Thursday, 8 February 2024

Payroll tax

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:11): My question is to the Minister for Health. Ron is 72 and lives in Caulfield, and he has told me:

After reducing bills I’m still having to choose between food and medical necessities.

Why is Labor making the cost-of-living crisis worse for Ron and all Victorians by adding its unfair health tax to GP visits?

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:12): I thank the member for Caulfield for his question. Can I say that his constituent Ron will not be alone when it comes to the challenges that are being faced accessing primary care in this state. Let me tell you why it has been so difficult to access primary care here in the state of Victoria – the same reason it is difficult to access it here in Victoria as it is across Australia: because of 10 years of neglect by the previous Liberal–National government, the very same government that froze the Medicare rebate for six years. You cannot freeze the Medicare rebate and expect that it will not have an impact on the price of accessing primary health care in this state. Why not get on the same side as our government and work hard to ensure that we have –

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this is not what happened 10 years ago; this is what happens currently under the government’s GP health tax. I ask you to bring the minister back to answering the question specifically about the GP health tax.

The SPEAKER: I would encourage the member for Caulfield to have a better understanding of how to raise a point of order and what to put in that point of order.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: This is for all members. It is not a laughing matter. I would ask the minister to come back to the question.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: As I have already indicated, the experience that the member has raised in relation to his constituent Ron is one that we acknowledge is being experienced by many Victorians right across our state and indeed Australians around the nation because of the damage that has been done to Medicare. Medicare of course was established by Bob Hawke. We celebrated that 40-year anniversary the other day. Medicare was envisaged to be free, fast and local, and every step of the way those on the other side of politics, the Liberal and National parties, have tried to destroy Medicare. The proof is in the pudding.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, Rulings from the Chair does accept that a minister has to be not only relevant but succinct. I appreciate that the minister had some time talking about 40 ‍years ago, but I request that the minister return to the question, which related to a current matter.

The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business is correct. I also remind the Manager of Opposition Business about being succinct in points of order. It is not something that I am going to accept for much longer – points of order being raised that are not explicitly in relation to the standing orders. The minister will come back to the question that was asked.

Mary-Anne THOMAS: Thank you, and I am very happy to do so, Speaker, because when we talk about access to primary care it is really important that we take the opportunity to outline once again in this place the initiatives that the Allan Labor government has put in place in order to make primary care more accessible to all Victorians. We have established 29 priority primary care centres. I have said it before and I will say it again: these priority primary care centres are there to deliver the services that so many GPs used to deliver. Whether it be for cuts and bruises or breaks and sprains or simple, uncomplicated infections, priority primary care centres are there to deliver. Not only that, we have introduced our community pharmacy pilot. Once again we are saving Victorian women in particular a potential trip to the GP. Women can get the treatment that they need to relieve their urinary tract infections with a simple visit to the pharmacist, and they can refill a prescription for the pill with the pharmacist. The Victorian virtual ED is yet another example of where we are making it easier for people to get access to health care where and when they need it.

Again, there are challenges with the primary healthcare system. They rest solely with the federal government, and we will attempt to work with them to resolve those issues.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:17): Why isn’t the government offering any cost-of-living relief to Ron and other Victorians who have to choose between food and medical necessities? Why?

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:17): I think I have already outlined some of the cost-of-living relief that the Allan Labor government has put in place when it comes to medical costs, and that of course again goes to our priority primary care centres, the Victorian virtual ED and the community pharmacist pilot.

While the member is talking about cost-of-living relief, it is also an opportunity to remind the house of the many other ways in which we are providing cost-of-living relief to Victorians, whether that be making three- and four-year-old kinder free, whether it be making it free for kids to access the dental treatment they need through Smile Squads or whether it be making it easier for regional and rural Victorians to get to the health care that they need with fares now capped at metro prices. The Allan Labor government has a range of initiatives in place that are designed to tackle the cost-of-living issues facing Victorians.