Griggs, Natasha, MP

Mrs GRIGGS (Solomon) (13:03): I rise today to speak on the Health Insurance (Dental services) Amendment Determination 2012 (No. 1). Like the other members of the coalition, I am a strong supporter of investment into dental health and I support this disallowance motion that is before the chair. While I am always an avid advocate of investment into dental health, I am very concerned about the Labor government's decision to close the Medicare Chronic Disease Dental Scheme as of 30 November this year. Why is it that this Labor government is closing down this highly successful scheme? It appears to me that perhaps it is playing politics with the dental health of Australians. Could it be because it was the then health minister and now Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, who introduced the scheme that provided Medicare funded dental support to Australians? Since its introduction in 2007, we have seen over $1.7 million in benefits spent in the Northern Territory, breaking down to over 15,000 services provided. That is a lot of services and it is a lot of money that Territorians have had invested in them, and I am very concerned that that is going to be taken away from them. Across Australia, over one million Australians have benefited from the scheme—60,000 of these being children. I am very proud to be a part of that legacy. For me, this shows that this is a program that is working, and it is highly disappointing that it appears that this government has decided to take away the Medicare dental help for Australians purely because it was an initiative of the then health minister, Tony Abbott. I could understand if the scheme had not been a success, but it has been. Over one million Australians have benefited from this scheme. Now, under Labor's six-year proposal, the predicted number of services is equivalent to 20 per cent of what the health minister's Chronic Disease Dental Scheme provided in the last year alone. It is really quite distressing that Labor and the Greens are stopping the only dental scheme available to adults across the country just so they can shut down this program that was introduced, as I said, by the now Leader of the Opposition. The dental health of those in my electorate and across the country should not be used to the Labor government's political advantage. As of 7 September, the new services provided under the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme have been stopped. From 30 November, the scheme will be closed altogether. The new scheme will not be introduced until 2014, which is after the next federal election. Can we trust this government to keep a promise after it has broken so many? It was this government that said at the last election that there would be no carbon tax under their government. But here we are in 2012 and we have a carbon tax under a Labor government. I ask this Labor government to explain to Territorians why they will have a window of 19 months where there will be no Medicare dental scheme to provide dental treatment for adults in the Northern Territory. Not only does this bill not commence until 2014; it has not been funded. The government has announced a $4.1 billion scheme with no plans as to how it is going to pay for it. Quite frankly, this is not good enough. The people of the Territory and across Australia deserve better. This program has been demonstrated to have worked and it is really, really important for electorates like mine and that of the member for Riverina, who spoke earlier. Regional Australia needs programs like this. I ask again: how can we trust this government to fund its program? Where will it get the money from? I call on the government to explain to the people of the Territory the $120 billion black hole. This Labor government has not delivered for the people of the Territory. How can we believe that it will fund this scheme? Territorians have lost their faith in Labor, and that is why after the last Territory election we now have a Country Liberal government. People know they can trust a conservative government. Life is always better under a conservative government. Between these schemes, education reforms, additional aged care funding and border protection cost blow-outs, where is this Labor government going to get the money to fund this new scheme? The Australian people are not an endless credit card that this government can keep spending against. They do deserve better. It is only further proof for the Australian people that this Labor government has lost its way and is heading for a huge budget blow-out. I am proud to stand here today, standing up for chronic disease sufferers. I am ashamed that this Labor government and the Greens are taking away access to dental treatment that is urgently needed. The people of Australia and throughout my electorate will be worse off, as they always are under a Labor government. Labor has stripped many Australians of dental health treatment. These people will simply not be able to afford dental care anymore. Labor should be hanging their heads in shame. As the member for Riverina said a few minutes ago, anyone who has a toothache had better go and get it fixed now, before the government shuts down this program altogether, leaving them waiting for another 19 months before they can get anything done, and that is if the program is actually implemented. I am sickened by the thought that the government and the Greens will now force children to wait 13 months until they can once again receive dental care. We know that preventative care is so important, but here we are having a system shut down, taking away the opportunity to have preventative care. The Labor government has claimed that 3.4 million children ranging from two to 18 years will be eligible for $1,000 worth of services, capped over two years, under the new scheme. Under the current scheme adults and children receive $4,250 over two years. While the scheme is capped at $4,250, according to the department the average claim for the scheme has been around $1,700, although recent estimates suggest that the figure may have fallen as low as $1,200 per patient. As a mother myself, I find it offensive to see children suffering. As I said, it is important to have preventative care. I think that by closing down this program you are taking away that opportunity. We know that Labor has lied to parents. Those opposite have promised dental services to— Mr Perrett: Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: I find that term offensive and I would ask that the member withdraw it. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms O'Neill ): It would assist the House if the member would withdraw. Mrs GRIGGS: I withdraw. Those opposite have misled parents. Those opposite have promised dental services to 3.4 million children, but this is to be paid by $2.7 billion worth of unfunded promises. As I said earlier, the Labor government has a $120 billion black hole and it is getting bigger. Under this new scheme adults will be forced to suffer from untreated dental problems for an additional six months. My constituents are going to have to wait 19 months for a Medicare dental scheme. This is again to be paid for by an unfunded $1.3 billion program to be given to the state and territory governments to be spent through public dental services. No longer will adults be able to obtain dental services through private providers. The Labor government just does not understand. There are over 650,000 Australians on the public dental waiting list. It cannot handle this bad Labor policy. Earlier in the week Minister Plibersek claimed that the new scheme would crack down on millionaires who benefit from the current Chronic Disease Dental Scheme. I am here to inform the minister that the National Advisory Council on Dental Health has reported that 80 per cent—yes, 80 per cent—of all services provided under the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme have gone to those on concession cards, so hardly millionaires. It just goes to show how out of touch and ill thought out the minister's scheme is. While Medicare is a universal scheme funded by all Australians through the Medicare levy, it is evident that the dental schemes have mostly been embraced by those on low incomes. These people on low incomes already struggle with huge cost-of-living pressures through the government's waste and mismanagement, its overspending and of course its carbon tax. Now they will have to forgo treatment or go onto the already exhaustive public dental waiting list. As I have already mentioned, with over 650,000 other Australians, it is a huge waiting list. I understand that currently in Darwin people on the public dental waiting list are generally waiting around 13 months for just a basic check-up—13 months. The Labor government should be held accountable for their actions. The scrapping of the successful Chronic Disease Dental Scheme is going to put even further pressure on the public dental waiting list. I ask that the Labor government and the Greens to explain to the people of my electorate of Solomon why they will be forced to wait even longer now for dental care. Those currently on the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme will be forced onto public dental waiting lists. I ask again: what are the real motives of this Labor government? I am saddened to say that this reminds me of what I spoke about in the House earlier this week, how the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments had played politics with the lives of dementia patients and their families. They are doing exactly the same now with the dental health of thousands of Territorians and thousands of Australians. I understand this government has had many failures, like the Gillard government's Building the Education Revolution scheme and revoking highly successful policies like our border protection policies, but this has gone too far. This government, these people opposite, are now playing with the health of the people of my electorate and, as I said, people all across Australia. Playing politics with the dental health of Australians, forcing Territorians to suffer for almost two years while they wait for this bill to commence, is reaching a new low, even for this government. This is only further proof that the government have completely lost their way. Not only are they unfairly forcing Australians to wait 19 months for Medicare funded dental treatment; there is no assurance that at that time there will be adequate infrastructure or an adequate workforce to support the dental treatment Territorians and other Australians need. Why is the Labor government shutting down a successful scheme that provides real dental assistance to Australians and replacing it with an unfunded and inadequately supported program? The government does have a lot to answer for. The lack of support Labor will provide to this scheme is another clear example of how completely out of touch they are with Territorians and the wider community. They have made another promise of money, $225 million, to develop infrastructure to support this unfunded scheme. Where is this money coming from? I support the disallowance motion and I think that the government has done the wrong thing. We are calling on the Independents who represent regional areas to support this disallowance motion to make sure regional Australia has the appropriate dental services and to continue with a program that has proven to work.