Media Release

KAP Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter today condemned the government for axing a scheme that provides Australians with vital treatment for dental issues caused by a chronic disease such as diabetes.

Mr Katter, who voted for a failed legislative bid to retain the Medicare Chronic Disease Dental Scheme, said it was unacceptable for a government of a nation as rich as Australia to leave people in pain by making budget cutbacks on essential health services.

“As far as I can see, the current government has owned up to the fact that there will be a fall from $1.2 thousand million a year in outlays for this dental scheme to about $600 million a year – a cutting in half of the current outlays,” he told Parliament in speaking on the Dental Benefits Amendment Bill.

“Clearly this is being done under pressure from Treasury, but would you cut out fixing people's teeth when they are in pain?”

“If you are going to make cutbacks, make them everywhere else in your budget but do not make them on Medicare, on the health and welfare of people, and do not cut back on dental health.

“We live in an extremely rich nation, and, if you cannot fix teeth and instead you leave people in pain, you must wonder whether you are really a government at all.”

Mr Katter said the abolition of the scheme, which was established by the former LNP government, was a blow to a dental health system that was already failing people.

He told the Parliament of horror stories from desperate North Queenslanders, some who have been forced to pull their own teeth out with pliers or use battery acid to stop a toothache.

“In a recent round of our (community) meetings, a lady got up and said: 'There is a four-year wait to have a tooth fixed in North Queensland.' She was told: 'When you do get in you will get one tooth fixed each year.'

“The magnitude of the problem is huge and some serious money has to be put into it.”