PM picks new minister, Albanese annoyed

Colin Brinsden and Tara Cosoleto | April 17, 2022

Scott Morrison has brought health centre-stage of his election campaign, with the prime minister announcing a replacement for the retiring Greg Hunt along with funding to help Australians with type one diabetes.

But Labor leader Anthony Albanese made only a brief appearance in front of the media, in what he said was supposed be a non-campaigning day because of Easter Sunday.

As widely tipped, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston will become the next health minister should the coalition be successful at the May 21 election.

Mr Albanese pounced on the announcement after attending a church service in Cairns with shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers. 

“She has made it very clear that, if we have an election of the Morrison government, we will see more cuts to Medicare, more cuts to Medicare over the next three years,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

But Senator Ruston denied those claims.

“Our government has been clear that we are not cutting Medicare,” she told reporters.

The government also promised $270 million to make the treatment of type one diabetes more affordable.

“It means that for 130,000 patients around the country, they’ll have access to continuous glucose monitoring and that will be subsidised with savings of up to $5000 a year from July 1,” Mr Hunt told the Seven Network.

Mr Morrison told reporters outside the Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney such funding is only available because his government is running a strong economy.

“If you can’t manage money, and if you can’t manage a strong economy, then you cannot deliver the health services that Australians rely on,” he said.

Meanwhile, Labor continued to defend its announcement to establish 50 urgent care clinics, a policy the Australian Medical Association has called barely coherent.

“It will be very clear that Australian GPs will want to work in this type of practice,” Labor’s health spokesman Mark Butler told ABC’s Insiders program.

“I’ve been inundated by general practice organisations calling our office, emailing us in the last several days, saying they want to be part of this.”

The government continued to be dogged by questions over Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves and her past anti-transgender comments.

NSW senator and federal Foreign Minister Marise Payne was repeatedly quizzed on Insiders over whether Ms Deves should stand down after NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said there was no place for her “vile bigotry”.

“I don’t share Ms Deves’ comments that she has made, but importantly she has apologised and withdrawn those views,” Senator Payne said.

Asked if she should be dropped as the Liberal candidate, Senator Payne said: “Ms Deves is the Liberal candidate and that is the approach we are taking.”

On Saturday, Mr Morrison tried to steer the conversation towards industrial relations, promising to reintroduce parts of the scrapped IR bill to parliament if re-elected after failing to secure sufficient votes the first time around.

Provisions to criminalise wage theft and changes to enterprise bargaining were scrapped, as were award simplification and the ability to lock work sites into eight-year pay agreements for major projects.

Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume said there a large amount of consultation went into those proposed reforms.

“Anthony Albanese and Labor have now come forward with their industrial relations policies which will potentially cost employers billions of dollars,” she told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.

But Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles said Labor was not going to do anything without full consultation with the business community.

“We do need to understand that we are living in an economy where  employment has never been more insecure and more precarious,” he told Sky News.

“We have half a million Australians who are having to work three jobs to make ends meet.”