Last night, Bill Shorten MP delivered Labor’s Budget Reply.
While Scott Morrison and the Liberals are focused on the election, Labor is focused on the future. We have chosen hope over fear, the future over the past, to prioritise schools and hospitals over the big banks.
As a longstanding advocate for cancer patients, a cancer survivor, Cure Brain Cancer Ambassador, co-convenor of Parliament’s Brain Cancer and Tumour Action Group, and former chair of the Senate Select Committee into Funding for Research into Cancers with Low Survival Rates, I am especially pleased with Labor’s commitment to deliver the biggest cancer care package in Australia’s history.
Australians battling cancer should be able to focus on getting well without going broke.
A Shorten Labor Government will:
– eliminate out-of-pocket costs for up to six million scans for cancer services;
– provide three million free consultations with oncologists and surgeons for cancer patients; and
– list any drug recommended for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Other highlights from last night’s budget reply include:
– The most important investment in Medicare since Bob Hawke created it.
– The same or better tax cuts for 10 million working Australians.
– A massive new investment in TAFE, to rebuild campuses and restore the 150,000 apprenticeships that have been lost under the Liberals.
Senator Catryna Bilyk 