MARK DREYFUS MP

The single issue that was raised most frequently was the Abbott Government's plans to introduce a $7 GP tax to visit the doctor. Many seniors in my electorate, in particular those with chronic health problems, simply cannot afford $7 payments to visit their local GP.

When he took office, the Prime Minister told us that the hallmark of his government would be that 'It says what it means and means what it says.' But, after 14 months of dishonesty and dissembling, broken promises and backflips, I am reminded more of Humpty Dumpty, who famously said to Alice: 'When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean neither more nor less.'

The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day) Bill forms part of the government's repeal day stunt. The government makes a lot of grandiose claims about their deregulation agenda. We have heard feverish talk of a 'bonfire of regulations'. The government claims that they will achieve savings in compliance costs of up to $1 billion dollars from their repeal day theatrics.

Repeal day might be just Mr Abbott's overindulgence in his own ideological obsessions, but it could be ordinary Australians who wake up with the hangover.

Labor supports the provisions in this bill that bring responsibility for determining the remuneration and full-time-member recreation leave entitlements of the chair and members within the Remuneration Tribunal's jurisdiction. There is no question that that is the best place for them and where they ought to be

The Foreign Fighters Bill directly addresses current threats to Australian security which have arisen out of present circumstances in Syria and Iraq

I stand to condemn the government on its abject failure to keep its pre-election promise to maintain and support Medicare Locals as a deliverer of primary healthcare services across Australia.

These bills serve a worthy purpose, they maintain the tidiness of the statute book. This is an ongoing task for this and other parliaments. But this is not bold deregulatory reform; it is routine work undertaken by all modern governments.

Gough Whitlam changed Australia for the better.

Freedom of information laws are essential to Australia's democracy because they give the Australian public and media access to information about what the government elected by the Australian people is doing in their name.