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Health Minister Peter Dutton last night repeatedly refused to rule out a hike in the GP Tax, if his government is successful in introducing the $7 charge for every visit to a doctor, pathologist, MRI and diagnostic imaging test.
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Health Minister Peter Dutton last night repeatedly refused to rule out a hike in the GP Tax, if his government is successful in introducing the $7 charge for every visit to a doctor, pathologist, MRI and diagnostic imaging test.
Asked three times on Lateline to guarantee there would be no increase in the GP Tax Minister Dutton would only say that the $7 was “legislated” and “not indexed”.
Reporter: Can you give the Australian public a guarantee that the Coalition won’t raise the $7 co-payment?
Dutton: Well, that’s legislated, if …
Reporter: For how long is it legislated?
Dutton: Until the government duly elected can change that legislation.
ABC Lateline, 8 September 2014
In other words, if the government gets the numbers to introduce the GP Tax, it will also have the numbers to raise it to any number it chooses.
Minister Dutton has spoken approvingly of New Zealand’s $17 GP Tax, raising the question of just how much he plans to slug patients if he ever gets his way.
Tony Abbott didn’t tell Australians before the election he planned to slug patients with a GP Tax. What is he keeping from now about how high he plans to take the GP Tax?
The GP Tax is bad for patients, bad for healthcare and bad for the Budget. And it’s clear from last night remarks that if Minister Dutton ever gets his way on the GP Tax, $7 is just the start of his plans for slugging patients.