THE Abbott government remains open to negotiating some of its budget measures with the Senate, but Treasurer Joe Hockey has all but ruled out compromise on a GP co-payment.
Labor has vowed to oppose efforts to introduce a $7 fee for visiting the GP, claiming it undermines the universality of Medicare.
The treasurer says the government is prepared to talk with Labor and incoming senators about its budget plans, but warns they won’t be the only ones frustrated if they run into flat-out opposition.
“If the immediate answer of everyone in the Senate is no, then I think the Australian people have a low, low tolerance for that,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he won’t surrender his government’s budget commitments to the Senate, and has hinted a double dissolution election isn’t out of the question if negotiations fail.
The government has proposed putting $5 of the $7 co-payment into a Medical Research Future Fund to drive breakthroughs in treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.
The remaining $2 would go to GPs for their consultations.
Mr Hockey said the government had made its case for the co-payment, and it wasn’t willing to budge.
“I don’t think we should compromise,” he said.
“If the independents and the Labor party want to have a medical research future fund, there has to be a co-payment. You cannot have both.”