Wednesday, 28 May 2025

Payroll tax

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (10:16): I rise to speak to motion 950. It relates to an important issue that I have raised a number of times in this house in relation to GP payroll tax. The Victorian public and those directly involved – meaning GPs, essentially – need to understand exactly why the government has done what they have done. They keep saying nothing has changed. I move:

That this house, in accordance with standing order 10.01, requires the Leader of the Government to table in the Council, within three weeks of the house agreeing to this resolution:

(1) briefs provided to the Treasurer since 1 December 2022 relating to the state government’s payroll tax arrangements as applied to general practitioners and other health professionals;

(2) briefs provided to the Minister for Health since 1 December 2022 relating to the state government’s payroll tax arrangements as applied to general practitioners and other health professionals; and

(3) assessments and/or analysis, including projections of revenue receipts by the Department of Treasury and Finance and/or its agencies on the implications, costs and impacts of the state government’s general practitioner and health tax.

This is actually a patient tax, because those general practitioners who are going to be taxed will pass this cost onto their patients. The health booking platform HotDoc, when they did a survey of general practitioners that they are responsible for, said 95 per cent of clinics in Victoria would increase patient fees in response to additional payroll tax obligations, with the average increase around $12 per standard consultation, bringing out-of-pocket costs up to around $52. That was quite some time ago, when I first raised the issue. No doubt, with costs increasing right across the board, those figures are slightly out of date now. But we do need to understand what the State Revenue Office and Treasury have forecast, given the Parliamentary Budget Office was unable to provide that assistance to me when asked because they could not get the information out either. The HotDoc platform also found through their survey that 28 per cent of patients would make fewer visits to their GP if fees increased, and 7 per cent would stop going altogether.

We know we are in a cost-of-living crisis. The health and wellbeing of Victorians is absolutely critical, and we are seeing more patients fall behind because of delays in treatment and management. We have got record numbers of people languishing on the elective surgery waitlist, the planned surgery waitlist. Those people have to go back to GPs and be managed and get prescriptions for their pain relief. All of these aspects are really, really very critical.

I want to just make the point that stakeholders are still very concerned about this. I spoke to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners last week, who are still very concerned. I had a GP come into my office sometime ago and say that they were audited by the SRO. The SRO said they were fine, there was nothing there. Three months later they received another notice saying they had to have another audit.’ They said they had already been audited. Out of that subsequent audit they had a bill of a million dollars. It is extraordinary that this is what is going on. This is another tax grab because of the dire financial situation this state is in, and this government will go anywhere. But that just shows you the disarray and –

Ryan Batchelor interjected.

Georgie CROZIER: Well, it is, Mr Batchelor, disarray when a GP has been audited by the SRO and told they do not have to pay anything and then reaudited and told to pay a million dollars. Then, by the way, do you know what the SRO said when they said, ‘Oh, we can’t pay that’? ‘Oh, don’t worry, just pay $200,000 or $300,000.’ That is what is happening in this state. That is an absolute disgrace and why this motion needs to be supported – so we can actually see what is going on. I look forward to the government providing those documents.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:21): I rise to speak on the motion put to us today by Ms Crozier. Again, in reiteration from the previous discussion, I note that the government will not be opposing this motion, as is our practice. But it does give me a terrific opportunity to talk about some of the many investments that we have made, not just in our healthcare system more broadly, which we often talk about in this place, but in primary care specifically. We note the rollout of the 29 priority primary care clinics, which are now known as Medicare urgent care clinics, providing much easier access for people to obtain those really critical services right across metropolitan Melbourne and indeed regional Victoria. This was an initiative by the Victorian and New South Wales governments in concert, necessitated by the complete vacuum and failure of the former federal Liberal government to invest in primary care.

We know a significant burden on GPs was caused by the freezing of the Medicare rebate. That has now changed under the Albanese federal Labor government, and it is something I particularly welcome. The federal government needs to be pulling its weight when it comes to investing in our primary healthcare services, which is why I welcome those increases to the Medicare rebate, which will help both patients and GPs. I also welcome the rollout of what were originally priority primary care centres, now known as urgent care clinics, and the fact that we now have a federal government that is actually prepared to invest in those primary care facilities as well, as it should be. I look forward to seeing continued investment in those facilities that were an initiative of this state government in concert with New South Wales.

We also know that access to care comes in all sorts of different ways, and this government has also been pioneering when it comes to the rollout of the community pharmacy pilot, providing opportunities for people to get simple – especially repeat – prescriptions for a variety of things that they will need, not by having to go through the whole process of booking a GP appointment to go through the same conversation when they know exactly what is going to happen, but by being able to talk to a specially trained pharmacist and get that medication directly from the pharmacy. This week there was a further announcement that the community pharmacy program will now include treatment for 22 everyday health conditions, which will include asthma, nausea, ear infections, wound management and type 2 diabetes. We know that this is a very significant investment. It is an $18 million investment that will deliver free consultations for these conditions. Also, particularly on that point, Victoria will now be the only state where these consultations will actually be free. In other states they have rolled out similar programs, whether for UTIs – which Victoria has also rolled out – or for resupply of oral contraceptives, treatment of shingles, flare-ups of mild plaque psoriasis, travel health vaccinations and all those sorts of things.

Different states have been implementing this program in different ways, including Victoria. But with the announcement in the state budget last week, we have seen both a significant expansion of the conditions and treatments that are covered by this but also Victoria being the only jurisdiction in Australia where you will get these consultations free of charge. It is a very significant development, and I know it is one that has been welcomed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. They have been very enthusiastic about this. It has been great to speak with them and also to note their comments made in the public realm enthusiastically, making note of the fact that Victoria is the only state or territory where you will be able to access these important services without any out-of-pocket cost whatsoever.

We know that this program is effective. The pilot program has already demonstrated a satisfaction rate of 97 per cent, with an independent evaluation finding that 88 per cent of patients supported pharmacists being able to prescribe treatment for these sorts of everyday health conditions, which indicates strong public support for the sorts of measures which are now being undertaken and even further undertaken by a government that is committed to making cost-of-living pressures easier on all Victorians, particularly when it comes to accessing important, vital and everyday healthcare needs.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (10:26): I am pleased to work with this motion in my name moved by Ms Crozier. This is under standing order 10.01, and it seeks a set of documents from the government. These are important documents. They relate to the government’s decision to put a payroll tax on GPs and health clinics. It is an outrageous and extraordinary new tax, let us be clear.

Ryan Batchelor: It’s not a new tax.

David DAVIS: It is indeed. You have done it. Do not for a minute try to say it is not a new tax. It is a new tax. You go and ask one of your GP clinics. I have been to GP clinics in our mutual electorate, and they tell me they were not paying the tax until your government brought it in. That is the truth of the matter: your government brought it in.

Ryan Batchelor: What law has changed?

David DAVIS: The State Revenue Office’s approach changed. Let us be clear: the SRO’s approach changed, and we know what that is like. We understand precisely what it is like. We know exactly how this operates. The SRO changed their approach and they are going after doctors, they are going after dentists, they are going after physiotherapists, they are going after every health professional group that is in a major –

Members interjecting.

David DAVIS: I am sure they would. I am no longer a registered chiropractor, but I am sure they would be if they could. And certainly the SRO is happy to go after anyone, as you well know.

The point here is: will this help with the current crisis? Will this help with the shortage of GPs? Will this help with the decline in bulk-billing? In the last three years, under Labor, it has gone from 80 per cent down to 70 per cent in big parts of my area – and your area, Mr Batchelor. That fall in bulk-billing under Labor is going to be exacerbated by a new tax that has been imposed on these doctors and dentists and physiotherapists and other health groups that are providing very important services to the community. The solution to the bulk-billing crisis is not to put a brand spanking new tax on it. The solution to the bulk-billing crisis is to support doctors.

Members interjecting.

Richard Welch: On a point of order, Acting President, I cannot hear.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): Mr Davis to continue without assistance.

David DAVIS: The point here is that the government has been very secretive about this matter. It has tried to slide this through. Doctors and dentists and other health professionals have pushed back. They have said this is wrong. The modelling on all of this will be held by the SRO. It will be held at the Department of Health and it will be held in the Treasurer’s office. We should see that information. We should understand how the government sees this going around. And there is no question: in New South Wales and Queensland they have stepped back from this approach.

A member: Are we talking about the coalition?

David DAVIS: In Queensland we are talking about the coalition. Yes, we are. In the case of New South Wales, we are talking about the Labor state government that have stepped back from this approach. But the Labor government in Victoria has not stepped back from this approach. That is the point. This is the government that is going after doctors, going after dentists, going after physiotherapists –

Tom McIntosh: On a point of order, Acting President, I was going to raise this yesterday because it was a bit late in the day and my ears were just dealing with the volume. But Mr Davis is yelling repetitively. Yesterday there was no-one on this side even saying one word, but we will not talk about yesterday. But right now, Mr Davis just pointed at me, and it has been –

A member interjected.

Tom McIntosh: Mrs Deeming makes a good point to remind me when I point, so I endeavour to refrain from pointing, and I would appreciate if Mr Davis would do the same.

David DAVIS: I am happy to concede the point of order, Acting President. I should not point, but I was tremendously provoked.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): I will note your provocation.

Members interjecting.

David DAVIS: I will not point, but I will make the point that –

Renee Heath: On a point of order, Acting President, Mr McIntosh just swore in the chamber.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): I did not hear that, and he is no longer in the chamber to withdraw.

David DAVIS: If he did swear, that is unfortunate, but I did not hear it. There was a lot of noise. The point here is that these documents that we seek are documents that will lay out the government’s plans, modelling and examination of these tax changes. They are changes. They are a new tax. The fact is the government have gone after doctors, they have gone after physiotherapists and they have gone after dentists to try and clobber these professionals in clinics at a time when we have a shortage of health practitioners and a shortage in many particular communities. There is no way that a big new payroll tax put on top of the cost structures will assist in ensuring that we get the supply of doctors, nurses and other health professionals that we need. The solution is not a big new tax. The solution is for the state government to step back from that. But in the first instance we need to see precisely what is going on, and that is why these motions are here. We think that it is in the public interest.

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:31): I am pleased to rise to speak on the documents motion relating to briefs provided to the Treasurer and the Minister for Health relating to payroll tax arrangements applicable to general practitioners. There was a lot in Mr Davis’s contribution that was just wrong, and I will attempt to go through some of it in the short time we have available. Mr Davis repeatedly insisted that there had been some legislative change that had brought this about. He said that there was a new tax, and Mr Davis should know that the power to levy taxation in the state vests in the Parliament through its laws. What he was unable to do in the contribution that he made – not the only error that he made and not the only concern with the contribution – was actually point to where that law had changed. He cannot, because it did not. The issue that he is dealing with is the applicability of existing laws to certain types of practices as they have been implemented by the State Revenue Office, matters that were thoroughly dealt with in previous debates by the former Treasurer quite extensively and by arrangements that were put in place by the current Treasurer, who is obviously well across these matters.

The second point I will make is that at no point should anyone take any advice about how to improve access to health care in this state from the Liberal Party – ever. They get up here with their – I do not know what the appropriate word to describe it is, so I had better fall short of saying something that will get me into trouble. But no-one should believe that the Liberal Party has any interest in making sure that patients have access to accessible and affordable health care. Look at all the Liberal Party has done, whether it is at a state level in terms of cuts that they have made in the past and the closures they made to hospital services when they were in charge of this state, or whether it is what the federal Liberal Party has done in the past and continues to advocate for, which is abolishing things like the Medicare urgent care clinics that were a Labor initiative – in this state there are 27-odd. Labor initiated a policy that was then recognised for the benefit it could bring and spread around the country in partnership with the Commonwealth.

Last year’s state budget invested in those urgent care clinics. This year’s state budget invests in urgent care clinics that are providing free, accessible general practice services to Victorians who need them most. The Liberal Party at the federal level wanted to get rid of them. The question Mr Davis and the Liberal Party have to answer now is: is that state funding at risk too? Because they have said that they are going to abolish this tax, which means they are going to forgo the revenue that is being raised from GP services. The question is: if they are going to forgo revenue, where are the cuts coming from? We know that the Liberal Party at the federal level wanted to cut Medicare urgent care clinics. The Liberal Party at a state level needs to come clean. Are they going to pay for their promises to ‘scrap this tax’ by cutting the urgent care clinics that are funded in the state budget? Unless they can answer that question, we should not believe a word they say on health.

Motion agreed to.