Joe Hockey has taken aim at Australians who are “screaming” about the end of free visits to the doctor, declaring the new $7 fee was the cost of “only a couple of beers or one third of a packet of cigarettes”.



And in a blunt response to a question about how a young person who had lost unemployment benefits would be able to afford it, the treasurer said: “I would expect you’d be in a job.”

Hockey made the comments during a radio interview on Thursday as he continued to push the case for the tough measures outlined in the Abbott government’s first budget, including a new $7 co-payment to visit a GP or access out-of-hospital pathology and diagnostic imaging services from July next year.

The doctor will be allowed to pocket $2 of the fee, while $5 goes to the government, raising $3.5bn over four years. For patients with concession cards and children aged under 16 the fee will apply for only the first 10 services in each year.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, who will deliver his budget reply speech on Thursday night, has indicated Labor will vote against the measure, as will the Greens and Palmer United party, ensuring it cannot pass the Senate.

Hockey told the ABC’s AM program he was surprised about criticism of the measure, with the money paid to go to a new medical research fund.

“One of the things that quite astounds me is some people are screaming about [the] $7 co-payment,” the treasurer said.

“One packet of cigarettes costs $22; that gives you three visits to the doctor. You can spend just over $3 on a middy of beer so that's two middies of beer to go to the doctor. Let's have some perspective about the costs of taking care of our health, and is a parent really going to deny their sick child a visit to the doctor which would be the equivalent payment of a couple of beers or one third of a packet of cigarettes?”

The interviewer, Chris Uhlmann, replied that a 27-year-old who had lost his or her job and could not access unemployment benefits might not have the choice of a middy of beer, a packet of cigarettes or a visit to the doctor. The budget outlined changes to Newstart and Youth Allowance for unemployed people under 30 that would see them receive no income support for six months at a time.

Hockey said: “I would expect you'd be in a job. That would be the starting point, you'd be in a job, and we need you to work … Everything we are doing is about lifting the tide so that we can get more people into jobs.”

Pressed on the plight of people on fixed incomes, such as pensioners, Hockey said: “Well we do have to make choices and certainly our health care [has] got to be our primary consideration. The thing is we make choices every day. I think people need to focus on their health over the medium and long term and to do so we've got to invest a little bit and a co-payment is going to help to do that.”

In a separate public appearance, the deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, took aim at older Australians who squandered their superannuation on luxury items and holidays.

“Increasingly, the lifestyle and the savings for superannuation are being seen as an opportunity to enjoy a few cruises and the luxuries of life for a few years until it runs out and then people wish to fall back on the age pension,” Truss told the Conservative Breakfast Club in Brisbane, according to a News Corp report.



Shorten said it was worrying to hear Hockey “casually dismissing the new tax on going to the doctor and saying that it wasn't very much money at all and what was the fuss about”.

“You are out of touch with Australians if you think that repeated visits to the doctor with a new tax, a co-payment, on going to the doctor, more expensive medicine, more expensive visits to the hospital … is just a casual matter,” Shorten said.

“Labor will fight and fight and fight to defend Medicare. We support a universal scheme. Labor will never buy this Joe Hockey, Tony Abbott cigar-chomping attitude which says that you can tax sick people to make them better.”

In a separate interview with ABC TV, Hockey continued the theme of people needing to forgo discretionary purchases, suggesting they should “prepared to give up a couple of cups of coffee” to take a sick child to the doctor.



Earlier, Hockey said he and Abbott were willing to talk to senators about the budget measures.

“Senators are human beings and they do have their own unique way of passing legislation. We're always prepared to talk to them,” Hockey said.