CHRIS BOWEN MP
SHADOW TREASURER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS
THE HON CATHERINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
DUTTON KICKS OFF SECOND LEADERSHIP BID WITH RETURN TO HEALTH CUTS AGENDA
It didn’t take long for the real Peter Dutton to stand-up – starting his second tilt for the Liberal Party leadership returning to where he’s most comfortable, cutting funding to health and hospitals.
Peter Dutton’s crazy thought bubble proposal to exempt electricity from the GST has been costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office to cost states and territories over $30 billion over the next decade.
That means an automatic cut to state services, especially health budgets, of $30 billion.
Mr Dutton needs to explain the costs involved with putting in place a bureaucratic infrastructure to work out who is and isn’t exempt from the GST and how it would be implemented.
Just as the Liberal Party is trying to strike a deal with states and territories for a new GST model by adding over $7bn to the revenue pool over the next decade, now Peter Dutton is proposing to withdraw up to $30 billion from it.
Peter Dutton’s track record on health and hospitals is appalling. He was voted the Worst Health Minister in 35 years by the medical community – and with good reason.
He cut $57 billion in funding from public hospitals – as confirmed by the Treasury at the time.
He tried to introduce a $7 co-payment to see the doctor – a move that would have effectively ended Australia’s universal health care system.
He also sought to increase the price of prescription medicines on the PBS, including for pensioners.
He tried to slash the Medicare Safety Net. And he took to axe to funding for prevention and dental care.
It says everything about the Liberals that this is the sort of guy they want in charge. Someone who sees our health care system as a pot of money to be raided and ruined.
Energy prices are soaring under the Liberals’ chaos – Peter Dutton doesn’t care about hip pockets of families and only cares about getting the top job,
It’s a reminder that it doesn’t matter who leads the Liberal party, it’s the same policies for cuts.
WEDNESDAY, 22 AUGUST 2018