Just imagine. Would an outsourcing of the Defence Department’s payroll to Mayne Nicholas constitute a privatisation of Australia’s defence? This is the case that Labor is trying to craft and confect. This is the stuff of Goebbels. And to think that Labor were examining the same policy when in government.. Amazing but not surprising.
Federal election 2016: ALP Medicare hypocrisy attacked
“…Bill Shorten is widening his scare campaign over the privatisation of Medicare as he faces accusations of hypocrisy for crusading against changes to the system despite Labor also examining reforms to health payments while in government.
Labor has mobilised volunteers at early polling booths across the country to urge Australians to “save Medicare” in a tactic that is infuriating the Coalition and sparking warnings about the “biggest lie” at the heart of Mr Shorten’s campaign.
While Labor describes a study into health payments as a “privatisation taskforce” that threatens the entire system, its actions in government included working with commercial providers to overhaul the same Medicare payments. Labor Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen considered 50 submissions from the private sector on reforming the payments when he was human services minister in 2009, highlighting the need to improve the system.
Another former Labor human services minister, Joe Ludwig, worked with technology companies earlier in 2009 on a commercial contract to improve the Medicare Easyclaim system, which uses major banks and technology companies as key service providers.
The political brawl is centred on Labor’s assumption that the payment system is the same as Medicare itself, an argument dismissed as “outrageous” by Health Department secretary Martin Bowles earlier this year.
In a significant concession, Labor health spokesman Catherine King admitted that improvements were needed to the way Medicare transactions were handled, making it clear to voters that Labor would also change the information technology if it won power…”