QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Mr BUTLER (Hindmarsh—Minister for Health and Aged Care and Deputy Leader of the House) (14:39): Thank you to the member for Lingiari, because, for her and for everyone on this side of the House, bulk billing is the beating heart of Medicare, and it was in freefall when we came to government. That's why, of course, in our second budget, we tripled the bulk-billing incentive for pensioners, concessional cardholders and kids, which delivered last year an additional six million free visits to the doctor, lifting bulk billing for that cohort up above 90 per cent again.
But we know it's still under pressure for other Australians, which is why this week, in the fourth budget, for the first time, we've extended bulk-billing support to every single Australian—because we know that seeing a doctor for free is not just good for your hip pocket; it's also good for your health. I was surprised yesterday when the Leader of the Opposition interrupted his speech explaining why he was going to vote against a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer to brag about his record on bulk billing.
I was surprised but not disappointed, because I don't think you understand how much we love it when you talk about your record as health minister! I don't think you understand how much it warms the cockles of our hearts. We hope you do it a lot more over coming weeks.
Yes, bulk billing was 84 per cent, because he inherited a very good position from a former Labor government. But he then said there were too many free Medicare services. We all remember that.
He then tried to abolish bulk billing altogether and make every single Australian pay a fee every single time they went to the doctor and every single time they walked through the front door of an emergency department, because that is what this man wants in this country: an American style, user-pays system of health care, not Australia's Medicare. If you think that that sorry, sad old leopard, the Liberal Party, has changed its spots, listen to what the shadow health minister said in the Senate only a few weeks ago.
Senator Ruston said: 'At no time have I or anybody from the coalition ever suggested that the only card you need to take to the doctor, going forward, is your Medicare card.' And that is the choice over the coming weeks. It's about the value of this beautiful green card. For Labor, this card is everything—absolutely everything.
The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will not use props. Mr BUTLER: Under the Liberals—under this man—the most important card when you're going to the doctor is your credit card.
When this man cuts Medicare—and he will again—all Australians are going to end up paying.