Mr LEESER (Berowra) (15:50): Labor is hypocritical on health policy. We all remember Labor's campaign launch last year, where, in a zombie voice, the Leader of the Opposition called on Australians to save Medicare. When the zombie voice comes out, the fake news follows. He scared millions of Australians. He is the best friend 'Mediscare' ever had. Labor's announcement at the last election had all the genuineness of a Milli Vanilli single. It had all the truth of the Ern Malley hoax. It's one thing to disagree with the government's policy; it's another thing to completely make it up. That's what the Leader of the Opposition did with his fractured fairytale that was Mediscare. The 2017 budget put $94.2 billion into health care, with the Medicare Guarantee Fund being established to secure the ongoing funding of the Medicare Benefits Schedule and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, guaranteeing access to those services. We provided for the Medicare levy, paid into the fund, topped up by personal income tax, to continue the MBS and the PBS. Medicare represents $1 in $3 of the healthcare budget, and it's increasing every single year. Mr Hill interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Bruce is warned. Mr LEESER: I'd like to thank the member for Ballarat for introducing this MPI. It is the perfect opportunity to dissect the utter hypocrisy of the opposition on this and many other fronts. In his budget reply speech just a few months ago, the Leader of the Opposition stated: And a Labor budget will always protect Medicare. This means reversing the unfair Medicare freeze immediately. I know economics isn't the strong suit of those opposite, but let me give them a bit of a history lesson on this matter. This is the freeze that was implemented by the Labor Party. The Medicare freeze was Labor's freeze. The member for Sydney is the architect of the freeze. The Turnbull government has removed Labor's Medicare freeze. We restored the indexation of the Medicare rebate in the 2017 budget, starting with bulk-billing incentives from 1 July this year, including the retention of incentives for pathology, diagnostic imaging, blood tests, X-rays, scans and pap smears. And from 1 July 2020 we're introducing, for the first time in 15 years, indexation for targeted diagnostic imaging, including mammography, fluoroscopy, CT scans and intervention procedures. Under the current government GP bulk-billing is at record levels. Under Labor it was at 81.9 per cent and under the Turnbull government it's at 85.4 per cent. So all the Mediscare talk is completely wrong. Bulk-billing is going up and up. This means more Australians are able to visit the doctor without having to reach into their pocket. But freezing Medicare was just the tip of the iceberg for Labor's poor record on health care. When they were last in government, the Labor Party took a scalpel to the health budget, with surgeon-like precision. We had a lecture from the member for Ballarat about dental care. Labor cut $1 billion from Medicare for dental, and means tested it as well. Labor cut half a billion dollars from Medicare for pathology. Labor cut $664 million from Medicare for GPs. Labor cut $450 million from the Medicare safety net protections. Labor cut $2½ billion from pharmacy and medicines. Ms Catherine King interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Ballarat is warned. Mr LEESER: Labor blocked access to life-saving medicines. Labor cut $4 billion from the private health insurance rebate for consumers and means tested it. Not only are we ending the Medicare freeze implemented by the opposition but we have increased funding for Medicare. We're investing an additional $2.4 billion in Medicare over the next four years, and spending on Medicare is increasing every year, from $23.7 billion in 2017-18 to $27.9 billion in 2020-21. The government is also reducing the cost of medicines by $1.8 billion over five years to make medicines more affordable for ordinary Australians. While we're thinking about Medicare, I thought it was also worthwhile mentioning the NDIS. The NDIS is being funded by an increase of 0.5 per cent to the Medicare levy. This is actually properly funding the NDIS where Labor left a big black hole and, potentially, disadvantaged some of the most disadvantaged Australians in our community. That's how they treat disadvantaged people—by leaving a big black hole. We on our side of the House make sure that our programs are properly funded, and that's why we've increased the Medicare levy by 0.5 per cent to guarantee the NDIS into the future. The government is securing the future of Medicare with a strong, stable Medicare with more funding and more bulk-billing, and with the protection of Medicare.