Today in the Senate, Labor gave notice for a motion to be moved tomorrow, Wednesday 25 June, to establish a Senate Select Committee on Health.
Labor looks forward to the Senate agreeing to support the motion to establish the Select Committee on Health on Wednesday.
The Select Committee will be established to inquire into health policy, administration and expenditure. In particular the Committee will inquire into:
the impact of additional costs on access to affordable healthcare and the sustainability of Medicare; the impact of reduced Commonwealth funding for hospital and other health services provided by state and territory governments; the interaction between elements of the health system, including between aged care and health care; and health workforce planning.
The establishment of this Committee comes at a time when Australia’s universal healthcare system is experiencing its greatest attack in more than 30 years.
Last week the President of the Australian Medical Association warned that:
‘the health measures in the federal budget are almost universally opposed by the people who provide health services in Australia…the health of Australians is too important for healthcare to be an ideological toy’.
This Committee will provide an opportunity to examine the effect the changes to healthcare announced in the Abbott Government’s budget will have.