to affordable health care. I, like all my colleagues, want Australians to see a doctor without a hit to their hip pocket. How is the government strengthening Medicare to help Australians get the care they need for free?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown, who, of course, is a staunch advocate for public health and for Tasmania. When we are talking about access to health care, the Albanese Labor government's proposition is very simple: when you're sick, the only card that you should need is your Medicare card, and we are delivering real change for Australians. With just a Medicare card, more Australians are seeing a GP for free—with just a Medicare card.

Under those opposite, bulk-billing was in freefall. But, thanks to this government's historic investment in Medicare, bulk-billing has now risen to 84 per cent, and that means parents don't have to worry about taking a sick child to the doctor. It means that workers don't have to choose between seeing a GP and keeping more of what they earn. And that's not all. With their Medicare card, Australians can get free urgent care at one of 137 Medicare urgent care clinics around the country. Four out of five Australians live within a 20-minute drive of a Medicare urgent care clinic.

Those opposite, of course, call this wasteful spending. We know that it is an essential part of an available, accessible, affordable healthcare system, and it's why we've made Medicare urgent care clinics permanent. The thing is, senators, you don't have to take my word for it. We can ask, in fact, any Tasmanian senator, Senator Brown, because when their Liberal deputy premier, Guy Barnett, needed urgent care after a game of tennis, where did he go? Well, he went off to the Medicare urgent care clinic, one of eight Medicare urgent care clinics right across Tasmania. That is what Medicare looks like when it is working for all Australians, and that is what Labor governments do.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Why are you disclosing his personal medical information?

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Scarr, come to order.

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

They strengthen Medicare, they make health care more affordable, and they deliver real change for Australians.

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Scarr, it is not the role in here for a senator on the opposition backbench to try and out-yell a minister. I asked you to come to order. You were so loud I don't even think you heard me.

Senator Colbeck, I do not need to hear from you. Senator Brown, first supplementary?

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for that response. The PBS is a key pillar of Australia's universal healthcare system, because Australians shouldn't have to choose between paying for the medicines they need and paying the bills. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering cheaper medicines for more Australians?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks to the Albanese Labor government, PBS medicines are now the cheapest they have been in 20 years. The last time medicines were this cheap was in 2004. Thanks to our investments in cheaper medicines, Australians have saved more than $2.9 billion since July 2022. But we should be clear about the history of this. If the Liberals and the Nationals and One Nation had their way, the maximum PBS co-payment would be more than $50. Under those opposite, families right across Australia would be paying twice as much for their medicines as they are today.

We are adding more medicines to the PBS so Australians can access the treatments they need at a price they can afford. Just this month, we listed the first new treatment in 20 years for a rare brain cancer—a treatment that can slow progression of the disease. Australians shouldn't have to choose between their health and their hip pocket.

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brown, second supplementary?

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister has clearly set out how the Albanese Labor government is delivering real change and helping Australians get the care they need. Can the minister outline whether anything stands in the way of the government's approach?

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Colbeck, I haven't even called the minister, and already you are being disrespectful to me and to the minister by interjecting. Either leave the chamber or listen in silence.

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

We on this side of the chamber built Medicare. We back the PBS. We built universal superannuation. Those opposite are always trying to tear down those essential safety nets, but there is one safety net that those opposite are always very good at protecting. It's not Medicare and it's not super; it is in fact the great Liberal Party safety net. This is a safety net which ensures that those opposite will always be looked after, whatever befalls them. The senator for higher taxes, Senator Hume, is now the shadow minister for finance. The shadow minister for housing is comparing teenagers to cats and dogs. He sees communism wherever he looks. The member for Goldstein has become the shadow treasurer, and that actually requires no further elaboration. On the evidence, the great Liberal Party safety net is one of the most effective pieces of social protection in the world.