Senator NASH (New South Wales—Deputy Leader of The Nationals, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Local Government and Territories and Minister for Regional Communications) (14:51): I can indeed confirm that this government has a rock-solid commitment to the future of Medicare. I am not going to be lectured by those on the other side about the Medicare freeze and I will tell you why, because many people listening might not know that it was actually Labor that introduced the Medicare freeze, and indeed it was the member for Sydney. It was reported in Australian Doctor on a 22 May 2013, 'Doctors can afford rebate freeze, says Plibersek.' Not only did they introduce it; they said doctors can afford it. She said: I understand that GPs have all sorts of expenses in running their surgeries and employing staff and so on, but the average billing from Medicare is more than $350,000 a year. Ms Plibersek said she accepted some GPs would opt out of bulk-billing as a result of the freeze, but she hoped that not many would take this course of action: 'I'd be disappointed if a lot of people made that choice,' said the Labor minister at the time. She dismissed concerns that the freeze would pressure doctors to compromise care— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Gallagher on a point of order? Senator Gallagher: I know Senator Nash is keen on talking about Labor, but the question—and she has taken more than half of her time— was, given the new minister's commitment, will the minister confirm that the government will abandon its six-year freeze on Medicare rebates. That is the question that we were asking of the minister. The PRESIDENT: I will remind the minister of the question. Senator NASH: Thank you, Mr President—I did, I thought, answer that at the outset. I was disappointed that the senator stopped me, because I was just about to say that the previous Labor minister had said about this: Will some people respond in a way that is unhelpful for their patients? Perhaps. The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Wong on a point of order. Senator Wong: It is a point of order on relevance. From Senator Brandis in response to Senator Xenophon and now this minister, we really do have an abuse of question time. Ministers are asked questions, and the one question was: given the new minister's commitment, will the minister confirm the government will abandon its six-year freeze on Medicare rebates? We understand that some political hyperbole is part of how we deal with question time, but this minister has spent some 1½ minutes talking only about a former Labor minister—can't she answer the question? Is she unable to answer the question? The PRESIDENT: I did hear the minister at the outset confirm that Medicare would be maintained, but the minister did not go directly to the exact question—she was relevant, but not directly relevant to the exact question. I remind the minister of the question, and she has 29 seconds in which to answer. Senator NASH: I think it is entirely appropriate that I have made the comments I have so far, because the Australian people deserve to know when Labor ask a question about the Medicare freeze that it was Labor that brought the Medicare freeze in. It is this government that is going to ensure we have a sustainable Medicare into the future, unlike those opposite, who economically do not recognise that we have to make sensible decisions to ensure that sustainability. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Polley, a supplementary question.