THE HON MARK DREYFUS KC MP
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
I need your support to strengthen and protect Medicare in Isaacs
Australians elected the Albanese Labor Government in 2022 to strengthen and protect Medicare because no matter where you live or who you are, if you're in an accident or if your child gets sick, Medicare will always be there for you.
I am reminded that in the lead-up to the 2013 election when Peter Dutton was Health Minister under the Abbott Liberal Government, they promised the people in my electorate of Isaacs and across the country "no cuts to health." Then Peter Dutton cut $50 billion from public hospitals, tried to jack up the price of medicines, and even tried bringing in a GP tax, in an attempt to force people to pay more to see their doctor. Labor stopped it in its tracks.
Peter Dutton and his Liberal Party also put a six year freeze on Medicare rebates that ripped billions of dollars from our health system. They put cost-cutting ahead of ensuring that Medicare could meet the needs of everyday Australians.
It was a terrible and harmful decision. Medicare was crippled, underfunded and going backwards for years. It's no wonder Australian doctors voted Peter Dutton the worst health minister in Medicare's history.
At this election, I am asking for your support to protect Medicare and to stop this from ever happening again. Peter Dutton and his Liberal Party are making the same promises and again asking you to trust him with Medicare. But they will do the same thing if they win government, and we won't fall for it again.
Labor created Medicare for all Australians, and we've been working hard since coming to government in 2022 to turn things around - lifting bulk billing rates and increasing investment in public hospitals. We've worked to restore every dollar the Australian Medical Association says was cut from Medicare through the funding freeze Peter Dutton started when he was Tony Abbott's Health Minister.
We've opened 87 fully bulk-billed Medicare Urgent Care Clinics to relieve the pressure on public hospitals, including one here in my electorate of Isaacs in Dandenong South. These clinics have seen more than a million Australians, and every single one of them was bulk-billed. All they needed was their Medicare card, not their credit card.
If re-elected, we will open another 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, saving you from a lengthy wait at a hospital emergency department and allowing you to get the care you need for free.
But we need to do more, and that's why a re-elected Albanese Labor Government will make the single largest investment in Medicare: so that 9 out of 10 visits to the GP are free by 2030. That will save you and your family hundreds of dollars a year.
At this election, the people in my electorate of Isaacs face a choice: stronger Medicare with more bulk billing for all Australians under Labor or more cuts to Medicare under Peter Dutton's Liberals.
Under Labor, Medicare will always be there for you, and I need your support at this election to make sure Medicare is protected and made stronger so everyone in my electorate of Isaacs receives the world's best health care. That’s what you deserve.
As published in the Dandenong Star Journal on 11 March 2025