Ms CLAYDON (Newcastle) (15:44): Being lectured to by members from the Medi-no-care team opposite about a lack of understanding or empathy in the Australian healthcare system is extraordinary. It's a little bit rich. I see the member for Bowman is leaving the chamber now. Oh, no; we welcome his return—thank you very much. He had much to say, but his complete lack of understanding for cost-of-living pressures on the Australian people, his lack of understanding for the amount of work and competency levels on this side of the House, when it comes to the Australian healthcare system, is extraordinary. This is the party that created Medicare. It's the only party that protects Medicare in this House. It's the party that will defend Medicare until our dying days. So, thank you, Minister—sorry, you aren't a minister. Mr Laming: I'm a recovering minister. Ms CLAYDON: Why aren't you a minister? That's possibly another question, but I'll come back to that! Members on this side of the House understand clearly why it is that this government can't be trusted with Australia's healthcare system—but so do the Australian people. They are totally onto you guys. As part of the Medicare task force, the member for Macarthur and I have travelled far and wide across Australia. We've heard from people in Braddon who cannot access affordable health care in their electorate. They can't find a specialist. Talking about out-of-pocket expenses, try being somebody living in Braddon, with no access to specialist care—the closest one is in Melbourne—and being told to fly yourself and your family up to Melbourne, to put yourselves up for the night, to take the family with you, to take days off from your job. These guys here think that's okay. They think that this is an acceptable state of affairs for health care in Australia. There is nothing acceptable about subjecting your citizens to second-rate health care. It's all right if you're living on the North Shore of Sydney. There are plenty of bulk-billing doctors there. Come over to my electorate in Newcastle. You don't get a bulk-billing doctor there. We have the member for Herbert and the member for Longman—plenty of people on this side of the House—who are fierce advocates for the retention of a universal healthcare system in this country. Their electorates are hurting badly because the guys opposite have not lifted a single component of that Medicare freeze to relieve the burden on Australian consumers. Ms Lamb: 40,000 people at Caboolture Hospital! Ms CLAYDON: Yes; 40,000 people at Caboolture Hospital. We also visited the electorate of Lindsay—and the member for Macarthur will remember this well—where the Nepean Hospital is crying out for support and assistance. You haven't even begun to assist with the forward planning for a hospital that is in a rapid growth corridor there. It is already stretched to the limit right now. It can barely cope with the ongoing demand now. It's in the middle of a growth corridor, yet there's absolutely no assistance there. Your lack of vision, your lack of planning, for public hospitals in Australia is astonishing. Nepean Hospital isn't exceptional. That's the sad story. What's going on at that hospital is being repeated across Australia. Our major public hospitals are stretched to the absolute brink. Elective surgery waiting times have skyrocketed. Emergency departments are struggling and, worst of all, patients are suffering. We know that because we are actually out there talking to people who use this healthcare system every day, and for members opposite to suggest otherwise is truly astonishing. What a hide! When it comes to private health insurance, we can only say that members opposite must live in some other, parallel, universe. If you are not getting the message that the Australian people do not see value for money in private health insurance these days, if you are not hearing the message that they are finding it very difficult to accommodate the almost $1,000 per annum increase in premium fees that has come in under the Abbott-Turnbull government's watch— if you are not getting that message—then you need to see your GP for an ear check, quite frankly. That's what you need. It is only Labor that will defend Medicare. It is only Labor that can be trusted to achieve an Australian healthcare system that is fair and accessible to all. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Coulton ): Order! Before calling the member for Boothby, I might remind the member for Newcastle that she should speak through the chair, and the Deputy Speaker is not responsible for all the healthcare woes of this country.