Dutton matches Labor’s $8.5b for free GPs to ward off ‘Mediscare’
Dutton has also matched Labor’s $573 million women’s health package, and supported its $1.7 billion boost to public hospitals, setting the scene for a big-spending campaign despite promises from both major parties to rein in on largesse to tackle the budget deficit.
The opposition leader challenged Albanese to recall parliament to pass new laws enacting the policy — first proposed by the Greens last year — but government sources said it did not require legislation. Labor plans to implement the changes from November.
Big spending before campaign has begun
Dutton’s vow to spend more on health will help neutralise Labor’s campaign in a tight contest. But it also increases pressure on an opposition that says it wants to cut spending but has not explained how, aside from an undefined policy about slashing public service jobs.
Nor has it detailed how it will pay for its nuclear policy, which will cost at least $300 billion over two decades, exposing Dutton to a Labor campaign over mystery cuts.
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Coalition shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, when accused of “giving away” $9 billion in an interview with Sky News, said the opposition was matching the investment despite its calls for spending cuts and tax reductions because it was “cleaning up Labor’s mess”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also promised to be restrained in the election, saying Labor would not embark on a “spendathon”. Asked about the looming budget deficit on Sunday, he said the last two budget surpluses had enabled Labor to make important investments.
“What we’ve shown is an ability to manage the budget in the most responsible way, and that makes room to strengthen Medicare and help with the cost of living,” he said.
Chalmers said $5.4 billion of the $8.5 billion bulk-billing package had been provisioned for in the mid-year financial update, meaning a further $3 billion must still be accounted for.
Doctors and health groups welcomed the government’s investment on Sunday, with the Australian Medical Association saying it recognised the amount of funding needed to reverse decades of underinvestment in Medicare.
Labor escalates Mediscare campaign as Dutton seeks to diffuse it
Health Minister Mark Butler tried to get a step ahead of Dutton on Sunday by saying Australians could not trust what the Liberals leader said. Less than an hour before Dutton’s announcement, Butler told the rally that the Coalition would “pull out the golden oldies” by promising no cuts to health.
“Remember them saying that months before Dutton tried to abolish bulk-billing and cut $50 billion from our public hospitals? You bet. He’ll say he loves Medicare! He’ll protect Medicare. But he doesn’t. He won’t. Medicare is not in this man’s DNA,” Butler said.
“You will be told Labor pointing out Dutton’s crystal-clear record as health minister is a scare campaign. To which I say, Peter Dutton’s record on Medicare isn’t just scary, it’s bloody terrifying.”
Labor was caught this month airing a misleadingly edited attack ad on social media that quoted Dutton in 2014. In the ad, now removed, Dutton declares “Medicare is dead”, when he actually said “Medicare is dead if we can’t make it sustainable today”.
Coalition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston slammed the government. “We saw today a government that is intent on coming out and using one of the most important issues facing Australia, and that is our health system … as a scare campaign,” she said. “All Mr Albanese could talk about is Peter Dutton.”
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Ruston said the Albanese government had failed Australians on every health measure. “Every Australian knows that it’s harder and more expensive to see a GP,” she said.
The Coalition will remind voters of rising out-of-pocket costs – non-bulkbilled GP visits cost an average $46 – as it fights off Labor’s offensive.
It will also point to the fact bulk-billing hit a record high of 89 per cent under the Morrison government during the pandemic before falling to 77 per cent in 2023 under Labor.
Bulk-billing rates started declining in 2021 as rebates failed to keep up with inflation, Australians’ health needs became more complex and doctors stopped performing bulk-billed pandemic services such as vaccinations, which temporarily inflated statistics.
The government explains the massive drop in bulk-billing as the inherited legacy of a six-year freeze on Medicare rebates, initiated by the Gillard government in 2013 and continued until 2018 under the Coalition.
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