‘We don’t want our health system to be more American’, PM says
Finally, the prime minister pitches this year’s election as “so much more than a choice between two different parties or two different plans”.
On every different issue that matters, jobs and wages, education and skills, energy and housing, cost of living and the economy, the difference and the contrast between us and our opponents is night and day. When the Liberals left office, inflation was rising, wages were falling and interest rates were going up. Together, we have turned this around. Under the Liberals, inflation had a six in front of it and was rising. Under Labor, inflation has a two in front of it and is falling.
My fellow Australians, this election is a make or break moment for Medicare. A re-elected Labor government will make it easier for Australians to see a doctor for free. We will make Medicare stronger than it has ever been. But if the Liberals get their way, they will break bulk billing and break the promise that Medicare is built on. Through half a century of change, through everything the world has thrown at Australia, Labor’s commitment to universal healthcare has never, ever wavered.
Labor built Medicare for Australia and it was built on the Australian values of fairness and opportunity for all. We don’t want our health system to be more American. We don’t need to copy the ideologies of any nation. We only want our health system to be more Australian.
Only Labor is building stronger Medicare and only Labor is building Australia’s future. Thanks very much.
Key events
Dutton says there is a “cost of living crisis” occurring in Australia where families can’t afford groceries or items in their household budgets.
He says the additional funding to the healthcare system will go towards training, mental health services and ensuring practices as “viable” and can provide a “mix of services to patients”.
And it’s not just households. There are 27,000 small businesses which have collapsed over the last three years … and importantly, 272 GP practices have closed over the course of the last three years … the prime minister might tell you different things about health and the investment in it, but the outcomes are very different.
So I’m pleased to announce today that a Coalition government is committed to $9bn worth of investment in to our general practice network. It will provide support to training. It will provide support to mental health services, and it will provide support to making sure that practices are viable and can provide a mix of services to patients.
And it will help build those bulk billing rates back up to what they were under a Coalition government.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking now from Albany Creek in Queensland in response to Labor’s Medicare announcement.
As he flagged earlier, the Coalition has backed the proposed funding and says the party will commit $9bn towards the general practice network, going further than the $8.5bn promised by Labor.
Dutton says the Coalition “always manages the economy more effectively, and that’s why we can afford to invest into health and education services and other important needs for Australians”.
It’s important that we have a balanced investment into the health system and when we were in government, we invested significantly into health. We also increased the bulk billing rate.
Tropical cyclones expected to form off northern Queensland and WA coasts
Joe Hinchliffe
Two tropical cyclones could form off the Australian coast on Sunday – one off the north-east and the other the north-west coast – the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.
Both weather systems are well offshore but that near Queensland in particular will be closely monitored, with both states already reeling from natural disasters – although the system off Western Australia is not predicted to impact the state.
The bureau issued a tropical cyclone information bulletin at 10:45am Sunday for a tropical low in the Coral Sea about 730km east-north-east of Cairns.
The low was moving east-north-east at 13 kilometres an hour, the bureau said, and was expected to develop into a tropical cyclone later that day.
The weather system was expected to continuing building strength as it turned south-east and then south during the week.
“Considerable uncertainty exists in the track the system will take beyond that, but there is a risk it will move closer to the central Queensland coast later in the week,” the bulletin said.
Whether or not the cyclone itself makes landfall, it could still bring heavy rain to the state – large swathes of which are still recovering from disastrous flooding.
Earlier on Sunday the bureau issued a separate cyclone bulletin for a tropical low 890km north-west of Exmouth in the Indian Ocean.
It was moving towards the south-west and was expected to strengthen slowly throughout the day, possibly reaching tropical cyclone strength Sunday but more likely during Monday.
It was expected to start weakening on Wednesday and not have any direct impacts on any Australian mainland or island communities from that system.
Strong winds and lightning hit Victoria ahead of expected cool change
In Victoria, wild winds and lightning have lashed parts of the state this weekend, leaving 15,000 residents without power, mostly in the Dandenong Ranges.
In the past 24 hours, the SES received more than 220 calls for help – 100 of them overnight for fallen trees and property damage.
Fires that started on Saturday in Donnybrook, Willowmavin, Drouin West and Boho are all under control and pose no risk to communities.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said elevated fire danger was expected to continue on Sunday across Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
He said a cool change had already moved through SA and would continue to cross Victoria and Tasmania into the afternoon.
That cool change would bring gusty winds and showers, including severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts, in eastern Victoria and Tasmania’s south-east, Hines said.
Another high pressure system will move across south-eastern Australia on Monday bringing warmer conditions by the middle of the week.
GP advocacy group welcomes ‘historic’ bulk billing announcement
General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) has welcomed Anthony Albanese’s announcement today as a “significant investment in general practice training and the broader GP system”.
The GPRA president, Dr Chris Dickie, said:
For GPRA and our members, today’s announcement is historic – a real gamechanger for the future GP workforce.
The commitment to improve pay and leave entitlements for GP trainees – a reform GPRA and our members have been actively advocating for over many years – is a fantastic step forward in attracting doctors into general practice and increasing access to care for patients.
Labor’s bulk billing announcement: what we learned
Here is a little recap of what we learned from the Anthony Albanese and Mark Butler’s campaign rally speech in Launceston.
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The prime minister has described today’s healthcare announcement as “the biggest boost to Medicare in its history”, with an $8.5bn commitment to expand bulk billing from 11 million to 26 million people.
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Albanese wants nine out of 10 GP visits to be fully bulk billed for all Australians by 2030, an “ambitious” goal but one “people deserve”.
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Clear lines have also been drawn between Australia and the United States. Albanese said we “don’t want our health system to be more American” or “copy the ideologies of any nation”.
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Labor has made a clear effort to market itself as the party of Medicare, with the Mark Butler accusing Peter Dutton of having a “bloody terrifying” record as health minister.
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The Coalition, however, has been quick to back in Labor’s pitch, releasing a statement the same time as the prime minister was speaking that confirmed it would match the announcement “dollar for dollar”.
Josh Butler
Coalition pledges to match $8.5bn bulk billing investment ‘dollar for dollar’
Meanwhile, the Coalition says it will match “dollar for dollar” Labor’s Medicare announcement today, pledging to also invest $8.5bn into bulk billing in a commitment the government says will make 90% of GP visits free.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, said “it has never been harder and more expensive to see a doctor”, pointing to figures about people avoiding GP visits due to cost concerns.
The Coalition announcement was made at the same time Anthony Albanese was standing up in Launceston in a campaign rally speech.
“The Coalition recognises the urgent need for better access to bulk billed services in the middle of Labor’s healthcare crisis,” Dutton and Ruston said in a statement.
That is why a Dutton Coalition Government will match the $8.5bn investment into Medicare dollar-for-dollar to fix Labor’s mess and restore bulk billing back up to Coalition levels.
This investment builds on the $500m commitment already announced by the Coalition to restore critical Medicare funding for mental health support, after it was slashed in half by the Albanese Government. We continue to call on Labor to match this funding and support vulnerable Australians with more complex or chronic mental health conditions.
The $8.5bn figure is likely to be one of the biggest single commitments of the election campaign, before the poll due by mid-May. Health is to be a major campaign point for Labor and the Coalition, as Albanese seeks to keep scrutiny on Dutton’s record as health minister, including his ill-fated 2014 plan for a $7 GP co-payment.
“The Coalition has a strong record on health,” Dutton and Ruston said.
Without sound and prudent economic management – something Labor is incapable of – investments like this cannot be delivered. Only the Coalition can guarantee a strong economy to deliver better healthcare.
‘We don’t want our health system to be more American’, PM says
Finally, the prime minister pitches this year’s election as “so much more than a choice between two different parties or two different plans”.
On every different issue that matters, jobs and wages, education and skills, energy and housing, cost of living and the economy, the difference and the contrast between us and our opponents is night and day. When the Liberals left office, inflation was rising, wages were falling and interest rates were going up. Together, we have turned this around. Under the Liberals, inflation had a six in front of it and was rising. Under Labor, inflation has a two in front of it and is falling.
My fellow Australians, this election is a make or break moment for Medicare. A re-elected Labor government will make it easier for Australians to see a doctor for free. We will make Medicare stronger than it has ever been. But if the Liberals get their way, they will break bulk billing and break the promise that Medicare is built on. Through half a century of change, through everything the world has thrown at Australia, Labor’s commitment to universal healthcare has never, ever wavered.
Labor built Medicare for Australia and it was built on the Australian values of fairness and opportunity for all. We don’t want our health system to be more American. We don’t need to copy the ideologies of any nation. We only want our health system to be more Australian.
Only Labor is building stronger Medicare and only Labor is building Australia’s future. Thanks very much.
Albanese turns to Labor’s broad election pitch – all about equity and access.
A tax cut for every taxpayer not just some. Energy bill relief for every household, not just some. We are cutting student debt for all 3 million students, not just some. And we will boost bulk billing for all Australians, not just some!
He turns to the Coalition, accusing Peter Dutton of only coming up with “three ideas over the last three years”.
One, $10bn for all taxpayer funded long lunches for just some people. Secondly, $600bn for seven nuclear reactors that won’t be ready until sometime in the 2040s. And, three, cutting everything else to pay for them … But they will let you know where the cuts are after the election.
… Australians know that every single time the Liberals have come to government with a plan for cuts, Medicare is the first place that they look … the Liberals will never stop trying to make Australians pay more for their healthcare. The only way to stop them, the only way to protect Medicare, strengthen it and secure it for all is to re-elect our Labor government.
Labor pledges bulk-billing incentives for doctors and new GP training program
Albanese describes the reform as “the biggest boost to Medicare in its history”.
From 11 million people to all 26 million of us, this is the biggest boost to Medicare in its history … an $8.5bn commitment to deliver stronger Medicare everywhere, saving people hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, getting bulk billing up to full strength and making it easier for Australians to see a GP for free wherever they live.
Today I announced we will offer every GP practice a new incentive payment to bulk bill. This payment will go to every doctor in every practice that commits to bulk billing every patient every time. This will mean three times as many GP practices fully bulk billing.
He says starting next year, Labor will also build the “biggest GP training program in Australian history”, encouraging junior doctors to become GPs and work in the regions and suburbs with the highest need, on top of 400 new scholarships for nurses and midwives.
Nine out of 10 GP visits will be free, Albanese says
Albanese says the government’s goal is for nine out of every 10 GP visits to be free.
That is an ambitious goal. But people deserve ambition from their government on Medicare because just as every Australian wants the best healthcare for their family, our government wants the best for every Australian.
He points to a $1.7bn funding boost for public hospitals in the coming year, and the opening of 87 Medicare urgent care clinics which are fully subsidised.
You should be able to see a doctor for free. That is the meaning of Medicare. It for too many people, that security has been slipping out of reach. When we came to government, doctors were warning that bulk billing was in freefall.
So we took action. We tripled above billing incentives for 11 million people. The people who need to see a GP most, pensioners, concession card holders and families with young children … today we go further. Today I announce that our government will expand the bulk-billing incentive to cover all Australians.
Albanese continues to critique the Coalition’s record on healthcare, accusing them of imposing successive cuts on the system.
Thirty and 40 years ago the Liberals were open and honest about trying to abolish Medicare. These days they approach it somewhat differently. Even Tony Abbott promised no cuts to health … The Liberals have changed what they say, but they will never change who they are. When they talk about “efficiencies”, they mean cuts. When they talk about “economic surgery”, they mean cutting bulk billing off at the knees.
When they talk about “contributions” or “copayments”, that means user pays. User pays means patients pay. It means family pays, and it means doctors and nurses and healthcare workers pay. That’s why in the Labor party we don’t call people who rely on Medicare and bulk billing in the PBS and public hospitals “users” – we call them Australians.
Albanese: ‘A strong economy depends on a healthy society’
The prime minister says Medicare is at the “heart of people’s lives” – fundamental to health and security, and front and centre to the cost of living.
He says Medicare also represents the Australian idea of a “fair go”.
That is why Medicare is much more than ordinary policy or program. Medicare is a promise that the government makes to every citizen. If something goes wrong, if you get hurt, if your child is sick and you need help, you are never on your own.
Medicare will be there for you. That’s a statement about who we are as a society, as a country, as Australians. We look after each other. We matter to each other. Medicare is a promise that no one will be left behind and it’s a platform that ensures no one is held back. Because a strong economy depends on a healthy society and reliable, affordable services are the foundation for aspiration. A starting point for so much else. Because if you don’t have your health, if you don’t have the security of knowing that a great doctor and the best medicine are always in reach, if you have to put off seeing a doctor because you can’t afford it – it’s not just the individual who suffers, our whole society pays a price.
That is the cold hard lesson of every Liberal government … it is why Peter Dutton’s number-one priority as health minister was a GP tax designed to destroy bulk billing altogether.