ALICIA LOXLEY:
Good morning to you Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning Alicia. Let me make it absolutely crystal clear. The bulk billing arrangements are absolutely protected for children, for pensioners, for veterans, for people in nursing homes and other aged care accommodation. This is a way of making Medicare sustainable and fair. It's a better policy package than the one we announced on Budget night.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
It's another embarrassing back down though, isn't it, for you and your Government?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, this is the system working. We put forward a proposal. It was obviously going to have some difficulties in the Senate. The proposal we've now put forward is a better proposal than the one we brought forward on Budget night.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
Voters must be wondering why you didn't announce this first time around seven months ago if it's a better proposal.
PRIME MINISTER:
I think the important thing is to see the system working and to see the system working to produce improvements. That's why we have a Senate, because the constitutional founders thought that it would be good for a government to have to test its legislation in the Senate. That's why we've got these things; to make good proposals better and that's exactly what's happened with this.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
It's becoming all too familiar a refrain though, isn't it? You've had to vastly alter your paid parental leave scheme, your higher education reforms. Now, this too. Doesn't that suggest your policies were flawed at the outset?
PRIME MINISTER:
What it suggests is that the system is working as it should. The Government puts a proposal forward, it goes into the Parliament; it's debated, it's modified, it's improved – that’s the way our system works. Alicia, I should remind you of what the Government has achieved this year; the carbon tax repeal delivered, the mining tax repeal delivered, the boats stopped, the roads building, three free trade agreements that the former Government could never get going – delivered. So this has been a year of achievement and in the Senate, sure, we've had to negotiate our way through. But what comes from that process is better policy.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
All right, let's talk about this $5 co-payment. You've used the term 'discretionary' but it's either coming out of the doctors' pockets or ours. Of course doctors are going to pass it on, aren't they?
PRIME MINISTER:
What we're saying is the doctors have the option of a modest $5 co-payment for adults who aren't on concession cards. Price signals are not a bad thing in our system. We support price signals in our system. Many people who go to the doctor already face price signals. We're saying if you're a currently bulk billing doctor, we’re happy to see a modest $5 co-payment for adults who aren't on concession cards, but I stress; children, pensioners, veterans, people in nursing homes are protected. Diagnostics, that is to change say radiology and pathology, no change to those arrangements, bulk billing is protected.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
You're putting doctors in a difficult position because by saying it's discretionary, you're creating an expectation in some patients' minds that they may not be charged this extra $5. Let's say low income earners who are just above that concession.
PRIME MINISTER:
Alicia, it's always been up to the doctor whether or not the doctor bulk bills. It's always been a matter for the doctor. And that's why some doctors will charge the AMA rates. Other doctors will accept the rebate in full payment. That's always been the case. What we've got to do though is make Medicare sustainable and this is a responsible way of doing it. A decade ago Medicare cost $8 billion, today it costs $20 billion. In 10 years’ time, if things don't change, Medicare will cost $34 billion and the Medicare levy covers about 50 per cent of those costs only. So I'm a great supporter of Medicare. I used to say when I was the Health Minister I was the best friend that Medicare ever had. I want our great Medicare system to flourish in the years ahead and this is a responsible way to make that happen.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
But the money raised by this is not going towards sustaining Medicare.
PRIME MINISTER:
It's going to health and medical research. People who are born today will live on average for 25 years longer than people born a century ago and that is because medical research has produced better treatments and better cures. So, the savings are a further investment in our system. It's about giving people longer, healthier lives. It's about playing to our strengths because Australian health and medical researchers are amongst the best in after the word. We've won Nobel Prize after Nobel Prize for our medical research and this is going to keep our medical research strong and our population healthy into the future.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
Did you consult with doctors on this change?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, we did. And you might have noticed that a great many of the medical groups have been pretty supportive of these changes because some of the changes are about quality medicine. They’re about much higher quality medicine because I regret to say there have been some practices which were churning people through in what doctors themselves called ‘six minute medicine’. This is designed to ensure that every patient who goes to see the doctor gets a fair go.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
The challenge now of course is to get this through the Senate. Also, any other barnacles that you want to lance before Christmas, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well this is a Government which is determined to be better tomorrow than we are today. There's a whole lot of things that will be coming out within the months and years ahead that are about making government better, making our country better. It's all about a better life for you, the people. That's what it's about. And so you'll see all sorts of announcements in the weeks and months ahead but this is the one that I would like to focus on today.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
Finally, if we don't see you again, we wish you a Merry Christmas, Prime Minister. What are you hoping Santa might bring you?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the look, it's not about me. It's about the people of Australia. I know lots of people do it tough over Christmas. One of the things I'm really pleased I've been able to do over the last couple of years is have a Giving Tree in my office in Canberra. Anyone who goes to my office is encouraged to bring a present which the Salvation Army will distribute to families who are doing it tough this Christmas. So, I'm sure my family will be generous to each other, but not all families are as well placed and that's who we've got to think of this Christmas.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
Anything for Bill Shorten under the tree?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I have good wishes for Bill and Chloe. Bill has been a bit of a wrecker when it comes to economic security this year, but on national security we've had a pretty good partnership and I thank him for that, and I think it's to our country's great benefit that the Government and the Opposition can work pretty well together at least on national security questions.
ALICIA LOXLEY:
Alright, no doubt there will be some furious negotiations with those crossbenchers to get this through. Prime Minister, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
[ends]