Thursday, 22 February 2024

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Payroll tax

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:02): My question is to the Premier. During a cost-of-living crisis the health tax will increase the cost of seeing a GP by nearly 30 per cent. This will bring the cost of seeing a doctor to about $100 per visit. Why is the government refusing to give Victorians cost-of-living relief by scrapping the health tax like their Labor colleagues in Queensland?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:03): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, and at the outset can I correct his characterisation of the arrangements we have in place here in Victoria. Indeed I think between me, the Minister for Health and the Treasurer we have been clarifying this for some time now, as the Leader of the Opposition continues to deliberately misrepresent the arrangements that are in place here in Victoria. Indeed with payroll arrangements there has been no change to the law or the application of the payroll arrangements in relation to GPs or medical centres. So in terms of the beginning of the Leader of the Opposition’s question I want to make it absolutely clear that there has been no change to the law or the application, despite the ongoing misrepresentation of the issue by the Leader of the Opposition.

Also the Leader of the Opposition asked about what we were doing to provide cost-of-living support to households in Victoria, and in the health area alone, following a decade of mismanagement and neglect by the former federal Liberal–National government that has resulted in the primary care system being on its knees –

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I ask you to draw the Premier back to the question, which is about scrapping the health tax.

Jacinta ALLAN: On the point of order, Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition’s question, at the end of his question, included a request for me to provide advice to the house on what support we were providing on cost-of-living measures, and that is exactly what I was doing.

James Newbury: Further on the point of order, Speaker, multiple rulings from the Speaker make it clear that it is important for an answer to be not general but specific to the question. I put it to you that the answer being provided is not directly linked to the question.

The SPEAKER: The question referred to the cost-of-living crisis, to the cost of seeing a doctor. I think the Premier was being relevant to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Indeed I was, Speaker, thank you. I was saying that, following what we saw was primary care being the primary responsibility of the Commonwealth government and how the system has been broken as a result of a decade of mismanagement and failure by the Liberal–National government, we have stepped in in unprecedented ways, whether it is with the 29 primary care centres ‍–

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: There is one that is open right now in my community in Bendigo. There are a number in a range of locations around the state. There is of course the community pharmacy pilot. The minister and I were very pleased to be at Nam Tran’s pharmacy on Bourke Street, the Priceline pharmacy on Bourke Street, on Tuesday where not only can you, particularly for women, go and get your pill script refilled, get treated for urinary tract infections or get your travel vaccines but we are now expanding that to mild skin conditions – psoriasis, shingles – but not thin skins, as the Minister for Health pointed out earlier in the week. I will credit the Minister for Health with that reference.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I ask you to bring the Premier back to the question and ask her to stop debating the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Indeed, for those of us who need access to this sort of care in regional Victoria, 27 per cent of the community pharmacies that are participating in the pilot are located in regional Victoria, as well as a number of locations across metropolitan Melbourne. That is the work we will continue to do to support families, whether it is with cost-of-living measures in health or a range of different areas. That is what we are focused on.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): With GP clinics set to challenge the validity of the health tax, will the Labor government admit it has got it wrong and scrap this tax?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:08): Again the Leader of the Opposition’s question is not an accurate reflection of the arrangements that have not changed here in Victoria in regard to general practitioners. I note for the record – and this is some advice I received from the Treasurer – that 80 per cent of GPs across the state are not subject to these payroll tax arrangements. We will continue to provide support to our hardworking general practitioners. We have stepped in in an area that has historically not been the responsibility of the state government, but we had to do it because the National–Liberal government in Canberra for 10 years failed.

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: You were up there. You were part of that show.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, a number of Speakers have ruled that a response must address the question. I put it to you that this response does not address the question.

The SPEAKER: I believe the Premier was addressing the question that was asked. I do not uphold the point of order. The Premier has concluded her answer.