The Coalition's failure to understand Australian families regard access to free healthcare, including visits to their GP, as a basic right was a major factor in its poor showing at the polls, voters and health administrators have said.
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Adrian Watts, the managing director of Canberra's National Health Co-op, said his organisation's 33,000 members wanted to be able to see their doctor when they needed to, not just when they could afford to.
Coombs residents Luke and Laura Canty have been frequent visitors to their local GP since the arrival of their seven-year-old daughter, Maddy.
Mr Canty, 42, rejects the Liberal Party line voters such as himself had been conned into believing a Labor lie about Medicare being privatised.
"If you look at the history of Liberal promises and Liberal intentions, it was a legitimate call to say we should be worried about Medicare," the Fyshwick bookstore proprietor said.
"It would be disingenuous of the Liberal Party to claim they're not thinking about it or looking at it; they've already taken steps in that direction with co-payments. It's not in their nature to let the little guy have free healthcare if they can avoid it."
It would be "bloody beautiful" if Medicare were retained in its present form forever, and even better if it were extended to include dental cover.
"Dental care has become the big divide between the rich and the poor," he said. "You can tell someone's wealth by the state of their teeth. This is wrong in our society. It's not as if teeth aren't a health issue. To punish poor people in a very visceral, physical fashion for being poor when you have the alternative is unconscionable."
The National Health Co-op's Adrian Watts said the Coalition had only itself to blame for its poor performance on health in the weekend poll.
"Clearly, the government hasn't been tuning in to what the public has said," he told Fairfax. "You can see that with the strong swing across the country. The fact that what Labor said hit a note with the public showed Australia's true stance on the Medicare system as a whole and that fear of [the government] taking away our right as Australian citizens to free healthcare."
He said 33,000 people, about 10 per cent of the ACT's population, had joined the co-op since it was founded in 2010.
"[Our members] see it as their right as Australian citizens to be able to access free healthcare. There is a large part of the community that really does need, and rely on, bulk-billing services. Price does make a difference."
One co-op member, the mother of a five-year-old daughter, said free healthcare had been a given for her entire life and people's ability to visit a GP should not be determined by their wealth.
"In Australia people have a right to medical care if they need it, regardless of their income level," she said. "I've grown up with Medicare and I've never known anything different. This is expected by the public.
"We have had a lot of doctor's visits over the years [with the usual childhood ailments]. If you were paying $30 or $40 a visit it would certainly add up. Canberra is already an expensive town to live in.
"You need to be able to go to the doctor when you need to go."
