Greens ‘absolutely backing’ Medicare pledge
Greens senator Nick McKim is pretty happy this morning. Why wouldn’t you be if the government had just adopted part of your party’s plan for GPs.
“We’re stoked that it’s been put in place. It just goes to show that, you know, Greens pressure works. A vote for the Greens means we can make Labor better,” he told Nine.
“I mean, ultimately we’ve got a lot more ideas like this. If you want a few more, how about dental into Medicare for a start. That would be a really massive investment, but also a massive benefit to millions of Australians who just can’t afford to get their teeth fixed.”
Bridget McKenzie, who was also on the panel with McKim, was asked if Coalition would consider adopting dental into Medicare.
“It’s not part of our health policy that we’ve announced on the weekend,” she responded.
Coalition claims it worked on $8.5b Medicare pledge for ‘many months’
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says the Coalition worked on its Medicare policy for months, rejecting suggestion the decision to match Labor’s $8.5b spend for bulk-billing incentives was an example of policy on the run.
“That’s not the case. Sorry Karl, that’s not the case,” McKenzie told the Today Show.
“So you were going to do your own Medicare announcement?” host Karl Stefanovic asked.
“This policy, this policy initiative, Anne Ruston, the shadow minister for health, has been working on for many, many months. That’s the reality. Engaging with stakeholders, making sure we get the cost,” she says.
The senator argued it was simply timely to release the policy on Sunday, the same day Labor held a campaign style rally in Tasmania to unveil the incentives for bulk-billing GPs, was to provide an “absolute response”.
“What we can’t have is another Mediscare campaign by a prime minister desperate to drag the Coalition down because he’s got no new ideas,” she says.
It comes as the Australian Financial Review this morning reported the Coalition decided to quickly match the policy during a snap meeting of the shadow expenditure review committee on Saturday, before the pledge had been announced.
👋 Good morning
Hiya friends.
Welcome to another day on the politics live blog. Courtney Gould from the ABC’s Parliament House team here to guide you through the day. Let’s hope it’s a fun one.
Are you ready for it?
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