Prime minister takes to Twitter to deny reported plan to cut payments as health minister promises ‘rock solid’ commitment to Medicare in budget

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Malcolm Turnbull has ruled out pension cuts in the budget after a report that the government was considering cutting welfare for those receiving less than $20.02 a fortnight.

It comes as the health minister, Greg Hunt, gave further signals on Sunday the government would unfreeze the Medicare rebate in the May budget to demonstrate what he called a “rock solid” commitment to universal healthcare.

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The Sunday Telegraph reported that the government had costed a plan to scrap all welfare payments below $20.02, which would particularly affect pensioners who reorganise their finances to receive nominal payments to entitle them to concessions.

The pensioner concession card gives access to lower cost medicines and discounts on motor vehicle registration, drivers’ licences and council rates.

On Sunday the prime minister ruled out cuts to the pension, rejecting the report “outright” in a series of tweets.

Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) A report today that the government is cutting the aged pension is false and we outright reject it.

Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) I can assure all aged pensioners the measure reported will NOT be in the Budget.

In a statement the social services minister, Christian Porter, said the report “citing a departmental document, in regard to minimum payments in the welfare system, is wrong”.

“A minimum payment floor will not be applied and there will be no change to current rules that provide pensioners on the taper rate with a minimum payment of approximately $50 per fortnight.

“The proposal referred to in the article was nothing more than a suggestion put forward by a department and immediately rejected by the government, as the journalist responsible for the article was advised.

“Such a proposal would not be fair to pensioners and any such measure will NOT be in the budget.”

The costings document quoted by the report said the measure would “simplify administration of the payments system by setting a consistent floor below which payments would not be made, to avoid making small fortnightly payments”.

According to the report, Porter had said the government had “no plans” to impose a minimum payment across all welfare categories.

In his tweets, Turnbull also attacked the opposition leader saying: “And sadly, I can assure you that you can always rely on Bill Shorten to lie.”

Shorten said Turnbull’s personal attack on him in his “tweet meltdown” was the way he ended every public conversation these days.

“I’m starting to feel sorry for Mr Turnbull,” Shorten told reporters in Melbourne. “Mr Turnbull, I think, is showing signs of pressure. He can’t cope with the pressure.”

He said Turnbull should focus on the needs of everyday Australians instead of blaming Labor.

On Sunday, Hunt told Sky News he had worked “incredibly well” with the head of the Australian Medical Association, Michael Gannon, and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Bastian Seidel, since taking the portfolio in January.

Hunt did not commit to unfreeze the Medicare rebate but said the government was “looking at an accommodation where we work with [the peak bodies] on long-term support for Medicare and for the doctors ... in return for ways of making our system more sustainable. And ultimately that’s about improving patient access to doctors, so Medicare funding goes up every year.



“I am very confident, very confident, that we will reach an outcome which is positive for the medical profession and positive for the sustainability of Medicare and, most significantly, improves patient outcomes.”

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Appearing later on Sky News, Gannon said ending the Medicare rebate freeze would be important for the government to “get the monkey off their back”, after Labor’s fierce campaign about the alleged “privatisation” of universal healthcare at the 2016 election.

But Gannon stressed that any move to lift the freeze would need to cover both general practitioners and specialists.

Asked about whether lifting the freeze would necessitate cuts elsewhere, Gannon supported the government’s “desire to sustainably fund health budget”, and promised to help find “imaginative ways” to fund it into the future.

Asked how savings in the health portfolio could pass the Senate, Gannon suggested if the Turnbull government started by lifting the freeze it would have “clear air to move forward” with other measures, suggesting he does not want the issue of the rebate directly linked to cuts.