STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms SITOU (Reid) (13:53): I love Medicare. The Prime Minister loves Medicare. Labor loves Medicare.

Australians love Medicare. The only people who don't love Medicare are the Liberal and National parties. When they were in government, they neglected Medicare for a decade.

They froze Medicare rebates for six years. They ripped billions of dollars out of the system, and they tried to slap on a $7 GP fee. They didn't treat Medicare the way it deserved to be treated.

The Labor government is giving Medicare the care and attention it deserves. On 1 November, we are delivering the biggest boost to Medicare bulk-billing in decades. We are tripling bulk-billing incentives and rewarding clinics that bulk-bill every patient.

This builds on the work that we did in 2023 to triple the bulk-billing incentives for children and concession card holders. We know that, when you're feeling unwell, all you should have to rely on is your Medicare card—not your credit card. To summarise the difference between the coalition and Labor, I'd like to draw inspiration from Taylor Swift.

The coalition and Medicare? They got bad blood. But for this Labor government and Medicare?

It's a love story.