Listening to GPs re Payroll Tax

My Canberra Liberals colleagues and I have tried everything to stop the ACT government imposing a new payroll tax on general practitioners. Our motion in May was defeated, and last month Labor and the Greens blocked debate on a bill that would have exempted GPs from payroll tax. (The Act already exempts hospitals, education providers, and employment agencies, amongst others.)

We tried again today by calling on the government to listen to what GPs are saying about this new tax: it will make seeing a doctor more expensive and threatens the survival of many general practices. I pointed out that, based on his answers in Question Time yesterday, Chief Minister Barr’s goal is to break the back of Canberra’s primary healthcare system. He and his accomplices don’t care if they make it harder or more expensive for Canberrans to see their GPs in the process.

I shared figures from a Belconnen GP showing that the costs of operating in the ACT are so high that bulk-billing all of her patients would leave her earning less than the current minimum wage. Of course, none of this moved Labor or Greens MLAs, who voted unanimously not to listen to GPs on this topic.

Click on the arrow button to read my speech.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank Ms Lee for bringing this important matter before the Assembly today. I rise to join Ms Lee and my Canberra Liberals colleagues in calling on the ACT Government to listen to local GPs and general practice owners regarding this government’s decision to impose a new payroll tax on them.

This request should not be necessary. ACT Labor and the Greens repeatedly tell people that they want to listen and that genuine consultation is important to them. And then along comes an opportunity to impose a new tax and seize some additional revenue from a group of essential workers whom they cannot control, and the mask drops.

This clearly happened yesterday in Question Time. When Chief Minister Barr was asked whom he was listening to when he admitted he is not listening to general practitioners, he said that he is listening to ‘policy experts’. And what policy are Mr Barr’s hand-picked experts pushing? Again, the chief minister was clear: the goal is, quote, ‘reform of the primary healthcare system’, and specifically a ‘move away from fee-based remuneration for doctors’.

So now we have our explanation. ACT Labor and the Greens have no interest in listening to trusted local GPs because, as revealed yesterday, their goal is to break the back of this territory’s existing primary healthcare system. Canberrans who value their current GPs have been warned: their trusted family doctors are in this government’s crosshairs. And if Mr Barr and his accomplices make it harder and more expensive for sick people to access primary healthcare, well, that’s just the eggs they’re happy to crack to cook this toxic omelette.

And so, since ACT Labor and the Greens have zero intention of ever listening to GPs, I have. I recently met with one who lives in my electorate. I asked her to walk me through the situation at the general practice where she works. She happily did so. In summary, she and her fellow doctors each pay $35 from each consult to keep their practice running: these payments are just enough to cover reception, nurses, admin staff, billing, IT equipment and support, insurance for the practice, maintenance costs, heating, cooling, medical supplies, and this territory’s high rates.

The Medicare rebate if a GP bulk-bills is currently $41.20 for a standard 15-minute consult. Completing four consults per hour whilst still paying out $35 per consult would leave a doctor earning just $24.80 per hour. Of course, that is before one calculates a GP’s personal expenses. As private contractors, they are required to make their own payments into superannuation. They also have no paid annual or personal leave. In addition, they are required to pay for their own indemnity insurance.

The GP to whom I listened explained that the cost of her insurance had recently tripled to $1,000 per month. Adding together all of these personal costs – and others that I haven’t listed – leaves a bulk-billing GP in this territory earning less than the minimum wage. Any reasonable Canberran understands that that is not possible if the goal is to make primary healthcare sustainable. I share this information for their benefit.

I understand that those opposite are not interested in facts and figures. Again, their goal is not to make the existing primary health system sustainable. With zero hope that ACT Labor and the Greens are willing to listen to me any more than they are willing to listen to primary healthcare workers, I commend this motion to the Assembly.

Thank you.